On Valentine’s day we hosted our first long lunch at Vineyard Cottages. Guests, friends and family enjoyed an imaginative eleven courses, whipped together by Chef Des Harris and his team. With a strong focus on celebrating the seasonal and local produce from around the region, we kicked off with some delicious hay baked oysters warmed very quickly on the Weber. It was a dish I’d tried many years ago at a BBQ in New England. It was a wonderful warm autumn ‘fall’ evening and a couple of ex Gramercy Tavern manned the BBQ putting dishes on the table I have dreamt about ever since. Recreating it as the kick off course for our long lunches was a dream come true and I think we created those memories for our guests that day.
10KM up the road from Vineyard Cottages is the historic township of Helensville, where an amazing hidden gem shines brightly for the locals. The Real Bread Project pumps out incredible sourdough and pastries to very grateful residents. Dan and his team not only rise at the crack of dawn to get baking but mill their own flour as well. From this little bakery our guests were treated to three different types of sourdough with a generous lashing of Te Kouka Olive Oil, a grove of 2000 trees in Kaukapapa. Something as simple as amazing sourdough and oil ticked all the boxes. Keeping it all about the North West we filled a plate with local charcuterie from Aotea Organics in Shelly Beach with a chicken liver parfait Chef Harris, there was a large amount of oooooo’s and ahhhhhhh’s from the tables.
The plums and beets dish took everyone by surprise. A brightly coloured combination of pickled beets, plums, the incredible stracciatella from Massimo in Dairy Flat and fig leaf oil from our fig tree called for more rounds of the Real Bread Project sourdough so everyone could mop up as much of the creamy residue on the plate. There are occasions when a wedge of lettuce on a plate can look and sound like a huge disappointment, but as we proved it can be the highlight of a meal. Preserved lemon mayonnaise, fresh crisp little gem lettuces, cured egg yolk and parmesan turned smiles upwards and everyone agreed it was the dish that they were least looking forward too but blew their taste buds. Humble but perfect.
Long line snapper, sweet and sour tomatoes and sweet corn followed with a drift of silence as everyone tucked in. A business associate of mine bought her husband to the lunch and admitted she really didn’t like kumara. I had to smile when I walked past her table and she was licking her fingers. The kumara was baked in a salt crust and served with a miso custard and more parmesan. Lots of fingers wiping up the remains of the sauce and more bread ordered just to make sure the miso custard was no longer.
We couldn’t do a long lunch without lamb and slow and low cooked cutlets served with black garlic jus had everyone using the lamb as a mop for the delicious sauce. I’ve got a great team of foodies that work with me here at VC and watching their faces and they devoured the end bits and left over cutlets was a complete joy. Then it was time to sweeten the deal. A Basque cheesecake might have sounded too heavy for such an occasion, but with the complimenting roast stone fruit cutting the creaminess and it wasn’t long before we were piling plates high with our ‘dish du saison’ the blueberry clafoutis. Topped with a limoncello ice cream, those who were starting to wain pushed forward and made sure nothing was left on the plate. We finished with a plate of cheese. Two, I have loved and promoted for years, the Mahoe Very Old Edam and the Mt Eliza Blue Monkey. The Grinning Gecko brie had almost got to running off the plate stage. Served simply with some crackers and fruit from trees it was the most simple but grandest finale we could provide.
There will be many more and I’m looking forward to seeing you there.
Thank you again for the wonderful food and hospitality you provided on Sunday. We look forward to enjoying it again soon
A. Golder
Elle, thank you to you, Des and your teams for an amazing experience on Sunday. It surpassed all previous dining experiences. Thank you. We will be back.
I remember the first time I walked around the vineyard at Vineyard Cottages. We’d moved in on a Monday and before I had had five minutes to unpack or relax, I’d been shoved in the office to learn the ropes. That evening Barry and I walked around the vineyard with two very excited dogs and began to dream that one day we could maybe, possibly, potentially make some wine from the unruly tangle of vines around us.
Over the previous decade, I had learnt an amateurs amount of knowledge about vineyards through the amount of wine tours I’d been on and having listened to wine makers and viticulturists presentations at the North Shore Wine and Food Society. From the small amount of knowledge I had, I could see we had a very bad case of pounder mildew where the air wasn’t getting through to the grapes and the leaves were infected with blister mite.
All in all it was a sad state of affairs. One end of the vineyard was over irrigated by the dispersal hoses from the septic tanks, the other was very dry. We set about learning more from the neighbours and some very kind vineyard owners around the area who shared their knowledge with us silly city folk who’d moved out to the country.
