joey's slow cooked pork chops

Wine Match: Restdown 2013 Chardonnay

4 pork shoulder chops from Bundarra Berkshires
1 cup Restdown Verjus
3 or 4 sprigs of thyme
2 garlic cloves, crushed
sea salt and cracked pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius.
Heat oil in an ovenproof/stove top baking dish. Quickly fry the garlic, then sear the chops in the oil and garlic till slightly browned. Add the verjus before the garlic starts to brown too much, and sprinkle the thyme leaves over the top. Season with salt and pepper to taste, put the lid on and into the oven for 1 - 2 hours, or until the meat begins to fall away from the bone.
Delicious!

Serve with sweet potato and coriander mash.

drink suggestion

Pour 30mL of verjus into a glass with ice. Drink as is, or top with sparkling mineral water or tonic water for a refreshing summer drink!

poulet au verjus

Wine match: Restdown 2012 Semillon

 1 whole chicken cut in pieces

2 leeks, finely sliced

1 cup chicken stock

½ cup verjus

2 tablespoons Sevilo Grove olive oil

salt, pepper

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Saute the leeks in the olive oil until well softened and remove from the pan. Season the chicken pieces and brown for a good ten minutes, making sure both sides are golden brown. Return the leeks to the pan with the chicken and add the stock, verjus and chopped parsley. Cover and simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Serve with steamed potatoes, green beans or asparagus spears.

lentils with verjus, hebs and tomatoes

Wine Match: Restdown 2008 Rose

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 carrot, roughly chopped

4-5 small shallots or 1 medium onion, roughly chopped

2 ½ cups dried Puy lentils

6 cups chicken stock

2x400g tins whole tomatoes, drained and chopped

1 cup Restdown Verjus

handful fresh parsley, chopped

1 bay leaf

freshly ground black pepper to taste

coriander leaves and lime to garnish

sour cream or natural yoghurt to serve

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and carrot and sauté for 5-10 minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Add the lentils and stir to coat with the oil.  Add the verjus, stock, tomatoes, parsley, bay leaf and a good grinding of pepper. Leave to simmer over a low heat with  the lid ajar until the lentils are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 1 hour.

Serve in shallow bowls with a dollop of sour cream or natural yoghurt, a sprinkle of chopped fresh coriander (if desired) and a squeeze of lime juice.

Adapted from "Lunch in Paris" by Elizabeth Bard

summer roast vegetable risotto

Wine Match: Restdown 2009 Sangiovese

about 20 cherry tomatoes or 6 romas

1.25L vegetable stock

olive oil

½ onion, diced

8 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

1and ½ cups arborio rice

2 tablespoons Restdown verjus

1 eggplant, sliced into 5mm slices lengthways

2 zucchini, sliced in half lengthways

12 olives, pipped and cut in half

pesto to serve

flat leaf parsley to serve

Preheat oven to 180degrees celsius, toss the tomatoes with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a baking dish for 20-30 minutes for cherrys, 50-60 minutes for romas, until soft.

Meanwhile, brush the eggplant and zucchini slices with oil on both sides. Grill on both sides a few minutes, until well browned.

Heat the stock to a light simmer in a saucepan. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy based saucepan and add the onion and basil leaves. Sauté for 2-5 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in the rice, coating it in onion and oil for about 1 minute, then add the verjus. Stir gently allowing the verjus to steam for 1-2 minutes, until it evaporates and reduces a little.

Ladle approximately 250mL of stock into the rice and stir gently. The heat needs to be very low just to encourage a very gentle simmer. Continue to stir the risotto, adding more stock as it is absorbed into the rice. Once you have used nearly all the stock, taste the rice. Once the rice is cooked, remove from the heat. Chop the eggplant, zucchini and roma tomatoes into bite sized pieces and along with the olives, fold gently into the risotto. Serve with a small dollop of pesto and/or parsley.

Adapted from Wholefood by Jude Blereau