Archive for May, 2010

Stand a chance to win double tickets to The Wine Show Jo’burg which will be held at The Coca Cola Dome from 4-6 June 2010.

If you want to win the tickets and you’re living area and able to attend, all you have to do is leave a comment (indicate that you would like to win)on our Facebook page or upload a fan picture.

 For more info about show,  visit www.wineshow.co.za

Traditional South African recipe – pap en sous (sauce), is loved by millions of South Africans. Consisting mainly of maize meal water and salt although other ingredients can be added if desired. Best enjoyed with boerewors and accompanied with a tomato and onion relish (sous). A tasty treat for any braai lover.

This dish is best complemented by South African wine brand, Welmoed Pinotage.

Ingredients for Mielie Pap:

• 500 ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups maize meal

Method:

1. Boil the water in a large pot
2. Add the salt
3. Add the maize meal slowly
4. Mix well until mixture is smooth in consistency
5. Cover and simmer on a low heat for 30 – 40 min, stirring occasionally

Ingredients for the Sous (sauce) – Tomato Relish:

• 3 onions chopped
• 3 tomatoes chopped
• 250 ml tomato sauce
• 80 ml vinegar
• 80 ml Worcestershire sauce
• 30 ml sugar
• 125 ml water
• 1/2 tsp dry English mustard powder
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Sauté the onions and tomatoes till tender
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the mix
3. Cook for 5 minutes
4. Add Maizena to thicken if desired.

Source: www.phuthu.co.za

Some wine experts believe that it is relatively easy to distinguish between Old and New Wine styles.

Wine critic, David Falchek , believes that knowing Old World wines from New World wines is pretty obvious. You will see those terms all the time. Old World, basically all of Europe, produces wines often described as subtle, earthy, minerally and elegant. New World wines – think U.S., Australia, South America and South Africa – are often described as big, fruity, juicy and rich.

The Old World is all about location, location, location. With centuries of trial and error behind the Europeans, the place the grapes were grown is all-important. Often, the grape variety is not even mentioned. In the Old World, wine is nearly always consumed with food and wines are made to match with food. In the New World, wines tend to made to be enjoyed by themselves.

The New World, remember, is still relatively new at wine. So it focuses on the grape variety and the region to a lesser extent. Without centuries-long pedigrees, they rely on modern, scientific winemaking techniques.

It seems that the purchasing decisions of the consumers, which have a abundant choice of Old and New wine styles, are moving away from stereotyping regions and move towards brand or style specific choices.

Welmoed is a New-World wine enjoyed in many European counties including Holland, Germany and Denmark.

One of these versatile wines is the Welmoed Merlot. This is a well balanced wine with ripe fruit mid-palate and persistent yet soft tannin finish. Wood well integrated and complements a well-balanced medium bodied wine.

Source:thetimes-tribune.com

Considering that visitors to South Africa will have the opportunity to celebrate with and taste a variety of local wines, it’s an opportunity to brush up on interesting facts about this delectable treat.

Welmoed shares some interesting facts about wine.

Did you know?
·       Winemaking began in 6000 BC with the Mesopotamians (try saying that after a couple of glasses)
·       The oldest bottle of wine was found in Germany
·       It takes about eight bunches of grapes to make a bottle of wine
·       There are over 10,000 varieties of wine grapes that exist in the world today
·       400 grapevines generally make up an acre
·       Wine is made of 86% water, 11.2% of alcohol, 2,8% of other ingredients. There are over 250 compounds that are identified in ‘other’.
·       Wine making is an art and not a science
·       There are approximately 49 million bubbles in a bottle of champagne
·       The corkscrew was designed in the mid 1800’s
·       The longest recorded champagne cork flight was 177 feet and 9 inches
·       The reason a wine bottle has an indentation at the bottom is to strengthen it’s structure
·       Wine doesn’t turn to vinegar, it spoils with oxidation

Read more on winecountry.co.za

Cooking can be loads of fun but this can be spoiled by the massive cleaning up session after the meal. If you don’t like cleaning up, try a One-Pot Recipe. This One-Pot Roasted Chicken Recipe is a lovely meal with no cleaning up headaches

Serves 4

Total Time: 1hr

Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 3 cups grape tomatoes
• 1 head garlic, cloves separated
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1.2-1.4 kg chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 small loaf country bread, warmed (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 220° C. Using a vegetable peeler, remove strips of zest from the lemon. (Reserve the lemon.)
2. In a large roasting pan, toss the tomatoes, garlic, olives, thyme, and lemon zest with 1 tablespoon of the oil.
3. Nestle the chicken, skin-side up, among the vegetables and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Season the chicken and vegetables with ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Roast until the chicken is cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes.
4. Remove the chicken from the hot roasting pan. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into the roasting pan and add the wine. Gently stir, scraping up any bits stuck to the pan. Serve the chicken and vegetables with the pan juices and bread (if using).

Tip: Frozen chicken can be roasted without defrosting. Add 50 percent more cooking time.

Recommended Wine:

The Welmoed Chenin Blanc will complement this dish. This wine is made in an easy drinking wine style and can be enjoyed for any occasion.

For more great recipes visit www.realsimple.com

Ideas Magazine is celebrating Mother’s Day in style, and you’ll also have the opportunity to sample some hand-crafted Welmoed wines.  Ideas are offering exclusive Mother’s Day workshop breakfasts where mothers and daughters can take some time out of their busy lives and spend some quality time with each other.

One of the guest speakers will guide guests through the latest developments and advances in maintaining a youthful appearance and will help you discover the secrets to beauty at any age.

Dressing for your shape and age is made simple when a fashion stylist, shares all his fashion secrets on how to build a wardrobe with basics, with a focus on this season’s trends.

To compliment breakfast, Welmoed will be serving their Charmat Brut, delicious Sauvignon Blanc and Rose wines.

For more info about the event visit ideasmag.co.za