Friday, April 28, 2017

Breakfast on the Azure deck at The Twelve Apostles

There can't be many places with a view like the panorama from the deck of Azure Restaurant at the Twelve Apostles Hotel, on the road from Bakoven towards Llandudno and Hout Bay. We were invited for a breakfast meeting last week and were delighted that our current Indian Summer was continuing. When we arrived at nine, the sea was calm, the weather warm and, yes, we would like to sit out on the terrace to enjoy the view. The hotel is part of the Red Carnation Group of International Hotels
You can choose your breakfast from the vast array on the hot and cold buffet or you can order a cooked breakfast from the menu. This was the local smoked salmon trout and charcuterie display with all the additions you could imagine
Help yourselves to fresh local oysters, juice, pastries and croissants
Very nice plump oysters on ice
A glass of Kleine Zalze Mèthode Cap Classique bubble to get the day started, on its own or with orange juice
Fresh fruit in season, yoghurts, cereals and porridges
Sprinkle your cereal or Bircher muesli with dried fruit, bran, nuts or seeds
Fresh fruit and the cheese board with freshly baked bread and biscuits
Just chilling. Breakfast is served from 7.00 to 10.30 am
The breakfast menu.
We began simply. A glass of the Kleine Zalze MCC and two good Americano black coffees, topped with a good crema. This was followed by a pain au chocolate for John and some smoked trout, cream cheese and a croissant for Lynne
You can often see whales and dolphins swimming by in the season. It is a popular spot and the hotel is a popular wedding and function venue
Now please don't judge. It is not a mean breakfast. The small helping was Lynne's choice from the self serve warm buffet, She tries not to eat too much. You can have a huge helping should you desire. And go back for more. The stars of the show were the creamy buttery scrambled egg and the 'home made' baked beans, which were smoky and slightly spicy. And yes the bacon is crisp
John ordered the three egg omelette with cheese, bacon and chorizo. Excellent
Fisherman out at sea, pulling in their catch. This whole coastline is a marine nature reserve, so we hope they had permits
A misty morning view of Lion's Head with its feet in the sea
Down on Oudekraal beach after breakfast
A friendly stray, on this resort, who probably lives off the remains of barbecue
A view of the hotel from the road. It is only a short drive into town over Kloof Nek, the pass between Lion's Head and Table Mountain
And a view of the whole coastline with the side of Table Mountain and the Twelve Apostles (the ridge of mountains behind the hotel) standing guard

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

This Week's MENU. Breakfast at Cape Point Vineyards, Lunch at Faber, Pinotage and Biltong Festival, L'Avenir Glen Rose Pinotage 2015, Hollandaise Sauce

A Camps Bay autumn sunset
They tell us that we can expect rain tonight and tomorrow. The clouds are building, so we live in hope. There is enough water in our reservoirs to last about 2½ months. The upside of this “Indian Summer” is that we had wonderful warm sunny weather for our activities last weekend. We have the prospect of a wonderful lunch tomorrow and regional wine festivals this week and weekend, Taste of Darling and Elgin Cool Wine & Country Festival. If it rains on those parades we’ll be very happy and so, we are sure, will be the organisers. Click on the links to see the stories of the past week; we think that you’ll enjoy them

