Keeping in Fine Spirits?

Now, I suppose I should confess that when it comes to whisky, I usually drink the Irish variety.  It’s rare indeed that I’ll pick a Scotch.

However I was recently sent a trio of whisky’s to try (two Scotch, one American) from Master of Malt an online whisky retailer with a proud heritage of over 25 years. Their website is one of the easiest to navigate, easy on the eye sites I’ve come across in a good while. Their range may not be the largest, but prices are competitive. Apart from their catalogue of regular whisky brands, they also have their own range of independent Master of Malt bottlings. They also sell other spirits such as gin and vodka.

The three whisky samples were:

1. Rosebank 19 Year Old 1990 – Old Malt Cask (Douglas Laing)
2. Johnny Drum Black Label 12 Year Old
3. Master of Malt 30 Year Old Speyside

All three whiskey samples went down well enough, but I’ll be completely truthful – they haven’t managed to wear down by preference for the Irish whiskeys instead.

While the small sample bottles (30ml drams) are a great way of allowing folks to try a whisky before committing to a large bottle of something they may or may not like, and a way of creating a nice gift pack the packaging rather leaves something to be desired.

On opening the box of samples the response from a friend of mine was “they look like urine sample bottles” (maybe our nursing background clouds our judgment a bit, but hey, it’s hardly the most glowing response is it?) and they were a nightmare to open – the bottles are sealed with wax and required quite a lot of dexterity to open.  Not quite as cute, but ‘regular’ miniature bottles may well be much more practical.

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Water of Life

Whisky is a shortened form of usquebaugh, which the English borrowed from Gaelic (Irish uisce beatha and Scottish uisge beatha). This compound descends from Old Irish uisce, “water”, and bethad, “of life” and meaning literally “water of life”.

I recently received a lovely gift box of award winning Irish Whiskey. Although difficult, obviously, a choice had to be made regarding which one to taste first.

Image Courtesy of Google Images

I plumed for the Connemara Peated Single Malt. It just sounded so unusual and yet so appealing.

Image Courtesy of Google Images

Connemara is one of nature’s masterpieces. The rugged Atlantic coastline and majestic mountains blend with the rain-soaked peated bog lands to create a landscape of unique natural beauty.

To have a peated Irish whiskey is quite a rare thing indeed.

Despite peat being native to Ireland it took a collaboration between Cooley distillery and Scottish distiller Gordon Mitchell (who later founded Arran distillery in Scotland) before the first peated Irish whiskey was introduced.

Peated whiskies are gauged on their level of smoke by something called “phenols per million”, which is an indication of just how much smoke has been added to the single malt barley. Islay, a region of Scotland renowned for big, peaty whiskies, averages about 30 ppm while Connemara comes in at a milder 13-14 ppm. meaning that while there is an element of smoke inherent in this whiskey, the smoke plays more of a supporting role than being front and center on the palate.

Taking the name of one of Ireland’s most beautiful regions, this is one of the most beautiful whiskeys I’ve tasted.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Lightly golden.

Nose: Smokey and peaty offset by floral heather notes and intermingled with hints of honey and oak.

Taste: Silky smooth with a honey sweet start, followed by more complex aromas of malt and fruit giving way to the intensifying and warming full bodied peat. A well-balanced yet complex taste with vanilla oak notes.

Finish: A long and glorious finish with golden honey notes and deep peat spreading across the mouth and palate. Hints of vanilla and oak leave a mouth-watering taste!

Serving Suggestions: Connemara can be enjoyed neat or with a little water, but this certainly isn’t one to use with a mixer.

