Easter Treats...

In the latest "Next" Magazine I found a drool-inducing recipe for  Chocolate Salted Caramel Truffle 'eggs' for Easter.  It sounded too easy to be true, so today I gathered together my ingredients to give them a go...

Firstly, the ingredients - dark chocolate, caramel condensed milk, cream, vanilla extract and sea salt flakes.

Melt the chocolate and cream in a bowl over a pot of simmering water.

Stir in the caramel, vanilla extract and salt (I did add a pinch of extra salt after tasting)

Cool in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Roll in cocoa powder or chocolate sprinkles (I combined the two).

I've made a small bowl to take to a friend's tonight - they'll be the ultimate taste-testers.  I have enough ganache left to make about 30 of these beauties!  I don't think they'll be egg shaped, but the longer the ganache is chilled, the easier it is to shape.  Obviously they need to be stored in a fridge to keep.  The magazine didn't say for how long, but I think they'd last a few days okay.  Let's face it, they're too delectable to hang around for very long un-eaten! So I'll have to make this batch up and share at work.

However, it is so simple, easy and cheaper than easter eggs, I think I might be doing another batch well before Easter!

The Final Product!

Torlesse Tasting

I went to a wine tasting tonight of Torlesse wines.  I've been to the winery in Waipara a few times, patted the dog, and tasted good wine.  Tonight was no exception, the difference is they came to Christchurch (without the dog!).

We had a tasting of 7 wines (both Torlesse and Omihi Road labels) as well as the Torlesse Tawny Port and their famous Cassis.  Unfortunately I was the sober driver, so I did a fair bit of emptying into the spittoon.  There wasn't a dud wine in the lot, although I'd have to say the least favourite, surprisingly as I like my Chardonnays, was the Omihi Road 2008 Chardonnay.  Although my friend said if I'd been able to have a little bit more, it was one of those wines that 'grows on you'.

Pick of the night for me tonight was my purchase - the Omihi Road 2009 Pinot Gris.  It was just lovely.  I'm not a big Sav girl, but their Torlesse 2012 Sauvignon Blanc is very drinkable and so reasonably priced.  It's a good wine for a summery evening drink.

When it came to the reds my pick was the 2010 Cabernet Merlot.

Then out came the Port... wow.  This is beautiful, and as good as any international one you can purchase.  It is also very affordable.

Finally, we finished with the Cassis, which is so versatile -  you can make cocktails, desserts, hot toddy's... (packed full of Vitamin C!).  Ribena for adults?? No way, this is so delicious you could cry!

All in all a great night, with informative and entertaining discourse, discussions ranged from the oak barrels and the "Angel's Share" (often referred to with whisky) through to talking about the Waipara area.

Oh, and a plug for the Waipara Wine & Food Festival 24th March - if you're in Canterbury that weekend, it could well be worth a visit.  I know I'm a local, but Waipara is well known for it's rieslings, and more... Plenty of world class wine being made here.

The Woolston Hop (Twisted Hop)

Mushroom Risotto

This month's outing (which is actually February's one, but with a short month we encroached on March) took us to the Twisted Hop - Woolston, or the "Woolston Hop" as it's referred to on the web.  The original Twisted Hop, of course, was in Lichfield Lane, now long gone after the earthquakes.  Envoking the rule to support re-opening venues, we turned up at the Woolston Hop at 12.30pm for a Saturday lunch. 

Garlic Prawns

Lovely airy space inside, with panels for soundproofing/acoustics, the new Hop has a nice vibe about it.  We decided, despite the grey day, to sit outside - which wasn't a bad choice given the sun started to come out and it wasn't cold.  There is a nice big gas fire out the back for winter nights in the outside seating.  There is also an upstairs seating area which is a nice option if you want to dine at night away from the noise and hustle of the main bar.

The menu is very concise - yet had enough choice on it.  2x Market Fish of the Day (served with morrocan spices, sauce and a chickpea salad), 1x Lamb Salad, 1x Mushroom Risotto and 2x Garlic Prawns were subsequently ordered.

Lamb Salad

Most of the table went for a cider accompaniment, although a Twisted Hop Pilsner was also ordered to go with the food.

Fish of the Day

The food was absolutely delicious.  I had the Lamb Salad which had a mediterranean feel with the salad, but the coated crunchy almonds were flavoured with star anise and added quite a different edge to it.  I would give it a good 4.5/5 for flavour.  Serving sizes were also substantial.

Service was excellent, with our host being very informative, helpful with pleasantly friendly demeanor.

Chocolate & Raspberry Torte

The desserts were enquired about and two partook in full dessert, with another two having ice-cream.

Funknstein Tart

All in all a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon of the  first Saturday in autumn, with a leisurely 2.5 hours of dining and chat.  I'll definitely go back.  The Twisted Hop also hosts numerous events, including a quiz, and upcoming events included a Jazz night and a Beer & Cheese evening.  I do feel with places like this, and The Brewery (part of the Hop family) in Wooston, the area is going to surpass Addington with venues.  

Well done to the establishment!

Red Bowl

It's been a bit of a week of eating out this week.  I headed out to the Court Theatre last night and my friend and I decided to have a quick bite to eat before the show.

