Seasonal Regional Foods – Dolmades
Foods from around the world tend to reflect the regional nature of the climate, geography and in deed the residents and their culture. Some of the now world famous gourmet foods originated in small rural villiages throughout Europe. At Toms Waterhole wines in Canowindra, in the beautiful Belubula Valley we continue to look for local foods to match our wines. To this end the vine leaves are large and tender after all the recent rain so that leads us to turn our hands to making Dolmades.
I refer to Wikipedia for a definition….
Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions such as Russia, Middle East and the Caucasus and Central and South Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma. Common vegetables to stuff include onion, zucchini, eggplant, tomato and pepper. The stuffing may or may not include meat. Meat dolma are generally served warm, often with sauce; meatless ones are generally served cold, though meatless dolma are eaten both ways in Iran. Both are often eaten with yogurt. The filling generally consists of rice, minced meat or grain. In either case, the filling includes onion, parsley, herbs and spices. Meatless fillings are cooked with olive oil and include raisins or currants, onion, nuts or pulses.
Dolma is a verbal noun of the Turkish verb dolmak, ‘to be stuffed’, and means ‘stuffed thing’.[1][2]
Dolma is a stuffed vegetable, that is, a vegetable that is hollowed out and filled with stuffing. This applies to courgette, tomato, pepper, eggplant, and the like; stuffed mackerel, squid, and mussel are also called dolma. Dishes involving wrapping leaves such as vine leaves or cabbage leaves around a filling are called sarma though in many languages, the distinction is usually not made. Sarma is derived from the Turkish verb sarmak which means ‘to wrap’. Other variants derive from the Turkish word for ‘leaf’, yaprak.
Anyway back to Canowindra we think it will make an interesting experiment to see if our Dolmades taste any different wrapped in Chardonnay, Shiraz or Sangiovese leaves.
Is anyone else game to join the experiment???
2012 Canowindra Balloon Challenge
The dates have now been announced April 14th to 21st 2012. This will be a competitive Hot air balloon event with up to $10,000 in prizemoney. There will be a keygrab, balloon glow and night markets.
Updated Canowindra Challenge Programme
To view the latest updated details of what’s happening in Canowindra April 5th to 11th have a look here or to see the Official programme here.
All pilots wishing to attend are reminded that your registration forms are due in now.
Please note a change for the master briefing to 3.00pm Monday 5th April not Sunday as previously circulated.
Another change is that students with instructors and low hour pilots may attend as non-competing “Fiesta” attendees with free registration.
What's in a name?
Well this recent Newsletter article evoked so much comment that we thought it appropriate to duplicate it here.
Apostrophe man has been to visit us. This is the mad pedant who insists on correct punctuation and who is now insisting that we should put an apostrophe in “toms.” We won’t and we can’t for two very good reaWhat’s in a name?
Apostrophe man has been to visit us. This is the mad pedant who insists on correct punctuation and who is now insisting that we should put an apostrophe in “toms.” We won’t and we can’t for two very good rWhat’s in a name?
Apostrophe man has been to visit us. This is the mad pedant who insists on correct punctuation and who is now insisting that we should put an apostrophe in “toms.” We won’t and we can’t for two very good reasons.
The first reason is that according to the Commonwealth Government Style Manual apostrophes are not to be used in capital letters and as you will have observed all our labels, letterheads and other material are in capitals. And who are we to argue with the Commonwealth Government.
But the second reason is the real one and the one that is our own dirty little secret. The sign on the bridge with the apostrophe in it is wrong! The correct geographical name for the waterhole is Toms without the apostrophe because the waterhole is named not after someone called Tom, but after a local family called Toms.
The Toms family were selectors in the district in the nineteenth century and the waterhole was named after them. When we set up the winery, almost fifteen years ago now, we named it after the waterhole, the nearest geographical feature. It’s a happy coincidence that GK’s grandfather was also called Tom.
So now you know. And why a waterhole and not a creek? Because although the creek runs for kilometres it runs mostly underground, breaking to the surface as waterholes here and there, most obviously where Longs Corner Road crosses it but also at several other places up and down stream. It’s actually very pretty, but it’s really Toms, not Tom’s.
easons.
The first reason is that according to the Commonwealth Government Style Manual apostrophes are not to be used in capital letters and as you will have observed all our labels, letterheads and other material are in capitals. And who are we to argue with the Commonwealth Government.
But the second reason is the real one and the one that is our own dirty little secret. The sign on the bridge with the apostrophe in it is wrong! The correct geographical name for the waterhole is Toms without the apostrophe because the waterhole is named not after someone called Tom, but after a local family called Toms.
The Toms family were selectors in the district in the nineteenth century and the waterhole was named after them. When we set up the winery, almost fifteen years ago now, we named it after the waterhole, the nearest geographical feature. It’s a happy coincidence that GK’s grandfather was also called Tom.
So now you know. And why a waterhole and not a creek? Because although the creek runs for kilometres it runs mostly underground, breaking to the surface as waterholes here and there, most obviously where Longs Corner Road crosses it but also at several other places up and down stream. It’s actually very pretty, but it’s really Toms, not Tom’s.
sons.