Producer: Cooley Distillery

ABV: 40%

Country of Origin: Eire

Website

Slainte

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When the lovely folks over at Abel & Cole sent me a fabulous selection of drinks to review, there was hidden amongst them a bottle of Prospect Sussex Pale Ale. Prospect is a traditional 4.5% Ale brewed by Hepworth& Co. a brewery based in Horsham, West Sussex (who also produce the Blonde Lager I reviewed a few days back). Hepworth & Co. produce beers and lagers in cask, keg and bottle, using locally sourced ingredients as much as possible.  Their commitment to local barley and hop growers has led to participation in the Warranty of Origin, a code of practice guaranteeing the source of ingredients and they are fully licensed by the Soil Association for the production and packaging of organic beers.

Pale ales are not normally my kind of drink; generally I find them either too gassy or too malty; gosh aren’t I hard to please; so I began to think of alternative ways I could review this ale. I’ve had a notion to bake some beer bread for a while now, so this seemed as good a time as any to get my kitchen floury. Of course I also had to partake in a small glass of the beer, how could I not? I did find it a little too fizzy for me but it had light earthy malt notes and some slightly tangy hits of flavour too; it was softly bitter and overall well balanced in flavour. Once I’d let the glass sit for a while (to reduce the gas) I actually really enjoyed the ales depth of flavour.

Beer bread can be simply made with flour, beer, and sugar. However, it will be fairly dense and heavy unless an additional leavening agent, e.g. baking soda or yeast and sugar, is added. I decided to stick with a basic yeast bread recipe, one that I’ve used many times and as such would allow me to give an honest review of how the beer flavour came through and its effect on the loafs texture. Following Dan Stevens advice (River Cottage Handbook No.3: Bread) I used a volume of 50% pale ale and 50% water – but in future I will experiment with different ratios.

It is worth noting that there are endless flavour variations of beer/ale bread possible; simply add whatever you desire to the basic dry mix. Try experimenting with different beers and ales – a darker beer will give you a deeper flavour and somewhat denser bread than a pale ale or larger.

I used malthouse flour from Shipton Mill to provide the backbone of the bread dough; it is one of my favourite and most used flours right now. It encompasses white wheat flour which is blended with three malts – whole crisp golden malted wheat flakes provide a delicious texture; a malted barley gives a soft rich malty flavour; and the dark malted rye gives a nutty flavour and relatively dark colour.

The pale ale gave a sweet flavour to the loaf with a hint of nutty malt flavour too.

I like to give my dough three or four rises as it really does help to improve not only the flavour and texture of the finished loaf but the keeping qualities too.

Another great idea is to spritz the oven with water when you put the dough in as it helps recreate a traditional bakers steam oven, I use a cheep plant mister I picked up from a local garden centre, nothing more fancy is required.

I chose to serve the bread with some lovely cheddar cheese (thank you Beth as it was an item in the fabulous Food Blogger Connect goodie bag) and some home made spiced tomato relish.

Tomato relish can be used as a spread on crusty bread or sandwiches, as a nice topping on grilled dishes and a perfect accompaniment to just about anything on you like – it is stunningly good on turkey.

I like mine fairly strongly flavoured but if you want a milder taste feel free to reduce the amount of chilli and garlic used.

Pale Ale Bread:

• 500g malthouse flour
• 20g malt flakes (soaked in warm water for 30 minutes) – optional
• 1 sachet fast action yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 150ml warm water
• 150ml pale ale
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
• 1 handful of khorosan flour for dusting

