Festive Drinks

14th November 2024
by thefoodwife

As Christmas approaches, festive parties might well be on the calendar and so here are a few cocktail recipes to have up your sleeve for when it’s your turn to do the entertaining.

I’ve chosen two classic alcohol-based cocktails and then a non-alcohol festive twist on a Moscow Mule to get everyone in the party spirit.

A French 75 makes the perfect welcome drink whilst the Godfather Sour is my go-to as an evening progresses. The Cranberry Mule will save any non-drinkers from missing out!

All recipes make one drink.

Big thanks to Grant Walker for being a most excellent bar man at our cocktail evening and to Anna Place for being on camera duty.

French 75

Ingredients:

30ml/1 shot gin

15ml/1/2 shot fresh lemon juice

15ml/ 1/2 shot simple sugar syrup

90ml/3 shots sparking wine

Garnish: lemon twist

Put the gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup in a shaker with ice, and shake until chilled.

Pour in to a flute/coupe glass and top with the sparkling wine.

Garnish with a twist of lemon.

Godfather Sour

Ingredients:

1 shot/30ml whisky

1 shot/30ml Amaretto

1 shot/30ml fresh lemon juice

1/4 shot/7.5ml sugar syrup (2:1 sugar:water ratio)

1/2 shot/15ml egg white

Garnish: orange twist

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice.

Close and shake for 30 seconds, then strain into a short glass, with ice.

Garnish with an orange twist.

Cranberry Mule Mocktail

Ingredients:

45ml/ 1 1/2 shot of cranberry juice

15ml/ 1/2 shot fresh lime juice

180ml / 6 shots ginger ale

Garnish: lime slice

Fill a high ball glass half full with ice.

Add the ingredients in the order of cranberry, lime and finally ginger ale.

Garnish with a slice of lime.

Rosé Sangría

5th June 20245th June 2024
by thefoodwife

Makes 1 pitcher

Rosé Sangria! Summery and refreshing and a great way to use up the odd bottle of rosé and make it go a little further…

You can garnish it with strawberries, orange, peach and nectarines and mint leaves. I’ve just used peaches as that’s what I had.

Mix 75ml of Grand Marnier or Cointreau, 10g sugar, a chilled bottle of rosé, 300ml of soda water and if you like 100ml of cranberry juice. Lots of ice and your fruit garnish.

Give it all a stir and serve, ideally in sunshine!

Bourbon and Coke Chicken Wings

5th September 20215th September 2021
by thefoodwife

Makes 10 wings

When I was 18 my alcoholic drink of choice was always a JD and diet coke. I can’t remember the last time I last had such a drink, but now at age 36, this weekend I did use the combination of bourbon and coke to make a delicious sweet and sticky glaze for some roasted chicken wings. Oh my goodness they were delicious. I can’t wait to make them again!

N.B. You do need to use full fat/sugar coke in this recipe otherwise you won’t get the syrup needed to make the glaze.

Ingredients:

10 full chicken wings

750ml Coca Cola (full fat)

75ml bourbon whisky

1 spring onion, cut into strips

Step 1: Begin by spreading the wings on a roasting tray and baking for 40 minutes at 200c (fan) until they are cooked through and the skin is crisp.

Step 2: While the wings are roasting pour the coke into a wok and reduce on a high heat until it begins to thicken, then add the bourbon and continue reducing until syrupy but still liquid. If you take it too far, add a little more coke and lower the heat until the syrup has melted into the liquid. Turn off until you’re ready to add the cooked wings.

Step 3: The wok needs to be heated up again as you add the cooked wings. Continuously stir to ensure each wing is coated and as the liquid continues to reduce and thicken each wing has a sticky glaze.

Step 4: Serve immediately, scattered with the shredded spring onion.

Sloe Gin

9th September 20209th September 2020
by thefoodwife

Makes approx 1L

You will find sloes in abundance in hedgerows at the moment. They look deceptively like blueberries but these are high in tannins, making them unpleasant to eat with their drying effect in your mouth and they are almost inedibly sharp. Combined with sugar and gin and left to mature, however, and you’ll have the perfect drink, ready in time for Christmas.

Ingredients:
500g sloes
250g caster sugar
1L gin

Step 1: Wash the sloes, and prick them all over (alternatively freeze them once washed and then use them when ready, with no need to prick).

Step 2: Place sloes in a large jar, and add the sugar and gin. Seal and place some where cool and dark.

Step 3: Once a day for seven days, shake the jar vigorously.

Step 4: Leave for two to three months before straining the sloes out and bottling.

What’s Cooking?

21st May 201923rd May 2019
by thefoodwife

If you’re looking for some culinary inspiration here’s a round up of some of the recipes from The Food Wife that we’re having this week.

Pizza, The Food Husband’s favourite, has been off the menu for a while as he’s eliminating gluten from his diet, but I made up a batch of sourdough pizza bases with the addition of two teaspoons each of garlic powder and dried oregano to the dough. I had a go at a potato base for a gluten-free version, which was a big hit (think giant gnocchi base). Watch this space for the recipe as I try to recreate it next time pizza is on the menu.

We’re still working our way through the jars of wild garlic pesto I made recently, and tomorrow we’ll be enjoying it simply with pasta and green beans for a light and summery meal. I’ll also be adding it as a topping to a salmon fillet before roasting it in the oven another evening this week.

The Food Baby has not been forgotten either. Still in the quest to smuggle more vegetables into his diet (he can spot a pea from the other side of the room) I’ve batch-cooked a tomato and carrot pasta sauce and a three bean chilli along with a double batch of cheese and vegetable scones for the freezer. This time using grated parsnip, carrot and broccoli along with chopped spinach and sundried tomatoes, he devours them without the knowledge that I’m getting sneaky veg inside him!

And finally if, like me, you love rhubarb, then you’ll be loving the abundance of it at the moment. Why not give my rhubarb crumble traybake a go, or if you can wait a while, have a go at my rhubarb gin. It’s worth the wait!