Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

One of my greatest and most enduring “enthusiams” over the past twenty years has been collecting Portuguese vintage ports.

It began when my dad gave me a bottle of 1966 Warre’s that a client had gifted him, and was further spurred on by my long online friendship with the wonderful Roy Hersh – now one of the world’s most renowned port experts.

Portuguese vintage port comes with a glorious history (you know how much I love a back-story). The constant fighting between the French and the British during the seventeenth century meant that the supply of French wines to England dried up, and British wine merchants were forced to seek alternative sources. They found suppliers in Portugal, but the table wines didn’t survive the long journey back to England. In order to “fortify” them for shipping, brandy was added, resulting in the “fortified” wine we know of today as “port” (named after the city of Porto).

Collecting Portuguese vintage port in Sydney is a tricky business – we’re about as far away from Portugal as one can get and still be on the same planet.

In Australia, our fortified wines from the Rutherglen in Victoria are unique and superb – the region produces muscats and tokays which are world class, as well as some decent tawny ports. But Portuguese VPs are a completely different wine – whereas Australian fortifieds are viscous, sweet and occasionally complex, vintage ports from Portugal are elegant, rich and fruit driven.

If you’re interested in tasting a Portuguese port, a good place to start is with a late bottled vintage one. An LBV (as the style is known) differs slightly from a true VP in that it’s kept in wood for four to seven years instead of two, which accelerates the development of the wine. As a result, the port is ready to drink on release, rather than needing a twenty year sleep in a dark cellar first. And unlike traditional vintage ports, filtered LBVs don’t require decanting and breathing prior to serving.

If you’re in Australia, I can highly recommend the Graham’s 2008 Late Bottled Vintage Port which is currently available at Dan Murphy’s for under $30. Everyone who has tried it so far has loved it! It will sit happily on the kitchen bench for six weeks after opening, mellowing ever so gradually with each glass. I splosh it into my pan fried mushrooms, add it to my meatballs, and sip it with chocolate. It’s very good…

What’s your favourite tipple? Are you a fan of fortified wines? I’d love to know what you love to drink!

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My friend Patrick once said to me…“Celia, you’ll sleep when you’re dead”.

He was referring tongue-in-cheek to how crazy busy our lives get sometimes. And indeed, the first half of this year was both hectic and stressful.

So for a couple of weeks, while everyone is on school and uni holidays, instead of making plans to go away or filling each day with activities, I’ve decided to do everything at half speed. I’m getting up later, cooking more (hey, I find that therapeutic) and spending less time on the internet. But I’m still taking photos on my iPhone to share with you – here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to…

I’ve been baking Pan Cubano with the garlicky lard we found in Petersham…

I opened an old bottle of wine and drank it with  my boys – I can’t tell you how happy I was to be able to do that. I had the bottle stashed in the cellar for over a decade waiting for such an occasion…

Life is always better when I get to have a cup of tea with my dear friend Tezza…

The weather is cooling, so I made treacle pudding for Small Man…

I only had a small piece…

This is how we eat when we’re feeling lazy – almost all the ingredients are in the freezer, and I can assemble the burritos in under an hour. I defrost tortillas, pulled pork, grated cheese and leftover rice, then cook a quick batch of frijoles refritos. The tortillas are filled, seasoned with a little chipotle salsa, then topped with cheese and baked to golden.

I used to use tinned refried beans, but Big Boy was emphatic that the frijoles made the dish, and it was important that they were freshly cooked. I love that my sons are so particular…

Curry puffs were on the menu last Friday, made with my new flaky pastry (I wasn’t quick enough to take a photo of them once they were out of the oven)…

I’ve been pottering in the garden, reading light novels with guaranteed happy endings, and playing games on the iPad…

I spent several hours making Paula Wolfert’s Morrocan Harira, which tasted very nice, but unfortunately all my photos ended up looking like dog food. If you’ve got Paula’s Clay Pot cooking book, the recipe is in there, and it caught my eye because it’s thickened with sourdough starter…

All in all, we’re pretty chilled out at the moment, and it’s glorious. How are things going in your part of the world?

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If you live in Australia, here’s a quick headsup – Aldi have good quality cast iron pots on sale this Wednesday (25th June 2014).  For those of you who haven’t shopped at Aldi before – these items only appear occasionally, so it’s worth stocking up while you can.

I don’t own any of these, but my darling friend Liz from Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things wrote a post about the Aldi pots just last week. She loves them – a big recommendation given that she used to sell the expensive brands in her cookware store! The prices are really cheap – $20 for a cast iron Dutch oven, $25 for a French pan – in a choice of four different colours. The newsletter is here if you’d like more information…

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Having said all that, I won’t be fighting you for them, no matter how much of a bargain they are. Unlike most of my fellow food bloggers, I’m not a fan of enameled cast iron, but I know many of you love them, so I thought I’d pass on the info. Have fun shopping!

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