Desserts

Lemon Thyme Sorbet

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Being a big fan of lemon thyme I wanted to incorporate it into a sorbet.
This is basically the recipe I use for lemon sorbet but with lemon thyme infused into the simple syrup.
The lemon thyme adds an interesting herbal note which works well with the lemon. Use as much lemon thyme as you want, I would suggest a handful or so.

Ingredients for the lemon thyme sorbet:
1 leaf of gelatine
150 ml caster sugar
100 ml water
100 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3-4 small lemons, I used a little bit more than 100 ml since I don’t like my lemon sorbet too sweet)
100 ml whole milk
Lemon thyme, a handful or so

Preparing the lemon thyme sorbet:
Put the leaf of gelatine in a bowl with cold water and let it soak for 5 minutes. Mix the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil, when it reaches boiling point turn of the heat. Add the lemon thyme twigs and let them infuse the syrup for 10 minutes or so.
Add the gelatin leaf to the syrup and stir until it’s melted.
Let the mixture cool to room temperature (don’t make it go cold since it will set).
Add the lemon juice and milk and mix properly.
Pass the mixture through a sieve into a clean glass jug, discard the lemon thyme twigs.
Freeze in ice cream maker according to your ice cream makers instructions (probably around 30-45 minutes).

Cocktails

Sidecar

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sidecar
Wow.
This cocktail was amazing. One of the best of the ones I made so far.
I read that the choice of cognac was important so I opted for a semi expensive Courvoisier VSOP. It was a good choice.
The Sidecar reminded me a little bit of sour candy. It starts of with the sweetness of the sugar on the rim of the glass, then the sourness of the lemon and some sweetness from the triple sec and kind of finishes with the warmth of the cognac to make it a grown up elegant cocktail.
Since cognacs of course vary in style it’s hard to give exact measurements. I read that if you use a drier bottling like Hennessy you have to use more triple sec and a bit more lemon juice to make a balanced cocktail. I think the measurements below worked really well with the Courvoisier, which is a rather fruity cognac.

This recipe is enough for one martini glass.

Ingredients for the Sidecar:
45 ml cognac (I used Courvoisier VSOP)
30 ml triple sec (I used Cointreau)
15 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

Superfine caster sugar

Lemon twist for garnish

How to make the Sidecar:
Put the Martini glass in the freezer for a bit to make it cold. Meanwhile put some caster sugar in a pester and mortar and grind it finely. Put the sugar on a flat saucer for dipping the glass in later. Fill your cocktail shaker with ice and add the cognac, then the Cointreau, then the lemon juice. Shake well.
Dip the chilled Martini glass in the fine sugar to coat the rim with sugar.
Fine strain the Sidecar into the glass.
Garnish with the lemon twist.

Desserts

Lemon Sorbet

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I got an ice cream maker at Christmas so I have slowly been experimenting with ice creams and sorbets when time permits. My first attempt was a rose-raspberry sorbet. It was alright but not spectacular. I will retry it in the summer as I suspect it could work nicely after a barbeque. My second attempt was lemon sorbet. I was making a pasta sauce (spicy meatballs and tomato) so I thought a lemon sorbet would be a great dessert and tie in nicely with the pasta.

This is my favorite recipe for lemon sorbet, the addition of gelatin makes the sorbet a bit less icy and more smooth. The addition of milk makes it a touch more creamy again and gives it a nice snowy white color. I reckon it makes about 600 ml or so, should be enough for about four people.

Ingredients for the lemon sorbet:
1 leaf of gelatine
150 ml caster sugar
100 ml water
100 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3-4 small lemons, I used a little bit more than 100 ml since I don’t like my lemon sorbet too sweet)
100 ml whole milk

Preparing the lemon sorbet:
Put the leaf of gelatine in a bowl with cold water and let it soak for 5 minutes. Mix the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil, when it reaches boiling point turn of the heat.
Add the gelatin leaf to the syrup and stir until it’s melted.
Let the mixture cool to room temperature (don’t make it go cold since it will set).
Add the lemon juice and milk and mix properly.
Freeze in ice cream maker according to your ice cream makers instructions (probably around 30-45 minutes).

Cocktails

Bronx Cocktail

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bronxThe Bronx Cocktail is basically a perfect martini with orange juice added.
Legend has it it was created by the bartender Johnnie Solon after a waiter named Traverson challenged him to create a new cocktail. It’s named after the Bronx Zoo which Solon visited a day or two before making the cocktail.
It’s similar to another popular drink of the time, The Duplex, which is composed of equal parts sweet and dry Vermouth and two dashes of orange bitters.

I quite liked The Bronx Cocktail. It reminded me a little bit of The Aviation but with orange instead of lemon. The orange adds a freshness and a little bit of sweetness that is nicely balanced by the sharp dry gin. The vermouths add a bit off a spicy note and the orange bitters a bitter, orange zesty note that adds another dimension. All in all a nice, refreshing, easy to like cocktail.

