All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Lime, Thyme and Quince Gin Cocktail

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Lime, Thyme and Quince Gin Cocktail - ready to drink

I made my quince gin as a way to use some of those delicious fuzzy fruits that grow in the garden. The gin has come out a wonderful, pale canary yellow colour and makes a divine gin and tonic. It is in fact so delicious that it deserved a mix up of its own, something to complement the quince’s distinctive flavour. I love using herbs in drinks and puddings and I wanted to add a botanical twang to this drink. A Lime, Thyme and Quince Gin Cocktail is the way forward. Trust me.

Ingredients

You will need (per drink): read more

Quince Gin

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Having put quinces through their baking paces (adding them to crumbles or baking them with honey) I wanted to see how else I could use them. Steeping them with gin seemed like a logical step; the unique flavour of quince I thought would work really well, and it does. I set about making some quince gin and I made a little film about it too. It’s the first film I’ve made and I have a new YouTube channel too, check it out below!

I love the light golden colour that the finished gin has and the delicious, almost tropical taste, the quince gives. This is just the tipple for cold, dark nights with your thickest slippers and a cosy blanket. read more

Bergamot Gin and Tonic

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Bergamot Lemons

I am very familiar with the flavour of bergamot, being an avid Earl Grey fan, but I had never seen or tasted the bergamot lemon itself. A mystical fruit that I thought was confined to tea makers and lucky Mediterranean gardens. Then I found I could order some beautiful organic ones along with my veg box; it would be rude not to. My first thought when I got them was to add a slice to some hot water, just to smell and taste them. But then I remembered I had some gin, and, you know, why not? Hello bergamot gin and tonic.

You will need (for two drinks):

  • 1 bergamot lemon
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 75ml gin
  • Tonic (a good quality one)
  • Bergamot peel to decorate, if you’re so inclined

Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a small saucepan. Considering they are slightly larger than limes they hold an amazing amount of juice.

Add the sugar to the lemon juice then place the saucepan on a medium heat and warm the juice and sugar together. Stir and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and you have a thin syrup. Leave to cool.

Mix the gin and syrup together then divide between two glasses. Top each glass with tonic and add a swirl of peel if you like.

In a world where you can get your hands on almost any flavour or ingredient, certainly not a bad thing, it is a genuine treat to try something new for the very first time. An excuse to celebrate simplicity. I took this slight twist on a gin and tonic to my favourite chair in the afternoon sunshine and enjoyed every sip. The jury’s out on whether bergamot is a lemon or an orange (I’m team lemon) and the taste is just exquisite; acidic and very distinctive. I love citrus at this time of year especially and, to make the most of this delicious ingredient, there are a few more bergamot themed recipes coming up.

Mini Cheesecake Mess with The Laughing Cow

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Mini Cheesecake Mess - raisin, apple and chocolate

I love cheesecake. This recipe for mini cheesecake mess is a great way of using up almost anything sweet you’ve got hanging around and, if I do say so myself, look pretty cute too.  A lovely little sweet treat for lunch or after dinner. Have you ever tried to make cheesecake (or cream cheese icing) with low fat soft cheese? It never seems to work for me and just ends up all runny and no good at all. I thought I’d give it a try with some Laughing Cow Extra Light to see if that would work, and use up some leftover festive food in the cupboards, and I was so pleased with how they turned out!

You will need (for 16 mini cheesecake messes):

  • 280g (two packs) Laughing Cow Extra Light Cheese
  • 30g icing sugar
  • 100g digestive (or other) biscuits

The leftover ingredients I used were:

  • Chocolate – a grating
  • 2 tbsp raisins, 2 tbsp sloe gin
  • 1 apple, a large knob of butter, 1 tbsp soft brown sugar

Take the cheese out of its wrappers and put into a bowl. Sift the icing sugar in and give it all a quick mix. Crush up the digestives then stir these into the cheese mix. Divide between sixteen mini cases then pop into the fridge for half an hour or so.

While the mix is in the fridge you can get the toppings ready.

Take the raisins and put them in a small dish, add the sloe gin (or brandy, port etc.) and leave to soak. For the apple topping, dice the apple up then place in a small pan with the butter. Fry gently for 3-4 minutes until softened then the sugar and let the apples caramelised. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Remove the cheesecakes from the fridge and divide the toppings between them. Simply grate the chocolate over a few.

