Welcome to the May 2003 edition of the C&C newsletter. We've been very busy of recent times - both working and enjoying school holidays - so apologies for the newsletter being a little late, but we have lots of good things to report.

Autumn is one of our absolute favourite seasons, so much beautiful produce and nice chilly evenings in which to enjoy it. Chestnut season is here with full force and last week saw the launch of the Australian chestnuts recipe booklet at Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder. Delicious treats were on offer including roasted chestnuts peeled and ready to be dipped in olive oil, then dukkah, very nice. We particularly liked Stephanie's chestnut soup, the recipe is in Cook's Companion, and the roasted chestnuts simmered in oloroso sherry. Order you copy at www.chestnutgrowers.com.au or try our very Chestnut Stuffing at the end of this newsletter. We still haven't to around to picking and preserving our home-grown olives, this weekend we promise. The beautifully sweet and juice mandarins in our fruit bowl have also been disappearing at the rate of knots. They are so good the children seem to be living on them!

Michele has been spending a fair part of her time recently heading up a commitee organising the 'Eat For Aid' dinner, together with Tony Tan, Stephanie Alexander, Emma McKay, Marnie Philips, Max Allen and Donna Le Page. The dinner will be held on Sunday 25th May at the Savoy Ballroom, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Melbourne with Oxfam Community Aid Abroad Iraqi Humanitarian Appeal the sole beneficiary. It is hoped to raise $50,000 to benefit the ordinary citizens of Iraq in their task of rebuilding their country and their lives.

Forty of Melbourne's top chefs and cooks have all agreed to donate and cook food for a table of ten, just imagine them all in one kitchen! Offers to host a table have come in from Stephanie Alexander, Greg Malouf, Geoff Lindsay, Andrew Blake, Beh Kim Un, Andrew McConnell, George Biron, Michael Lambie, Cath Claringbold, Gary Cooper, Ian Curley, Kurt Sampson, Michael Bacash, Michael Lambie, Donovan Cooke & Philippa Sibley-Cooke, Guy Grossi and Geoff Lindsay. With all guests allocated to a table it will be a case of 'pot luck', creating an element of surprise and fun on the night as to who will be the host of your table. More than that, winemakers are donating some amazing bottles for the night with Domaine Chandon, Tarrawarra, Wirra Wirra and Cullen to name just a few. Numerous donations are going to be silently auctioned on the night too. It promises to be a very special night so come along if you can, or even better organise a table of 10 for this worthy cause. Bookings to CUB Malthouse 9685 5111. Tickets $120 per person.

The line up at the autumn classes is perhaps the most impressive we have seen so far. Adrian Richardson invites you to join him as he prepares a dinner party on the 15th May, while Guy Grossi gives us a sneak preview of pasta dishes on May 27th from his forthcoming book 'The Grossi Florentino Cookbook' which is due for release in October. Justin Pola from Blue Corn in St Kilda shows his original style with Mexican foods on the 12th June and Allan Campion hosts a chocolate discovery class on June 19th. Bookings on 03) 9320 5835.

Sydney-based chefs feature during June classes at Essential Ingredient Cooking School. Christine Manfield, one of the best culinary performers around, showcases 'One Pot Cooking From Around The World' on 3rd June making full use of tagines, claypots and woks. Bill Granger will showcase 'Sydney Food We Love To Eat' on June 14th. We'll forgive him this rather pretentious title as he was born in Melbourne. We saw Bill perform at Delicious Double Acts as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival and he rocks. We're including June dates here to give people a chance to plan and book ahead. Bookings for all classes on 03) 9827 9047.

SJ has the goods this month with Talk+Eat+Drink classes featuring Stefano de Pieri. It's not all that often he presents a class in Sydney apparently, which is all the more reason why you should get along and see him in the flesh. The class will be held on Saturday 10th May at SJ'S Pyrmont. Bookings on 02) 9552 2522.

