Drinks Archives - Page 6 of 7 - All That I'm Eating

Pears Poached in Elderberry Wine

October 21, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 21 Comments

Pears are funny things. They make us wait for that moment of perfect ripeness and when it occurs we have to eat them immediately. I had two conference pears in my fruit bowl. Every time I went into the kitchen I could see their skinny, stalked tops just poking out over the bowl looking at me, testing my patience. These pears seemed to be staying forever firm; even after four days there wasn’t a whisper of softness. Pears poached in red wine is a classic but not something that I’ve ever tried. If anything was going to soften these pears it was being simmered in alcohol. Not just any wine mind but Elderberry wine. Poaching pears is incredibly simple, takes around half an hour and is brilliantly tasty. I also quite like how the pears look afterwards; slightly over to one side almost as if they are drunk.

You will need:

2 firm pears 1 bottle Elderberry wine 100g sugar

Start by putting the wine and sugar into a pan and bring it to a simmer. While you wait for the wine to warm peel the pears and cut the bottom off so that they will stand up when cooked. When the wine is simmering add the pears and leave for 20-30 minutes or until soft when tested with a skewer.

Remove the pears when they’re soft and then turn the heat up on the wine. Boil the wine until it has reduced to a thin syrup. Depending on the ferocity of your flame and how much evaporated while the pears were cooking this can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. Bear with it though and don’t give in to impatience; pears in wine soup would I’m sure be delicious but it’s not quite what you’re after. Serve the pears with their syrup. read more

Blackberry and Perry Jelly

September 30, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 21 Comments

Nothing says autumn like a huge hedgerow full of blackberries. There’s not much that compares to putting on your wellies, grabbing some receptacles and heading out to the nearest scouring ground. I think there’s an unwritten law somewhere that decrees, ‘one for me, one for later’. That’s how I operate anyway.

The potential that a blackberry brings to the kitchen is endless; add a few to some gravy for a wonderful sweetness or, inevitably, use them alone or with other fruits for a marvellous array of puddings. Autumn also brings with it apples and pears and, preferring to eat my pears nice and ripe, I turned to perry to pair with my berries.

In order to use some locally made perry I had to get my Poirot on and try to find a supply. As luck would have it my butcher lives next door to a man who happens to make some using local pears. I returned to the old (and I think better) bartering system I managed to procure a bottle of fine perry in exchange for some rabbit ragu. Marvellous. read more

Damson Gin – how to make it

September 13, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 21 Comments

September is the time of year to get out and investigate the hedgerows. It’s also the time of year to make some Damson Gin. There are all sorts of fruits and berries waiting to be picked by eager hands: sloes, rosehips, blackberries, damsons and apples can all be found with a little searching and bravery. I say bravery because foraging is always fraught with a small amount of danger, for instance, a wasp can easily be inhaled if you become distracted by a particularly juicy apple. read more

Pork Wellington

August 7, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 22 Comments

Comfort food is wonderful. It’s always the things which are full of bread, cheese, pasta, pastry and the like. Sometimes I want the comfort without the guilt, and particularly for this, without the expense. Beef wellington is as magnificent a dinner as they come; it’s one of my all time favourites. However, pork fillet is about a third of the price of beef fillet and therefore makes a brilliantly cheaper alternative.

I had to ask my butcher to save me a pork fillet as they sell out like there’s no tomorrow. Possibly because the pigs are fed mostly on apples for the latter part of their life meaning the meat has an unrivalled flavour. So with marvellous meat and flavourful fillings I set about making my pork wellington. If anyone knows why it’s called wellington I’d be pleased to find out; let’s hope it’s not an unflattering term for the shape of the finished meal. read more

Leftover Sloe Chocolate Truffles

April 17, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 18 Comments

Considering how long these sloes have been hanging around it’s remarkable they’re still able to be made into something delicious. They were picked early Autumn last year and have so far been made into glorious gin and pleasing port. There comes a time in sloe port making where the sloes have to be removed. It’s an emotional time; what can you do now that many sloe avenues have been exhausted?

Sloe chocolate truffles. The sloes were to be even further used and improved with deep, dark, luxurious chocolate. As the sloes had been steeping for several months in various alcohols I was under the impression they would be soft, plump and easy to extract the stones out of. After much ricocheting around the kitchen I managed to tame the sloes with a pestle and mortar. The stones were put back under the sloe tree, I’m not sure what effect alcohol has on sloe germination. read more

Sloe Port: The Taste Test

April 10, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 21 Comments

My sloe journey started on an early Autumn day when I was full of enthusiasm for making sloe gin. After rambling through the hedgerows, dodging a few rabbit holes and being careful of the thorns I had a basket rammed with sloes. I had romantic visions of sloe picking scenes but in reality it was pretty hard work. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

The sloe bushes are now in full, sweet smelling blossom and my port is ready. If you are out and about and spot a blossoming sloe bush, make a mental note to remember its location ready for picking come Autumn. read more

Classic French Onion Soup

February 23, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 19 Comments

For some reason I have a bit of a thing for French food. It’s the food that never fails to put a smile on my face; partly because of the flavours but also because it’s a great excuse to showcase local, British ingredients in different ways. It’s a funny time of year, I feel it’s almost time to crack out a salad but at the same time I still want comfort and warmth. What better than the absolute classic French onion soup?

