Food review by Frank Liebeskind and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Two words pop into my mind, at my brother’s COTD luncheon, “brave” and “crazy”.

Steve did 3 canapes, individual Beef Wellingtons, and a salad. Steve was assisted in the (prep) and kitchen by fellow member David Simmonds.

As you read below, try and count the number of elements that Steve had to prepare and serve, for 46 of us who attended, “crazy”.

And individual Beef Wellingtons for 46 of us – “Brave” (high risk, high rewards comes to mind.

Canapes

These were plentiful and brilliant, with the beef tartare the standout, the artichoke-based canape different and excellent, the chevre pastry shell very good and the simplest of the three.

All were well received, the beef tartare was everyone’s favourite, Steve used the offcuts from the eye fillet used in the Wellingtons, and added everything from tabasco, salt (lots he said), capers, herbs and spices until he was happy.

So we had, and more than enjoyed:

1. Chevre (goat cheese) and beetroot chutney in a pastry shell
2. Artichoke, fruit chutney (homemade) and parmesan on cracker
3. Beef Tartare (generous amount) served on a spoon

Main

Individual Beef Wellingtons, brave. The presentation was excellent, and every element was full of taste,

Steve served the “pastie” (Greg Chugg’s word not mine) with his beetroot chutney and a brilliant ratatouille of onion, zucchini, eggplant, red capsicum and tomatoes.

Beetroot chutney was full of taste and a sweet/sour that complimented the beef, and the ratatouille was tasty, complex and matched perfectly.

How were the Wellingtons? Very well received, pastry cooked well, but as Steve admitted, the beef was a little more cooked than he had hoped.

The eye fillet used was excellent, soft and easily cut (not the Harris Farm economy eye fillet, but a quality fillet sourced from the butchery in the Edgecliff Centre).

Steve tied the fillets with string, lightly seared the seasoned full-eye fillets, rubbed fillets with mustard, refrigerated them overnight before cutting them into individual portions, then wrapped them in the pastry and an egg wash and sesame seeds before they went in the oven.

Included on the Wellingtons were Steve’s famous homemade chicken liver pate and his Duxelle (mushroom, onion, thyme and butter). Some members hoped the mushrooms were not of Chinese origin from Melbourne.

Every element was full of taste and combined perfectly for an excellent dish.

Then a cup of jus was provided to each table, tasty, be it a little thin, and it softened the pastry a little on my plate, I personally am not sure the jus added anything to the dish.

Salad

Steve, not taking the easy way out (with nuts/fruit), then served an excellent of green mixed leaves, roasted capsicum, roasted almond slivers and Steve’s version of a white balsamic vinaigrette, which was excellent, and a beautifully balanced dressing.

In the morning as Steve took all the elements to the kitchen, I asked him how he was feeling,

his answer was, “I’ll feel better when the Valium starts working”, then I asked him after lunch, and he said “relieved, and he felt he had been on his feet for 48 hours”.

A lot of effort that provided an excellent lunch was enjoyed by all, thank you Steve.

Cheese

I loved today’s cheese, and it was well received and commented on by the members.

Mark served us a Chabrin from Onetik Dairy in the Basque region.

Chabrin is a naturally rinded pressed cheese, aged in the cellars for three months resulting in a dense but smooth, creamy texture that coats the palette and lingering mineral aroma.

It lived up to this description.

Mark wrote to me “It comes from the Onetik cheese dairy in Macaye, France some 20 km southeast of Bayonne in the Basque Country, it is a goat cheese, but can be mistaken for a sheep cheese if left out for a while, and  I can see why Roger McGuinness thought it was a Manchego. The cheese dairy is an artisan one with about 20 dairy suppliers and it also makes Ossau Iraty (which is sheep). The terrain is probably too hilly for dairy cattle although they do have a cow's milk cheese, but goats and sheep can get around quite well. I thought it to be an excellent hard cheese”, I agree with Mark, an excellent cheese, happy to enjoy it again.

Wine

We have had some great days over the last few months, this however was not one of them! “Into each life, a little rain must fall” as the old saying goes, and you have to take all in your stride and remain positive for better days ahead. I thought the wines across the board today were very disappointing.  I will leave it to others to comment on Steve Liebeskind’s great efforts with the food.

The wines with the excellent pass-arounds were a NZ Riesling from Framingham Estate 2016 at 13.5% and a Seppelt Salinger Sparkling 2010 Vintage at 12%.

I am not the person to objectively review NZ Riesling, I just do not fancy it. Their Chardonnays are at times wonderful, but their Rieslings are to my taste too sweet with lots of residual sugar. Phil Laffter said he had detected a hint of botrytis. The wine itself was well made and quite drinkable and would appeal to those who liked that style. It did go well with the food on hand. The second wine, the Salinger is one of the Top Australian Sparklers. Now 13 yo, but holding itself very well I thought. Good bubbles, at least initially, but finishing with a sweetish aftertaste, which several members commented to me upon. I think it was always going to be that way.  Nevertheless enjoyable with the food, if not everyone’s cup of tea.

We then moved on to two red brackets, the Wynns and the Rosemount at first, followed by the St Hugo and the St George. At first blush, this looks like an attractive lineup but looks can be deceptive.  What we had was a group of Australian ‘Old School’ red wines, all getting on in years and all big on alcohol. Age ranged from 2004 to 2012. Trouble brewing I suspected?

In my view, all of these wines had spent 3 or 4 years too long in the cellar, with the exception of the Rosemount.

Starting with the Wynns Black Label Coonawarra Shiraz 2012 at 13.5%, this was always going to be an acceptable but boring wine. You get what you paid for. I felt the acid had fallen away, leading to a flabby finish, although, I did hear some comments that they had detected a trace of mint. Good luck with that! The wine just lacked life.

Next was the Rosemont Balmoral Shiraz 2004 the elder statesman of the group. Now this was a wine that actually showed some life, albeit now 19 yo. Gossip around the room stated that this wine had been kept in cask for 8 years. Whatever was the secret, the wine was clearly more flavoursome than its younger companions. A big wine at 14.5%, but had a good balance between its huge Shiraz fruit and oak and tannin elements. It was the surprise wine of the group, far better than what I was anticipating.

Next was the 2009 St Hugo Cabernet at 14.2%, normally a reliable wine, but the few bottles the room consumed failed to deliver, at least mine did, and several others in the room expressed the same view.  Oxidised, tired, hopeless. Enough said. Sad.

The curtain on this disappointing afternoon was brought down by the St George Cabernet 2008 at 14%. Normally a match-winner, but, perhaps being drunk 5 years beyond its peak failed to show it at its best.  Far better than the Sad St Hugo, with good residual fruit of Cabernet and acceptable aftertaste, yet still it was a step down from some of the fine St George’s I have had in the past. Perhaps I am expecting too much!  

So there we have it, a day when wine wise it was uniformly below our usual high standards.  On many of our lunches over the last 6 months say, there has always been one or two standouts, even if the majority are unexciting. Not so today, no stars.  That’s life.