1. First, mix the dough. Put the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the malt flakes, honey, oil, salt and yeast. Add the liquids, and mix (either by hand or in a free standing mixer) to a rough dough. Adjust the consistency if you need to with a little more flour or water to make a soft, kneadable, sticky dough. Turn the dough out on to a work surface and clean your hands. Knead the dough until it is as smooth and satiny as you can make it – this will take about 10 minutes.
2. Shape the kneaded dough into a round. Then oil or flour the surface and put the dough into the wiped-out mixing bowl.
3. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave to ferment and rise until doubled in size. This could be anywhere between 45 min and 1 1/2 hours – or longer still, if the dough is cold.
4. Deflate the dough by tipping it on to the work surface and pressing all over with your fingertips. Then form it into a round.
5. Repeat stage 4, three more times.
6. Now switch the oven to 250C (or the equivalent) and put your baking tray in position. Get your water spray bottle ready if you have one, your serrated knife if using, and an oven cloth.
7. Shape the dough and place into a floured proving basket (or on to a floured baking tray), cover with a damp tea towel. Leave to prove, checking often by giving gentle squeezes, until the loaf has almost doubled in size.
8. Gently tip the dough out of the proving basket (if using) onto a baking tray, the easiest way is to put the baking tray over the top of the proving basket like a lid and quickly invert the basket.
9. Put the tray in the oven, spritz some water into the oven and close the door as quickly as you can. Turn the heat down after about 10 minutes to: 200C if the crust still looks very pale; 180C if it is noticeably browning; 170C if it seems to be browning quickly. Bake until the loaf is well browned and crusty, and feel hollow when you tap it: around another 20-30 minutes. If in doubt, bake for a few minutes longer.

Spiced Tomato Relish:

• 500g tomatoes, roughly cut (I don’t bother to peel mine)
• 100g light brown sugar
• Pinch dried chilli flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
• 1 tablespoon dried kibbled onions
• 150ml red wine
• 100ml red wine vinegar

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, then simmer over medium to low heat. Stir occasionally.
2. Simmer about an hour or until the mixture thickens to a slightly runny jam-like consistency and the tomatoes have broken down.
3. Put relish into sterilized jars. For longer storage, can in a water bath (cover with water about 2.5cm above the jars & simmer for about 15 min.) or just store in the fridge to keep for a couple weeks.

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Orange cordial is something I find very thirst quenching but hardly ever buy. The amount of sugar, colourants and other preservatives most contain scares me somewhat; even the brands marketed as healthy have an ingredients list that surely baffles all but the most food aware and scientific consumers out there.

What with Christmas around the corner I began to face a dilemma; with a family who enjoy using orange as a mixer or just for an easy drinking soft drink I had a choice to make — buy a more ‘reputable’ brand, have everyone go without, or make some. It stands to reason then that I decided to make my own.

There is nothing complicated about making cordials, they are in fact simpler than making jams and other preserves, the easiest of the bunch; as you don’t have to worry about setting points, pectin or anything more troubling than making sure you sterilise your bottles. The simplest way to do this is to put them through the dishwasher on the hottest cycle but should you not have a dishwasher or not want to use that method, more information on how to sterilise bottles and jars can be found here.

The upside of this easy kitchen activity however is that friends and family will ooh and ahh, thinking you to be a true domestic god/goddess when they see the bottles of goodies you’ve produced.

I used Christmas oranges (A.K.A clementines) to make this cordial as I’d a fruit bowl full of them and they are at the height of their season. I’m not very good at just eating fruit au natural in winter, I have to preserve or cook it in some way for me to get my daily intake; in summer however I’m happy enough to munch away as either a snack or dessert — happen it’s the cold weather than does it.

Orange cordial can be simply added to still water, mixed with sparkling water or lemonade for a soda style drink, used as a mixer for alcoholic drinks such as vodka or whiskey or can even be added to hot water for a winter warmer.

The traditional story is that the clementine was originally an accidental hybrid said to have been discovered by Father Clément Rodier in the garden of his orphanage in Misserghin, Algeria. However, there are claims it originated in China much earlier, being virtually identical to the variety known as the Canton mandarin widely grown in Guangxi and Guangdong Provinces in China.

Clementines are the smallest and sweetest variety of tangerine, they are both sweet and tangy, contain no seeds and are recognisable by their loose, baggy bright orange skin. Surprisingly clementines are actually very juicy.

Strange as it may sound, cordials actually make good Christmas gifts. Bottle them up in a nice fancy way, write a personalised message on the tag and away you go. So that’s a Christmas tip – reduce the stress and give some home made goodies as gifts; trust me they are always appreciated and go down well.