Ingredients for one Martini glass:
60 ml gin (I used Plymouth)
30 ml fresh orange juice
8 ml sweet vermouth (I used Martini & Rossi Rosso)
8 ml dry vermouth (I used Martini & Rossi Bianco)
Dashes of orange bitters to taste (I used Angostura Orange bitters)

How to make it:
Fill your Martini glasses with ice. Fill your shaker with ice and add all the spirits to it. Shake for around 30 seconds. Discard the ice from the Martini glass, rub the edge of the glass with the cut end of an orange peel then strain your cocktail into the glass.
Garnish the edge of the glass with a twisted orange peel.

Cocktails

Negroni

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negroniI continue my cocktail adventures with the Negroni cocktail.
Legend has it that the Negroni was invented when Count Negroni asked for gin instead of club soda in his Americano somewhere in Italy circa 1919.

This cocktail was quite a surprise for me.
Being a relative Campari virgin I was not quite prepared for the very, very bitter taste of the Campari. However somewhere in between all the bitterness was a quite nice cocktail but I think that Campari and Negroni is quite an acquired taste that you have to work your way up to.
I have to try it some more times to build up a fondness for the bitter Campari in this cocktail.

Ingredients for one old-fashioned glass:
45 ml Campari
45 ml Gin (I used Plymouth)
45 ml Martini Rosso

How to make it:
Pour the spirits in any order into an ice filled old-fashioned glass. Stir for a bit. Garnish with a quarter of an orange slice.

Cocktails

Martinez

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martinezMy cocktail adventures continues with the Martinez. It was probably invented in the 1880s and the recipe I used was adapted from Jerry Thomas’s 1887 book The Bar-Tender’s Guide.
The drink came after the Manhattan (basically change the whiskey to gin) and is the father or so to the Dry Gin Martini.

So what about the taste? Wow… quite powerful!
Having this drink on a balmy early autumn night in London was not quite right. This cocktail reminds me of the cold of winter and more especially Christmas. Quite smooth at first but then something of a spice explosion from the gin, vermouth and bitter with the Luxardo rounding of the flavors somewhat.
Think orange, molasses, Christmas cake…
However, at the right time (coming in after a long winter walk and sitting in front of the fire) I suspect this would be a very nice cocktail indeed. I will have to wait until Christmas to try it again and see if I am right.

Ingredients for two Martini glasses:
60 ml Gin (I used Plymouth)
30 ml Martini Rosso
8 (or so) ml Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
Dashes of Angostura bitter to taste

How to make it:
Fill your Martini glasses with ice. Fill a large glass (or your shaker) with ice and add all the spirits to this glass. Stir slowly (stirring fast will “bruise” the spirits and make your cocktail cloudy) with a bar spoon for around 20 seconds. Discard the ice from the Martini glass, rub the edge of the glass with the cut end of an lemon peel then strain your Martinez into the glass.
Garnish the edge of the glass with a twisted lemon peel.

Cocktails

Manhattan

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manhattan_2I’ve always been a big fan of Manhattan. So far my experiences have been limited to Manhattan being served in bars (the late Polka Bar in Soho, London did a particularly good one) and quick Manhattans made with bourbon and Martini Rosso.
So, I decided to do some research around the web and finally decided to do my Manhattan with American rye whiskey, 50/50 red and white vermouth, a dash of Angostura bitter and two dashes of Luxardo Maraschino liqueur.
Why the liqueur? Well, I’ve never been a huge fan of the cherry in the bottom of the Manhattan glass, so substitute the cherry for Maraschino cherry liqueur and problem solved.
So this is almost the original Manhattan recipe.
The result was quite surprising. Much more subtle than a lot of the Manhattans I’ve had to date. I think this is because of the Rye whiskey which is a lot more subtle than bourbon.
Very interesting though, and delicious! Next time I will try making it with only Rosso instead of a Perfect Manhattan with equal parts Rosso and Bianco. I think Perfect Manhattan works better with bourbon.

Ingredients for two Martini glasses:
100 ml Rye whiskey (I used Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whisky)
25 ml Martini Rosso
25 ml Martini Bianco
One dash of Angostura (or more than one dash if you want your Manhattan more bitter)
Two dashes of Luxardo Maraschino liqueur

How to make it:
Fill your Martini glasses with ice. Fill a large glass with ice and add all the spirits to this glass. Stir slowly (stirring fast will “bruise” the spirits and make your Manhattan cloudy) for around 20 seconds. Discard the ice from the Martini glass, rub the edge of the glass with the cut end of an orange peel then strain your Manhattan into the glass. Garnish the edge of the glass with a twisted orange peel.

