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Friday 11 November
| | From the editor...
They say you eat with your eyes. The Cuisine team of recipe writers, photographers and our ever-creative stylist Tamara West know this only too well, and it’s always inspiring to see the beautiful shots from our food stories finally hit the page. This issue, one of our favourite images – and I’ve heard that it’s struck a chord with many of you, too – is the meringue & berry mess with hazelnut praline (pictured left). You’ll find the rest of this delicious menu on our website, which is currently undergoing some big changes. Right now, there’s a taste of food, travel and wine from the latest issue, plus reviews on cuisinerestaurantoftheyear.co.nz. We’re working to get all your favourite Cuisine recipes on to a new site as soon as possible.
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In this newsletter | Soul's pan-fried scallops | John Saker's wine picks | Sizzling sausages | Pop-up Kiwi restaurant in Melbourne | | | .................................................................................................................. |
 | WHAT WE'RE COOKING AT HOME |  |
| In the kitchen with... Judith Tabron
With its fantastic views of the Viaduct Harbour and wonderful food, Soul Bar & Bistro is a stalwart on Auckland's dining scene and celebrates its 10th birthday this month. From the restaurant's recently released eponymous cookbook, owner Judith Tabron (pictured right) shares one of her favourite recipes.
Enrique Olvera visited Soul as a guest chef from Mexico City and inspired this mayonnaise. It adds a really punchy flavour to the scallops and asparagus. It is also great with French fries.
Pan-fried scallops with grilled asparagus & chipotle mayonnaise
Chipotle mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chipotle chilli pulp (substitute with chipotle chilli sauce)
½ clove garlic, crushed
2 egg yolks
½ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
zest and juice of 2 limes
100ml (approximately) extra virgin olive oil
75ml lighter-style olive oil
In a food processor, blend the chipotle pulp, garlic, egg yolk, paprika and lime. Slowly drizzle the mixed extra virgin and lighter olive oil in so the mixture emulsifies. Adjust the seasoning to taste and store in the fridge (this can be kept up to three days).
Scallops
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
250g large asparagus spears
320g scallops
4 large handfuls wild sorrel (substitute with baby spinach)
100g baby watercress
1 lemon, juice only
Place a chargrill or skillet on a high heat. Drizzle 2 spoonfuls of oil over the asparagus and season. Allow the asparagus to marinate in the oil for five minutes, while the grill comes to heat. Place the asparagus on the chargrill for a few minutes, turning occasionally to get an even colour.
Heat a large frying pan and use the remaining oil to fry the scallops. When the pan is reasonably hot, slowly add the scallops. Start at one end of the pan and once each is laid out start turning them from the first scallop placed in the pan, resulting in beautifully golden scallops. An average-sized scallop takes about one minute each side.
Dress each serving plate firstly with the mayonnaise
then the grilled asparagus. Add the scallops, then the sorrel and cress, and finish by squeezing fresh lemon juice on top.
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| WHAT WE'RE DRINKING AT HOME | |
| If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, France's Champagne houses should feel honoured. New Zealand's top methode sparkling wines are edging ever closer in style to the French versions, a trend noted in our latest tasting of local fizz. Cuisine's NZ wine writer John Saker shares a couple of his favourites:
- Lindauer Special Reserve Blanc de Blancs NV, 5 stars, top wine of the tasting and a Best Buy, $21. This wine is often priced well under $20 in the lead up to Christmas so keep a look out in the supermarket.
(What's more, if you buy any bottle of Lindauer Special Reserve in the month of November, you'll go into the draw to win a $10,000 shopping spree at Macy's in New York.) - Quartz Reef Methode Traditionnelle NV, 4½ stars, Top 5, $27-$30
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| LOOK OUT FOR... | |
| Sizzling the competition
Cuisine's Celia Harvey and Sarah Wall were among the judges at the Devro NZ Sausage Competition last week, helping to taste 470 sausages from throughout the country. After two days of blind tasting and judging, an Italian Casalinga from Christchurch's Ashby's Butchery was voted the nation's best. The casalinga also took out the People's Choice award, after the public were invited to sample the top sausages at the Auckland Fish Market following the second day of judging. For those not in Christchurch to pick up NZ's best in person, Ashby's sausages are available via mail order at rarefare.co.nz
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.................................................................................................................. Mid-week market at Riccarton House
Riccarton House Grounds, 16 Kahu Rd, Christchurch
For those who loved Christchurch's Twilight Markets, they’re back – with a new name – every Wednesday, 4pm-7pm. You'll find the usual excellent produce stalls, freshly baked breads, sweet treats and local wine, as well as a Stella Artois garden bar, featuring live music.
Meanwhile, one of the market's stall-holders Hummingbird Coffee is also part of the Christchurch Re:START project, running a full cafe in three shipping containers around the Ballantyne's end of Cashel Mall. Look for its coffee blend (pictured right) in supermarkets, with 30 cents from each 200g pack purchased going towards the rebuild of the city's Court Theatre.
