Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
A nice ruby/light garnet colour with plenty of depth and a purple rim.
This wine offers up aromas of fruit, mostly plum and black fruit with hints of, roasted beet, cedar, balsa and tea. The wine is very youthful and does need time to open to show its best. My first taste shows plenty of nice currant and plumy notes, but layers of dark chocolate and dusty tannin soon come to the forefront and take over. I poured the wine into a decanter and let it sit for an hour. This brought out much more of the fruit flavours, which are balanced by a nice streak of acidity. I suggest a year or two of cellaring, but it is nice to consume now with a little aeration and a little protein.
Barbequed Lamb Burgers
As the weather is still gorgeous, why not crank up the barbeque and grill some burgers? Cabernet is traditionally superb with lamb so instead of beef, hopefully you will find this an interesting match.
Six portions
750 g ground lamb
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel Seed
1/2 tsp minced thyme leaves
30 m olive oil
4 shallots, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 red chili, de-seeded and finely chopped
¼ tsp ground turmeric
¾ tsp Paprika
1 tsp salt
½ tsp Coarse Ground Black Pepper
Method
In a preheated, dry skillet, toast the fennel, cumin and coriander seeds over a medium heat for around 30 seconds, or until the seeds give off an aroma. Remove from skillet then crush the seeds in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder.
In the same skillet, sauté the shallots, garlic, chili and ginger in olive oil until they become translucent and just start to release an aroma.
Add the thyme, then remove immediately from the heat and set aside.
Mix together the lamb, the shallot mixture, seasonings and remaining spices in a bowl, combining gently.
Shape into 6 patties.
Over a medium heat, grill the burgers to your desired doneness.
Some suggested toppings
Instead of hamburger buns, try pita bread or Indian Naan. The latter now being available at Super Stores and Zehr’s in the bake section.
I like to serve lamb burgers with sautéed shitake mushrooms, caramelized red onions, seasonal tomatoes with sea salt, basil and olive oil, walnut and mint pesto or crumbled feta cheese.
If your tomatoes are like mine, ripening in fine fashion, this is a tasty topping to make. Simply mix together
6 nice ripe tomatoes, quartered, de-seeded and diced
200 m of Mediterranean or Greek yoghurt
1 cup of cilantro leaves roughly chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
A squeeze of lime juice
1 minced red chili
Salt and pepper to taste