Foodies salute Roodeberg with 70 minute recipes

Celebrate Roodeberg’s 70 years of bringing friends together the world over by taking 70 minutes out of your day to create a delicious meal for your family.

Understanding the pivotal role of food and wine in creating memorable moments, Roodeberg partnered with four popular foodies to develop mouth-watering 70 minute recipes to enjoy with this classic red blend. The foodies were given free rein to play with tastes and textures to complement the Roodeberg Red.

Charmaine Ramalope-Makhubela of Glamfoodie, Luyanda Mafanya of Cooking with Luyanda, and Sam Linsell of Drizzle and Dip each chose a hearty meat dish as the perfect taste partner. Charmaine chose a beautifully crafted beef Wellington wrapped in a pastry lattice, Luyanda opted for a rack of lamb, while Sam Linsell decided on oven baked meatballs. Both Charmain and Sam included the Roodeberg as one of the ingredients in their recipes. For the ultimate indulgence, popular TV chef Anél Potgieter of Life is a Zoo Biscuit opted for a decadent chocolate cake.

A true South African original that has stood the test of time, Roodeberg is the heart and soul of memorable get-togethers. The wine’s rich heritage and colourful tapestry of wine folklore, has seen this signature red evolve from the master’s original blend to an accessible, contemporary classic in step with ever changing tastes and lifestyles yet still grounded in tradition.

Catch all the action by joining the Roodeberg community on Facebook or follow @Roodeberg_Wine on Instagram and Twitter.

Beef Wellington Recipe by Charmaine Ramalope-Makhubela aka Glamfoodie

@GlamFoodieZA; www.glamfoodie.com

Ingredients:

1 beef fillet, cleaned and trimmed
45ml olive oil
250g mushrooms
50g butter
1 large sprig fresh thyme
100ml Roodeberg Red
12 slices streaky bacon
400g roll of puff pastry, thawed
A little flour, for dusting
1 egg, beaten

Method:

Heat the oven to 220°C. Place the fillet on a roasting tray, brush with 15ml olive oil and season with pepper. Roast for 15 minutes for medium-rare or 20 minutes for medium. Remove from the oven to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 min.

While the beef is cooling, chop the mushrooms as finely as possible so they have the texture of coarse breadcrumbs.

Heat 30ml of the olive oil and 50g butter in a large pan. Fry the mushrooms, with 1 large sprig of fresh thyme, for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until the mixture has softened. Season the mushroom mixture, pour in 100ml Roodeberg red wine and cook for about 10 minutes until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should hold its shape when stirred. Remove the thyme and cool the mixture.

Place a piece of cling film over a large chopping board. Lay the slices of bacon on the cling film, slightly overlapping. Spread the mushroom mixture over the bacon. Place the fillet on top. Use the cling film’s edges to draw the bacon around the fillet, then roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go. Chill the fillet while you roll out the pastry.

Dust your work surface with a little flour. Unroll the puff pastry. Remove the fillet from the cling film and put it in the centre of the pastry. Wrap the pastry around the fillet. Cut off any excess and use to decorate. Brush the pastry’s edges with the beaten egg to seal. Gaze all over with more beaten egg.

Bake at 200°C until golden and crisp – 20-25 min for medium-rare beef, 30 min for medium. Allow to stand for 10 mins before serving in thick slices.

Rack of Lamb by Luyanda Mafanya of Cooking with Luyanda

@Luyanda_Maf; www.luyandaseatery.wordpress.com

Ingredients:

1 rack of lamb (4-8 ribs)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 rosemary sprigs
3 thyme sprigs
3 garlic cloves
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

Score frenched rack of lamb and season with salt & pepper.

In a food processor: combine olive oil, thyme, rosemary and garlic cloves until smooth

(if you don't have a food processor or blender you can finely chop the garlic and herbs and add the olive oil)

Marinate the rack of lamb and allow to sit for 1 hour before roasting.

Once lamb is marinated, heat oil in a pan on high heat and place lamb rack skin side down to render the fat down and get colour on the meat. Brown on all sides, then transfer to an oven proof dish.

Preheat your oven to 180°C and roast lamb for 30- 40 minutes for medium (depending on size)

Allow the meat to rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting

Vegetable stack:
1 mushroom steak
1 eggplant, cut into rounds
1 red pepper, cut into quarters
1 zucchini, cut into ribbons using a peeler
Halloumi cheese
2 Tbsp Robertson’s Cajun creole rub (or spices of your choice)
Salt & pepper
Olive oil, to drizzle

Method:

Season vegetables with salt, pepper and spices

Lay mushroom, haloumi, pepper, eggplant and zucchini on top of each other to make a stack, drizzle with olive oil and roast in an oven proof dish for 30-35 minutes at 180°C

Mint pesto:
50g almonds
1 cup mint
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
30g parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper

Method:

In a food processor/blender: Add garlic, almonds, mint and parmesan, pulse until smooth then add your olive oil and combine.

Season with salt and pepper.

Serve your rack of lamb with the vegetable stack and drizzle with the mint pesto and pair this with Roodeberg Red.