UPDATE:
I recently made Manhattan with Woodford Reserve bourbon. I used the same recipe as above but with a few dashes of Angostura Orange bitters instead of the normal Angostura bitters. It was very nice and smooth.

Cocktails

The Aviation (Modern)

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aviation2Inspired by the great Ruhlman I decided to mix up The Aviation after a wonderful dinner at home. I loved this cocktail, perfect mix between the sour lemon juice, the vegetable notes from the gin and the sweetness of the Luxardo Maraschino liqueur. I omitted the Creme de Violette so it was actually a Modern The Aviation.

Ingredients for two Martini glasses:
120 ml gin (I used Hendrick’s)
30 ml Luxardo Maraschino
30 ml lemon juice (about 2 small lemons)

How to make it:
Fill your Martini glasses with ice. Fill your cocktail shaker with ice as well and add the spirits and lemon juice.
Shake well and strain into the glasses (discard the ice in the glasses first). Garnish with a bit of lemon peel if you want.

aviation1

UPDATE:
Since this post I also tried Modern The Aviation with Plymouth London Dry Gin. Personally I think Hendrick’s Gin makes a smoother Aviation less heavy on the typical gin flavours. Some people would say the total opposite though, that the smooth subtle flavors of the Hendrick’s get lost in a cocktail like this. It doesn’t really make sense that Hendrick’s would work in a The Aviation since the makers of Hendrick’s themselves advocate using a slice of cucumber for a Hendrick’s G&T instead of the ubiquitous wedge of lime but there you go.
In the end it’s like so many things in life – totally up to personal preference. When I get a bottle of Tanqueray No 10 I will try the Aviation again with this gin.

Essentials

Clarified butter

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This was easy to make, took about 20 minutes. I need it for Hollandaise sauce that I will make some time soon…
I sieved the butter first through a cheesecloth lined sieve over a Pyrex jug and then from jug to plastic container lined with cheesecloth, this gave me a very clear clarified butter with almost none of the milk solids. I used Unsalted butter because I read that it yields more than Salted butter once clarified, and I usually use Unsalted butter anyway.

250 grams of President Unsalted butter gave me 170 grams of clarified butter.

There are many guides online on how to make clarified butter, like this one or this one.


Mains, Soup

Gazpacho

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It’s been really hot in London this week, so a perfect time to do the first proper recipe from “The French Laundry Cookbook” that I got last weekend. Gazpacho!

I made the balsamic glaze the day before making this and it was really easy, the only thing to keep in mind is to keep the heat very low. I used my diffuser which made it a lot easier but the glaze still started to bubble a bit after 2 hours on the hob so I had to move it to one half of the diffuser to keep the temperature. All in all the cooking of the glaze took about 2,5 hours. After the glaze was done I stored it in a little squeeze bottle in my cupboard.
This soup was truly amazing… bursting with flavours. First you got tomato and cucumber, then the heat from the cayenne and the onions and finally the sweetness from the balsamic glaze.
Perfect for a warm summer night in the beginning of July.
We enjoyed the soup with some bread sprinkled with extra virgin olive oil and then lightly toasted under the grill.
The wine was a kiwi Chardonnay that worked very well with the soup. Since the soup is quite powerful and spicy you need something like a buttery and big (think New World wines) Chardonnay with quite low acidity to match it.

Ingredients for the balsamic glaze:

500 ml balsamic vinegar (I used Aceto Balsamico Di Modena)

Preparing the balsamic glaze:

Heat the vinegar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until steam rises from the liquid. Place the saucepan on a heat diffuser and let the liquid reduce very slowly (it shouldn’t simmer) for 2 to 3 hours, until it has reduced and thickened to a syrupy glaze. There should be approximately 1/2 cup of glaze. Keep the glaze in a squeeze bottle at room temperature for garnishing: if the glaze is too thick, warm the bottle in hot water to loosen the glaze.

Ingredients for the gazpacho:

240 ml chopped red onions (about 1 medium sized red onion)
240 ml chopped green bell pepper (about 1,5 medium sized green pepper)
240 ml chopped English cucumber (about 1 cucumber)
240 ml chopped and peeled tomatoes (about 4 medium sized tomatoes)
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic (about 2-3 cloves)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
60 ml tomato paste (I couldn’t find tomato paste so I around 2 tablespoons tomato pure instead)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
90 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
710 ml tomato juice (I used 750 ml because that’s what was in the bottle)
Sprig of thyme

Preparing the gazpacho:

1. Mix all the ingredients except the balsamic glaze together in a bowl or other container, cover, and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.

2. The next day, remove the thyme and blend all the ingredients in a blender until the gazpacho is smooth. You will have about 2 quarts. For a smoother texture, strain the soup to yield about 1 quart. Refrigerate the gazpacho until ready to serve.

To complete: Ladle the cold soup into bowls and squeeze dots of balsamic glaze over the top.