Healthy Food: Henkell Trocken

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Home Cooking: Mussels Calabrian with Champagne (26 Dec 2010)

Cooking with Champagne

When I come across a simple recipe I tend to save the link to my blog for future reference and today I have the chance to try the Mussels Calabrian recipe which was posted by The Heart of Food because I forgot I had mussels in the fridge for Christmas Day. I made a couple of modifications like using a whole tomato instead of half and used some left over Henkell Trocken because I didn't have any white wine available. I liked how it was a very simple recipe but provided some decent simple flavour although next time I'll probably just add lemon juice rather than including the rind because I found it made the broth a bit bitter and I think adding some sugar would help round off the tomato flavour when cooking.

Unfortunately there were quite a few unopened mussels left in the pot after cooking but I still ended up eating them. If you've never eaten unopened mussels and always throw them out because you've always been told they should be then have a read of Dr Karl's Mussel myth an open and shut case. It's been a few hours now and I'm still feeling OK — fingers crossed. The biggest problem I find eating closed mussels is they can sometimes be a real bugger to open but if they smell or look at all bad then obviously do not eat them. Always buy quality mussels from reputable suppliers and if you have the time you can check if they're still alive but tapping them when open and they should close.

Ingredients
1 clove of garlic minced
Sprig of parsley chopped
Small stick of celery chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 splashes of white wine (champagne seems to work too)
Black pepper to taste
Half a lemon chopped (next time would just be lemon juice)
Next time: Try adding a tablespoon of sugar

Cooking
Place all ingredients in a pot. Squeeze it all together through your hands to release the juices. Place the mussels in the pot. Cover with lid and turn on to high heat. Cook and steam the mussels for a few minutes until they open. I mix and shake the juices over the mussels at least a couple of times during the cooking. Take mussels out of pot with or without broth and enjoy.

Boston Bay blue mussels ($7.99/kg De Costi Seafoods)

Ingredients

Place all ingredients in a pot

Squeeze all ingredients together with your hands

Place mussels in pot

Cover pot with lid and put on high heat

Cook mussels for a couple of minutes until most have opened

Serve mussels with bread to mop up broth. I'd recommend not eating the lemon rind and perhaps sifting the broth.

Unopened mussels — I try and eat them now if they look and smell OK

Family Christmas Lunch: Dom Pérignon vs Henkell Trocken (25 Dec 2010)

Eating, drinking and left overs

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day with their familes, friends and loved ones. May the festive season be filled with peace, love and safe journeys for all.

This year I had the chance to try Dom Pérignon Vintage 2002 (RRP $299, $195.99 on special at Kemeny's) for the first time which my brother received as a Christmas gift. We conducted our own blind taste test amongst the family against one of my favourite affordable sparklings Henkell Trocken (RRP $18.99). Surprisingly we unanimously picked Henkell Trocken as our preferred drink and even though there was some notable difference in the taste I actually couldn't pick which one was the French champagne — even after my experience at the Annual Champagne Tasting. Henkell ended up being a bit sweeter on the palate for me and its fine bubbles floated slightly slower to the surface. The Dom Pérignon was a bit more effervescent on the palate and had a more taste of the land if that's an acceptable description. I enjoyed both but with the huge price difference I'll probably stick to the Henkell for now. I'd love to do a taste test amongst friends like Channel 9 did with Champagne Jayne to see who can pick a French champagne and if they like it better than Australian sparklings.

The Wallis Lake Sydney Rock Oysters ($14.99/dozen) from Nicholas Seafood were a great start. I usually get the larger pacific oysters, particularly Coffin Bay, but was pretty happy with these ones which were noticeably sweeter in taste although smaller. My dad purchased King tiger prawns ($22/kg) and Alaskan King Crab ($35/kg) from Coles which were actually pretty good in quality which I was surprised to discover and much cheaper than Sydney Fish Markets — he's always been a great bargain hunter. He also prepared and cooked his famous Crumbed prawn cutlets which I always look forward to as a special treat along with his homemade BBQ honey chicken wings and BBQ pork ribs. A leg of ham goes along way, many days at least, which went well with my mum's homemade potato salad — I'll have to remember including some chopped gherkins next time like Madam Char Char.

For dessert my brother attempted making the Molten Chocolate Pudding from the Bill Granger Every Day recipe book (p. 212). It tasted great but next time we'll have to watch the timing so it remains gooey on the inside. I finally reheated the Christmas Pudding made at La Brasserie Christmas Pies and Puddings Class which still tasted very nice and its been a family tradition to have Pavlova with fresh fruit and whipped cream at any special occasion. All these sweet delights were washed down with a yummy sweet dessert wine of Brokenwood Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2008. As always there's an abundance of left overs which inevitably becomes a late Christmas dinner snack and Boxing Day lunch so nothing is gone to waste.

Other Family Christmas lunches:
• 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008