I am entering this article to The Twelve Days of Christmas Cooking Tips event over at The Cotswold Food Year and the Recipe Advent Calendar over at Lexiophiles.

Orange Cordial:

• 500ml orange juice
• 500ml water
• 500g granulated sugar

1. Place all the ingredients into a deep saucepan and heat gently to dissolve the sugar, stirring gently.
2. Bring the temperature up to 90C and then pour into the still hot, sterilised bottles, leaving a 1cm gap. Screw on the lids.
3. When diluting use 1:4 ratios or to taste.

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A couple of weeks back a lovely friend of mine, Kerry Anne, from New Zealand sent me a lovely collection of food magazines, Dish, Cuisine and Australian Vogue Entertaining + Travel.

I have to confess that all three are of a much higher standard than the ones gracing our newsagent shelves here in the UK. Glossy, thick paper with a feeling of longevity about them. From fabulous recipes and stunning photography; product reviews and even fashion features (Vogue), through to well written, relevant articles, these magazines have it all.

Recently I unsubscribed from all the mainstream UK food magazines because of repetitive content and a seeming dependence of Supermarket pre-packed produce rather than start from scratch cooking; however, if they were more like the lovely selection Kerry Anne sent me I’d have been more inclined to keep the subscriptions up to date and dare I say it, even try curb the number of cookery book I buy.

I do love to read food magazines from other countries; I find it fascinating to learn of other food cultures and current trends around the globe. Somehow though it did seem rather odd reading about ‘warm weather food’ and Christmas in the same context. The two just don’t match together in my mind, but, for our Antipodean friends that is exactly the case.

There are many recipes I’ve bookmarked to try in the warmer months but some can easily be adapted now to suit the cooler weather such as the Penne with Pesto shown above.

So what better way to get the most enjoyment from these magazines than to curl up near an open log fire (okay, okay it’s a gas fire but looks like an open log fire but hey ho a girl can’t have everything) with a nice drink and a few nibbles. Given that the weather is exceptionally cold and wet right now, the idea of spending an evening like that is even more appealing than normal.

So armed with a glass of organic Hepworth Blonde Lager from Abel & Cole and some peanuts, I had a lovely evening of reading ahead of me.

Hepworth & Co was opened in 2000 by Andy Hepworth, former Head Brewer of King & Barnes, John Tewson, Paul Webb and Tim Goacher. They are now employing 20 staff, Hepworth & Co. produce beers and lagers of distinction in cask, keg and bottle, using locally sourced ingredients wherever possible. Their commitment to local barley and hop growers has led to participation in the Warranty of Origin, a code of practice guaranteeing the source of ingredients. They are also licensed by the Soil Association for the production and packaging of organic beers.

After reviewing the Daas blond beer I was rather looking forward to this one too, hidden at the back of my mind though were thoughts of heavy very fruity German beers that I never gathered a taste for. I needn’t have worried here, a combination of English barley, German yeast and Admiral hops deliver a crisp floral note, and the purity of flavour is protected by the cold filtration process.

Whilst the Daas blond beer was more to my tastes I certainly wouldn’t pass a glass of this up either.

Thank you Abel & Cole for the Review Product (Blonde Larger).

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Another drink review for you. This time it is Frascati Superiore ‘Terre Laviche’, Casale Mattia 2006/7 courtesy of Abel & Cole.

The Casale Mattia is situated in the volcanic hills south of Rome, in the epicentre of the Frascati production area.

Frascati is a wine known throughout the world and is the standard-bearer of the wines of Rome. It is produced in the communal territories of Frascati, Grottaferrata and Monteporzio Catone. The district is the “agro tuscolano” or countryside of the ancient, pre-Roman city of Tusculum.

Many Roman legends, literature and popular traditions concerning wine begin and end with Frascati, which is surely one of the best known, most celebrated and mythologized wines in the world. The list of tributes and citations is so long that it puts the literature of other wines to shame.

