Roll up! Roll up! If there was one event we ran last year that captured folks’ imaginations, it was the Curious Mystery Bus Tour. Well, we’re up to our old capers again.

On Thursday 23rd May, we’ll be taking a bus load of Curious Wine Club members on a mystery tour to a top-secret location in Cork (last year it was Aperitif in Kinsale). You’ll depart Cork City at 7.00pm, be taken to a secret location for a wine tasting and plenty of hearty grub, and be dropped back to the city (centre and Curious warehouse) for 11.00pm.

We didn’t blab then and we won’t blab now – you won’t know where you’re going until you get there. But if you’re curious – and we mean really, truly curious – you don’t want to miss this one, you’re guaranteed a great night’s craic. BOOK HERE.

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THE CURIOUS MYSTERY BUS TOUR
Where: That’s the big question, isn’t it?
When: Thursday, 23rd May, 2013, 7.00pm to 11.00pm.
Tickets: €35, bookable online or by calling us free on 1800 99 18 44. Includes return bus journey to secret location, wine tasting and food.

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p.s. This is an exclusive event for Curious Wine Club members. See HERE to find out how to join.

This recipe comes from our new South African winery, Kanu. It’s a tried and tested Jane-Anne Hobbs Rayner recipe, and is sure to be the highlight of the day. The best part is that the longer in advance you prepare it, the better.

Ingredients
For the fish:
1 kg fresh kingklip or deep-sea hake fillets, portioned to the desired size
100 ml white flour, for dusting
salt and white pepper
45 ml sunflower oil

For the pickle:
60 ml sunflower oil
2 onions, peeled and sliced into chunky rings
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
a thumb-size piece of ginger, peeled and grated
4 bay leaves
6 fresh lemon leaves
3 whole cardamom pods
5 ml cumin seeds
1 red chilli, finely chopped
10 ml  turmeric
5 ml mild curry powder
15 ml brown sugar
60  ml white wine vinegar
5 ml finely grated lemon zest
8 black peppercorns
5 ml salt
the juice of 3 lemons
125 ml water

Method
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Put the flour onto a plate and season with salt and white pepper. Dust each slice of fish in the seasoned flour, before frying it until golden brown on both sides. It should be just cooked through.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

Now make the pickling mixture. In a clean pan, heat the oil and add the onion rings. You want them to be slightly brown, but not soft.  Add the garlic, ginger, bay leaves, lemon leaves, cardamom and cumin seeds and cook, stirring gently, for another minute or two, taking care not to let the garlic brown.  Now add the chilli, turmeric, curry powder, sugar, vinegar, lemon zest, peppercorns and salt. Turn down the heat and let it gently bubble for two minutes, or until the mixture has reduced slightly, and the strong vinegary flavour has cooked away.  Finally, stir in the lemon juice and water. Simmer for another minute, then remove from the heat.

Tip half of this mixture into the bottom of a ceramic or plastic dish just big enough to hold all the fish in a single layer. Pour the remaining mixture on top, making sure every piece of fish is well coated with the pickling liquid.  Top with a few extra lemon leaves, cover the dish tightly with clingfilm or a lid, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours – preferably 24 – turning the fish now and then in its pickle.

Wine match: This is to be served cold, alongside some fresh bread, a plain salad and a glass of Classic Dry White, preferably on the couch and your feet in the air.

CLICK HERE to see our entire range from Kanu.

This week’s recipe comes courtesy of Marisco Vineyards, who supply us with New Zealand wines fit for a king. The dish is one of those that fools people into thinking you’re an amazing cook who has spent ages in the kitchen working all kinds of magic. But it’s actually fairly simple and should take you no longer than one glass of wine to prep.

Barbecued Rack of Lamb with Salsa Verde

Ingredients

Rack of lamb

Marinade
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Salsa Verde
1 handful each of flat-leaf parsley, basil and mint
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 anchovies
2 tbsp capers
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
5 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and pepper

Method
First, make the marinade by combining all its constituent parts in a bowl and seasoning. Brush both sides of the lamb with the marinade, cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for an hour or two. Preheat the grill to medium. Season the lamb and grill for 20-25 minutes, turning the meat occasionally. Transfer to a platter and rest, loosely covered for 10 minutes.

Making the Salsa Verde is a straightforward process. First, put the herbs, garlic, anchovies and capers in a food processor and whizz until well blitzed. Tip this pungent paste into a bowl and then whisk in the mustard, vinegar and olive oil. Season.

When the lamb is done to your liking, slice the rack into chops and serve drizzled with Salsa Verde and your healthy salad of choice.

