THE VINEYARD HOTEL & SPA

Celebrate the season of Christmas
with an elegant dinner!

A touch of brandy, silver studded snowmen
and a fine Christmas cake.

Scintillating cocktails, a trio of mushroom soup with a dash of brandy, braised lamb and delectable fondant potatoes with brandied apricot chutney. Panna cotta is the unctuous, creamy dessert with a citrus brandy sauce, and the most important of all, a fine Christmas Cake, well aged and redolent with Oude Molen 100 Reserve brandy. The finale an excellent coffee and some smooth as silk chocolate.  

"The butterfly emerges from its cocoon of oak."

Glorious summer is the time for celebrating all the good things and Alex Docherty, Executive Chef and Shane Louw, Sous Chef of The Vineyard Hotel & Spa, points the way to a festive menu with a touch of brandy (*’the butterfly emerges from its cocoon of oak’), to add its scintillating lingering flavour to festive dishes. A simple, quick way of enhancing almost any cocktail and a wide choice of dishes from soups and sauces to desserts, puddings and cakes. * Quote: Michael Fridjhon – Fire Water 

Alex Docherty gives us some insight into why brandy works so well with cooking and complements so many dishes. “The flavour of brandy,” Alex explains, “depends on its length of maturation. The older the brandy, the more complex and the more smoky the flavour.  As it matures it will pick up the different flavours and nuances.”

“Brandy lifts a dish as it adds life to the flavours, as well as changing them and is particularly relevant to sauces.”

“Did you know it is excellent with soups especially those made with fish and seafood? Try adding a touch of brandy to a summer soup such as melon or pear.”

“Use a dash in a beef or chicken casserole. Brandy is a natural with desserts; the much loved Crêpe Suzette, homely desserts such as baked apples and sliced strawberries or baked bananas with a dash of orange juice. It does wonders for dessert sauces; chocolate, caramel and orange. When making ice cream add when whisking the cream.”

“While Cognac does not need to be flamed, brandy does and always heat the brandy before flaming. Needless to say brandy both enriches, adds depth and preserves the flavour of fruit cake and where would brandy butter be without our excellent brandies? Lighting up a Christmas pudding makes a very spectacular display!”

TRIO OF MUSHROOM SOUP

100 g button mushrooms, sliced
100 g oyster mushrooms, sliced
100 g field mushrooms, sliced
100 g butter
1 large onion, sliced
40 g garlic, finely chopped
50 g celery, sliced
100 ml white wine
500 ml vegetable stock
50 g flour
250 ml cream 
250 ml milk
30 ml brandy, heated and flamed before adding
5 ml nutmeg 
10 g thyme 
sea salt and milled black pepper
chopped chives to sprinkle
dried mushrooms (optional for garnish)
(Serves 4)

Place half the butter, onion and garlic in a saucepan and cook for 7 minutes. Add mushrooms and celery and cook for 7 minutes. Add white wine and reduce. Add vegetable stock and simmer for 10 minutes.In a separate saucepan, melt remaining butter and add flour to form a roux, stirring constantly, using a wooden spoon. Pour cream into roux mixture followed by milk (this makes a béchamel sauce). Add nutmeg. Combine béchamel and mushrooms into one saucepan, add thyme and allow to cook for 20 minutes. Remove thyme. Blend for 7 minutes making sure that it is totally smooth. Serve soup and garnish with dried mushrooms and chopped chives.

GBRAISED LAMB SHOULDER WITH POTATO FONDANTS, APRICOT CHUTNEY AND STEAMED GREANS

To make a delicious jus, simply add a dash of water and white wine to the pan juices and stir, reducing slightly. 

1 kg lamb shoulder, deboned
whole grain mustard
30 g garlic
10 g rosemary 
10 g marjoram
1 medium onion
200 g soft butter 
sea salt and milled black pepper
(Serves 4)

Place lamb on foil. Place remaining ingredients into a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds. Rub herb paste on lamb and wrap in foil. Gently roast lamb for 5 hours at 121°C. Remove foil and lightly brown lamb at 200°C. Keep turning the lamb so that it will brown evenly – this is quick. Season and serve.

Apricot Chutney:
200 g dried Turkish apricots
20 ml Van der Hum
20 ml  brandy
50 ml sugar
50 ml white wine vinegar
2 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla pod, cut in half
250 ml orange juice
30 g butter

Place sugar in a dry pan and allow to caramelise. Add vinegar, star anise, cinnamon and vanilla pod and cook for 2 minutes. Add apricots, Van der Hum and brandy. Once liquor has come to a boil, ignite (flambé). Then add orange juice and cook for 40 minutes over a very low heat. Remove cinnamon and star anise. Add butter and cool.