The Romans referred to it as the Golden Wine both for its colour and its value. It has become embedded in the cultural and economic traditions of the city.

Frascati’s greatest accomplishment may be the lasting effect it has had on the customs of a city that has always been at the center of the world and of the fascination it has exerted over Rome’s innumerable visitors. The city’s famous taverns, of which there were already 1,022 in 1450, were nearly all owned by producers of Frascati wine, who leased them out under contracts resembling the modern franchising agreements of bar, restaurant and fastfood chains.

Good Frascati works really well as an accompaniment to seafood and vegetarian dishes, as well as being light enough to drink as a stand alone item.

Abel & Cole bill this wine as:

“a unique example of how good and flavoursome Frascati can taste, with its beautiful aromas of wild honey and floral notes.”

I unfortunately couldn’t disagree more. The wine was mouth puckeringly sour with a bitter aftertaste. I will concede that the aroma was beautiful, somewhat akin to the smell of a spring meadow, fresh and floral, but that is where the beauty ended. Despite many a trip to Italy I have never come across a Frascati like this before. Usually they are soft, limpid, golden and tasting of fresh grapes; this one tasted old – so hard-edged and sour it was barely drinkable.

Wondering if it was just that the wine didn’t suit my tastebuds or that I was having an off day for the tasting I decided to ‘blind taste’ the Frascati amongst some of my friends and family; all of them gave poor reviews.

After a little research I’m left wondering if the bottle was maybe a ‘defect’, as all the reviews I’ve managed to locate are incredibly positive.

The Technical Details:

• Origin: Frascati, Lazio, Italy
• Vintage: 2006/7
• Grape variety: Malvasia di Candia, Malvasia Bianca, Trebbiano Giallo, Bombino, Bello
• Organic Certification: Yes
• Alcohol: 12.7%

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‘Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling

Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’

So they took it away, and were married next day

By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

They danced by the light of the moon,

The moon,

The moon,

They danced by the light of the moon.’

The Owl and the Pussycat – Edward Lear

The lumpy, bumpy yellow fruits above, which in fact look a little like mouldy apples, are in fact quinces. Quinces are rather a forgotten about ingredient here, probably because in the UK they can be very hard to get hold of unless you have a friend with a quince tree. A few vegetable box schemes have also begun selling them too; including my suppliers Riverford. Quinces are however having rather a resurgence of interest amongst ardent foodie folk, you should have seen the banter about them over on Twitter and the number of folks wanting recipe swaps, pestering their veg box suppliers for dates of arrival (ok that was me, I admit it); you would have thought we were discussing the last batch of quinces ever to grace our kitchens.

Compared to most modern fruit beauties Quinces are rather the ugly duckling and that probably plays some role in their lack of familiarity and use too. I have to confess I was shocked by the number of people I’ve spoken to who didn’t know what a quince was, yet oddly most of them were familiar with Membrillo (a Spanish quince paste).

Raw quince flesh even looks a bit apple like, pale and insipid really.

When cooked quinces go a gorgeous spectrum of colours, from pale orange to deep red and they have the most delectable exotic flavour. A flavour that with a little help from some delicate spicing can really sing out of winter warmth.

Despite their looks the quince was actually considered a ‘romantic fruit’ in Medieval times, one to be given at weddings and to romantic partners. Now I’d say that although a box of quinces – fresh or preserved in some way – wouldn’t be my top notch idea for a romantic gift I do believe that a bottle of quince brandy (see recipe below) or home made preserve would be a lovely idea for a Christmas gift.

Quince brandy is quite unlike another other fruity alcoholic drink I’ve had before, it is a lovely deep nectar drink that is a perfect winter warmer. I wouldn’t advise you use a really top of the range brandy as the quince mellows the sharp bite of the brandy, and gives it all those spicy, exotic, wonderful smells, while still retaining the background notes of brandy flavour.

