Mount Riley’s food & wine matching advice comes from internationally famous New Zealand chef Brook Petrie, who also happens to be John’s nephew and Amy’s cousin. Brook’s training as a chef has included posts at Icon restaurant in Te Papa Museum in Wellington, Peter Gordon’s Providores in London, Public in New York and Christine Manfield’s East West in London.
Brook’s main passion is Asian fusion cuisine and he has travelled extensively through South East Asia fine tuning his culinary skills. Brook shares with us below some of his favourite recipes to eat alongside our wines.
Grilled Snapper wrapped in vine leaf with Aubergine rocket rollmop & Saffron couscous.
Match with Mount Riley Sauvignon Blanc
4 Snapper fillets, skin on, scaled & pinbones
20 vine leaves fresh or pickled
1 clove garlic
1 bunch coriander
1 lemon
250 g couscous
300 ml water or chicken stock
75 ml orange juice
1/2 teaspoon saffron
2 tablespoon sultanas
1 large aubergine
100 ml Olive oil
1 lemon
4 anchovy fillets
1 handfull rocket
1. If you're lucky enough to have fresh vine leaves available to you then you'll need to blanch them to make them easier to use & also so they don't burn on the BBQ, to do this juct dip each leaf in boiling water for 10 seconds.
2. Make a paste for the fish by chopping the garlic, half the coriander, the zest of 1 lemon & mixing with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add a teaspoon of sea salt & a few grinds of black pepper. Score the skin of the snapper & rub liberally with the paste. 3. Take 4 leaves for each fillet & lay them on a clean surface so they overlap each other making as square a shape as possible. Place a fillet in the middle and bring the edges of the leaves up so they fold over each other, the fillet should be covered on both sides.
4. For the couscous place it in a pot with the sultanas, saffron, water/stock & orange juice. Add a teaspoon of sea salt, cover with a lid & simmer until the liquid is gone.
5. Slice the aubergine lengthways about 1/2 cm thick & brush with olive oil, season with salt & pepper & BBQ for 4-5 minutes on each side & remove from the grill. Make a paste with the zest & juice of the lemon, the anchovies & the leftover olive oil & brush on one side. Place a small bunch of rocket on the aubergine & roll it up like sushi. If the rollmops don't stay rolled up put a skewer through them.
6. Lightly brush the wrapped snapper fillets with olive oil & BBQ for 3-4 minutes on each side depending on the heat of the grill, you can put a little knife through the leaf to see if it's ready.
7. Serve with a spoon of warm saffron couscous & a rollmop.
Grilled Scallop, Asparagus & Green Mango Salad with Lemon Miso Dressing (serves 4)
Match With: Mount Riley Sauvignon Blanc
2 doz decent sized scallops (more if they’re smaller)
1 bunch of aparagus (no thicker than your little finger)
1 bunch of baby spinach
½ bunch of coriander
3-4 radishes
Dressing
80 ml Sake
80 g white sugar
60 ml rice wine vinegar
60 ml shiro miso
juice & zest of 1 lemon
pinch salt
1. Mix all dressing ingredients & simmer to a syrup then allow to cool completely.
2. Peel the green mango & then keep taking peelings of flesh off it working your way around the stone. Slice a few small radishes into thin rounds & mix the mango & radish with a bunch of cleaned baby spinach & the picked coriander leaves in a large salad bowl.
3. Clean scallops & pat dry with paper towel, peel asparagus & break the bottom of the stalk off where it naturally wants to break, discard this part as it’s usually quite woody, cut the stalks into finger long pieces & coat in olive oil.
4. Rub scallops with olive oil, salt & pepper & throw them onto a hot BBQ with the asparagus, turn the asparagus regularly till slightly blackened, give the scallops about two minutes on each side, depending on size.
5. Mix all ingredients & dress liberally with the lemon miso, serve quickly as to not wilt the greens.
Roast Salmon on Soba Noodles with Wild Mushrooms, Wakame & Ginger Sesame Dressing (serves 4)
Match With: Mount Riley Pinot Noir
4 x 180g pieces of Salmon
1 packet Soba Noodles
1 bunch of spring onions
1 punnet of Shiitaki mushrooms
1 punnet of Oyster mushrooms
1 punnet of Enoki mushrooms
1 bunch coriander
2 Tblsp of dried wakame seaweed
1 Tblsp of toasted white sesame seeds
Dressing
1 knob ginger
50 ml honey
75 g tahini
60 ml lemon juice
60 ml tamari soy
100 ml water
pinch salt
1. Pre-heat oven to 200 C
2. Finely chop the ginger & mix all dressing ingredients, if you can’t find tamari soy just use a light soya sauce.
3. Cut the stems of the shiitaki & oyster mushrooms & trim just the bottoms off the enoki (enough to pull them apart).
4. Soak the wakame in warm water for 15 minutes then strain & dry wakame on paper towel. Slice the spring onions on a slight angle.
