In My Kitchen December 2014

Wine! Catlin’s award-winning Montepulciano

I love to have a poke around all of the other kitchens in Fig Jam and Lime Cordial‘s monthly roundup and, for those of you mildly curious about what I’m loving in my kitchen – here goes! Sitting in a corner I have a couple of boxes of Catlin’s award-winning Montepulciano. I mentioned this as one of my two favourite picks at the Adelaide Hills Wine Region Show. I adored it. It is the kind of wine that makes you raise your eyebrows and smile from the very first mouthful. In my post on the wine show I mentioned that I didn’t stay until the absolute end of the luncheon, but that was mainly because I wanted to get home and order some from this very small winery before it all ran out. I’m greedy like that.

Irrewarra Granola

Like quite a few other bloggers, I was also sent some tasty granola products to try by the Irrewarra Sourdough people. This is a delicious product and I have been happily nibbling on it for days now, but what really caught my eye was the fascinating story behind this small family business.

Irrewarra was started as a sourdough bakery by Melbourne lawyers Bronwynne and John Calvert. Their popularity and range has grown and their quality products are now available in premium food stores as well as the big supermarkets. In 2010 the food giant Sanitarium tried to take them down in the Federal Court of Australia for breach of the Sanitarium owned trademark “Granola”, but the feisty pair fought back and actually won. There is now an Australian trademark ruling which confirms that the term ‘granola’ can be used as a generic term for breakfast cereal. I do love an under-dog win!

Adelaide Hills Magazine

In my kitchen this month is the current issue of the award-winning Adelaide Hills Magazine, featuring my regular column “Talking Fork”. This gorgeous magazine show-cases life in the Adelaide Hills and has won the national ‘Australia’s Regional Magazine of the Year’ award for the years 2010, 2012 and 2013. I’m very proud to have been writing for them since the beginning of this year.

Nescafe Dolce Gusto Circulo

Also in my kitchen is this stunning red and very schmick Nescafe Dolce Gusto Circolo coffee machine. Kindly sent to me last week, this has caught everyone’s eye as it sits, bright red and very handsome, on my kitchen bench. This beautifully designed and very stylish machine is also dead simple to use and produces consistent, fine quality coffee at home, using an extensive range of convenient capsules. My lot have all been very happy with java juice at the press of a button and I was thrilled to discover it also makes a splendid hot chocolate. It’s a clever machine that can keep us all happy.

New cookbooks – Food of Life & Persiana

It seems I’m incapable of joining the In My Kitchen rounds without mentioning some new cookbooks. I am exceedingly fortunate in that I get sent many new cookbooks to review, however that doesn’t seem to stop me from buying them as well. These two caught my eye because of the culinary traditions they celebrate, but also because they are stunning examples of their field. Persiana is a debut cookbook for Sabrina Ghayour. It was on the UK bestseller lists for nine weeks, took out the Observer Food Monthly 2014 Best New Cookbook award and every page simply inspires me. Food of Life is the 25th anniversary edition of Najmieh Batmanglij’s comprehensive and much praised book on Persian cuisine and traditions, and has had accolades heaped upon it from the likes of Alice Waters  and Yotam Ottolenghi. It, too, is a constant inspiration. I’ll be using ideas sourced from these two books on our Christmas lunch this year.

That’s my lot for this year – check out the rest of the kitchens over at Celia’s here.