These are such a good way to use up a few leftover chocolates from the box you never finished, a dribble of liqueur (you could also use tea if you wanted to), a couple of biscuits and whatever else you have. I think the best of the three (they were all rather tasty) was the caramelised apple one: cheesecake and caramel are so good together as are apple and the tang from the cheese, this one is definitely worth a go. The chocolate one is certainly the easiest and this topping, along with the soaked raisins, means they are then no-cook cheesecakes. I love it when a recipe falls together like this that is both delicious and makes the most of what you already have.

This is a sponsored post and I was reimbursed for my time and ingredients. All opinions and words are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support me.n.

Slojito

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Slojito

I have been so busy this year that I have run out of time to make my own sloe gin. It’s not the end of the world though as I have some of last year’s stash left and once that’s gone there are some delicious ready steeped and drained sloe gins around. As much as I enjoy a classic sloe gin and tonic there’s much enjoyment to be had mixing up something different.

One place you can find some inspiration for new drinks to try is thebar. I found their recipe for a slojito and just had to give it a try!

You will need:

  • 50ml sloe gin (I used last year’s batch of sloe gin),
  • 10 basil leaves,
  • 1 tsp brown sugar,
  • Soda water to top up,
  • Ice cubes

Add the basil and brown sugar to a cocktail shaker or big glass. Use a muddler (or the end of a rolling pin if you don’t have one) to bash the basil and sugar together.

Pour the gin in with the basil and add several ice cubes to the shaker. Give everything a good shake (or stir if you’re using a glass) then strain the gin into another glass and top up with the soda water.

If you fancy giving some of the other festive cocktails a try on thebar you can find plenty of recipes here.

The combination of basil with the sharp, sweet sloe gin and the slight caramel flavour with the brown sugar was divine and a really nice alternative from the mint that you would normally use in a mojito. The joy of this particular cocktail is that if you want to make a virgin one, just use some blackcurrant cordial instead of the sloe gin (only 25ml though as it’s much sweeter) and it’s so good! As I’ve got some mint in the garden and occasionally buy basil I can see this slojito making a few appearances in my kitchen using either herb. An ideal long drink to sip snuggled up on the sofa with a good film when it’s cold outside.

This is a sponsored post with Diageo and I was reimbursed for my time and ingredients. All opinions and words are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support me.

Elderflower, Cucumber and Mint Gin

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Elderflower, Cucumber and Mint Gin - before adding gin

I love this time of year in Britain; when the weather is getting warmer and warmer but it hasn’t quite got to the muggy stage and it’s still nice and cool at night. There are flowers in the hedges and the fruit has started growing on the trees; most of my time is spent outside and as far as I’m concerned, shoes are optional. I have done plenty of cooking with elderflower in the past and it seemed an ideal time to try out something slightly different and obscenely summery: Elderflower, Cucumber and Mint Gin.

Ingredients

You will need:

  • 10 elderflower heads (here’s a useful guide to identifying elderflowers)
  • 3 sprigs fresh mint
  • ¼ cucumber, sliced
  • 150g sugar
  • 700ml gin

Method

As with any foraging expedition, do make sure you know what you’re picking.

Elderflowers (and anything else you pick in the wild) need a good shake off before using them to get rid of any insects that may have come back attached and a quick wash under a running tap isn’t a bad idea either.

Put all of the ingredients together in a sterilised jar and give it all a good mix together.

Leave everything to infuse for two days before sieving the elderflower, mint and cucumber out. I also passed this through a muslin after I had strained it to get rid of any smaller bits and pieces.

I have tried this in two different ways so far; add a drizzle to a glass and top up with some bubbles and mixed with tonic. Because of the sugar in the gin it was really nice to add a bit of sweetness and a delicious summer flavour to some Cava rose. It is also divine mixed simply with tonic and enjoyed on a lovely evening. The elderflower, cucumber and mint work so nicely together and it takes hardly any time at all for the flavours to infuse. Such an easy thing to make with really tasty results. I like that it’s green too, another favourite of mine (but pink this time) is to add some grenadine.