Wine match: The King’s Wrath Pinot Noir (€25 €20 until end of April): Supple and lithe oak-aged Pinot with dark berry fruit, violet and thyme notes. New World Pinot is always a good bet for juicier styles of lamb like this one.

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CLICK HERE to see our entire New Zealand range, all on 20% off until April 30th.

Here is the latest in our ‘Seasonal Recipes’ series, a simple-but-amazing pasta dish that even the most ham-fisted of cooks can have a crack at. Do it!

Donal Hayes is owner and head chef at The Stolen Pizza, Kinsale, renowned in the town for its simple Italian food done well: homemade pasta and pizzas, fresh sauces, and lots of strong Italian flavours of garlic, basil, wild mushrooms, wine and olive oil, combined with local fish, meat and vegetables.

Penne Alla Luganica

Ingredients (serves 4)

400g Luganica sausage
1 large red onion
45ml olive oil
2-3 tbsp fresh very finely chopped rosemary
2-3 bay leaves
2g dried red chillies, finely chopped
2 tins chopped tomatoes
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
400g fresh penne
100ml double cream
160g Parmigiano Reggiano

Method
Put on a pot of water to boil. Remove the sausage casing and crumble the meat into a bowl. Finely chop the onions and brown them in a pan with hot olive oil. Add the meat, rosemary, bay leaves and chillies.

Cook for 5-10 minutes, then add the tomatoes to the pan and bring the sauce to the boil, and cook for a further 5-10 minutes. Check for taste and season with salt and pepper.

Boil the pasta until it’s al dente, then drain.

Stir the cream into the sauce and add half the grated cheese. Mix through the cooked pasta and serve with freshly ground black pepper and more grated cheese.

Buon appetito!

Chef’s tip
Luganica is usually from Lombardia, Trento or Veneto. It’s a fresh pork sausage which is sweet, long, thin and coiled. If your Italian deli/butcher doesn’t stock it, ask for a plain pork sausage without strong spices, rusk or bread content. Whatever you do, avoid the pink, pasty sausages from supermarkets. Not just in this recipe, but forever!

The Wine
There’s no way we’d suggest anything other than Italian here, and Dievole’s Rinascimento Sangiovese blend would sing like Silvio Berlusconi alongside Donal’s Penne. Vibrant cherry fruit, peppery spice, crisp acidity and big, crunchy tannins – a match made in heaven!

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CLICK HERE to see our Italian reds, most of which would be pretty good partners for the dish above – and all included in our 20% OFF ITALY promotion.

Here’s one for the foodies. Seasons Supper Club is a nomadic-type pop up Supper Club run by Bridin Carey, Conal Markey and Richard Speedie, three contestants of Masterchef Ireland 2011, who have come together to create a night of culinary greatness in a relaxed atmosphere.

Of the three dates, one is already sold out, so don’t hang about.

Friday 16th November at Fenns Quay, Cork

Saturday 1st December at Medley by Andrew Rudd (Drury Street, Dublin 2)

Bookings: bookings@seasonssupperclub.com

All ingredients are sourced locally where possible, and menus are designed based on the season featuring Irish produce. Local farmers, foragers and producers’ products are used throughout the menus, as they work closely with each venue’s Head Chef to design the menu and ensure they run a night to remember.

The stir-fry is underrated these days, but add this to your quick mid-week meals and you’ll certainly go back to it again. With the right ingredients they can pack really fresh and vibrant, mouthwatering flavours, just like this one.

Lemon chicken stir-fry (serves 4)

Ingredients
4 free range chicken breasts
6 tbsp groundnut or olive oil
150g unsalted peanuts
6 spring onions, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, peeled & finely chopped
8cm ginger peeled & finely shredded
4 small hot chillies, seeded & finely chopped
zest & juice of 4 lemons
3-4 tbsp fish sauce
a good handful of mint leaves, chopped
some basil leaves, torn to shreds

To serve…
Fried rice and/or salad

Method
Slice the chicken breasts into slim strips so they’ll cook quickly. Bring a wok up to a very high heat and pour in half of the oil. When it starts to crackle, throw in the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, pulse the nuts a few times in a food processor to break them up a little.

Transfer the chicken to a warm plate and bring the wok back to a high heat again with the remaining oil. Add the spring onions, garlic, ginger, chillies and fry, stirring almost constantly for a minute or two.

Tip in the nuts, stir-fry for a minute or so and then add the zest and juice of the lemon, before adding the fish sauce. Stir in the herbs and serve with fried rice.

The wine to match

For this I want a wine that’s lemony and that won’t just melt into the background with the heat of a few chillies. The ultimate white wine comes to mind. A wine that all white grape varieties aspire to.