Located in Mandeville Street, with plenty of off-street parking, Red Bowl offers Chinese dining in a big airy light restaurant.   The service was friendly and efficient, and even though we had an early booking (5.45pm) it had a few tables already - by the time we left it was quite busy, always a good sign.

We decided to share an entree of spring rolls - beautifully cooked.  What I liked were they weren't the large spring rolls, nor the tiny ones - a good in-between size, so that 3 each were sufficient.

My friend ordered the Lamb & Coriander and I ordered the Hot & Spicy Chicken & Vegetables.  The spice on this was medium, which was good as my friend doesn't enjoy hot food, but was able to share it.  The Lamb & Coriander was sublime.  Both options just lovely and went well with the Rose wine we had brought along (BYO licence).

We were offered doggy bags, but as we were going to be out for 3 hours decided we had better leave our leftovers this time.

Very affordable - we had an Entertainment Book voucher and it came to $38 so a very cheap and cheerful outing indeed. Would recommend.

Cafe Valentino

Well the Divine Diners headed off for a "school night" dinner at Cafe Valentino this week.

This outing came under our "relocation rule" as we had not ventured there in it's new location in St Asaph Street.   The new CV is airy and roomy, yet still had the vibe of the old venue.  Perhaps it's the brick wall with momentos hanging on it - in true CV style.

Anyway we felt it was a great new venue and I personally loved the mosaic wood-fire pizza oven, visible from the main dining area.

Amongst the dishes ordered were the Mediterranean Salad (with lamb) which looked divine and was nearly my choice.  My two friends confirmed it was very good.  Also ordered were a vegetarian gnocchi dish, a seafood pasta.  I ordered the lamb shanks, as did one other, but we both went for the "little boys" version - with one lambshank rather than two.  Good choice, as I don't think I would have managed a second one - it was beautifully cooked but very filling, served on a lovely parmesan mash with a tomato and bean sauce.

A little time between courses while fine conversation was had, and yes we decided desserts would be ordered.  I was going to be so good, given that I'm trying to be healthy... but if there's Creme Brulee on the menu...  Suffice to say I ordered said dish!  Others ordered the Tiramasu (to share, and it was definitely a sharing sized serve) and the fabulous chocolate concoction "valentino al cioccolato".  One of the others went for a tea with a chocolate truffle.

All in all, we spent a great three and a half hours in this establishment and I think the consensus is that Cafe Valentino is back, better than ever. We certainly liked the high roof and openness.   Given time, I'm sure there will be more and more momentoes to adorn the wall as Christchurch rebuilds.

I forgot to take photos until the end, so unfortunately you only have our dessert selection to drool over!

4/5

Cortado!

Not an official report, but I headed out to dinner at Cortado, Somerfield St, Beckenham last night for a friend's birthday.

Cortado offer a great range of food on the menu, from pizzas and pastas, steaks, and a fare range of seafood too.  My friend had the seafood platter (for 1) and it looked amazing, even to me a non-seafood eater!  She said it was beautiful too.  Others ordered soup of the day, caesar salad, fish of the day, seafood marinara, and steak.  Because I had been there before, I knew the size of the mains is pretty substantial and had my eye on dessert (prior knowledge is sometimes key!).  I ordered Risotto Balls and a salad - two entrees, as my main.  Lovely crisp outer to a creamy risotto with a lovely herb & cheese sauce.  mmm.

Dessert... well.  "Dulche de Leche" is the key here.  I had another attempt at the Limenian Sigh which is basically caramel with a meringue.  The first time I went to Cortado I could not complete it, and the challenge had been set!  This time I managed all but four spoonfuls (which were for others to taste) so a pretty good effort, and my friend had the ice-cream sundae with the Dulce de Leche.  Interestingly the sauce on the sundae was quite different to the one in my dessert.  I definitely think the Limenian Sigh would benefit from ice-cream rather than the meringue as it somehow softened it... but by golly it was good, and the glass was scraped clean!

Prices are all reasonable and the service was very friendly and efficient.  It can get busy late in the week and a bit noisy, but is definitely worth booking a table.

Divine Dining...

I have a bunch of friends who meet once a month for a meal.

Originally there were four of us, and it all began over a Christmas drink in December 2000 to catch up.  I had two separate groups of people who I wanted to meet up with and I chose a spot that was local to both groups and the four of us met for the first time at the now long-gone Jolly Poacher Bar.  After a couple of drinks we decided to dine somewhere and headed to the also long-gone Tin Goose.  And so dawned a new idea to go somewhere different every month.  We gave ourselves a name (the Divine Diners) and an institution was born.

There are now seven of us and we each take turns picking somewhere to go, with the rule being that the majority haven't been to the place before.  We NEVER ran out of new places to try.  After the February 2011 earthquakes, we did relax the rule, to support restaurants re-opening, we could go back once.  We have done this for the Bodhi Tree and St Germain.

Of course we do go back to places, unofficially, or with other friends.  For our 10th year anniversary we did go on a field trip to Moeraki to Fleur's for a weekend trip.

Looking across Moeraki to Fleur's from our camping ground cabin

Fleur's door

It's by the sea...

So, now into our 13th year, stay tuned to this page for updates on our local dining adventures of the Divine Diners.  I will attempt to reflect all the group's thoughts on a place, but  for the main it will be my view of the venue!