I have enjoyed cooking more fish this year. If you remember, part of my New Years Resolution was to cook something fish weekly. I have stuck to it and have had some great success and some not so great mixtures!
This is one of those great successes!!! The flavor was amazing.
The Ingredients:
Salmon Filets Marinade:
1/2 mango, diced up
2 TBSP Raw Honey
2 TBSP Olive Oil
splash Coconut Aminos
splash Balsamic Vinegar
The Directions:
Thaw out the Salmon filets. (We got ours from Trader Joe's.) Place thawed Salmon onto foil and pour marinade mixture over salmon. Fold up the foil and make a pouch. Bake at 350 degrees until the salmon flakes apart, about 15 - 20 minutes.
We sided our Salmon with steamed broccoli topped with unsweetened shredded coconut.
Thanks to Kimberley Salt from Merivale for inviting me to the highly popular Champagne Tasting special event ($90 per person) where 24 champagnes (mostly NV) were on offer to sample including canapés prepared by the Head Chef Eugenio Riva. I noticed a few of the same champagnes that were at the Ultimo Wine Centre Annual Champagne Tasting like the NV Larmandier-Bernier 'Brut Tradition', NV Taittinger 'Brut Réserve', NV Laurent-Perrier Rosé , NV Louis Roederer 'Brut Premier', NV Gosset 'Grande Réserve' and NV Jacquesson 'Cuvée No 734'. In the mix were also some of the more popular known brands of Veuve Clicquot, Moët & Chandon, Bollinger and Mumm.
For me it was hard to pick a favourite but I did hear murmurings around the room by the end of the night that the NV Billecart Salmon 'Brut Réserve' was quite popular — unfortunately it ran out before I could try it again to reacquaint myself with it. I didn’t come across any which I wouldn’t drink again if offered but to be honest by the 10th glass my taste buds started to have a hard time keeping up with the memories. Thankfully fresh bread and tasty canapés were on offer to help line the stomachs and save the liver a bit. At times it did feel a little crowded at a few bottlenecks in the layout but generally no one was left standing without a glass of bubbly in their hand. The reps from the champagne houses were friendly and knowledgeable and were only too happy to discuss the finer details about their products. For those wondering what the champagne reps preference was to drink by the end of the night there seemed to be no shortage of Coopers Brewery Original Pale Ale in a few hands — I guess you can sometimes have too much of good thing.
Other visits to Uccello:
• 30 Mar 2011 – March into Merivale: Champagne Tasting
PROS:Plenty of champagnes to sample, Special purchase prices were available on the night, The hangover doesn’t seem as bad when your drinking quality champagne
CONS: A bit of a lineup and delay to register and catch the lifts to Uccello, Felt a little crowded at times, Need to stand and move around to get try the champagnes rather than sitting down and being served
MUST TRY:Eating more before drinking
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Capturing a bit of the atmosphere
24 champagnes to try
Champagne 1 - NV Bereche Père et Fils ($79.90)
Champagne 2 - NV Diebolt-Vallois 'Blanc de Blancs' ($79.90)
