What are we serving up this week at O’Vineyards Winemaker’s Table?

– Peter Aucamp, Johannesburg, South Africa – TripAdvisor Senior Contributor –

Reviewed March 18, 2013:
“A wonderful evening”

“How fortunate to have found O’Vineyards through Tripadvisor. We spent a wonderful evening with such generous hosts were indulged with wonderful food and amazing wines. How nice to sit around one big table. A visit to the vineyards, followed by a cellar tour and blind tasting before being seated at one large table with the hosts and other guests. Think this was our best food and wine experience in this region in 5 years! Thank you so much – we hope to visit again and will be recommending this experience to all our friends.

At O’Vineyards we like to share good food and good wine with our visitors.

When it’s done and over, we realized we enjoy the company as much or more as they did!

1. Fresh scallops, fennel, oinion & other veggies
2. Opened scallops
3. Sauté in one table spoon of olive oil, Fennel & other veggies of your choice, add oinion
4. After 10 minutes, fast cook scallops on both sides
5. Bon appétit!

Winemaker’s Table

Twelve guests enjoyed Liz’s all natural Lobster Bisque. Easy to prepare …. but a little time consuming… Do it the day before! and you will be happy to put on the table your delightful bisque! Enjoy!

1. Fresh Vegetables: pumpkin, carrott, potato, leek, celery branch
2. Cook in the steamer: vegetables and lobster, lobster broth, salt & pepper … only for about 10 minutes after the steamer wistles
3. Remove leek and celery (that were just used for the flavor)
4. In the blender, mix the lobster meat,  pumpkin and carrott (get that bright “lobster bisque” color), potato ( to thicken the bisque)
5. Use another lobster tail slightly boiled and sliced in cubes. add  the lobster cubes in the bisque before serving!

 

With this gorgeous weather, many visitors from Down Under , the US and the UK have been taking advantage of this.

Our new guests brought back the mementos of our friends. We are continuing to post more pictures! Thank you again for the great memories shared during 2012 !  HAPPY NEW YEAR ! Hope to see you again soon in 2013 !

Wall of Fame part 2

Wedding with O’Wines! Thank you Michael and Fay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Brave Soul in O’Vineyards Kitchen…

One brave soul dared to spend a few hours in the shoes, or rather apron of Chef Liz to participate in one of O’Vineyards’ fascinating Food & Wine Workshop. Katie’s parents hungrily observed the process as she learned how to prepare a multiple-course meal under the guidance of none other than Chef Liz herself. Katie began by testing her skills at preparing Chef Liz’s unique sweet-and-savory hors d’oeuvres:

• Pear-Roquefort Crumpets with almond slices and coconut shavings
• Homemade Spring Rolls and Chef Liz’s garlic and lime soy sauce
• Melted Goat Cheese and Herb Crumpets, starring rosemary and thyme from O’Vineyards very own herb garden (yes, they do grow plants other than grapevines!)
• Black Pudding Stuffed Apples

Not dainted by this initial challenge, Katie dared to attmempt the second step: preparing Liz’s internationally inspired main dishes, including:

• Bami (an Indonesian national dish composed of vermicelli noodles, spring onions and other vegetables)
• Roasted turkey à la crème fraîche with leeks
• Perfectly grilled Merguez, the celebrated lamb- and beef-based sausages typically enjoyed in North African dishes
• Mashed Potatoes with Melted Brie
• Twice-Baked Potatoes à l’Américaine, with fresh chopped bacon, melted brie and chives from the O’Vineyards herb garden

The second-to-last challenge in Katie’s Workshop involved learning which herbs go best with which cheeses. She found that some of the best pairings were sheep’s milk cheese with rosemary, and the brie with a sage leaf.

To finish “avec une petite douceur” (with a little touch of sweetness) — as Mom and Dad’s tastebuds could hardly hold out another minute — Chef Liz walked her through the process of making the perfect Tarte Tatin, a sort of carmelized apple upside down pie, if I may dare. This final challenge proved to be a difficult one: properly carmelizing sugar is no easy task, and neither is the scary-impressive-pie-flip-over step, but Katie pulled off these final stunts with flying colors.

Katie was very proud (and after surmounting the challenge, quite hungry too). The other guests around the table were delighted to taste the end result of Katie’s culinary escapade, accompanied with none other than Joe’s pairing of O’Vineyards delicious wine! Having personally experienced all of these dishes and many more delicious meals paired with O’Vineyards wines at the Winemaker’s Table, I can only say…

“Way to go, Chef!”