Port Archives - All That I'm Eating

Stilton Scones with Sloe Port Jelly

December 17, 2013 By All That I'm Eating 15 Comments

Is it just me or does everyone seem to open their fridge at some point in December and a wodge of Stilton has magically appeared? Cheese and biscuits is a must over the festive season but sometimes you can get left with an odd or and end of cheese that’s not only in the way but is also stinking the fridge out. Enter Stilton scones. They take minutes to make and around 10 minutes to bake so they are a quick and simple way to use up a bit of cheese. Delicious with any membrillo, redcurrant jelly or whatever else, I knocked up some sloe port jelly to accompany these powerful scones.

Ingredients

You will need (for 10-12 scones):
240g self raising flour
Pinch of salt
Black pepper
50g butter
60g Stilton
130ml milk plus extra for brushing

For the sloe port jelly:
100ml sloe port (any other port would be good too)
60ml water
30g sugar
2 sheets gelatine

Method

Make the jelly first.

Put the gelatine into some cold water to soften.

Get a small saucepan on a low heat and add the sugar and water. Once the sugar has dissolved squeeze out any excess water from the gelatine and stir the gelatine into the hot sugar syrup. 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.

You will need:
A large handful port soaked sloes, de-stoned (recipe for making sloe port here)
150g dark chocolate
150ml double cream
25g butter
Cocoa Powder

Heat the cream up gently until almost boiling, stirring often so it doesn’t catch.

While the cream heats up, grate the chocolate into a bowl, cut the butter up and put this in the bowl too. To be honest I did this before I heated the cream otherwise I knew the cream wouldn’t get the attention it deserved and I’d still be cleaning the kitchen now. 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.

My Sloe Journey

Gin – first of all the sloes were steeped in gin. This particular batch included some blackberries which have to be removed after three months to stop them turning bitter. At this point I had a litre of glorious hedgerow gin and some plump, gin filled sloes that couldn’t be simply thrown away. Port – the berries leftover for the gin weren’t going to be wasted so they were made into sloe port. Chocolate – once the port is finished the berries will be used again to make some sloe chocolate truffles.

So now I have a Rumtopf full of sloes swimming in ruby red port. The port is fantastic; a more rounded version of the sloe gin. You get the flavour of sloes, the warmth of the alcohol and the richness of red wine. There’s nothing else quite like it. I can’t wait to have some with cheese, add it to gravy for richness and put a little in a hip flask for a calm evening walk. My sloes and I have been on a magnificent adventure thus far but where can I go from here? I have a few ideas up my sleeve to ensure that the sloes are used to their full potential. Out of 2kg of sloes I have produced 3l of elixir and I don’t intend to stop there. 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