Earl Grey Gin Cocktail

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Earl Grey Gin Gimlet - All That I'm Eating (2 of 3)

I like tea and I like gin. I particularly like earl grey and gin based cocktails so I thought it was about time that I got creative with my cocktail shaker and tried these two tastes together. Not for my own benefit of course, all in the name of experimenting. Whenever I make a cocktail I am always amazed at how the slight slip of a hand can affect the end taste of the drink; too sweet, too acidic, too much alcohol. Then again, you can add a bit more of this and a bit less of that depending on your tastes.

You will need (per drink):

  • 1 heaped tsp earl grey loose leaf tea
  • 125ml water
  • 20g sugar
  • 50ml gin
  • Juice 1 lemon

Make a strong earl grey by adding the loose leaf tea to 75ml of boiling water and leaving it to stand for 5 minutes. Remove the tea leaves when done.

Simmer together the remaining 50ml water and the sugar in a small pan until the sugar is fully dissolved and you have a syrup. Leave the syrup to cool slightly then add the stir in the tea.

Into a glass (a pretty one helps) pour the tea syrup (around 50ml), gin and the lemon juice.

Sit back, relax and sip.

I topped mine with some little dried cornflowers. Just because.

This is truly a tipple to enjoy on a warm afternoon. A glass of this, sat outside in some dappled shade and everything is just marvellous. The flavours are as you would expect; the delicate bergamot from the earl grey giving everything a lovely flavour. The balance of sweetness to acidic lemon to gin, to my taste, is spot on. Also, as it doesn’t need any really special ingredients you could knock up a batch at a moment’s notice. Topping the cocktail with cornflowers doesn’t add anything other than making it look pretty; and why not.

Elderflower and Blackcurrant Gin and Tonic

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My idea of a perfect evening when it’s raining is to eat something filling then settle down to watch a film (preferably a funny one). On a sunny evening however I always try to be outside; we’ve been spoilt for sunny evenings recently. Sitting in the garden watching the world go by and the sun go down is improved if you accompany it with a refreshing home made drink. My homemade elderflower cordial has made plenty of appearances this year and this time it’s used to make an elderflower and blackcurrant gin and tonic. read more

Damson Gin, Lychee and Champagne Cocktail

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Damson Gin, Lychee and Champagne Cocktail

As much as it’s lovely to have plenty of ideas for food to cook with a festive feel you can’t very well just make do with mulled wine for the month of December. No indeed. At some point in my life I went from having no spirits in the house to being on the verge of opening a drinks emporium. It seems to have crept up on me (I’m sure it has to everyone) and I have all sorts of odds and ends to do something with. The brandy is being used to make sloe or damson port but the four different gins I have going on need to be used up. It’s getting ridiculous.

Ingredients

You will need (per drink):

37.5ml damson (or sloe) gin
1 lychee from a can plus 3 tsp of the syrup
Champagne to top up

Method

It’s not particularly complicated but who can be bothered with all that exuberant shaking when you’ve just eaten a disgraceful amount of roast potatoes?

Pour the gin into a glass; over ice if you’d like. Plonk the lychee in with the syrup then top it up with Champagne.

You might want to play around with this recipe a little; if your gin is particularly sweet or sharp you may need a little more or less lychee syrup.

I think this would be lovely with normal gin too but the damson gin does give it a nice colour. It looks a little like you’ve put a ping pong ball in the glass but by the time you’ve drunk this wonderful drink you are left with an alcohol soaked, soft mouthful of fruit to get your teeth around. It tastes like a sophisticated, time consuming cocktail but it takes barely a minute to make. Perfect to knock up quickly and enjoy slowly; ideally with a mince pie and a log fire.

Damson Gin with Lemon and Lime

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damson gin

It’s nice to have a cupboard full of foraged wares. Currently I am housing sloe port made with sloes that were steeping in gin for two years, a nine month damson gin and I am now using the gin soaked damsons to kick off a batch of damson port. I’ve been busy. As nice as it is to sip the damson gin like a thin fruity syrup it’s also nice to be able to jazz it up sometimes.

After nine months of steeping the damson gin has come out a glorious, deep, rich red colour and it is asking to be made into a long drink. This is my perfect summer evening tipple. If I don’t have lemonade in the house it is just as good with a bit of tonic. It doesn’t look fancy, it’s not got any frills but when it tastes this good and fresh it doesn’t need any. read more

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