Day: October 18, 2016

[recipe] Roasted tomato soup

October 18, 2016 admin

2 x 795g tins whole tomatoes (do not drain) – equivalent to 20-24 tomatoes.
8 fresh thyme sprigs
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Red pepper flakes (optional)
1 large yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup (55g) tomato paste
1L low-sodium vegetable broth

Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 220C/425F.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the whole tomatoes from the tins (reserving the juice), cut them in half if large, and lay them out in a single layer on the baking sheet.

Scatter the thyme sprigs over the tomatoes and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes, if using. Roast until soft and caramelized, 30 to 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until translucent and softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and sauté until the paste has deepened in color, about 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat.
When the tomatoes are ready, discard the thyme sprigs. Transfer the tomatoes to the pot, then add the reserved tomato juice in the cans and the vegetable broth. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, cover the pot, and simmer 20 minutes.

Purée the soup in with an immersion blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper as needed.

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Jinzu gin

October 18, 2016 admin

Jinzu Gin is a Scottish made, Japan inspired gin with an English woman at its heart. Designed by bartender Dee Davies for Diageo’s Show Your Spirit competition in 2013 (which it went on to win), the gin is a fantastic example of East meets West, with traditional gin botanicals joining cherry blossom, yuzu and sake to form a distinctive gin with a real sense of place.

Jinzu shares its name with the Japanese river that flows through the prefecture of Toyama, a city that sits on the Sea of Japan coast. The river is a site to behold, joined along its course by a thousand cherry blossom trees. Dee has been passionate about Japan and Japanese culture since visiting the country aged 16, so when the competition with Diageo came up, she leapt at the chance to join her two interests.

Once her idea was selected for the final, Dee was invited to Diageo’s World Innovation Centre, where she worked with Nicola Rowntree to turn the product from concept to liquid. They did this by making a compound gin with a juniper distillate and sake distillate and adding the other flavours as essences. Once they established what worked, they transferred this – through a process of trial and error – to a distilled recipe.

To make the gin, juniper, coriander and angelica are added to a neutral grain spirit in a traditional copper pot still. They are allowed to macerate for a short while before the cherry blossom and yuzu are added. There is no set amount of time for each run, rather the distillers will decide when to cut based on their knowledge of distillates, but it can take anywhere between two to two and a half hours.

The gin comes off the still at around 82%, and the Junmai sake – which is also made onsite – comes off at 60%. The two are blended and then watered down with demineralised Scottish water to bottling strength: 41.3%.

Fleshy citrus jumps to the fore on the nose, with the sake bringing an underlying sweetness. The cherry blossom carries a distinct floral note, but there’s a subtle juniper underpinning it all. Tasted neat, Jinzu Gin is mild, easy to sip and to hold on the tongue. It’s altogether quite unfamiliar as a spirit, though notably still a ginny with a long finish and a strong enough juniper backbone that carries all the way through to the aftertaste. The yuzu brings a fresh, mandarin-like citrus and the sake provides a creamy mouthfeel and a taste which bites right at the end. The cherry blossom, too, holds strong in the mouth – it’s not sweet and not herbal, rather it sits somewhere in-between.

Dee suggests green apple as her perfect garnish in a G&T – both because the acid in the fruit interacts well with the sake and because it makes a polite tip of the hat to her Somerset roots.

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[recipe] Chocolate pancakes

October 18, 2016October 18, 2016 admin

INGREDIENTS
For the pancakes:
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites, whipped
40g sugar
320ml milk (more if the batter is too thick)
45g butter, melted
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
200g (1.5cup) flour
30g (0.25cup) cocoa powder
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
100g chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter or oil for cooking

For the chocolate ganache:
250ml heavy cream
225g chocolate chips

PREPARATION
1. In a large bowl, mix together yolks and sugar, while still whisking, add milk
2. Carefully fold in whipped egg whites with a spoon rather than a whisk.
3. Add and mix the melted butter and the vanilla.
4. In another large bowl, mix the sieved flour, cocoa powder, and the baking powder.
5. Form a little well in the middle and pour the milk and eggs mixture. Stir until the batter is smooth.
6. Mix in the chopped chocolate. Let the batter sit for 15-20 minutes.
7. To make the ganache, in a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream, without letting it boil.
8. Take off the heat, add the chocolate chips to the cream and mix until perfectly smooth.
9. Over low to medium heat, pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter on a well-oiled pan.
10. When bubbles start to form on the surface of the pancake, flip and cook it for a minute on the other side.
11. When the pancakes are ready, pour the chocolate ganache on top (if the ganache has hardened while you were making the pancakes, you can microwave it for 15-20 seconds).

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[recipe] Cheese scones

October 18, 2016 admin

(Makes about 12)

450g plain flour
6 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp English mustard powder
100g cold butter
250g strong hard cheese like mature red leicester or cheddar
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
120ml cold milk
120ml cold water
1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk

Heat the oven to 220C. Put the flour, baking powder, salt and mustard powder into a large mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth and well combined.

Grate in the butter, then rub it in with your fingertips until it looks like wet sand.

Finely grate in 225g cheese, add the chives, and then stir to combine. Mix in the milk and water until the dough just comes away from the edge of the bowl; don’t handle it any more than is necessary. Tip on to a very lightly floured surface and flatten into a rectangle about 2.5cm high. Cut out with a fluted cutter (about 6cm wide for 12 scones), reshaping as necessary while handling the dough as little as possible.

Put on a baking tray and brush the egg and milk mixture. Grate the remaining cheese over the top and bake for about 12 minutes until golden. Allow to cool slightly on a rack before splitting open.

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