Winemakers are luring visitors to the Adelaide Hills this weekend with the warming combination of red wine and “fireside fare” such as lamb shanks, pot pie, beef bourguignon and steamed pudding.
Twenty-seven wineries and restaurants are taking part in the annual Winter Reds cellar door festival, with events including wine and chocolate matching at Hahndorf Hill, a pinot noir vertical tasting at Mt Lofty Ranges, a degustation dinner at the Stirling Hotel, and a “feral feast” featuring braised goat and buffalo sandwiches at Ngeringa.
Many of the venues have open fires or outdoor braziers, and are also offering live music or other entertainment.
Among cellar door representatives sharing recipes in the lead-up to Winter Reds are Hamish and Kate Laurie from Deviation Road, who supplied the Simple Country Lentils recipe below. The Lauries are hosting a degustation dinner on Saturday night at Mt Lofty House, where Deviation Road wines will be showcased alongside slow-roasted shoulder of lamb and root vegetables with shiraz jus.
The full Winter Reds program is available online.
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Simple Country Lentils
By Hamish and Kate Laurie at Deviation Road
Ingredients
500g green puy lentils (this will serve about 6 people)
2 onions, diced
4 carrots, chopped
250g salted pork, cut into chunks (optional)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme
Bay leaf
Country sausages/ frankfurters (1-2 per person – optional)
Parsley and mustard for serving
Pepper to taste (if you are using the salted pork, you will not need to add salt)
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Method
Fry onion until golden in a generous amount of olive oil, in a heavy casserole pot. Add sausage, bay leaf and thyme.
During this time, boil a full kettle of water to pour over the lentils later – the hot water greatly reduces the cooking time.
Add the roughly cut chunks of salted pork to casserole pot and fry for a few minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the carrots and the garlic; give a good stir.
Now add the lentils, stir well.Cover with lid and let simmer for one hour (if you have too much liquid, leave the lid slightly ajar) or until lentils are tender.
Add herbs and pepper to taste.
Tip: During the cooking, you will find that the lentils soak up a lot of water; you may need to add a second pot of boiling water over the mixture if you have no liquid left. It may look like you are drowning the lentils with water, but it does dry up.
If adding salt, do so after the cooking. Adding salt to lentils during cooking may toughen them up.