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Akaroa Cooking School
81 Beach Rd, Akaroa
The 2012 summer timetable is out now and places are still available in this year's great classes, which include Day at the Bach and Christmas Banquet. Lou Bentley (pictured right) and the team at Akaroa Cooking School grow most of the produce used onsite and source the rest from local suppliers. Vouchers are also available to the value of $195 – great as a gift for the food enthusiast. See here for more information. | 
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| ADVERTISEMENT
Visit Wotif.com and enter your details to WIN 12 breaks worth over $9000. Enjoy two nights away every month for a year at Heritage, CityLife or Heritage Boutique Collection hotels throughout New Zealand. Click here to enter now.
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WLG pop-up
15-27 November,153 Gertrude St, Fitzroy, Melbourne
If you're going to be in Melbourne next week, make sure to head along to the Kiwi pop-up restaurant manned by some of our best chefs. Enjoy tapas-style tasting plates created especially for the event by award-winning chefs, including (pictured right, from left) Terry Lowe (Black Barn Restaurant & Vineyard), Shaun Clouston (Logan Brown), Jacob Brown (The Larder), Rex Morgan (Boulcott Street Bistro) and Tom Hutchison of Capitol (not pictured). Local beer producers Moa and Tuatara, as well as top New Zealand wines, will also be on show. Advance tickets have sold out, but walk-ins are available. For more information, see here.
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Celebrate Beaujolais Nouveau
17 November, 6pm-9pm
Floating Pavilion, Viaduct Harbour, Auckland
Be among the first in the world to try the new Beaujolais vintage in Auckland with the French New Zealand Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNZCCI). Made with gamay grapes from a region south of Burgundy, this celebrated red wine is released annually in France dead on midnight on the third Thursday in November. Each year more than 65 million bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau are drunk around the world. Tickets $55 (for FNZCCI members) or $65. Ph: 09-309 6100 or email: info@fnzcci.org.nz |  |
.................................................................................................................... Moët & Chandon Champagne Dinner
2 December, The Rees Hotel, Queenstown
In the last of the hotel’s culinary series for the year, enjoy an evening hosted by award-winning executive chef, Ben Batterbury (pictured right), who has created a four-course degustation menu matched with the finest vintages from one of the world's most prestigious Champagne houses. Bookings are essential.
$155 per person. See here for more information.
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My Little Hilton Festive Cooking Classes
10 & 11 December, Hilton Queenstown, $55
Families visiting Queenstown’s newest destination Kawarau Village this Christmas will delight in the kids' cooking class run by chefs from the Hilton Queenstown. After creating MasterChef-inspired dishes, the students will enjoy lunch in the village then leave with a cookbook and a My Little Hilton chef’s hat in hand. To book, ph: 03-450 9400 or email queenstown.info@hilton.com
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AUT University Summer School
Learn to look at food in a new light with Cuisine food editor Ray McVinnie by taking his gastronomy summer-school course at AUT from 16-26 January. This eight-day exploration (Mon-Thurs 9am-3pm) covers the history, anthropology and sociology of food and how we use food as part of our culture. Application forms can be downloaded from the website or contact Lily Lim at lily.lim@aut.ac.nz or ph: 09-921 9999, ext 6225. |  |
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| |  |  | 1 of 5 Selaks & Lodge Cast Iron Christmas packs
The latest in a long line of vintages, Selaks Heritage Reserve celebrates a rich winemaking heritage that spans more than 100 years. Selaks has teamed with Lodge, known for its fine cast-iron cookware guaranteed to last a lifetime, to give away 5 x Christmas packs, which include a twin pack of Selaks Heritage Reserve wines and a Lodge Cast-Iron skillet (RRP$125).
For a chance to win, email competitions@cuisine.co.nz putting Selaks and Lodge Cast Iron in the subject line by Friday 25 November.
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Who can resist a gift of bubbles, especially when it comes from Moët & Chandon in a beautifully crafted metal box finished in brushed gold? The container also doubles as a reusable isotherm chiller, keeping a cold bottle of Moët & Chandon Imperial NV chilled to perfection for hours. The Gift also comes with a golden metal booklet for inscribing a Christmas message. The two make the perfect pairing for Christmas.
To go in the draw to win one of these luxurious duos, valued at RRP$79.90, email competitions@cuisine.co.nz putting The Gift in the subject line before Friday
25 November.
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|  | Lodges of NZ gift voucher
Looking for the ultimate Christmas gift for the person who has everything? Why not consider a Lodges of New Zealand gift voucher? This collection of New Zealand’s most breathtaking luxury lodges makes the gift of giving easy this festive season with tailor-made gift vouchers that can be redeemed at any of the 26 luxury properties throughout the country. The lodges are small, intimate and the epitome of luxury. Friends or family can club together to buy a voucher using the gift registry service also available online. To kickstart the spirit of giving, Lodges of New Zealand is giving one lucky Cuisine reader the chance to win a gift voucher to one of its 26 lodges to the value of $1000. Email competitions@cuisine.co.nz with $1000 Luxury Lodge Voucher in the subject line by Friday 25 November. | .......................................
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