Delish Beef Stir Fry

 

Weeknights are going to become a whole lot easier when you invest in a good wok to whip up some delicious and easy stir fry’s.

 

The best thing with Stir fry is that you can use all the leftover veggies in the fridge and whatever meat you have on hand.

 

This beef stir fry is a winner any night of the week and pairs perfectly with our Mama Goat Merlot.

 

What you’ll need:

 

For the beef and marinade:

 

12 ounces flank steak (sliced ⅛-inch thick into 2- to 3-inch pieces)

1 teaspoon water

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon corn-starch

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

 

For the rest of the dish:

 

4 cups bok choy (250g, cut into 1x3-inch pieces, washed and drained)

¾ cup Bunashimeji or Beech mushrooms washed and drained (50g)

¾ cup sugar snap peas or snow peas (65g, rinsed and drained)

½ cup warm water or beef stock

¼ teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (or mushroom flavoured dark soy sauce if you have it)

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

¼ teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons canola oil (divided)

½ teaspoon minced ginger

2 cloves garlic (finely minced)

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

2 teaspoons corn-starch (mixed with 1 tablespoon water)

 

 

Method:

 

Mix the marinade ingredients with the beef until well-coated and set aside for 30 minutes or overnight. Next, prepare your veggies and set them aside.

 

In a small bowl, mix the water (or beef stock, if using), sesame oil, soy sauces, oyster sauce and sugar, and set aside.

 

Heat your wok on high heat and spread 2 tablespoons of oil around the perimeter to coat. Once the wok and oil start to smoke, add the beef, and use your metal wok spatula to spread the beef in one even layer. Sear for 30 seconds. Turn the beef to sear the uncooked sides for another 30 seconds. At this point, the beef should be about 80% done.

 

Turn off the heat and transfer the beef back to the marinade bowl.

 

 

Next, with the heat back on high, add the ginger and 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok. Cook for 10 seconds and add the garlic. After 5 seconds, add the mushrooms and stir fry for another 15 seconds, giving them a good sear. Add the Shaoxing wine.

 

Next, add the snap peas and the bok choy, and stir fry on the highest heat for another 20 seconds until the bok choy begins to wilt. Stir in the beef and your prepared sauce mixture. Gather everything in the centre of the wok.

 

When everything comes back up to a simmer, and the sides of the wok begin to super-heat, stir fry everything in a circular motion, so the beef and vegetables hit the sides of the wok--this gets you that wok hay flavour!

 

Pour the corn-starch slurry in the centre of the wok while stirring. The sauce will immediately thicken, so work fast to mix everything together for another 20 seconds to evenly coat the beef and vegetables in the sauce. There should not be any standing sauce – everything should be clinging to the beef and vegetable stir fry. This is the classic restaurant-style preparation, but you can add more stock and salt or soy sauce to taste if you like a saucier stir-fry.

 

Turn off the heat and transfer your beef vegetable stir-fry to a serving plate; you can also dish it out individually on a bed of rice for a great one-plate meal. Enjoy immediately. Though you probably don’t need us to tell you that.

 

 

 

Vintage feels

There's a real buzz in the region of the Coonawarra each year when Vintage swings around.

 

It's the most beautiful time of the year, as all the grapes are ripe and juicy and ready for the picking and we see our new wine babies coming to fruition.  

 

It signifies the start of something new, something exciting and it’s a great time to visit us.

 

And every year, except last year – thank Covid!! We open the doors to a fortunate select group of wonderful people to our winery and we let them become the makers of the wine for a day.

 

It’s a day of fun, of learning and making new friendships.

 

You will get to tour our winery, vineyards and possibly pick some grapes if they are ready to roll.

 

And you will also get to have a hand in making one of our delicious Coonawarra Cabernets! Enjoy squishing some grapes into the basket press, taste barrel samples, and enjoying the fun of making a delightful vino from scratch. From grape to glass.

 

After all the hard work comes an afternoon spent sipping on wine whilst enjoying lunch with all your new friends. Our winemakers Emma and Steven will take you on a guided tasting of our selection, and you get to sit back and enjoy the arvo.

 

Once the wine is bottled and ready to go, we will send you a bottle of this delicious wine that you had a hand in making.

 

It’s a memory to last a lifetime.

 

These wine events sell out quickly every year, so make sure you are signed up to our newsletter, become a Billy Goat club member for pre-sale offers and book in quick.