I’m thinking Riesling. Okay, I know Riesling isn’t for everyone so that’s why I’ll suggest a few more, but for me the Ant Moore Riesling is the perfect match. Fresh, clean, dry and concentrated with bags of citrus fruit, it’s a wine that would remain prominent, whilst not overpowering this punchy dish.

Usually Sauvignon Blanc doesn’t go so well with hot food, I believe, however the softer acidity of a Gascony Sauvignon, like the Grandiose, should work well. I also think the Castelo de Medina Verdejo is a fab wine for this. It’s got the concentration and relatively soft acidity – one certainly worth adding to your next mixed case, whether or not chicken lemon stir-fries make the menu.

Ah, the glorious burger. What’s not to like? Do it on the barbecue if summer ever decides to show her face. Otherwise, this is an all year round, heart warming hunk of meat between two lumps of bread to be enjoyed with a rich red, or even a good ale.

Lamb burgers (serves 4)

Ingredients
450g minced lamb
15g butter
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp dried mint
1 egg, beaten
4 rashers streaky bacon
4 good quality floury burger buns

To serve…
Salad, potato salad and/or chunky chips
Lettuce, tomato & cheese to top the burger
Ketchup/mint sauce on the side

Method
Fry the onion and garlic in the butter until soft and the onion translucent. Transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes. Then add the lamb and herbs. Add the beaten egg and mix well. Divide the mixture into eight equal pieces and shape into burgers.

Take the bacon rashers and cut each one in half, before wrapping them around the side of the burgers. Secure with a cocktail stick and cook under a hot grill until brown and cooked through. You’ll need to turn them twice. Serve the burger in the bun with your favourite toppings.

The wine to match

Burgers, like pizzas, are one of the easiest things to wine match. All you’re looking for is a good full red, like what you might have at a BBQ. An Aussie Shiraz, an Argentian Malbec or even a hefty Bordeaux or Chianti.

Just above entry level, I think the Grandiose Cabernet Sauvignon works well with most meat dishes. It’s quite gutsy, and I like it because it has enough fruit sweetness go solo as well, not unlike the Chateau Puybarbe, and it wouldn’t be as drying as perhaps the Les Deux Cedres, which some people actually prefer for that slightly drier style. It would be an equally good partner.

Of course we can’t forget Malbec, the meat lovers wine. Santa Alicia do a good one for the price, or you could go to Australia and step it up to Bleasdale’s take on Argentina’s number one red grape variety. For Shiraz, the fun begins with the Last Stand, or you could go back to France for the Dignite Syrah – a wine that will leave you dazed and confused for so long it’s not true. (It’s amazing, take my word for it.)

I know this is real winter grub here, but while April is refusing to behave I still have that urge to eat warm, rich, weighty food. The first time I tried toad was when Curious Davide (<– click and scroll down to view his other recipes) made it back in January. This is more or less how he did it.

The most important thing of course is your choice of sausage. Mass production has yet to master the sausage, not unlike the wine conundrum, so ignore those scrawny pink ones their flogging in the supermarket. There is only one place to pick up good sausages and that’s at a good butcher. You’re getting better value, supporting the independent, supporting choice in what we eat, and if your butcher is sourcing high welfare animals, you’ve nothing to feel guilty about.

Toad in the hole (serves 4)

Ingredients
6 thick pork butcher’s sausages
2 free range eggs
150ml milk mixed with 150ml water
125g plain flour
1 tbsp grain mustard
3 tbsp unsalted butter

For the gravy…
2 large onions
325ml stock
1 tbsp flour
75g butter
Worcestershire sauce

To serve…
Creamy mash potatoes & broccoli

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C. Mix the eggs, flour, milk, mustard with a whisk, beating out the lumps of flour. Season with a little salt and pepper. It should be a nice consistency, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Set aside for 10 or 15 minutes.

Put the butter in a baking tin and place in the oven until hot and melted. Remove from the oven and pour in the batter before arranging the sausages in it. This will cook in about 30 minutes, but just keep an eye on it. I like it nice and golden on top so that it crisps up.

For the gravy, melt the butter in a heavy base saucepan and cook the onions slowly until brown and soft. Get them really soft in texture so they’ll almost go to mush. Add the tablespoon of flour, stir and cook for a few minutes and add some of the stock, continually adding and stirring. Season with salt and pepper, add some Worcestershire sauce and bring to the boil, and then gently bubbly over 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally.

Serve the toad with vegetables of your choice and generously pour over the gravy. Be careful not to eat the plate too.

