Some Docs are telling us that turmeric has medicinal qualities. Just another reason to brew up a curry. Great for a dinner party, but avoid frozen fish to get the best of this dish.

Ingredients

1kg firm fish 50g lump of tamarind ½ cup warm water 2 onions chopped 1 large tomato sliced 4 dried chilli – fried 1 tablespoon ginger paste ½ tablespoon garlic paste 4 green chilli 1 cup fresh grated coconut 2 tablespoon coriander seed - roasted 1 tablespoon cumin seed - roasted ½ tsp tumeric powder 2 tablespoon oil 2 cups of water salt to taste

Method

1. Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water for 5 mins. Mash & mix well the tamarind into the water and strain and keep aside the water. 2. Grind together the corriander seeds, cumin seeds, green chillies and the coconut to make a paste. 3. Heat oil in a pan and add onion and saute till golden brown.

Coconutty, fishy goodness; a great Thai dish and that is much simpler to prepare than you might think...

Ingredients

½kg Salmon 3 cups coconut milk 3 tablespoons fish sauce 2 tablespoons palm sugar Chopped kaffir leaves Coconut cream Chilli Paste: 5 dried chillies 1 teaspoon galangal 1 tablespoon chopped lemon grass 5 shallots 7 cloves garlic ½ teaspoon kaffir lime peel 1 teaspoon coriander root 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon shrimp paste

Method

1. Pound chilli paste ingredients until fine 2. Cut salmon into 2 pieces 3. Heat 1 cup of coconut milk over medium heat (keep stirring) 4. Add 1 cup of coconut cream, heat until oil appears on top. 5. Add chilli paste and mix until fragrant. 6. Add 2 cups coconut milk and heat. 7.Season to taste with fish sauce and palm sugar. 8. Grill salmon until cooked, top up with chilli paste sauce. 9. Garnish with kaffir lime leaves.

Don't skimp on the seafood here - quality is key. Pile that pot high and indulge...

Ingredients

16 green prawns 16 local mussels 16 fish pieces 1 tsp fresh chilli, sliced 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 bunch basil, torn 2 handfuls of rocket 4 roma tomatoes, cut into ¼, seeds removed, cut into strips 4 knobs of butter 2 lemons Noilly Prat to taste 2-3 tbs tomato pesto 500g good quality dry pasta, cooked 200g dry squid ink linguini, cooked (optional) Semi-dried Tomato Pesto: 100g bucket semi dried tomato, reserve drained oil ½ bunch basil leaves 20ml balsamic vinegar salt and pepper 2 cloves garlic 10g of toasted pine nuts

Method

Add all ingredients in food processor and blend adding a little oil to loosen mixture. Heat a large fry pan or wok, add olive oil and ½ the butter. Add prawns, chilli, garlic and pesto sauté for 1 minute, deglaze with the noilly prat. Add mussels and fish and cook for another

Just 60km northeast of Adelaide, the Barossa Valley is one of Australia's oldest wine regions. Warm and dry, it is renowned for producing the distinctive Barossa Shiraz, a full-bodied red with notes of chocolate and spice. The valleys and sloping hills create several temperature ranges. But in summer, take it from us: it's just plain hot.

The soils range from clay and loam in the cooler areas to the classically South Australian sand and red-brown loam in the valleys. Irrigation is often required, but with water supply an increasing problem, many growers are practicing dryland farming, relying on what falls from the sky and clings from night fog. Couple this with the number of very old vines in the region (which produce limited quantities of grapes), and the result is fruit with deeply concentrated flavour which quickly ripen. A great foundation for some of the world's most acclaimed reds.

History

Settled in numbers in 1841, land in the area was offered to

The great all-rounder… The Christmas/New Year’s period brought all kinds of people to my place each craving a tipple… of course being the gracious host I found myself asking ‘what sort of red would you prefer?...’ on one occasion I didn’t think this through too well because all I had was two bottles of Hamilton Burtons Vineyard Grenache 2010… enter the inner rascal in me that thought it would be fun to put this wine through its paces… interesting exercise, here’s what happened… ‘… something fruity but not too heavy’ – verdict, ‘wow, what’s this? This is lovely’ Next ‘… something full bodied but not too tannic’ – verdict, ‘this is fantastic! What’s the grape variety?’ Finally ‘…anything as long as it’s not grenache’ – verdict, ‘you arsehole! This is Grenache!’ Conclusion…

It’s always handy to have a guide to good drinking over the Christmas period. Here’s my pick for the best bots to crack this Chrissie.

Bird in Hand Sparkling It’s an unusual wine this one with enough fruit and sweetness to keep the occasional wino happy and enough quality fruit to shift curmudgeonly wine snob from miffed to mollified. Pleasures best on its own but suspect it would be all over the turkey if given a sniff. Most accommodating Sparkling. Dandelion Vineyards Rosé 2011 A delight from its light pink hue to its delicate, near dry ending. The fruit in this is sourced from an 85-year-old bush-grown Grenache vineyard. Unusually the wine was left to wild ferment and stored on a bed of dead yeast in old barrels for a bit. The result is a superb texture with pristine and bright Grenache flavours and a whip crack of acidity that made me stand up and pay attention. Sugar is very low at

Dandelion, Sister’s Run, Heirloom Vineyards, Cien y Pico

Elena originally hails from Lyaskovets, Bulgaria, a small town famous for its wine. She is a qualified winemaker, BSc (Oenology) Adelaide and has made wine for various Australian Wineries as well as being a consultant winemaker to a number of leading wine companies in Spain, Italy and Bulgaria.

Born to a MIG Fighter Pilot and Helicopter Mechanic (both of whom happened to be involved in the wine industry in Lyaskovets), Elena's interest in winemaking stemmed from time spent translating for Australian Winemakers Stephen Bennet, David Norman, Dylan Rhymer, Kym Milne MW and others, who worked at her mother's winery between '93 and '98.

With Stephen Bennet’s support and her family’s encouragement, Elena made the move to Australia and started studying winemaking at Adelaide University in 1998, graduating in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science (Oenology). (Elena’s mum was