{"id":152,"date":"2011-02-20T07:48:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-20T07:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/islandrooster.net\/dev\/food\/index.php\/2011\/02\/20\/challenge-sunday-week-1\/"},"modified":"2015-05-15T18:29:44","modified_gmt":"2015-05-15T18:29:44","slug":"challenge-sunday-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/2011\/02\/20\/challenge-sunday-week-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Challenge – Saturday Week 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was my birthday on Saturday and I had a wonderful trip to Albany where I was ‘gonged’ at the Sandalwood Factory and then tea with friends at the Wild Duck<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\nThe Wild Duck had a Five Course Degustation Menu (simply a fancy way of saying Set Menu) for $85 which a few of us chose to have with the matched wines for an extra $35.
\nThe dishes were all small, delicately presented and brought out on enormous plates. The boys all thought they were going to starve. Boy, were they wrong!<\/p>\n

The first course was a delicious cauliflower soup served with a seared scallop (just one, mind you) and some sort of decorative herb. We’re not sure what it was, but it was a deep maroon colour. Don’t remember what wine we had with this as I’d already finished it by the time the soup was served. (Well, it was only an 80ml serve of wine!)<\/p>\n

Next, came a 15-hour cooked belly of pork with crackling, again with a seared scallop on a bed of Persian mash. This just fell apart, was wonderfully tasty and there was no fat as it had all been rendered out in the cooking process. Served with a light Sauvignon Blanc, I think, that I felt was a bit sweet. I wouldn’t have served seared scallop twice, perhaps a prawn with the soup. One of the guests was allergic to seafood, but it wasn’t an issue for the kitchen.<\/p>\n

A Raspberry Sorbet came out in between here which was presented on a tiny plate and was a perfectly shaped quenelle. A bit sweet for my taste, but with a delicious hint of something aniseed, perhaps basil. The men thought it was hilarious, but ate it.<\/p>\n

Course three was braised beef cheeks served on a corn puree with caramilised onion jam. An equally delicious dish, very rich and filling. By this stage, I was feeling quite replete.  The wine was a Cab Sav and was great match for the dish.
\nInstead of the beef, I would have appreciated a vegetarian dish here as we’d had no vegies to speak of up to now.<\/p>\n

Next, my favourite, crispy skin duck breast on a pumpkin puree with spinach, baby carrot (one! DH said our carrots must be ready to pick) and pea puree. Absolutely superb and I was glad to see some vegies! A Pinot Noir came with the duck, not my favourite and not something I’d serve with duck.<\/p>\n

Finally, a Lemon Tart that wasn’t tart at all, but very sweet with a crunchy sugar topping. I didn’t eat mine as I was already coming down with acid reflux and had raided the kitchen for some antacid tablets. Dessert was served with the most sickly wine I’ve ever tasted. A “Cane Cut” Reisling. Not one of us could stomach it.<\/p>\n

All in all, a very tasty, but very expensive meal. I loved the presentation and service and, of course enjoyed the company. I wouldn’t bother doing the matching wines again, but it was a good experience to try this.<\/p>\n

\nNo expenditure on food for home today, so Total Spend still stands at $15.80. Not bad for four days of three meals a day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was my birthday on Saturday and I had a wonderful trip to Albany where I was ‘gonged’ at the Sandalwood Factory and then tea with friends at the Wild Duck. The Wild Duck had a Five Course Degustation Menu (simply a fancy way of saying Set Menu) for $85 which a few of us…<\/p>\n

Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[1],"tags":[110,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-odds-n-ends","7":"tag-challenge","8":"tag-restaurants","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbQORu-2s","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":141,"url":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/2011\/03\/06\/challenge-rest-of-week-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":0},"title":"The Challenge – the rest of Week 3!","date":"March 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Time has got away from me this week, so I'm condensing the menu for this week into one post. I'm finding that \"The Challenge\" is really about using up what's in my freezer. My pantry is full, yes, but I use everything and constantly replace items as they are finished\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Odds 'n Ends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thermogourmand.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Banana-Muffins.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":188,"url":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/2010\/03\/03\/roast-duck\/","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":1},"title":"Roast Duck","date":"March 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Duck is a delicious restaurant meal. Whenever I see it on the menu, I always order it, thinking that it's something I'd never cook myself. However, I was in Woolworths in Katanning a while ago when I happened to notice they stocked frozen duck. These are farmed ducks and free\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mains: Chicken"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":144,"url":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/2011\/03\/02\/challenge-friday-saturday-week-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":2},"title":"The Challenge – Friday & Saturday Week 2","date":"March 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Today it was another get your own breakfast day, but at least we had nice home made bread. I had lunch on the road as I was heading to Bremer Bay to do a talk for their International Women's Day event entitled \"Her Voice, Her Story\".\u00a0 This was a wonderful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Odds 'n Ends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":157,"url":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/2011\/02\/16\/challenge-tuesday-week-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":3},"title":"The Challenge – Tuesday Week 1","date":"February 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"On our way home from Busselton, my sister and I stopped in at Spotlight in Bunbury only to find a man in a ute calling out \"Free Stuff!\" Spirit Radio were giving away free bread, rolls and croissants. Well, foraging is allowed, so we grabbed a loaf of bread, croissants,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Odds 'n Ends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thermogourmand.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/8971.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":132,"url":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/2011\/06\/16\/creamy-cauliflower-brie-soup\/","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":4},"title":"Creamy Cauliflower & Brie Soup","date":"June 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This particular soup came about when our outside fridge (beer fridge - but contains a lot of stuff that doesn't fit in the inside fridge) had a little fit and froze everything on the top shelf. A whole cauliflower was frozen solid. What to do? Cauliflower Soup came to mind.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Starters, Snacks & Afters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":149,"url":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/2011\/02\/20\/challenge-sunday-week-1_3239\/","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":5},"title":"The Challenge – Sunday Week 1","date":"February 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Still in Albany this morning, so a delicious breakfast at THE place to have breaky in Albany, Dylans on the Terrace. We both enjoyed the Breakfast Stack - mushrooms & onion, spinach, bacon and a poached egg all on toast served with a grilled tomato. DH had his with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Odds 'n Ends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":553,"href":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thermogourmand.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}