In My Kitchen March 2015

It’s time for another peek into my kitchen to find out what I’m loving this month. You can check out a whole range of other bloggers kitchens if you head over to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, where Celia hosts this monthly event.

Regular readers will probably be aware that I am a social media ambassador for Adelaide’s fantastic wine festival, the Cellar Door Wine Festival, and each year the festival takes the opportunity to show off some of South Australia’s fine food producers. One of those featured this year was Rubyspice – World Spice Emporium, the work of a friend of mine with whom I studied a few years back. I use a lot of spices in my cooking and always buy the best quality I can find (not supermarket brands) and I’m thrilled now to be able to support a local South Australian business. I received a gift pack of these beautifully packaged blends from Rubyspice and have been playing with some of them recently. They are just wonderful and the simplest way I’ve found lately of making a quick barbecue into something special. Check out their full range online.

Another producer I cam across at the Cellar Door Festival was Skillogalee Wines from South Australia’s Clare Valley. I’m quietly fond of a glass or two of Riesling in the evenings so am very familiar with the wines of the Clare region. Skillogalee are not only producers of premium, hand-crafted wines, but they are also very well known for their excellent restaurant. This parmesan infused olive oil is a creation from the the kitchen at Skillogalee and was a bit of a revelation to me. It’s just wonderful in pasta dishes and I suspect will not last long at all in my kitchen, but that’s okay. It will be all the excuse I need to head up to Clare to buy another bottle.

Speaking of the Clare Valley, I recently received this fabulous selection of wines from the lovely people at Taylors Wines. I spent some time at Taylors earlier last year and know just how much care and passion goes into these bottles. Taylors have been crafting fine wines in the Clare Valley for three generations and the respect they show for the quality of their fruit is exceptional. I might already have finished the whites and found a new appreciation for Chardonnay, a wine I have avoided in the past but will be exploring further. The reds are now in my sights.

Another gift which found it’s way into my kitchen are these locally produced coffee pods from Adelaide’s Bean Bar. The Bean Bar has been around in Adelaide since 2001 and this new product now offers their customers the opportunity to enjoy their favourite brews at home. The pods, which are compatible with most household pod machines, including the Nespresso, are produced in South Australia using locally roasted coffee, manufactures and suppliers and are a great way for coffee fiends to support another great South Australian producer.

I’ve been on the receiving end of quite a bit of generosity of late and these delicious pistachios from Wonderful Pistachios were a welcome snack. I love pistachios and, because of my fondness for Middle Eastern cuisine,  they find their way into or onto quite a lot of my cooking but these are just for munching on with a drink. And very nice they were, too.

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