Quince Brandy

• 3 quinces, diced into small pieces
• 1/2 cinnamon stick broken into 2 or 3 pieces
• 1 star anise
• 1 tablespoon barberries (optional)
• Enough brandy to fill the bottle (approx 330ml)

1. Place the ingredients in the bottle and cover with brandy.
2. Leave the mixture to sit for at least two weeks.
3. Strain the brandy into a sterile bottle and drink.

NB Use the fruit for use in a cake or pudding.

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All this dreary wet weather recently has left me longing after sunnier climes, whilst I can’t just hop on a jet plane and head off into the sunset at a moments notice I can get creative in the kitchen and produce food that induces memories of holidays gone by and gives the illusion of warmth regardless of what is happening outside my windowpanes.

To combine this with a product review for Abel & Cole I headed in the direction of Spain.  Tourist ‘trap’ Spain is not form me, I’d rather be in heart of small towns and villages mingling with the locals; fabulous white washed villages (pueblos blancos of Andalucia), small tapas bars and breath taking local foods and wines.

Wine and vineyards have always held a special place in Spaniards’ hearts. According to the Consejo Regulador of Rioja website: In 1635, the Mayor of Logroño banned carriages from passing along the roads next to cellars “for fear that the vibration from these vehicles might affect the juice and the ageing of our precious wines”.

Whilst Rioja wine is from Northern Spain, hailing from its name place Rioja which is bordered by the Basque Country (province of Álava), Navarre, Aragón (province of Zaragoza), and Castile and León (provinces of Soria and Burgos); the first time I tasted a glass of Rioja I was in a small tapas bar in Gaucin, a small pueblos blanco approximately 1.5 hours drive from Malaga, where on a clear day you have views across to North Africa, a beautiful place indeed.

Rioja red wines are classified into four categories:

1. Guarantee of Origin
2. Crianza
3. Reserva
4. Gran Reserva

The Rioja Crianza Majister Bibendi Navarrsotillo 2005 I had sent to review belonged to the Crianza category which means they must spend at least two years at the winery before being released for sale, with at least one of those years spent in an oak cask. Crianza wines are still fresh and young with a light red colouring.

The Navarrsotillo wine company produce organic wines and their wines are aged in barrels made of French and American oak, and they have climate-controlled cellars to maintain and care for their flavours.

According to the Wines From Rioja website 2005 was a 5 star (excellent) year for the vintage.

This has to be one of the best Riojas I’ve ever tasted (and believe me I’ve tried quite a few). The wine has a rich ‘coating’ mouth feel and a lovely deep but fresh flavour, with hints of vanilla and spice coming through. It is lightly oaked but deep enough in flavour to please those who prefer a ‘bigger’ Rioja also. I’d be happy to drink it alongside a main meal or whilst having nibbles of tapas. I’d go so far as to say it would work well with rich flavoursome desserts too.

I chose to serve the Rioja alongside some Spanish ‘comfort food’ – lentejas, according to Sam & Sam Clark, are an institution in Spain, pretty much in the same way Fish & Chips are in the UK. Wherever you visit lentejas will be found at some point.

Lentejas is a soup come stew, heady mix of lentils, root vegetables, meats such as chorizo and morcilla. It’s not the most attractive of dishes, as we all know lentils must be the “ugly ducklings” of the culinary world – not much to look at in a bowl, but they are rich in flavour and packed with nutrients.

I used Pardina lentils which are different from most lentils, as they have a much softer and slightly creamy texture and they have an interesting pinkish-grey hue. Pardina Lentils have a nutty flavour and they hold their shape really well when cooked. Should you not be able to get hold of Spanish Pardina lentils you could substitute Puy or Castelluccio lentils instead.

The lentejas recipe I used comes from Casa Moro, the second cookbook from husband and wife team, Sam and Sam Clark, who own, run and cook at London’s Moro restaurant; another on my must eat at list.

