Cooking Across 4 Generations

In January we headed back to Milton Park for my birthday weekend. Leaving a hot sticky Sydney morning behind,we were surprised at how much cooler it was in Bowral.

After checking in to our room, this time a garden view room complete with fireplace (which came in handy later in the day), we headed down to The Orangery for lunch.

The Orangery was quite busy on this occasion with several groups indulging in champagne afternoon teas. We ordered the same Testut Petit Chablis we had on our last visit and settled down to peruse the menu.

Mr. CA4G had the Cape Grim Angus eye fillet of beef, spinach, fondant potato, café de Paris butter and jus.

I love a nice roulade and opted for the chicken stuffed with couscous, wrapped in jamon and served with one of my favourite salads, roquette with pear and parmesan. If I remember correctly the sauce was a pedro ximenez reduction. Very delicious all round!

After lunch we took a stroll through the beautiful gardens. There are many species of trees bought in from Europe and some are not even found in local botanical gardens. It was a nice change to see the garden with its full summer greenery. Made a nice change from the bareness of winter. Alas we missed the wisteria arbour in bloom by a couple of months. Must get to Milton Park again in spring.

After our stroll we returned to our room for a quick nap before we headed back down to Hordern’s for dinner. We pre-ordered our wine and were able to have our bottle of Petaluma 1998 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, decanted and ready for us at the table when we arrived. We did however start with a glass of champagne (it was my birthday and a girl has to have some bubbles on her birthday doesn’t she?). An amuse bouche of brandade was bought out to us while we decided on what we would like for dinner.

Mr. CA4G had seared scallops, pea puree black pudding and red wine reduction for his entrée, which he enjoyed very much.

I am a sucker for any kind of twice cooked soufflé that involves cheese. The soufflé on this visit was made with gruyere and goats cheese, two of my favourite cheeses. A sprinkle of microherbs added a touch extra flavour to all that cheesy goodness.

For his main course, Mr. CA4G chose the Victorian venison, parsnip puree and cassis jus. While he prefers his meats medium, in this instance he enjoyed it slightly rarer. And of course a bowl of chunky pommes frites went well with it too.

Confit duck is one of my favourite cooking methods for a duck maryland. Puy lentils with some spinach tossed through them and a jus made from reduced duck stock makes for a delicious accompaniment to the confit duck.

While I would normally choose a cheese plate instead of dessert I left that for Mr. CA4G this time, it had 3 cheeses (local and imported), local honey, dried and fresh fruits and house made lavosh. I think Mr. CA4G may have struggled to get through it.

I seem to have gone off ( shock horror!!) chocolate a little but the four textures of chocolate sounded interesting so I decided to have it as my birthday cake. Amazing! Crunchy layer, smooth moussy layer, ganache, it was a joy to eat! A little edible gold leaf on top gave an extra sparkle to the night.

After a most salubrious meal we headed back to our room for a nightcap of Saltram No. 1, 2005 vintage which we enjoyed by the fire.

A big thankyou to everyone at Milton Park Country house and Spa for another delightful stay!