We felt like a drive in our new car to explore breakfast somewhere different and Cape Point Vineyards in Noordhoek got the vote. We also intended to explore the area afterwards. We did book and were reassured by them that the breakfasts, normally served outside, would be served inside should the weather change. We hadn’t been back there since we worked at their market in 2013. Read on.....
Sometimes you just have the most perfect day and last Saturday was it. We had booked for lunch for four of us during Restaurant Week at Faber. We had eaten and really enjoyed Chef Eric Bulpitt's food when he was at Newton Johnson and this is his new restaurant. So, when Lynne spotted Faber on the Restaurant Week list, she booked. We haven't been back to Avondale for several years - we try to get around as much as possible, but there is a long list of places we want to visit. And of course we do get invited to many.....
Smoking at The Test     This is not going to be a food review. There will be no links or photographs. The Test is a burger and sports bar in Sea Point, lots of TVs with sport on them, a long bar and some tables. We were invited there by friends to meet their parents and had a lovely evening with them. The hamburgers we had were good. Our waiter was pleasant. We all brought along some great wines, happy to pay the corkage. One huge problem for us: the front of the restaurant can be opened to the street, so the effluent from smokers at the tables on the pavement blows straight in to those eating inside. They allow smoking and despite asking them three times to ask patrons to stop, as it was spoiling our meal and smoking in a public place is illegal, they ignored us and actively encouraged it. So we won't be visiting again. Lynne had to use her puffer as the smoke really gets to her asthmatic lungs. And who wants constant cigarette smoke with their food? They should remember that ignorance (in both senses of the word) is no defence in law. We haven't reported them, but undoubtedly someone will
This annual festival was held on the grass at L' Avenir last weekend. It is a chance to taste some Cape Pinotages and lots of biltong. The days are still quite hot, so the wine farms were also encouraged to bring a chilled white or rosé wine so that there would be something for every taste. It was good value at R200 a ticket.....
This sophisticated rosé, which we tasted at the Pinotage and Biltong festival, really impressed us. From the first mouthful, you get perfumed raspberries and mulberries. It is seductively silky on the palate, the soft juiciness has a background of structural chalky tannin to support it and the wine develops in layers on the tongue. It took us right to the South of France imagining what it might be like with a Salade Niçoise or a rich fish soup. A food wine of note. 2015 is sold out, the new vintage is on the way soon. We also have to mention the special bottle which has the punt moulded to look like a protea
This is a classic. So many of us are enjoying it on Eggs Benedict at the moment that we thought that putting the recipe here might help. It is also delicious on asparagus, broccoli, fish etc.
3 egg yolks - 1/2 lemon, juiced - 1 teaspoon cold water - 1/2 teaspoon white pepper - 125 g salted butter -  salt to taste
In a small glass bowl (use one that will fit over a saucepan of hot water), using an electric whisk, mix together the egg yolks, lemon juice, cold water, and pepper till they are a frothy and light mousse, doubled in volume. Have ready a saucepan of barely simmering water. Place the bowl over the saucepan. You can use a double boiler. The bottom of the bowl must not touch the water. Melt the butter and put it into a jug. Gradually whisk a thin stream of the melted the butter into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking over low heat for 8 minutes, or until sauce is thickened. Do not let the mixture get too hot or the eggs will scramble. Taste the sauce and add salt if necessary. Use immediately or cover with a cloth and keep in a warm place until you need it. Not longer than a couple of hours though or the sauce will spoil
Should the sauce split (the egg and butter begin to separate) add another teaspoon of ice cold water and whisk like crazy. It should come back but might be a bit thinner. Optional flavours to add are (instead of the lemon juice) white wine vinegar or a herb vinegar like tarragon (will make this a Béarnaise sauce); cayenne pepper, Dijon mustard, 1/4 t sugar and even Worcester sauce or Tabasco. However the classic is made without all these and we think is the best
Blender Hollandaise

You can also make a version of this in a blender. It is very easy. Combine all the ingredients except the butter in your blender. Blend for 5 seconds till well mixed. Melt the butter (quick in the microwave) and put it into a jug. Set your blender to a high speed and add the hot melted butter in a long thin stream, it should thicken almost immediately

What’s on the Menu this week - Hollandaise Sauce

This is a classic. So many of us are enjoying it on Eggs Benedict at the moment that we thought that putting the recipe here might help. It is also delicious on asparagus, broccoli, fish etc.
3 egg yolks - 1/2 lemon, juiced - 1 teaspoon cold water - 1/2 teaspoon white pepper - 125 g salted butter -  salt to taste
In a small glass bowl (use one that will fit over a saucepan of hot water), using an electric whisk, mix together the egg yolks, lemon juice, cold water, and pepper till they are a frothy and light mousse, doubled in volume. Have ready a saucepan of barely simmering water. Place the bowl over the saucepan. You can use a double boiler. The bottom of the bowl must not touch the water. Melt the butter and put it into a jug. Gradually whisk a thin stream of the melted the butter into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking over low heat for 8 minutes, or until sauce is thickened. Do not let the mixture get too hot or the eggs will scramble. Taste the sauce and add salt if necessary. Use immediately or cover with a cloth and keep in a warm place until you need it. Not longer than a couple of hours though or the sauce will spoil
Should the sauce split (the egg and butter begin to separate) add another teaspoon of ice cold water and whisk like crazy. It should come back but might be a bit thinner. Optional flavours to add are (instead of the lemon juice) white wine vinegar or a herb vinegar like tarragon (will make this a Béarnaise sauce); cayenne pepper, Dijon mustard, 1/4 t sugar and even Worcester sauce or Tabasco. However the classic is made without all these and we think is the best
Blender Hollandaise