Rather than buying all the meats separately I bought a pack of mixed meats used as the basis for making many Spanish stews from Delicioso which included one medium-spiced chorizo sausage, one Morcilla sausage (Paprika-flavoured black pudding), and a piece of panceta (paprika-flavoured smoked bacon). I also added about 200g of shredded spinach to the dish too.

Lentejas

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 2 sweet chorizo, each 10 cm. long, cut into rounds
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 100g tocino, cut into small pieces 1 cm. x 2cm. (Tocino is hard pig fat, used to give flavour to a lot of Spanish soups and stews. I used Spanish panceta).
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly-sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 dried ñoras peppers, seeds and stalks removed, broken into small pieces and covered with boiling water.
• 250g dried lentils, brown or green (I used Pardina lentils)
• 2 morcilla (Spanish black sausage), each 10 cm. long
• 200g spinach, shredded
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• sea salt and black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a high heat. As it begins to smoke, add the chorizo and fry until brown. Remove and reserve the chorizo, reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, carrot, tocino and a pinch of salt. Fry for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are sweet and beginning to colour.
2. Add the garlic, bay leaves, and drained ñoras peppers and cook for two minutes more.
3. Return the chorizo to the pan, adding the lentils and whole morcillas at the same time.
4. Cover with one litre water and simmer gently for 20 to 30 minutes until the lentils are tender, adding a little extra water if the liquid falls below the surface of the lentils.
5. Five minutes before the end of cooking add the spinach and stir in, allowing it to wilt.

Season with salt and pepper, and serve with parsley on top, and an extra drizzle of olive oil.

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Abel & Cole have very kindly sent me a box of alcoholic beverages to review. Now it will take me a wee while to work my way through all of them, I know, it’s a tough job but somebody has to do it

I know many of you have read about Abel & Cole on the other product review write ups I’ve done for them, such as this one; but for those of you that haven’t do take a look on their website frequently asked questions or give them a call on 08452626262 to find out more.

First up for tasting was the Daas Blond Beer.

Blond beers, also called golden ales range in colour from that of straw to golden blond. This one was definitely a golden blond, unlike wheat based beers blond beers should not be cloudy, this one was a perfectly clear.

Daas is the only Belgian beer brewed in Belgium to carry both the UK Soil Assoc Organic certification and the Belgian Certsys certification. The beer is 6.5% ABV and each bottle contains 2.15 units of alcohol.

To get the best from this honey, spiced aromatic beer it is best to chill it slightly before serving. The beer has a perfect balance of bitter sweet flavours, which is followed by a classic dry hop finish.  Much of the special flavour comes from the fact that Daas Organic beers are “bottle conditioned.” which means that the beer are naturally fermented for a second time in the bottle, in a similar way to the production of Champagne. This results in very light sediment of yeast in the bottom of the bottle.

This is a light and refreshing beer, I would highly recommend it.

When pairing beer and food, one of the most important things to consider is the balance of the beer and the food it’s matched with. This includes the weight and intensity of the food, and the aroma and taste of the beer. When serving a beer with food, it is important to create harmony between the flavors to achieve the desired sensory impact of the beer and the food it’s paired with. Blond beers generally work incredibly well with seafood based dishes that have a European slant to them, such as steamed mussels or baked fish.
Thank you Abel & Cole for the review product.

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When I was a young girl if ever I was feeling poorly hot Ribena was the order of the day, it never failed to make me feel better. Now I’m sure the high vitamin C content helped a little but for the most part I dare say it was just that that cup of hot berry drink came supplied alongside a huge dose of love and care. 

This idea of berry drinks making folks feel better was what inspired me to make my latest preserve, cordial. My Dad has recently had a rather chesty cold and so I thought a dose of ‘Beena and TLC were in order. 