Over the years we have religiously pruned, sprayed, plucked, netted and done everything we can to bring the vines back to health. Last year we had a wine maker lined up to come and make some vino with us before the dreaded covid kiboshed that plan and the grapes were enjoyed by our very ungrateful fat birds
This year we have no wwoofers or in house team, so the housekeeping super troopers spent some time in the vines last week rolling out the nets and starting the clipping process – an arduous task at best. Last year I did a lot of it early in the morning while it was just me, the dogs and the rabbits in the vineyard much to the birds disgust. Netting is crucial in protecting the fruit from our obese bird life who feast their way through January on the plums and see the grapes in March as a much needed sugary top up.
Steve the wine maker arrived this morning and we have decided this is the year to do something with these grapes. Some of them have powdery mildew from the moisture in the air and our lack of canopy management at the north end of the vineyard. Barry and I have been out all afternoon getting that sorted pretty pronto. I remember Harry at Twin Totara saying you can do pretty much anything to vines and they spring back. That’s hopefully a good thing at I’ve been a little over zealous with one or two of the big guys.
We’ll keep you up to date on our progress, but it’s very exciting. If we have enough Sauvignon Blanc, I’ll have one happy husband, the rest will go into a fruit salad rose preferably Provence dry with that fabulous hint of blush. Fingers crossed, but for now, I shall head back out into the heat with the hot dogs and my loppers and get on with it!
Many moons ago, my dear girlfriend Vic announced while we were having our weekly noodles, that she was going to make a clafoutis for dessert for the weekend. It was our monthly Sunday gang lunch and Vic was the queen of great puds.
“A what?” I’d asked whizzing through the recipe index in my head until I vaguely remembered a custardy thing. “Oh good.” My enthusiasm wasn’t ripe enough for Vic.
“Yes an apricot clafoutis.” She was adamant, dessert was therefore decided. Vic was pregnant at the time and the bump was affectionally known as Joan. I suggested if bump turned out to be a girl maybe Clafoutis could be in the mix as an unusual girls name. Vic, her husband and I had recently had a very funny night in a local Japanese restaurant trying to conjure up the right name for the baby to be. She frowned at me at the mere suggestion of a dessert for a baby’s name. But I had visions from then on in of Vic having a daughter named Clafoutis and bellowing instructions across fields at various pony club rallies, “Kick on Clafoutis!” Very silly but kept me giggling for a very long time.
The Apricot Clafoutis was delicious and there was none left once the gang got stuck in. Thankfully Vic went on to have a little boy called Felix shortly after.
Roll forward a decade and Chef Des Harris is in the VC kitchen planning a meal for a fabulous tour group staying with us for the night. We wanted to use the seasonal fruits, especially the plums hanging on the trees at VC and the moment he said “how about a Clafoutis?” I had to stifle the giggles.
As one could only expect from Des the plum and blueberry clafoutis we served for the guests was out of this world. Incredibly easy to make, light and delicious and with that tell tale sign of silence around the table, followed by a chorus of “yums” and “that was amazing” I knew we were onto a winner.
Chef has kindly shared his version of this dessert with us here. I am looking forward to trying an autumn version with persimmon and spices. Maybe I’ll name my next dog Clafoutis?
Makes 6-7 (10cm Spanish tapas dish)
Ingredients
225g cream
½ teas vanilla essence
3 egg yolks (size7)
126g castor sugar
½ lemon zest
37g gluten free flour (Edmonds)
4½ egg whites (size7)
Pinch of sea salt
2 punnets of blueberries
75g sour cream or crème fraiche
150g cream
Icing sugar to taste plus icing sugar for dusting
Method
1. For the batter whisk together the yolks, sugar and lemon zest until light and creamy.
2. Heat the cream and vanilla essence together until almost boiling.
3. Slowly whisk the scalded cream onto the creamy yolks and sugar.
4. Put back into the saucepan and on a low heat cook the cream anglaise to 80 degrees stirring with a wooden spoon continuously.
5. Once the creme anglaise is thick whisk the gluten free flour into it.
6. Transfer into a bowl set over ice or alternatively refrigerate until cold.
7. Once cold proceed to whisk the egg whites with the pinch of salt until thick but not dry.
8. Fold together with the cold cream anglaise maintaining as much volume as possible.
9. It’s best to leave the mix to relax in the fridge for 2-3 hours before baking.
Baking and finishing
10. Set the oven to 180 degrees with the oven rack set in the middle of the oven.
11. Lightly coat the inside of your shallow ramekins / baking dishes with kitchen spray.
12. Generously add blueberries and ladle to the top with the batter.
13. Cook the clafoutis for approx. 12 minutes until risen, golden & set
14. While waiting, whisk together the creams until soft peak, adding a little icing sugar to taste if you wish.
15. Serve the clafoutis hot from the oven dredged in icing sugar with the cream to the side.
