Leigh Hall was back in the kitchen as cord for our first ‘cook-off’ for the 2025 Chef of the Year award.
He was assisted with assembly and plating by Merv Peacock and Nigel Burton.
Canapés
Tapenade on brown rice cracker with jalapeño and whole olive topping.
Guacamole on corn chip with salmon, pickled red onion and black roe.
Venison sausage with eggplant chutney and cornichon.
Bountiful canapés today with robust flavours and a touch of heat in the first two.
Main was venison with mash, beans and carrots.
Leigh marinated the venison in red wine, oil and herbs for over 48 hours; the venison was seared to medium-rare.
It was sourced from Alpine Game Meats.
The venison was presented with a glossy mashed potato, with crispy, perfectly green beans and carrots perfectly done, drizzled with honey.
The stock was superbly made with 3 kilos of beef bones, 5 kilos of venison bones,a bottle of 40-year-old tawny port,1kg of cranberries and mirepoix .
The stock reduced to an amazing sauce with layers of flavour,the mash a perfect vehicle to soak up the
sauce. It was made with butter,cream and hot English mustard.
Perfectly executed, the venison was pink,moist,easily cut and
came to the table at temperature.
Good to see many comments from the floor today praising the high quality of all aspects of today’s lunch.
Best lunch this year, someone said.
Today we saw why Leigh was a contender for Chef of the Year.
Thanks Leigh.
Cheese
Mark Bradford presented an Australian washed-rind cow’s milk cheese from Victoria.
Mountain Man is a washed-rind cheese replicating the classic Reblochon de Savoie, ideal for the classic French potato-based dish ‘Tartiflette’.
Matthieu Megard is a 3rd-generation French cheesemaker who selects the finest organic milk from family-owned dairies to make a selection of French-inspired cheeses. The small rounds are regularly washed in brine and after four weeks of maturation, they develop a light orange rind with smooth paste and a mild, creamy flavour. It was in very good condition today.
The cheese was accompanied by apples,muscatels,dried figs, and dates
Wine Report, lunch 10th Feb 2026 from Steve O'Halloran.
Our lunch today featured some great food in the form of Venison from Leigh Hall & assorted canapes from Nigel Burton & Merv Peacock & finally a terrific Cheese from Mark Bradford. See food report for full details.
The canape wine was a Society favourite, the Pewsey Vale Riesling 2024. Yalumba acquired this old vineyard in 1961, it having been first planted in 1847. This wine has been a consistent top notch performer ever since. I have over the years drunk my bodyweight in Pewsey Vale Riesling & can honestly say I have never encountered a dud bottle. From the entry level we had today to the celebrated Contours Riesling, it is always a winner. Incidentally, my research indicates that this wine was in 1977 the first Australian wine to be bottled under screw cap. Congratulations to Yalumba for their courage & initiative in embracing the new Stelvin screw cap seal. We are all indebted to Yalumba for this. Dealing with the wine, it was as usual impeccable & fault free. Crisp, bright acidity, lovely finish. Flavours of lemon & lime abounded. A perfect aperitif wine.
Wine no 1 on the lunch list was the Willunga 100 Grenache from McLaren Vale 2024 @14.5%. Brilliant clear cherry red colour, spicy & showing some high acidity. Dry grown in the sub district of Blewett Springs. Lightish body, but strong flavours with some tannic influence. I think the wine was a little on the premature release side, another 2/3 years in bottle would help. Good structures in place for the near future.
Wine 2 on the list was another Grenache from the Master Stephen Pannell { son of Bill Pannell of Moss Wood fame }. This was an older wine, 2020, this wine has the title of "Old McDonald" & it had benefited from the extra years of bottle development. Light to medium body, very flavoursome, juicy & spicey with some tannin & peppery overtones. Dark sweet cherry on the mid palate. An excellent partner for the roast Venison. Overall, a good example of a well made Grenache, from a top winemaker. Congrats to our Wine master for bringing more Grenache into our stable of Red Wines.
Wine 3 was a beauty, the Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet 2012 @14% from Lindeman's, the third part of the famous Coonawarra trio of St George, Pyrus & this wine. It gives me considerable pleasure to confirm to all our members that our own Phil Laffer was an integral part of the team from Lindeman's who planted & established the vineyard in 1967. Phil assures me he still has the calluses on his hands in testimony of how hard the job was. Well done Phil, your labours have benefited us all. Turning to the wine, the colour was still vibrant, deep purple, dark/red, no browning on the rim, a very intense wine, with flavours of stewed fruit, blackberry & chocolate. Some firm tannin & oak evident. Now at 14 yo, the wine shows no sign of slowing down, with in my view many years ahead of great drinking. A wine that grabbed your attention, powerful. My wine of the day.
Final wine for the day was again one of our Favourites, the Paolo Scavino Dolcetto 2022 @13.5%. A high quality food wine. Unobtrusive, great balance, just blends in so well with, in this instance, the beautiful washed rind cheese we were having. Those Italians sure know to make a wine that combines quality with restraint! The wine today was velvety, medium bodied, dark ruby red with flavours of blackcurrant, blueberries & cherry. Fine tannins on the palate. A really enjoyable wine, drinking so well now, plenty of good drinking ahead.