 

We hope to see you at one of these fantastic events.

Spicy Lobster Pasta

 

This is the kind of recipe that you will want to pull out on a first date if you are eager to impress or you might just be looking to spice things up and impress your significant other.

 

This dish is spicy and pairs perfectly with our Cheeky Goat Pinot Gris.

 

Enjoy

 

What you’ll need:

 

1 x packet of spaghetti

Salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large shallot, finely chopped

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

500gms of cherry tomatoes halved

500gms of cooked lobster meat

Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Lemon wedges (for serving)

 

Method:

 

Cook spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.

 

Meanwhile, heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook shallot and red pepper flakes, stirring often until shallot is softened, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring often, until tomatoes are soft and juicy, 5–8 minutes.

 

Add lobster meat to skillet and toss to coat. Add pasta and 1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking liquid; season with salt and pepper.

 

Cook, tossing constantly and adding more reserved pasta cooking liquid as needed until sauce thickens and coats pasta, about 2 minutes.

 

Serve pasta topped with lemon zest, with lemon wedges alongside for squeezing over.

Eggs Benny and Bubbly in bed!

V-Day is coming up lovers, and it's time to start thinking about cracking a nice bottle of bubbly to celebrate.

 

Maybe a Raidis Emma Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Gris… wink, wink, nudge, nudge?

 

You may be looking for ways to spoil your beloved, and with Valentine’s Day falling on a Sunday this year what better way than breakfast in bed and a glass or two of the good stuff!

 

So crack that bubbly and follow this delicious recipe for the perfect eggs benedict.

 

What you’ll need:

 

4 large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks

1 tbsp. butter

4 slices Canadian bacon

2 English muffins, split and toasted

1 tbsp. warm water

1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted

Chopped fresh chives, for serving

 

 

Method:

 

Poach eggs: Fill a large saucepan with 2 inches water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a bare simmer.

 

Break one egg into a small bowl and gently tip into the pan. Use a spatula to gently lift the egg from the bottom of the pan.

 

Repeat with remaining 3 eggs and cook until the whites are just set, but the yolks are still runny about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the eggs to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

 

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add Canadian bacon and cook, flipping once, until golden on both sides, about 4 minutes. 

 

Arrange bacon on top of English muffin halves and top with poached eggs.

 

Make the sauce: In a blender, combine egg yolks, water, lemon juice, and salt and blend until frothy. With blender running, pour in hot melted butter in a very thin stream, blending until sauce is thick and emulsified.

 

Spoon sauce over eggs. Sprinkle with chives and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

 

 

 

 

Spanakopita with Feta Cheese

This dish really needs no introduction, it delicious, fun to make and will have your neighbours knocking down your door to visit.

 

You really can’t go past a delicious Spanakopita and if you have ample spinach in the garden it’s a great way to use it up.

 

This dish is perfect served fresh, or you can even freeze the leftovers for a later date if there is such a thing.

 

Pairs perfectly with our The Kid Riesling.

 

 

What you’ll need:

 

 

For the Filling:

 

1.5Kg of fresh spinach (chopped, you can substitute frozen, thawed well)

3/4 cup olive oil (divided)

4 large onions (diced)

2 bunches green onions (diced, including 4 inches of the green section)

1/2 cup fresh parsley (chopped)

1/2 cup fresh dill (chopped, or 3 tablespoons dried dill)

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Salt (to taste)

Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

500gms of feta cheese (crumbled)

4 large eggs (lightly beaten)

500gms ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)

 

For the Phyllo

 

4 tablespoons butter (melted)

500gms phyllo pastry sheets

 

Method:

 

Wash and drain the chopped spinach very well. If using frozen spinach, thaw completely and squeeze out excess water. Spinach should be dry before you begin cooking.

 

Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a deep sauté pan. Sauté the onions and green onions until tender.

 

Add the spinach, parsley, and dill, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes until the spinach is wilted and heated through.

 

Add the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. If using frozen spinach, you will want to cook until excess moisture evaporates. Spinach mixture should be on the dry side. Remove from heat and set the spinach aside to cool.

 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the feta, eggs, and ricotta or cottage cheese.

 

Add the cooled spinach mixture and mix until combined.

 

Prepare the Phyllo

 

Combine the melted butter with the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil in a bowl.

 

Using a pastry brush, lightly grease two 9- by 12-inch rectangular pans.

