Given all the snack foods we had been feasting on throughout the day (including the sherbet pink Moscato gelato from Innocent Bystander as a ‘morning tea dessert’) the three of us opted for a lighter lunch, sharing a Cheese Tasting Plate ($25) and a Pork and Pistachio Terrine ($11.50).

The Cheese Tasting Plate - A selection of 4 cheeses for $25

The Cheese Tasting Plate includes 4 varieties of cheese – 2 cows milk and 2 goats milk – as well as your choice of beetroot and orange relish, quince paste or sweet onion jam on the side. Because I think beetroot makes everything taste better, I could not resist a little dish of beetroot and orange relish. The relish was sweet, with the spicy and fragrant notes of orange, cinnamon and mustard bursting through.

A little dish of beetroot and orange relish

The 4 cheeses were:

1. Marinated Persian Feta (cows milk). A sharp tangy, feta infused in extra virgin olive oil, thyme, garlic  and bay leaves.
2. The House Cow. A lovely soft curd, with fresh garlic and chives. Very fresh and flavoursome.
3. Fresh Goats Pyramid. This cheese has a very distinctive, sharp and tangy flavour, followed (somewhat surprisingly) with a very smooth and creamy finish on the mouth.
4. Black Savourine, a semi mature goats cheese,  with a velvety smooth texture and nutty flavour. The Black Savourine is also in the shape of a pyramid – which is the traditional goats cheese shape. Interestingly, the surface of the cheese is covered in ash and is then placed in the maturing room, allowing white mould to grow on the surface.  (I promise you though, it is far more delicious than it sounds!).

As soon as I saw the Pork and Pistachio Terrine peering at me from the display cabinet, I just had to have it. It ticked all of the right boxes – coarsely chopped meat (including flecks of fat for flavour), covered in prosciutto for extra flavour and a generous distribution of bright green pistachio nuts for texture.

Pork and Pistachio Terrine

The Cheese Tasting Plate was accompanied by a towering mountain of bread and crackers on the side,  which included some lovely dense sourdough, nutty grain bread, water crackers and crisp herb and garlic infused baked pita crips. There was more than enough bread available for all of the cheeses and the terrine.

A towering mountain of bread and crackers on the side

In addition to cheese, the YDV also sell some fantastic homewares – including ye olde style jugs and measuring cups, cheese boards and lots of quirky illustrated tea towels. Let’s just say all of the homewares are very hard to resist and The Brooding Architect was very happy (relieved) that I only walked out of there with only this tea towel!

I whipped up a batch of these savoury little treats for a recent Red Wine Club meeting. These biscuits are perfect for after works drinks, as you can pre-prepare the mixture, freeze it as a log and then cut off slices and bake as you require – very 1950s domestic goddess. All you need is a drinks trolley stocked with gin and green olives to complete the scene.

This recipe comes from ‘The Really Useful Cookbook’

Ingredients

• 200g plain flour, sifted
• 175g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 2 teaspoons chopped chives (or baby leeks if you happen to pick the wrong herbs in the dark like me!)
• 50g freshly grated parmesan
• 125g cheddar, finely grated
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Pinch of salt (I like Mount Zero Pink Lake Salt if you can find it)

Method

1. Place the flour, butter, cheddar, parmesan, lemon juice, chives and salt in a food processor and process until the mixture comes together in a ball.
2. Place the mixture on a large sheet of baking paper, then roll into a log about 30cm long with a 5cm diameter. Twist the ends to seal. Chill for about 3o minutes.
3. Chill for 30 minutes, then remove from the fridge and roll the log on the bench top a few times to refine the cylinder shape. (I forgot this step and my biscuits still turned out fine – although a little more rustic and oblong looking).
4. Return to the fridge for at least 2 hours, until the mixture has set very firm.
5. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius and line a baking paper with baking paper.
6. Unwrap the chilled, set dough log and cut into thin (3-4 millimetre) slices. Place slices on the prepared baking trays and bake for 1o to 15 minutes, until the biscuits are just starting to turn golden brown around the edges. (I found 12 minutes was the perfect baking time in my electric, fan forced oven).
7. Cool on the baking baking tray for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Enjoy the finished product with your favorite tipple. Great with a cold cider or beer.

The concept of the Red Wine Club is simple – bring a bottle (or two, or three) of a drop you are keen to try as well a plate of food to add to the pot-luck style lunch. Given that none of us actually know a lot about the specifics of red wine – apart from the fact that we like to drink a lot of it – the Red Wine Clubs is really just an excuse to get together for a long, boozy lunch with friends.

The inspiration behind red wine club

After a few prompting emails from The Organiser, the time and place for the inaugural meeting of the Red Wine Club was set.

The Brooding Architect and I had a few (okay 36) bottles of wine floating around from our recent trip to the Yarra Valley, so ended up choosing the following bottles to take along:

• Train Trak Sojourn Cabernet-Shiraz 2008 – Under $20 -  Label Reads: A medium bodied wine produced from 55% of Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% of Shiraz from our Yarra Glen vineyard. Lifted cherry notes and spicy flavours are supported by well round tannins. Produced at low cropping levels and matured in French and American barriques for twenty months.
• Train Trak Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 – $20 to $25 – Label Reads: Bright crimson with purple hues, the wine shows aromas of berry fruit leading to a full bodied palate. Blackcurrant notes upfront end with great length and fine grain tannins. Produced at low cropping levels, matured in French barriques (30% new) for eight months, then in older barriques for further six months before final blending. Rich and earthy.
• Punt Road Pinot Noir 2005 - $20 to $25 – Label Reads: Light to medium bodied with lively red cherry, plum and spice flavours. The palate has a lingering finish and a fine, soft tannin structure.

While technically outside of the red wine category, we also brought along some Punt Road pear and apple ciders. The Punt Road ciders are crisp and refreshing – a far cry from the sickly sweet Strongbows I remember drinking as a 17 year old. A key point of difference with the Punt Road ciders is that they are fermented using table quality (that is eating quality) apples and pears. These Cheddar Biscuits, from a recipe in David Herbert’s ‘The Really Useful Cookbook’ were a great nibbly to accompany the cider and kick off the festivities:

To mop up the red wine, we brought along some Rustic Ricotta Meatballs in a Tomato and Red Wine Sauce. This recipe tends to change each time I make it, but it basically consists of pork and beef minced, combined with fresh ricotta.

Of the wines we took along, the unanimous favorite was the very moderately priced Train Trak Cab Sav. The Train Trak website sells this wine for $23, but you can pick it up at the Cellar Door for about $19 if you buy it by the case. Also, if wine medals mean anything to you (they don’t to me), the Train Trak Cab Sav picked up the Bronze Medal at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show 2008, the Bronze Medal at the Yarra Valley Wine Show 2007 and has a 4 glass rating from THE Australian Wine Guru, James Halliday. 

The Red Wine Club is heading to the Mornington Peninsula weekend,  to get a much needed crash course in wine tasting and to stock up on a few new bottles to replace the 7 or 8 consumed last weekend. Stay tuned for Meeting No. 2…