Caroline: Something about fruit you pick yourself makes it taste better! Don’t you think? I love this time of the year when it seems like everything in the garden shoots up and is ready to eat all at once!
Kris: We have a small, productive vege patch, but on our Tuesday off this week it was a treat to forage and cook out of our friends Matt and Bridget’s garden. There is nothing more rewarding than cooking with the freshest ingredients and it’s always great to enjoy some delicious food matched with some fantastic beer and wine. These are just two recipes (below)we prepared and enjoyed for dinner.
Caroline: While Bridget and I picked strawberries and raspberries, the boys dug up some potatoes, baby asparagus, fresh garlic, and zucchini flowers…
Stuffed Zucchini Flowers
(Serves 4)
4 zucchini flowers
100g goats chevre
1 piece preserved lemon ( finely diced)
1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic
1 Tbs chopped dill
salt and pepper
olive oil
Method
Mix the goats cheese, preserved lemon, garlic and dill in a bowl
Season with salt and pepper
Preferably leave the mixture over night
Stuff the zucchini flowers with the mixture
Coat the flowers in olive oil and fry on a BBQ for 2 minutes on each side
Kris : I love matching food with beer, but as I have said before, I do enjoy wine also and I think Riesling is my favourite varietal, especially if they are dry, citrusy and mineral-y. The 2009 Trimbach was a great match for the zucchini flowers and a classic example of Alsace Riesling.
Caroline: The zucchini flowers were awesome. The flower itself is so soft and delicate and the softness of the goats cheese made it so beautiful to eat. The stuffing was zippy and salty, a perfect appetizer..
Caroline: I love dinner parties with these two, there is never a shortage of amazing drinks to choose from! We sipped on G&T’s while we prepared the rest of dinner and had some reds on hand to match with our dishes.
BBQ Quail with Fresh Garden Asian Salad
(Serves 4)
4 Quails
3 Tbs Oyster Sauce
1 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs good quality honey
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 red chilli (finely diced)
4-5 slices fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
2-3 star anise
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Method
Combine the oyster sauce, soy sauce, ginger, chilli,sesame oil,honey, garlic and spices in a bowl and stir until combined
Place the quails breast side down on a clean chopping board and flatten with the palm of your hand
Place the quails in the marinade and rub into the skin of the quails
Leave the bowl (covered) in the fridge overnight
Heat a BBQ and grill the quail for 6-7 minutes per side
Baste the quail with the extra marinade during cooking
Allow the quail to rest for 5 minutes before serving
I also made a simple, fresh salad straight from the garden to serve with the quails. I harvested mesculin, mint, basil, coriander flowers and radish and made a dressing with sesame oil and lemon juice.
Kris:I thought we would try Meantime Brewery’s Union Vienna Amber lager and Innis and Gunn’s Rum Barrel Aged Scottish Ale with the dish. The Union is a 4.9% Amber Lager, which was an ideal match with the quail. The sweet malt complimented the sweetness of the BBQ Quail and it’s clean, crisp finish cut through the richness of the marinade. The Rum Barrel Aged Ale was also an ideal beer to compliment the sweetness of the quail. If you are wanting to drink wine, a cool climate Shiraz or medium bodied Pinot Noir would work well.Thanks to Matt and Bridget for letting us forage in their garden. It is one of our favourite ways of cooking.
Caroline: These quails were delicious, they were so fat! Plenty to munch on. Cooking them on the BBQ added this great smokiness and char-y flavor to the skin making it crunchy and sweet! These two beers were a great match as well, they were really malty so they complimented the sweetness of the bird really well. It was a perfect match.
What a fun night! Bridget made lemon curd tarts with meringue and passionfruit and an awesome cocktail to match…I’ll see if i can’t nab her recipes to share!