 

Carefully remove the phyllo roll from the plastic sleeve. Most packages come in 12- by 18-inch sheets when opened fully.

 

Using scissors or sharp knife, cut the sheets in half to make two stacks of 9- by 12-inch sheets. To prevent drying, cover one stack with wax paper and a damp paper towel while working with the other.

 

Make the Spanakopita

 

Preheat the oven to 180degrees. Layer about 10 sheets of phyllo on the bottom of each pan making sure to brush each sheet with the butter-olive oil mixture.

 

Add half of the spinach mixture to each pan in an even layer and press with a spatula to flatten.

 

Layer another 10 phyllo sheets on top of the spinach mixture in each pan, making sure to brush each sheet well with butter-olive oil mixture.

 

Before baking, score the top layer of phyllo (making sure not to puncture filling layer) to enable easier cutting of pieces later. (You can place the pan in the freezer to harden the top layers and then use a serrated knife to make the cutting easier.)

 

Bake until the pie turns a deep golden brown. If the pie is frozen when you put it in the oven, you will need approximately 45 minutes of cooking time. If fresh, plan for approximately 20 to 25 minutes of cooking time.

 

Let cool for a few minutes and then slice and serve.

 

Anti-New Year Resolutions – Things to try in 2021

If the crazy year that was 2020 has taught us anything, it's that we only have a limited amount of time on this earth to enjoy and to experience, so we’d better make the best of the time we have.

 

So here are some ideas to grab 2021 by the kahunas and make it count.

 

Practice Gratitude Daily

 

By now you have probably heard of people writing down what they are grateful for daily, and maybe you shrugged it off as not something for you.

 

But the act of practising gratitude has been linked to increased happiness, and after the tough year everyone had in 2020 it might be time to re-wire the brain with a little bit of daily gratitude.

 

Be spontaneous

 

In 2021 practice spontaneity… within reason! After a glimpse of what it's like to be locked at home and have some of the privileges that we often take for granted taken away, it might be a great goal to throw caution to the wind and be a bit more spontaneous.

 

It doesn’t need to be anything extravagant, but you can take a quick overnight trip away with your partner, learn that instrument you have always been meaning to learn or just be a bit more spontaneous on the daily.

 

Have more fun

 

Don’t associate fun with just money and nights out.

 

You could have fun on a rainy day as a kid with two couches and a few blankets. It was called a castle, and you couldn't touch the lava.

 

Write a list of fun and simple things you can incorporate into your week.

 

Be More Accepting in 2021

 

This goes without saying, but we should all be more accepting.

 

Don’t like someone’s view on politics, realise they might not like yours. It is like the more we move forward in the 21st century, the more we think anything different than our views is wrong. So let's accept people differences in thinking. 

 

And that goes for being a bit more accepting of ourselves as well. It's ok to cut yourself some slack and not always be firing on all cylinders all the time. You are only human, after all.

 

Let go of 2020

 

I know it's hard but try to let go of the year that was 2020 and move into 2021 with a shift in your attitude about how the year will pan out.

 

It certainly won't take away all of our problems, or make Coronavirus miraculously disappear but we get to choose every day how we let it affect us.

 

 

 

 

 

Delicious fish burger

If you’ve still got the kids at home for school holidays or maybe just even a bit tired after being back at work at the start of the new year, you are going to be wanting to make the cooking easy as for the next couple of weeks.

 

These fish burgers are delicious and pair perfectly with our Sauvignon Blanc.

 

What you’ll need:
 

Crumbed fish burgers

500-gram skinless firm white fish fillets, sliced into 8 portions

1/2 cup plain flour

2 eggs, whisked

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil, for shallow frying

4 Burger Buns

Fries, to serve

 

Slaw and mayo

1/2 small red cabbage, finely shredded

1 carrot, grated

2 green onions, finely sliced

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoon chopped dill

1 long red chilli, seeded, finely chopped

 

Method:

 

Coat fish in flour, shaking off excess. Dip in egg and coat press into breadcrumbs to coat. Place on a tray and chill until required.

 

Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine cabbage, carrot and green onion.

 

In a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise and lemon juice until smooth. Stir dill and chilli through. Season.

 

In a large frying pan heat oil on high until a few crumbs when added. Fry fish 2 minutes each side until golden and just cooked through. Drain on paper towel.