5. Cook the soba noodles in boiling salted water as instructed on the packet then strain.
6. Heat a heavy pan with some sesame oil & add salmon; skin side down, cook on the stove for 1 minute on a medium heat then throw in the oven for 5 minutes (this will be quite rare, leave it in longer if that freaks you out). Remove from the oven & allow to sit in the pan off the heat for a minute, this will ensure a crispy skin.
7. Heat a wok & some canola oil (or the like) & fry the mushrooms till coloured, add the cooked soba noodles & enough dressing to coat generously. Throw in the soaked wakame, sliced spring onions & toasted sesame seeds, mix well & cook for a few minutes, remove from the heat & add the picked coriander leaves.
8. Serve the soba noodles on a warm plate, add some more dressing if it looks dry, slide the salmon on top. Done.
Tandoori Style Quail with Spiced Rice & Banana Yoghurt Salad
Match with: Mount Riley Pinot Noir
4 quail
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon ginger (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon cumin (roasted & ground)
1/2 teaspoon cardamom (roasted & ground)
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli
1 teaspoon paprika or a few drops of red food colouring
1/3 cup plain yoghurt
2 cups Basmati rice
3 tablespoon vegetable oil or ghee
8 green cardamom pods
10 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 cinammon quill
2 teaspoon ginger (finely chopped)
2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup plain yoghurt
2 tablespoon raisins
1 tablespoon Manuka honey
2 tablespoon sliced almonds (toasted)
1/2 banana (peeled & sliced)
1 pinch cardamom (roasted & ground)
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch salt
Mix the garlic, ginger, cumin, cardamom, chilli, paprika/ food colouring & yoghurt to make the marinade. Split the quail in half down the middle and clean out the cavity. Place the quail halves in the marinade & leave overnight.
Soak the rice in 4 cups of water for 1/2 an hour then drain keeping the water, Heat the veg oil/ ghee and fry the spices for 1 minute, add the ginger & fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the rice, salt, bay leaf and the reserved water & cover with a lid, simmer for 10 minutes on a medium heat then turn down to very low, let steam for 10 minutes more then remove form heat leaving the lid on.
Mix all the ingredients for the banana yoghurt salad & check for seasoning & sweetness.
Heat a BBQ & wipe most of the marinade off the quails, you still want some on them but just so you don't make your grill too dirty. Place the quails on the grill skin side down & cook for 5 minutes, flip them over & cook for another 5 minutes, check if they're done by putting a little knife into the thickest part of the breast.
Serve the 2 halves of quail on the spiced rice with a dollop of banana yoghurt on top & a few leaves of coriander.
Roast Lamb Backstrap on Babaganoush with Baby Spinach & Beetroot Salad
Match With: Mount Riley Merlot Malbec
4 lamb backstraps
1/2 cup Mount Riley Merlot Malbec
2 cups chicken stock
2 aubergine
1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1 lemon
50 g tahini
50 ml olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin (roasted & ground)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 large beetroot
50 ml red wine vinegar
50 ml water
50 g sugar
2 whole allspice
1 handfull baby spinach
2 tablespoon pinenuts (toasted)
Olive oil
1. Preheat oven to 200 C 2. To make the Babaganoush: Grill aubergine until very soft and slightly charred. Allow to cool then slice open lengthways & scoop out the flesh. Squeeze a little of the liquid out of the aubergine as it can be bitter & will make the babaganoush runny. Place in a food processor & add the chopped garlic, the juice from the lemon, tahini, oil, salt & cumin. Blend untill smooth & check seasoning. 3.Peel beetroot & slice in half then into thin strips, Bring the vinegar, water, sugar & allspice to the boil & pour over the beetroot in a bowl. Leave covered until cool.
4. Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large heavy bottomed pan until nearly smoking, Season the lamb with salt & ground pepper. Place carefully in the pan & brown on all sides,
5. Place the pan in the oven (if it fits, if not transfer the lamb to a roasting tray but save the pan) & roast for 2 minutes, turn lamb over & roast for another 2 minutes or until cooked to your liking.
6. Allow to rest somewhere warm for 5 minutes while you make the sauce. Get the pan back on the heat & add the red wine, reduce to a thick glaze & add the chicken stock, boil rapidly to reduce by about 3/4 (you should now have about 150 ml of sauce). 7. Place a large spoon of babaganoush on a hot plate, in a bowl put the pickled beetroot, toasted pinenuts, baby spinach & a little of the pickling liquor from the beetroot. Dress with some good extra virgin olive oil & a pinch of salt & pepper. Slice each backstrap into 3 pieces across the grain & stack on the babaganoush. Mix up the salad & try to balance on top of the lamb. Lastly pour the sauce around the plate & serve.