Potato Fondants:
8 large peeled potatoes
150 g clarified butter
2 bayleaves
40 g garlic cloves
20 g thyme
400 ml chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Slice off the top and base of the potato to form a flat surface. Cut each potato into 6 - 8 rounds. Place butter in a pan over a low heat. Add bayleaves, garlic and the thyme. Cook for 5 minutes over a low heat.  Place potatoes in the pan and cover with chicken stock. Cover with foil for 10 minutes and then remove. (NB – Do not shake the pan or move the fondants/slices.)  Allow potatoes to cook for 25 minutes, or until tops are tender. All the cooking liquid should have reduced. Cover pan with foil and leave it to stand for 10 minutes. Remove foil, and gently remove fondants from the pan. Season and serve with the golden brown side up.

Steamed Green Vegetables:
100 g long steamed broccoli
100 g green beans
100 g mange tout
100 g bok choy
sea salt and pepper to taste
40 ml extra virgin olive oil
(Serves 4)

In a large saucepan bring water to the boil. Add salt. Cook the vegetables separately until tender. Broccoli – 10 minutes, green beans 5 – 7 minutes, mange tout 2 – 3 minutes and bok choy 2 – 3 minutes. As each vegetable is done, refresh in ice water and drain. Heat a medium pan with the remaining olive oil. And sauté with a little extra sea salt and freshly milled pepper.

Cook’s Note: A very simple way to refresh green vegetables are to drain then cover with a double thickness of wet paper towelling and stand until cool. 

This is the perfect way to prepare them if you would like to make a room temperature salad, which you could do using the vegetables above and dressing them with a well seasoned mustard, olive oil, touch of fresh garlic and apple cider vinegar. Whisked together until smooth.

VANILLA BEAN PANNA COTTA WITH BRANDY SAUCE

Panna Cotta:
100 ml cream
1 vanilla pod
150 g castor sugar 
5 gelatine leaves

Place vanilla pod, castor sugar and 50 ml cream in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat. Leave mixture to cool for 15 minutes. Soak gelatine leaves in cold water for 3 minutes. Whisk remaining cream until thickened. Add gelatine to cooled mixture until dissolved. Fold in remaining whipped cream. Pour into mould and refrigerate for 2 hours.

To serve: Place the bottom of the mould into hot warm water for 10 seconds to loosen. Remove from mould and serve.

Orange & Brandy Sauce:
500 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
20 g castor sugar
60 ml brandy
2 star anise

Place all the ingredients into a saucepan and allow to boil. Reduce the liquid by a third. Pour over the panna cotta and serve.

A RICH BRANDIED FRUIT CAKE
500 g fruitcake mix
50 g candied orange peel
150 g finely sliced glace pineapple
200 g butter
250 g soft brown sugar
5 ml (1 tsp) mixed spice
15 ml (1 tbsp) bicarbonate of soda
250 ml (1 cup) Oude Molen brandy
2 extra-large eggs
125 ml (½ cup) Cointreau (or orange liquor)
125 ml (½ cup) milk
400 ml (1 3/5 cups) cake or all-purpose flour
100 g slivered almonds
whole pecan nuts

Preheat the oven to 150ºC. Grease the 24 cm diameter cake pan well and line it with baking paper or greaseproof paper. 

Combine the fruit, butter, sugar, mixed spice, 7,5 ml (1½ tsp) bicarbonate of soda and brandy in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Simmer gently over moderate heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Cool. Beat the eggs until frothy in a large mixing bowl. Add the Cointreau and milk and whisk with the eggs. Sift the flour and remaining bicarbonate of soda together into a large mixing bowl and add the almonds. Add the cooled fruit mixture and the egg mixture to the flour and nuts and mix through evenly. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan to about three-quarters full. Decorate it with whole pecan nuts. Bake the cake for 1½ - 1¾ hours.

Test to see if the cake is done; insert a thin metal skewer into the center of the cake, then remove it, if the cake is done, it will come out clean with no trace of stickiness. If ready, remove the cake from the oven, place a plate on top and cool it on a wire rack for a few minutes. Remove the plate and the pan, shaking it loose carefully then peel the lining paper off the bottom of the cake. Sprinkle the cake generously with extra brandy. When the cake is cool, turn it right side up.

Cook’s Note: The secret in making the stunning René Santhagens cake is using Oude Molen 100 Reserve Brandy, with its rich honey tones.

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