Ciabatta, Watermelon, Rose, Perry, Garlic, Yogurt

Part of the preparation for lunch guests is some bread. In this case Ciabatta which requires starting a day earlier with the making of the Biga which is pretty much just a sourdough but using a little yeast. Tomorrow it will be used to produce those chewy free form loaves that go so well with baked Camembert and other dips.

Biga after 24 hours

Summer is finally at a close as we consume the last watermelon. Orange Glo a melon we tried for the first time appears to be late season ripening. If this is the case and not just good luck it will be perfect to carry us through until other fruits are ready. The fruit on offer at the moment is the last of the Dragon fruit and the first of the Cherry Guava. In less than a month the first of the Citrus i.e. Mandarin will be ready.

Orange Glow Watermelon

It is the time of month where some wine work needs to be completed i.e racking some of the reds that were pressed and demijohned a little over a month ago. This is the process to take them off the coarser sediment to prevent any unpleasant flavours in the wine. Today the Tempranillo was done. While in the Cave the Packam/Williams Perry was bottled. Only 15 litres or so producing about 40 half bottles. This Perry has a magnificent yellow/orange colour. Will look forward to sampling in a couple of weeks.

While bottling it was decided to also bottle the very small amount of Rose that we made. Only seven litres. The Merlot Rose was incredibly good. It had a balance of fruit and oak flavour and not that sickly sweet Rose that is prevalent in the shops. Just a refreshing luncheon wine. Will serve some to the guests on Sunday.


Merlot Rose

The Garlic planted last week has started to pop out of the ground. The bulk of the 450 cloves have now sprouted. A wonderful sight to the gardener.

Garlic

Unlike house work, food production is an ongoing task. Because of a slip up in planning on my part we had to go two nights without yogurt. But a batch is now made and a little draining tomorrow will provide us with a few weeks supply. There is a steady flow of production in the kitchen that doesn't always rate a mention in the blog. Cheeses, Butter, Yogurt, breads, scones and various other essentials are always in steady production in the background. All part of the process of a healthy lifestyle.

Yogurt made but not drained.