Hunter Escape: Restaurant Cuvée at Peterson House

The Hunter Valley has a particular charm in winter. Or perhaps it’s just me being sentimental as it was during winter a good few years ago that Monsieur Poisson and I took our first ever trip away together, and it was a trip to the Hunter. I remember it was a particularly busy and stressful period at work and I was most grateful to be removing myself to somewhere still and quiet – literally, as we stayed at a resort in Wollombi which has almost no mobile phone reception bar one carrier and then only in a small spot at the end of the bed. The days were gloriously sunny and our little cabin had a real, wood log fireplace to provide crackly warmth during the evenings and nights. It also provided many hours of entertainment for the somewhat pyromaniacal Monsieur Poisson.

The trip was so relaxing that, fast forward a few years, we find ourselves visiting the region again and staying at the same resort at roughly the same time of year. Of course for the non-wine drinker that is Monsieur Poisson, there is still plenty of fun to be had indulging in the food of the region.

The last time we visited the Hunter Valley we only had time to stop in at Petersons House for scones at afternoon tea. And, as with a lot of places in the Hunter Valley, Petersons House is not open for dinner so we make a point of trying them out for lunch this time around. We are seated at one of tables on the covered deck overlooking the winter-bare grapevines – check out that blue, cloudless sky! Partnered with the country-quiet and only the occasional chirp of a bird, we felt so far removed from our usual daily city life.

We start the lunch with half a dozen ‘Sydney rock oysters with nuoc cham’. The oysters are small but plump, and their briny juices add some needed saltiness to the pulpy nuoc cham. Monsieur Poisson follows this with ‘Grilled kangaroo loin with steamed asparagus, parmesan polenta and baby spinach with Peterson's wine jus’. The kangaroo is tender and juicy but, surprisingly, it’s the smooth and creamy polenta (I’m so used to grilled polenta being too compressed and dry) which has my heart captured.

A side of potato chips with Maldon sea salt has a distinct aroma of chips bought from fish and chip shops as a child, and has me waxing lyrical about chips from days of yore. And in light of the amount of food we’ve ordered, I decide on an entrée dish to have as a main to achieve some semblance of “balance”. The ‘Deboned spatchcock stuffed with sourdough and pistachios on matchstick potatoes’ fits the bill nicely, arriving with the bird reclining seductively on vermicelli-thin potato threads and surrounded by a syrupy glaze.

We give dessert a miss as we’re happily full and have plans to stop for gelato later. We do, however, pop into the Petersons House cellar door afterwards to sample some sparkling wines and come away with cute piccolo bottles of their Pink Blush Rosé.

Restaurant Cuvée, Petersons House

Corner of Broke Rd & Wine Country Drive, Pokolbin NSW

Tel: (02) 4998 7881

Opening Hours:  7 days  8:30am-11am (breakfast)

            12pm-3pm (lunch)

happy eating!

Big John’s Sans Souci

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve eaten at Big John’s, either dining in or getting takeaway, over the years. Having previously lived in the Shire, Big John’s at Sans Souci is an easy location to get to and offers big, value-for-money serves. Service can be a bit brusque when busy and the seating is cosy, but the food is tasty and always generous.

Funnily, however, I’ve never tried their pasta possibly because I get sidetracked by other things. Their Caesar Salad, at only $13.90 and large enough to feed 2 people as a main meal, has a creamy, garlicky and not-too-tangy dressing, hard-boiled egg segments and a smattering of bacon bits. Pizzas are generally thicker-based than I’d like but that’s so they can stand up to the all the toppings which make the pizzas a little difficult to eat without the aid of cutlery. A lighter option is their garlic pizza crust (not pictured) but be warned that this is not for the garlic-phobic. Or vampires.

Monsieur Poisson gave their American-style ribs a try on a recent visit. There are pork, lamb or half-half combination varieties and ribs are smothered in a smoky, tangy sauce on a bed of steak-cut chips for “relief”. The pork ribs are fall-apart tender and receive my mother’s stamp of approval. The sauce gets thicker and stickier on the surface of the ribs as they cool, but this makes for a wonderful caramel-y surface when they’re reheated.

And reheat you will, because you are bound to have a container or two of leftovers to take away with you.

Big John’s Sans Souci

502 Rocky Point Rd (between Sandringham St & Russell Ave), Sans Souci NSW

Tel: 9529 8094

happy eating!

Brasserie Bread baking class: Artisan Pastry – Cakes & Tarts

When I was a kid, I – like lots of other children, I’m sure – dreamt of being trapped in a toy/candy/department store overnight and being able to freely play and roam about unsupervised within. Arriving at Brasserie Bread for an evening baking class feels much the same as we are welcomed into an empty store save for workers whom we can see through the glass going about their business in the baking area.

There are 10 of us attending Brasserie Bread’s new Artisan Pastry – Cakes & Tarts baking class, led by training manager Matthew Brock. He tells us a little about himself (he was a chef before going into breads and pastries) as well as artisan baking. The passion he has for what he does is evident and is something to be admired and respected. Amongst us there are ladies who run a café and a former Masterchef contestant so we’re in good company! I have Ms Sourdough as my partner-in-crime, as who else could be more fitting to attend a baking class at Brasserie Bread, firm advocates of sourdough and artisan practices?

We are treated to a warmed round of sourdough and, although I have had Brasserie Bread’s sourdough many times before, eating it oven-warm heightens the enjoyment with shards of blistered crust flying everywhere with each bite. But there’s no kicking back, as soon we’re all getting down to work with each recipe step being carried out by hand tonight.

Ms Sourdough (aka Breadhead) & her most apt apron

We make friands to start...

...as well as frangipane tarts for which we’ve made our own sweet shortcrust pasty. Matthew shares a handy tip for pastry – for small individual tarts, roll the dough into a log for resting which will make it easier to divide into portions and keep a round shape when rolling out.

Matthew Brock demonstrating the rolling out of pasty and piping of frangipane filling

And then there’s a gooey chocolate brownie to finish!

We sit down to a light meal of individual smoked trout quiches at the end of the evening, for which we rolled out unsweetened shortcrust pastry prepared earlier by Matthew. The class has been fast-paced with some of the perks being having all your ingredients measured and weighed out for you and, of course, not having to do the washing up afterwards! Then you also get to take home your delicious baked goodies...

Ms Sourdough and I met up over the long weekend just passed and made use of the remaining dough from the baking class to recreate the frangipane tarts but topped with slices of pear. The pastry is wonderfully short and crumbly and quite forgiving – my dough looked a little dry when working it together during the class but it held better than I expected following a rest in the fridge. If only we had professional tart rings to use instead of having to improvise with egg rings!

Leftover pastry makes for a good sablée cookie!

Brasserie Bread conducts a variety of baking classes on various evenings and weekends. I can attest to the fact that our arms were given thorough workouts and highly recommend taking along a full-length apron, although if you don’t remember to do so the kind people at Brasserie Bread will supply you with a disposable one. My apron was covered in flour and flecks of butter by the end of the class and I was all the happier for it.

Mademoiselle Délicieuse and Ms Sourdough attended the Artisan Pastry – Cakes & Tarts baking class as guests of Brasserie Bread. A big thank-you to Mei Tan who organised the particulars of our attendance and best of luck as she prepares to embark on travel and study on the other side of the world!

Brasserie Bread

1737 Botany Rd, Banksmeadow NSW

Tel: 1300 966 845

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-3pm

           Sat & Sun 8am-2pm

happy eating!