I always have a glut of apples sitting in my fruit bowl and I had been lucky enough to have been given a huge bag of damsons by my friend Jo. Flavour combination sorted then; damson & apple

The damson or damson plum is an edible drupaceous fruit, a subspecies of the plum tree. Sometimes called the Damask Plum, damsons are commonly used in the preparation of jams and jellies. The plum spirit slivovitz is made from fermented damson fruit, the making of damson wine and damson gin are also popular uses for the fruit.

The original recipe idea is based around the Family ‘Beena from the fabulous book Preserves: River Cottage Handbook No.2 (Pam Corbin); once again River Cottage have produced a book of outstanding quality. Pam Corbin discussed the art of preserving in such a friendly, yet informative way that you almost feel she is there in the kitchen with you, guiding and hand holding as you work at this culinary marvel. For me at least there is nothing better for making you feel like a true cook, or Kitchen Goddess come to that, than making pots of preserves  

The making of preserves is a good way to make the most out of every season, stretching the more bountiful months into the sparser ones and for those of us dedicated to local, seasonal eating that is one joyful experience. I’d rather be eating some strawberry preserve on freshly made brioche in the winter than an imported strawberry that’s for sure. 

Preserves are something I now feel comfortable and confident with but not so long back I really did feel that they would be extremely difficult and such a messy event that I put them off.  It was the making of tayberry & apple jam last October that convinced me otherwise, and yes Pam Corbin’s delicate words didn’t go amiss either. I hope I can convince you, my readers, to venture into the mists of the preservers kitchen too; have a look here at some of the preserves I have blogged to get your taste-buds in action.

One of the easiest places to start must be the making of cordials, you don’t have to worry about setting points, pectin or anything more troubling than making sure you sterilise your bottles. The simplest way to do this is to put them through the dishwasher on the hottest cycle but should you not have a dishwasher or not want to use that method, more information on how to sterilise bottles and jars can be found here.

The damson & apple cordial is sweet, yet slightly tart and makes for either a refreshing cold drink or a warming and soothing hot one; just perfect for easing a sore throat; it would I’m sure also make a great mixer in alcoholic long drinks. Another use earmarked for it is for drizzling over cakes/cheesecakes, reducing down for dessert syrups and you could also (in a I need jam now emergency) just boil the liquid until setting point is reached. Now how versatile did you really think a bottle of cordial could be? 

I also added some cinnamon to the pan of fruit as I cooked it, firstly because I love the flavour and warmth it gives and secondly because it is used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine, amongst many other things cinnamon is considered a good remedy for irritating cough, common cold, allergic rhinitis, and acute and chronic sinusitis.

When making up hot drink to help soothe a sore throat and aid healing I add a teaspoon of Manuka honey to the cup, as research is showing that active Manuka Honey is effective against Streptococcus Pyogenes, a bacteria which causes sore throats. Propolis is an antibiotic collected by bees and used in the hive to protect the bee colony from disease and bacterial contamination.

I’m keeping a bottle reserved for medicinal purposes and am hoping to make many more bottles besides, now all I need are more damsons

Damson & Apple Cordial (to make about 1.5 litres):

• 2kg damsons, left whole
• 10 eating apples, cut into chunks but not peeled or cored
• 500ml water
• Granulated sugar
• 1/2 cinnamon stick

1. Place your fruit in a large saucepan or preserving pan and add 500ml water, bring to the boil and cook until the fruit is soft and the juices are flowing. Remove from the heat.
2. Pour the fruit mixture into a muslin lined sieve over a large bowl and press the fruit to extract the juices, leave overnight to drip if you have the time, otherwise just as long as you have available.
3. Measure the liquid and return it to the cleaned saucepan/preserving pan. For each litre of juice add 500g sugar (or to taste) and then heat gently to dissolve the sugar, stirring gently. Bring the temperature up to 90C and then pour into the still hot, sterilised bottles, leaving a 1cm gap. Screw on the lids.
4. When serving dilute 1:4 with either cold or boiling water.

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