Australia's renowned vegetarian guru Kurma Dasa returns to Canberra to share more of his kitchen favourites with a vegetarian Feast on Saturday May 10th. Bookings via the website www.belconnenmarkets.com.au or telephone 02) 6253 5132.

De Bortoli winery are continuing to tempt some of the worlds top chefs and food expert to their Yarra Valley Winery & Restaurant. International chef, television star, author and seafood expert, Rick Stein will be visiting on Tuesday 10th June 2003 for an "On the Vine' class and luncheon. Rick will be focusing on seafood and talking about his latest book Rick Stein –My Favourite Seafood Recipes. Cost per person is $110 and bookings can be made on 03) 5965 2271.

Foodies attention will no doubt be turning to Brisbane with news just released about their Masterclass on the weekend of July 26-27th at the Hilton Hotel. Two days of local and international chefs will see appearances from Shannon Bennett, Alla Wolf-Tasker, Cath Calringbold, Christine Manfield, Loretta Sartori and Sydney sushi chef Ryuishi Yoshi. There will also be an opportunity to hear from Asian food experts Charmaine Solomon and Carole Selva Rajah. Flying in will be Eric Chavot, head chef at The Capital in London and very proud owner of two Michelin stars, plus Indian chef Sunitha Divakaran. Cheese classes will be presented by Kris Lloyd from Woodside Cheesewrights in South Australia and Julie Cameron from Meredith Dairy in Victoria. Wine lovers get to choose between a tasting of the Bannockburn, By Farr and Farr Rising wines, a session on from Stocking Your Cellar, young and old Semillon and Shiraz, plus a regional focus on the Coonawarra region. Day and half day tickets are available. Copies of the extensive weekend program are available from the Hilton Brisbane Box Office on 07) 3231 3231.

Our favourite jam in the whole world, Cunliffe & Waters Willamette Raspberry, has picked up the top gong at the Sydney Royal Fine Foods Shows. It won the gold medal in the Regional Product classes, Jams and Preserves. It was in fact the only Gold Medal winner in the Regional Food classes and therefore Champion Regional Product. Congratulations to Amanda and Merlin for such a wonderful product. Visit them at the next Collingwood Children' Farm Farmers' Market (Sat May 10th) at St Heliers Street Yarra Bend Abbotsford and at the Yering Station Farmers' Market (Sun 18th May) The Barn Yering Station Winery, Melba Highway Yering. Or call them directly on 03) 9739 0966.

Victorias Mornington Peninsula has it's annual Winter Wine Weekend on again and includes a Winter Wine Fest at the Red Hill Showgrounds. Here over 150 wines will be on tasting and sale from 39 Mornington Peninsula vineyards while food will be provided by local restaurants and provedores including Montalto, Salix, Max's at Red Hill, The Linden Tree and The Long Table. Local regional producers also on hand include the Flying Calamari Brothers, Flinders Shellfish and Red Hill Cheese. Wine lovers can also enrol in tutored mini tasting seminars. Entry to the Winter Wine Fest is $27.50 at the door or $22 pre-booked. Food purchases are not included. The event runs on Saturday 7th June between 11am and 4pm. Bookings 03) 5987 3078 or 1800 804 009.

Amanda Sutton, in collaboration with Slowfood Victoria and Rushdown Travel, is organising an amazing 12 day Simply Slow to Sicily food and wine tour from June 18th – 29th. Visitors will be totally steeped in the food, culture and history of this ancient island. Details on 03) 9525 6843 and at a full itinerary is available at www.globalgrazing.com

Kylie Kwong's Sydney restaurant is a real favourite of ours when we're visiting there and her set price menu is amazing value for money. Now we can try a few of the dishes ourselves at home with the release of Kylie Kwong Recipes and Stories. It's packed with great advice on making dishes we love like white cooked chicken, crispy-skin pigeon, Chinese roasted pork neck and homemade pickles. Kylie has also written extensively about her heritage, her ancestors coming to Australia, her extended family and how all of this is reflected in the food she cooks and eats. Well worth a read. Published by Penguin/Viking $35.00.

