‘Natural’ Earth Essence Pinotage with Yummy Fillet Au Poivre and Rooibos Ciabatta

Thursday, 28 May, 2015
KWV
With winter now in full swing, hearty meals are definitely on the menu and so is red wine. Make delicious fillet au poivre and bake and break some yummy rooibos ciabatta bread with friends and family and enjoy with Earth’s Essence ‘natural’ Pinotage wine.

By utilising a revolutionary natural process using indigenous Rooibos and Honeybush during the winemaking process their powerful anti-oxidants protect the wine naturally negating the use of added sulphites or preservatives; great news for those who normally avoid wine because of its high sulphur content.

A perfect match for the two mouth-watering winter recipes below, developed by TV personality and well-known chef, Mynhardt Joubert, Earth’s Essence is an unconventional, high-quality, super-premium, natural wine, preserved by nature. Enjoy the taste of prominent cranberries, Turkish delight and dark chocolate aromas with nuances of nuts, Rooibos, Honeybush and sweet basil.

Recipe: Rooibos Tea Ciabatta with Homemade Lavender, vanilla & honey butter.

Step 1: The Ciabatta

This is a simple recipe for delicious ciabatta rolls that can be made with a mixer with a K attachment (or flat edge beater) and a well-sized mixing bowl. The trick with making ciabatta rolls from scratch and knowing when the dough should go in the oven is to watch for when mix starts to pull from the sides of the mixing bowl while mixing. This recipe makes 4 ciabatta rolls.

Ingredients – You will need

1kg white bread flour

1 sachet of dry yeast salt

1 teaspoon of sugar

650ml of strong rooibos tea (luke warm)

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 rooibos tea bag

Method

First, make sure that the K attachment is on your mixer. Next, combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt into the mixer and mix through well. While mixing, start adding the lukewarm rooibos tea bag and olive oil to the mix. It might look like there’s a lot of liquid in the bowl but don’t fret – it’ll blend and thicken soon. Now, turn the mixer onto its highest setting and let it run for about 5 to 8 minutes. The dough will start forming long strands and will eventually start pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

As soon as all the dough has pulled away from the sides and formed a ball in the middle of the bowl remove it from the mixer and place it into a large oiled bowl. Cover it with cling film and let it rise to double its size. Pour out the mixture onto a floured surface and cut the dough into four pieces. Dust them with enough flour and twist the dough from either side. Place the dough balls onto a greased baking tray or a baking tray with baking paper and let them rest for ten minutes. Bake at 200 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Step 2: Lavender Vanilla & Honey Butter

Making butter is one of the simplest things to do and a lost art in our generation. This recipe shows a couple of quick and easy steps to make butter in minutes. The results will be around 500g of butter.

Ingredients

1 litre of fresh cream

2 bags of ice

2 vanilla pods sliced with seeds scraped out

8 lavender flowers chopped finely

1 tablespoon of honey

Method

Pour the cream into a mixer with its balloon whisk attachment and start mixing on high speed. Make sure the bowl is covered to prevent splashes. The cream will begin to look like whipped cream and then start separating into butter and butter milk. As soon as all the butter fat and milk has separated, gather all the butter together and form a ball. Dunk the ball into a large bowl of iced water and massage the butter until all the milk has been removed. You will end up with a ball of smooth creamy butter. Place into a mixing bowl and add the honey, vanilla pod and lavender flowers. Shape the butter into sticks and leave to set.

Enjoy with a cheese platter or a bowl of hearty soup.

Fillet Au Poivre with Brandy and Rooibos Tea Cream Sauce

This recipe is a winter winner and fool proof. Anybody can cook a really good steak with these easy steps. Ensure you have good quality meat and little else can go wrong. Serves 4. Oven 220 degrees.

Ingredients

4 x 200g fillet steaks at room temperature

100g of crushed black peppercorns

Olive oil

120ml of KWV brandy

800ml of cream

4 Rooibos tea bags

Method

Place a large, heavy bottomed saucepan onto the stove and let it heat up. Meanwhile, roll the four fillets in black pepper corns until they’re covered from top to bottom.

Pour olive oil into the pan. Now, seal the meat generously on each side until golden brown and remove the pan from the heat. Add the brandy and place the pan back onto the source of heat. If you are cooking with gas the brandy will catch alight, otherwise use a match to ignite it. Flambe the fillets until all the flames have died down, Remove the fillets from the pan and let them rest for 5 minutes. Pour the cream into the pan with all the juices and brandy and the 4 rooibos tea bags. Stir the sauce continuously until it has reduced by two thirds and become thick and lovely. Remove the tea bags and let the sauce rest. Place the meat into the hot oven and let it warm through for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove and serve with the sauce and matchstick thin French fries.

Retailing for R89 per bottle, Earth’s Essence is available nationwide at selected Makro, Checkers Liquor, Ultra Liquor and Spar stores.

For more information visit: www.earthsessence.co.za or join the conversation on Twitter @EarthsEszence