The wine match

I would be partial to an artisan ale as an accompaniment depending on my mood, otherwise it would be a rustic, medium bodied Spanish or French red.

La Mano Mencía is the type of wine that would be enjoyed at the end of a hard working day by an old, dirty, withered miner, as would toad in the hole. It’s savouriness and earthiness give it real character, and it’s interplay with the flavours of the food should work a treat.

The beautifully crafted Moulin de Gassac Albaran would be my choice from France. Although it must be said, this isn’t the most complicated dish to wine match so by all means go with your gut instinct.

Most of us know coronation chicken as a sandwich filler. It was originally created for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, but now it is a tasty, easy to prepare everyday meal for peasants like me.

This version can be served with a salad and a hunk of freshly baked crusty bread, but by all means use the leftovers for lunch the next day. It will work a treat between two slices of Pat the Baker.

Coronation chicken (serves 4)

Ingredients
4 free range chicken breasts, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 bay leaf
2 small onions, chopped
1 pint of chicken stock
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp medium curry powder
juice of one lemon (zest optional)
3 tbsp mango chutney
1 tbsp tomato puree
200ml homemade mayonnaise
150ml mild natural yoghurt
seedless green/red grapes, halved
small handful of almond thins

Method
Bring the chicken stock to boil in a large saucepan with the bay leaf, then reduce the heat and poach the chicken for 5 or 6 minutes or until cooked. Take off the heat and set aside.

In a separate pan, heat the oil and fry the onions off for a few minutes. Stir in the curry powder and cook for about 30 seconds, and then stir in the lemon juice (lemon zest optional), mango chutney, tomato puree and 75ml of the chicken stock from the large saucepan. Simmer for ten minutes.

Remove the chicken from the stock and set aside. Combine the stock with the stock mixture and mix well with the mayonnaise and yoghurt. Throw in a handful of grapes and the almonds with the chicken at the end and enjoy hot or cold.

The wine match

I think this is a relatively easy curry-like dish to pair with wine because it is quite mild. I don’t think red would be the most natural match, but that’s not to say you shouldn’t pair the two.

For white wine, I think a New World Viognier would work a treat because it should have the body to cope with the creaminess of the sauce and a prominent flavour profile, often with a hint of spice, to handle the lovely flavours of the chicken. It could be argued the table grapes should be an ingredient avoided, but I think the ever so slight fruit sweetness of the Tabali Viognier will marry well with everything here.

Other good options include Sauvignon or Semillon from Bordeaux, or quite a full-bodied Chardonnay with the oak restrained, like Santa Alicia’s phenomenal Gran Reserva Chardonnay.

One of my father’s best friends is a Chinese man called Oscar who he’s known since university. My parents actually went on holidays with him and his wife recently. He’s a great man for the cooking, and oriental style is his forté. One dead simple recipe that has been ingrained into the family cook book is Oscar’s spare ribs. Pig’s ribs obviously.

Oscar’s spare ribs (serves 2)

Ingredients
1Ib spare pork ribs
2 oz butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp of soy sauce
Sesame seeds to garnish (optional)

Method
Although the above quantities should be perfect for two people, this is somewhat of a freehand job. Cook as many ribs as you think you’re going to use. This is easier to gauge when you see how much meat is on the ribs. Use the butter, syrup and soy sauce as you will to get the taste and balance you want. The soy sauce acts as seasoning, accentuating the sweetness of the syrup.

Pre-heat the oven to a toasty 200 degrees C (minimum). In a suitable roasting tin melt the butter in the oven and then add the syrup and soy sauce and heat up for a few minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool just about enough so you can smother the ribs in the mixture with your bare hands. Then fire the whole lot at the top of the oven for about 20 minutes. Check on it and if you want to golden it up a bit more, give it another 5 or 10 minutes. Serve as a starter or keep as a tasty snack, a light dinner or with brunch.

The wine match

With the sweetness of the syrup and that dark rich depth of the soy sauce I think a not too dry red wine should work well. We’re not dealing with spice here, to our advantage. Some of the New World reds have that little touch of residual sugar that make them so utterly drinkable, but with something like this, even for someone who likes the drier styles of Bordeaux, you should find there’s a better balance when enjoyed with this kind of food.

The Santa Alicia Reserva Malbec or the Grandiose Cabernet Sauvignon do that for me. As reds go, neither leave your mouth feeling like the Atacama desert. For a good mid-range option, try the Langmeil Three Gardens or the Woodstock Cabernet Shiraz. On the white front, an off-dry Riesling would be hard to beat. The Muddy Water James Hardwick Riesling is the perfect option for that light lunch scenario.