Andrew Boyd’s Blog

The day started with Donna and I racing upstairs to open presents at 6:15AM or so like a pair of little kids. We’d planned a day of indulgence - away from keyboards and mundane strife - neither of us usually sit and just watch TV - so the day of watching DVDs and TV series was the greatest indulgence we could think of.

After presents, I made strong Turkish coffee with cardamom and we watched Heroes Season 2 episode 7.

Then it was time for the preparation of breakfast - Donna made Potato Rosti with Smoked Salmon and Mustard Dressing - the crispy Rosti (fried potato cakes) contrasted nicely with the softness of the salmon, and the mustard dressing complimented both without overpowering either:

Our thanks to Bill Granger for the wonderful recipe.

I opened the bubbly - our first for the day was a bottle of Greg Gallagher’s Blanc de Blancs (2005) - a nice drop, dry, with the merest hint of honey and pollen. Greg, formerly of Clover Hill and Taltarni, did a fine job:

Sipping Blanc de Blancs and eating the Rosti, we watched Heroes Season 2 Episode 8.

Time to start calling/SMSing relatives with Merry Christmas messages. Then more Heroes episodes - and when we started to fade a little, some chocolate fudge. A little later, we had some Poacher’s Pantry Sweet Chilli Chicken - the smoked chicken breast marinated in gooey sweet chilli sauce:

For lunch, Donna prepared Garlic Prawns (also to a Bill Granger recipe):

We ate these on the balcony, accompanied by a 2001 Clover Hill Blanc de Blanc - dry as dry, with the wonderful biscuitty flavour that comes with well-aged bubbly:

We finished watching all the Heroes shortly after lunch (to Season 2 Episode 12) then had a bit of a snooze. We woke up, watched 300, then I got dinner started - Spicy Stir-Fried Prawns with Vodka and Mango (recipe from John Rose’ The Vodka Cookbook), accompanied by our favourite evening tipple (vodka-tonics):

Dessert (with some episodes of Deadwood) was a Deeks Gluten-Free Pudding accompanied by one of the finest “stickies” I’ve ever tasted - 2005 Jeir Creek Botrytis Semillon Sauvignon Blanc:

Overall, a wonderful day. Donna and I both work fairly hard - it was the sheerest luxury to take a whole day off together and enjoy some fine food and wine.