There’s nothing quite like it, it wraps you up from the inside out but at the same time remains quite clean and almost guilt free. Considering it’s basically boiled onions in beef stock, which doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, it delivers on so many levels. There’s sweetness, depth and texture with every mouthful. read more

Boeuf Bourguignon with Dauphinoise and Purple Sprouting Broccoli

February 9, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 12 Comments

Beautiful, traditional and French; a perfect meal for Valentine’s Day. This one’s a winner because the bottle of wine you need for the boeuf bourguignon you can then drink with the meal or yourself during the preparation as a reward for all your hard work. Being a slow cooking dish means once it’s on the go you don’t need to worry about it and you can get on with other things. If that wasn’t enough, it’s also incredible and actually quite cheap.

Preparing the meat can be as difficult or easy as you like. Valentine’s Day brings out our flirtatious side and, not that I would advocate it of course, projecting a little of this new found eyelash fluttering on your butcher may result in your chosen cut being prepared for you. I’m not sure it would work with your greengrocer though. I used brisket for mine which needed a fair bit of trimming and preparing but I quite like doing that. read more

Sloe Port – how to use leftover sloes

February 4, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 34 Comments

Luscious sloe gin will inevitably result in spare berries when sloes and gin are separated. There is only so much sloe chocolate you can eat and extra sloe gin you can make. I was informed by a kind friend that sloe port was worth a try but receptacles were thin on the ground. Fortunately my Granny had given me a Rumtopf a while back which was perfect for transforming my gin soaked berries into deep red port. This port takes around four months from start to finish and it really is worth the wait. Depending on when you pick the sloes, make the gin and start the port the whole process can take six months or more but you end up with something rather special.

Top Tips

First and foremost separate the gin from the berries. Not as easy as it sounds; one kilo of sloe berries fills a much larger space than the average sieve provides. I would recommend the bath rather than the kitchen sink to help stop any escaping berries and gin. Once this task has successfully been completed, make the sloe port. When making my sloe gin I ignored the advice to use cheap gin. I’ve tried sloe gin using cheap gin and nicer gin and it does seem to make a difference. I applied the same rule to the port; I used wine I would have been happy to drink.

Variations

Sloe port is a brilliant way to use up leftover sloe berries and makes something a little different. If you want to use the sloe berries another way, you can simply add more gin and sugar and make another batch of sloe gin.

To find out what the sloe port turned out like you can find the taste test here. It also makes a fantastic sloe port jelly to serve with cheese.

After the sloes have been decanted from the port, they can be used again to make some sloe chocolate truffles.

Pin my Sloe Port recipe for later! read more

Sloe and Hedgerow Gin: The Taste Test

November 22, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 15 Comments

Some of you may know that I made my own sloe gin and hedgerow gin this year. It all started on a warm September afternoon with a kilo of sloes, some hedgerow berries, a sprinkling of sugar and a litre of fine gin. It’s something I’ve never even attempted before but I thought how hard can it be?
Turns out it’s extremely simple. Put it all together and leave the flavours and juices to mingle and infuse for as long as you can wait. The longer you can wait the better as the flavour gets more intense and the colour gets darker.

The verdict

The wait is definitely worth it. I first tasted the batches of sloe and hedgerow gin at only six weeks old and it tastes wonderful already. It’s sweet, syrupy, fruity and sublime. It does also of course have plentiful amounts of alcohol in which can’t fail to warm ones cockles. It’s delectable alone, toned down with tonic and opens a door to a new world of cocktails.

The hedgerow gin is surprisingly different to the sloe gin. The addition of a few rosehips and blackberries gives this gin extra richness and more flavour in the middle. It’s got added fruitiness without being too much.

I left both gins for a few weeks longer and I think they are at their best after around three months. At which point I strained the gin off into a clean, sterilised container and set about making some sloe port. It’s a great way to use the sloe berries again.

I’ve got a few ideas for using your gin (other than drinking it!): mix up a cocktail or make some adult gummy bears.

If this year wasn’t your sloe year (maybe it was your slow year!), it is definitely worth a try next year.