 

Fill rolls with slaw and fish pieces. Top with mayo and serve with fries.

 

 

 

Chinese Salt and Pepper Squid

As we settle into a new year full of new possibilities, it only fitting that we explore some fresh and scrumptious dishes to cook at home.

 

This Chinese Salt and Pepper Squid is something that you will want to cook over and over, very morish and a definite crowd-pleaser.

 

What you’ll need:

 

2 large whole squid, cleaned and cut into pieces or 400g (14 oz) pre-cleaned calamari tubes sliced into rings

1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns

1 tbsp black peppercorns

1 tbsp sea salt

¼ cup plain flour

¼ cup of rice flour

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

4 spring onions (scallions), finely sliced

1 large red chilli, finely sliced

Vegetable oil for deep frying and stir-frying

Lime wedges to serve

 

Method:

 

Dry roast the peppercorns in a frying pan over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes or until fragrant. Use a mortar and pestle to grind the peppercorns and the salt to a fine powder. Transfer to a small bowl.

 

Pour enough oil to deep fry into a wok or saucepan over high heat.

 

Combine the plain flour and rice flour in a large bowl. Pat the squid pieces with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Generously season the squid pieces with the salt mixture.

 

Coat pieces of squid in the flour. When the oil is hot, fry the squid in batches for 2-3 minutes or until light golden in colour. Drain on paper towel.

 

Heat 1 tsp of vegetable oil in a clean wok or frying pan. Add the garlic, spring onion and chillies and stir-fry for 30 seconds.

 

Add the squid pieces and a little more of the salt mixture and stir-fry until well combined. Transfer to a serving plate. Serve with lime wedges.

 

 

 

 

 

Creative ways to use leftover wrapping paper

If your house is anything like ours was on Christmas morning, it looks like an explosion of wrapping paper after all the presents have been enjoyed by the little and big kids alike and you might be thinking… what a waste of all that wrapping paper.

 

If you've got kids to keep entertained this summer holidays and a creative streak, then these are some ways to recycle and reuse that leftover wrapping paper.

 

Wrapping paper cards

 

Cut your favourite wrapping paper into shapes and strips and glue them to the outside of a blank card to make more personal greeting cards for Christmas time next year.

 

Make wrapping paper bunting

 

Got an event coming up that you might like to celebrate with some homemade decorations?

 

Why not make some wrapping paper bunting.

 

Shred-it into paper confetti

 

Messy, but oh so delightful.

 

Use a paper shredder to make festive confetti for your next party. That shit will get everywhere, but it will look festive, that's for damn sure.

 

 

Use discarded paper to line a box containing something fragile

 

Leftover wrapping paper makes the perfect packing material if you need to send gifts or items in the mail.

 

Construct and hang decorative streamers

 

Streamers for kids’ parties or even just a craft exercise to do with the kids.

 

A hole punch and some string + your leftover wrapping paper = beautiful party decorations for your next bash, or just because. 

 

Line plain bookshelves or plain drawers

 

If you have some bare looking shelves in your kid's rooms or office, wrapping paper can brighten things up.

 

You can also line plain draws to make them a bit brighter; all you will need is some craft glue, a ruler and that leftover paper.

 

Enjoy

 

 

 

Boxing Day Turkey and Avocado Salad

We all want less waste in general these days and creative ways to re-purpose some of that Christmas Turkey leftover from Christmas Day!

 

Keep the fun rolling this year on Boxing Day with a delicious Turkey and Avocado salad which will make the perfect lazy lunch at home or packed up and down at the beach or for a lighter style dinner after the madness of Christmas.

 

What you’ll need:

 

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

100ml olive oil

3 x 5mm-thick sourdough slices

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 tbs whole berry cranberry sauce

2 celery stalks, shaved

120g mixed baby salad leaves (mesclun)

400g cooked, cooled turkey meat, sliced or shredded

1/4 cup (35g) slivered almonds, toasted

1 avocado, halved, sliced

 

 

Method:

 

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Combine the garlic and 1/4 cup (60ml) oil in a bowl. Season and brush over the bread slices. Place the bread on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and crisp. Set aside to cool.

 

For the dressing, place the vinegar, cranberry sauce and remaining 2 tbs oil in a bowl. Season and whisk to combine.

 

To serve, assemble the remaining ingredients on a platter and break the croutons over the salad. Drizzle with the cranberry dressing to serve.