Details have now been released about the Hahn Premium Beer, Food and Wine Writers’ Festival, part of October’s Tasting Australia 2003 Festival in Adelaide. More than 60 beer, food and wine writers, chefs, authors, winemakers, brewers, TV personalities and educators will take part in this three-day word-fest to be held at Adelaide’s Riverbank Precinct. There will be a chance to hear from Nick Nairn, Rick Stein and Sophie Grigson from the UK, Hollywood character actor and food author Vincent Schiavelli, barbecue guru Jamie Purviance and chef Mark Miller from the US, Anne Willan (founder La Varenne Cookery School) and Andre Cointreau (Le Cordon Bleu) from France, Diane Seed (Top One Hundred Pasta Dishes) from Italy.

A major forum, presented by Le Cordon Bleu, will look at Future Eating with Tim Flannery (Future Eaters), Barbara Santich, and Elisabeth Luard (Rich Traditions) among others. Children and food will be discussed by Stephanie Alexander, Gabriel Gate and Kay Richardson (Young Gourmet). Runs from Thursday, October 9 through till Saturday, October 11 and is open daily from 10am - 4.30pm. The best news of all is it's free!

Vue de Monde chef Shannon Bennett has put together a special Mother’s Day lunch menu and some of the dishes sound quite amazing. Tomato and red pepper gazpacho with a tian of crayfish, avocado and mayonnaise, Ballottine of Tasmanian free range chicken and foie gras with a celeriac remoulade and a red currant jelly, Roasted tail of Tasmanian crayfish resting on a scented, fine herb risotto, a Trio of creme brulee and as if that's not enough his Valhrona chocolate and orange with a chocolate cigar. Set price $150 per head. 295 Drummond St, Carlton Bookings 03 9347 0199.

Stephanie Alexander's has introduced a totally seasonal dinner menu at her Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder. This sees a totally market driven menu with current delights including Artichoke, ricotta and radicchio agnolotti with burnt butter and sage, Baked polenta layered with taleggio cheese and wild and cultivated mushrooms...spicy tomato sauce and Chocolate and chestnut pave with coffee anglaise. Set prices have also been introduced with entrees $18, mains $25, desserts and cheese $15. Current menus are posted on the website. www.rhcl.com.au

The brewers at Cascade must be working overtime at the moment if the range of beers coming from there is anything to go by. They have now released a 'First Harvest Ale' made from the first hops of the season. It's recommended this be enjoyed as fresh as possible having been made in mid March. What we tasted was a beer which would be perfect with Japanese food. It had a strong herbal flavour with real length of palate and just a hint of fizz, just right with gyoza, katsudon and a mild Japanese curry.

It seems another of Australia's well known wine identities is soon to appear on our TV screens. Our lips are sealed so you'll just have to tune in to Better Homes and Gardens, Channel 7 on Tuesday at 7.30pm (May 13th) to see our latest television/wine personality.

We were always fans of the bread from Paul Bocuse Bakery in Melbourne and sadly missed it when Daimaru closed. Well luckily for us the team, headed by Philip Chiang are back doing their thing with Brioche by Philip. Early taste tests have been very good indeed with a real 'prepared freshly each morning' approach. Visit them at 208 Commercial Road Prahran, opposite Prahran market. Tel 03) 95251966.

With a sharp knife make two slits in the chestnuts from top to bottom. Place in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Allow to cool, then peel, removing both outside shell and inside skin. Chop roughly and place in a bowl.

Stuff into a chicken (or other bird) or spoon the mix into a small greased baking dish and cook alongside your roast for 30 minutes, or until crunchy on top. This recipe makes enough for two chickens, so we usually freeze half for another roast dinner.