Baked meatballs with easy garlic bread by Sam Linsell of Drizzle and Dip

@drizzleanddip; www.drizzleanddip.com

Sauce:
1 large white onion finely chopped
Splash of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic crushed
¼ cup Roodeberg Red wine
2 x 400gms tins of chopped peeled tomatoes
1 – 2 fresh bay leaves (optional)
30gms butter
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)

Meatballs:
500gms free-range beef mince
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs or panko
10gms parsley finely chopped (about 2 Tbsp)
2 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp fennel seeds
A generous amount of salt (at least 1 ½ tsp) and pepper
1 free-range egg
125gms fior di latte or buffalo mozzarella – drained and shredded
½ cup or 125gsm mascarpone cheese
Grated parmesan to serve (optional)

Garlic bread
1 French baguette
90 – 100gms butter depending on how big the baguette
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1½ Tbsp finely chopped parsley
30 gms freshly grated parmesan

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Chop the onion. In a non-stick frying pan, sweat the onion in some olive oil for about 4 – 5 minutes until softened but not browned.

Divide this cooked onion in two and put half in a medium-sized bowl (this will be for the meatballs) and the other half in a medium-sized pot for the sauce. Add the crushed garlic to the onions in the pot for the sauce and fry for a minute. Then add the red wine and allow this to cook off. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, sugar, butter, a pinch of chilli flakes (if using), salt and pepper and allow this to bubble for about 20 minutes until thickened.

While the sauce is cooking, make the meatballs. Into the bowl with half a cooked onion, add the mince, breadcrumbs, finely chopped parsley, oregano, fennel seeds, salt & pepper and egg. Mix this until well combined. Make meatballs using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon measure. You want the meatballs to be quite small in size and you should get around 20 – 22 meatballs out of the mixture.

Once made, heat another splash of olive oil in the non-stick pan you fried the onions in and fry the meatballs until golden on all sides. You can do this by swirling the pan around. They do not need to be cooked right through. Decant these into an appropriately sized oven dish.

Shred the mozzarella and mix with the mascarpone to form a thick paste.

The sauce should have been bubbling for 20 minutes, then decant it over the meatballs. Dollop pieces of the cheese mixture around the top of the dish and cover it with foil (or a lid if the baking dish has a lid). Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and put it back into the oven for a further 10 – 13 minutes. At around the 9-minute mark, turn the oven to grill (broil) and watch the cheese as it starts to bubble and go brown. Remove it from the oven and set aside for a few minutes.

While the meatballs are in the oven baking, make the garlic bread. Cut the baguette into 3 equal parts and then slice these thirds into half horizontally. You will now have 6 pieces of bread. Put the butter, garlic and parsley into a small bowl and microwave for 2 minutes or heat on the stove for a similar time (cook for at least a minute after the butter starts to bubble. Place the sliced bread cut side up on a baking sheet lined with paper and brush the garlic butter over the entire surface. Brush the underside lightly with butter if you have any leftover. Grate the parmesan on the fine side of a grater and sprinkle this over the bread. Place this in the oven about a third of the way down and watch closely as it cooks. It will take about 5 – 10 minutes to turn golden brown. Watch this very closely.

Serve this with the baked meatballs that should still be bubbling and hot.

Decadent chocolate cake by Anél Potgieter of Life is a Zoo Biscuit

@Anelp; http://anelpotgieter.com/

Cakes: (Makes 3 x 20 cm round cakes)
6 large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups (600 g) castor sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla essence
1 ¾ cup (400 ml) canola oil
2 espresso shots (60 ml) (optional)
2 cups buttermilk
3 cups (400 g) cake flour
2 cups (200 g) cocoa powder
3 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp fine salt

Icing:
3 cups (750 g) Salted butter, at room temperature
10 cups (1250 g) icing sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla essence
1 cup (100 g) cocoa powder
1 espresso shot (30 ml) (optional)
1 tin (360 g) caramel treat

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180oC. Lightly grease 3 x 20cm round cake tins with baking spray or butter and line the bottom of the cake tins with baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl and with an electric mixer, whip the sugar, eggs and vanilla essence until light and thick. With the mixer still on, slowly add the oil and mix until incorporated. Mix in the espresso shots followed by the buttermilk.

Sift in the cake flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and the fine salt. Mix until well combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the three cake tins.

Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the cake tins.

For the icing:

In a large mixing bowl and with an electric mixer, whip the butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence for 10-15 minutes. Once light and airy, remove 1/3 of the icing and place in a large piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle. Add the cocoa powder and espresso to the remaining icing and whip for 5 minutes until well incorporated.

To assemble:

Place a layer of chocolate cake on cake stand. Pipe the vanilla icing on the first layer of cake. Top with the second layer of cake. Place a bit of chocolate icing in a piping bag, and pipe thin layer of chocolate icing on the outer edge of the cake. Spoon the caramel in the centre and top with the third layer of cake. Roughly cover the entire cake with the chocolate icing. Place the cake in the fridge for about 2 hours to set. Slice and enjoy!