You can also make a version of this in a blender. It is very easy. Combine all the ingredients except the butter in your blender. Blend for 5 seconds till well mixed. Melt the butter (quick in the microwave) and put it into a jug. Set your blender to a high speed and add the hot melted butter in a long thin stream, it should thicken almost immediately

MENU's Wine of the Week. L'Avenir GlenRosé 2015

This sophisticated rosé, which we tasted at the Pinotage and Biltong festival really impressed us. From the first mouthful, you get perfumed raspberries and mulberries. It is seductively silky on the palate, the soft juiciness has a background of structural chalky tannin to support it and the wine develops in layers on the tongue 
It took us right to the South of France imagining what it might be like with a salad Nicoise or a rich fish soup. A food wine of note. 2015 is sold out, the new vintage is on the way soon. We also have to mention the special bottle which has the punt carved out to look like a protea

The Pinotage and Biltong Festival at L'Avenir, Stellenbosch

This annual festival was held on the grass at L' Avenir last weekend. It is a chance to taste some Cape Pinotages and lots of biltong. The days are still quite hot, so the wine farms were also encouraged to bring a chilled white wine or a rosé so there would be something for every taste. It was good value at R200 a ticket. This festival will be held in Gauteng on the 14th and 15th of October this year at the Leriba Hotel, Centurion. Tickets will cost R250
Despite the confusing sign it was Pinotage not Pinot Noir
The ticket queue
How it works: You were given this card with the list of the Pinotages you can taste. They tick them off as you taste them. Every wine is paired with biltongs from two suppliers: Boschendal with their Black Angus Beef Biltong and Dad's Choice, so you got to taste each biltong twice. You were given a very small bamboo tray that took 3 or 4 pieces of biltong. There was quite a selection of different biltong - some delicious and some rather weird. If we never taste chicken or bacon biltong again we will not mind. All other wines on the stands could be tasted without ticking a card
L' Avenir's tasting room, with outdoor seating
They had a cheese board on offer for R100
On the Lanzerac stand, Zelda Furstenburg and her colleague. Lynne enjoyed their Rosé
Knorhoek had an interesting Pinotage, which John liked
Nice moist Lemon Pepper Biltong from Boschendal. They were generous with their portions
Lots of places to sit and thankfully as it was a hot day, lots and lots of umbrellas giving shade
Mellasat showed their white Pinotage. We like the new packaging
Stellenbosch Vineyards had a very enjoyable bubbly, their rich and nutty Infinity Brut MCC made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier on sale at a very special price
Now that's fast food
There were some food stalls
We had Boerewors rolls from Boschendal which has the meat steeped in Pinotage. Good flavour but, sadly, they were a bit overcooked and dry
Great views of the lake and the Simonsberg
The band was great and played music to bop to all day
Our celebrity shot! Two members of the media we see often: Sue-Ann Allen, (Masterchef SA 2012 runner up) and Broadcaster John Meinking of #Hashtag Radio
A very important, award winning Stellenbosch winemaker visiting the festival gave Lynne a tip, "Go and taste the Wellington Wines". He was so right, they are doing some really good things to taste, leading with two good Pinotages
Chilling under the oaks
Still lush vineyards
Altydgedacht with their Pinotage delighted us
More enjoyment. It’s a very chilled festival
Where next?
Asking questions about the Paradyskloof wine
Leipzig pouring wine
It’s a Platter 4 star
The L' Avenir wine cellar
Girls having fun with Vriesenhof’s Paradyskloof Unwooded Chardonnay
We ended the day chatting with L' Avenir winemaker Dirk Coetzee. Now that Ad Vini, who own L' Avenir, have bought Le Bonheur wine farm and a share of Forrester Vineyards, Dirk is going to be very busy. Everyone was talking about his Pinotage rosé, just bottled and we were very impressed. It still has to be labelled, but will be available very soon. But the wine that blew our socks off was his Glen Rosé which is our Wine of the Week. Sadly, this is currently sold out off the farm but might be on good restaurant wine lists or in some of the wine retailers. The new vintage is on the way

The afternoon draws to a close with happy people still relaxing on the lawn