The first reason is that according to the Commonwealth Government Style Manual apostrophes are not to be used in capital letters and as you will have observed all our labels, letterheads and other material are in capitals. And who are we to argue with the Commonwealth Government.
But the second reason is the real one and the one that is our own dirty little secret. The sign on the bridge with the apostrophe in it is wrong! The correct geographical name for the waterhole is Toms without the apostrophe because the waterhole is named not after someone called Tom, but after a local family called Toms.
The Toms family were selectors in the district in the nineteenth century and the waterhole was named after them. When we set up the winery, almost fifteen years ago now, we named it after the waterhole, the nearest geographical feature. It’s a happy coincidence that GK’s grandfather was also called Tom.
So now you know. And why a waterhole and not a creek? Because although the creek runs for kilometres it runs mostly underground, breaking to the surface as waterholes here and there, most obviously where Longs Corner Road crosses it but also at several other places up and down stream. It’s actually very pretty, but it’s really Toms, not Tom’s.
Apostrophe man has been to visit us. This is the mad pedant who insists on correct punctuation and who is now insisting that we should put an apostrophe in “toms.” We won’t and we can’t for two very good reasons.
The first reason is that according to the Commonwealth Government Style Manual apostrophes are not to be used in capital letters and as you will have observed all our labels, letterheads and other material are in capitals. And who are we to argue with the Commonwealth Government.
But the second reason is the real one and the one that is our own dirty little secret. The sign on the bridge with the apostrophe in it is wrong! The correct geographical name for the waterhole is Toms without the apostrophe because the waterhole is named not after someone called Tom, but after a local family called Toms.
The Toms family were selectors in the district in the nineteenth century and the waterhole was named after them. When we set up the winery, almost fifteen years ago now, we named it after the waterhole, the nearest geographical feature. It’s a happy coincidence that GK’s grandfather was also called Tom.
So now you know. And why a waterhole and not a creek? Because although the creek runs for kilometres it runs mostly underground, breaking to the surface as waterholes here and there, most obviously where Longs Corner Road crosses it but also at several other places up and down stream. It’s actually very pretty, but it’s really Toms, not Tom’s.
International interest grows
New enquiries have come in today from USA from balloonists who are coming south of the Equator next March and April. They will start by attending New Zealand’s long running balloon event:
Balloons over Waikato
New Zealand’s premier hot air ballooning event!
24-28 March 2010
This post will serve as an initial invitation to all New Zealand balloonists to attend our
Canowindra Challenge 5th to 11th April 2010
Of course Leeton will also be hosting a balloon event over Easter which is 2nd to 5th April 2010.
19 days of almost non stop ballooning!!!!
Balloon festival is up, up and away
INTERNATIONAL EVENT: Graham Kerr says a new international balloon festival could attract thousands of visitors to the region.
BY LISA COX —Central Western Daily Orange NSW
The challenge, which will involve a week of hot air balloon competition and at least $15,000 in prize money, has already attracted interest from balloon pilots from the United States and Japan.
Based on previous balloon festivals in Canowindra, organisers predict the event could attract as many as 4000 visitors to the region and generate tens of thousands of dollars for the local economy.
“Canowindra’s been synonymous with ballooning and is recognised as the balloon capital of Australia,” challenge organiser and chief pilot at Balloon Joy Flights Graham Kerr said.
Smoked Meats
Graham’s recipe for Rare Honey Glazed smoked beef. This is one of the specialty meats that we serve on our ploughman’s lunches at Toms Waterhole Wines.
Use a whole fresh silver-side of beef and cold smoke for eight hours at under 50 degrees Celsius using American oak chips that have been soaked in Toms Waterhole Shiraz for a minimum of twelve months. Baste the outside every hour with wild bush honey. Then raise the temperature of the oven to 100 degrees Celsius and cook until the internal meat temperature reaches 60 degrees for ten minutes. This will give you perfectly rare beef. I use a meat thermometer to gauge the “doneness”.
A bit about smoking meats at home. Search on google for “wood for smoking meats” and you will find numerous sites with lots of info but in Australia, hickory, the traditional smoking wood, is expensive as it is all imported. Of course oak chips are imported also but after the winery is finished with them you won’t pay nearly as much for them as when they are new and unused. The link below has a very detailed description of woods used for smoking around the world. Oak is strong but not overpowering and is a very good wood for beef or lamb. Oak is probably the most versatile of the hard woods.
You may even wish to try this recipe for a your own baked ham for Christmas.
If you would like to try out using our Shiraz soaked U.S. Oak chips order them from our on-line shopping cart.
Forbes Claret Club visit
Thirty members of the Forbes Claret Club visited Toms Waterhole Winery for winetasting and endless ploughmans lunch. Resident winemaker Graham Kerr entertained guests with anecdotal wine tales and discussions on the production of fermented foods which include wine, bread, salami, cheese and olives.
NSW Tourism Awards Finalist
Balloon Joy Flights has just been announced as a Finalist in the NSW Tourism Awards. This follows on from our recent win in the Inland Tourism Awards. The Gala presentation is to be held at the Sydney Convention Centre on November 19th 2009. Our friends from The Old Vic Inn and The Black Sheep Inn are also finalists. This means that us three local “Kids from the Bush” are up against the Big boys now. Wish us luck by leaving a comment to this posting.
