Pimp your Gin

Having drunk nothing but great Chianti and Limoncello all year whilst out in Italy, I wasn't in a tearing hurry to lower my standards again on my return to university in Swansea. However, whilst the reasonably good stuff was very affordable in Tuscan shops, over here it is top shelf gold dust. So, with an abundance of free fruit at my fingertips every time I walked the dog, I decided that the best solution was to have a stab at making my own drinks using cheap gin or vodka as a base. The recipes are foolproof, requiring solely fruit, alcohol and sugar and there are countless articles online giving ratios and how best to go about it. So far I've made raspberry vodka and sloe gin, rowan berry schnapps, rose hip syrup and Crema di Limoncello.

Vines growing in the 'Orto di Pecci', Siena

Not only was making these naughty beverages an economical triumph, but it was an interesting activity in itself. Everyone I spoke to had their own family recipes and memories to share with me. When I showed my Granny the rose hips that I had gathered, she smiled, remembering being sent out in groups as children to scour the hedgerows for them during the war. The hips were then sent to the government and given back as a syrup for families to use as a source of vitamin C when there were no oranges to be had in times of rationing. Reflecting on this, the use I have in mind for my rose hip syrup seems rather a decadent adulteration in comparison, destined to be combined with prosecco as a twist on the old Bellini. Anyhow, for a good recipe try this link: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Rose hip syrup recipe

The abundance of sloes this autumn

One of the recipes I used was given to my mother at a New Year's Eve party. One of her fellow guests had brought along his home-made tipples as a gift to share:

Trevor's Raspberry Vodka

2 lb raspberries
1 lb sugar
1 pt vodka

Mix the berries with the sugar.
Steep the mixture in the vodka.
Leave alone in an airtight container for a few months, upturning from time to time.

Sugar and raspberries pre-vodka

I was inspired to make the limoncello by my unforgettable stay in Sicily with the Pellegrino family, who served me some of their homemade liqueur frozen so that it became like a shot of sorbet; as delicious as it was potent. Obviously I always knew that it wouldn't taste quite the same using British-bought lemons, but I am pleased to say that the result is still absolutely gorgeous. To try this yourself go to: Rosetta's crema di limoncello recipe *top tip: if you can't find any cheese cloth to strain your limoncello through, buy a pair of tights instead - they will do the job nicely!

Sunflowers and Limoncello: making Swansea feel like home

Gentle lentil Soup

I have been putting off my food shopping for too long. Not because I don't enjoy it (I'm in love with the reduced section, spontaneity gets me every time) but because I inevitably buy too many heavy things and then the walk home is literally, a drag. Luckily for me, the lack of ingredients is a great cultivator of the imagination, and as a result I came up with this new soup recipe for lunch:

Serves two (or one extremely greedy person)

Ingredients

Olive oil 

2 onions

Rose/white wine

Dark soy sauce

 500ml chicken stock

salt

pepper

nutmeg

1 tin of green lentils

1 sachet of creamed coconut 

fresh coriander

Finely chop the onions and sweat in the olive oil (I used my lovely new wok to do this, what can you do in a frying pan that you can't do in a wok?). Once they have coloured a little, add a good glass or two of wine that you don't particularly care for (if you can afford to put nice stuff in, great, but I just had this Mateus rubbish to hand) and evaporate the alcohol from it. Now add the soy sauce, so that the colour turns from pink to light brown. The most important thing to remember when making soup is to SMELL and TASTE as you go. We do not want the soy flavour to be overpowering so add it little by little until you like how it tastes. Now add about 500ml of chicken stock (all the better if homemade), the tin of lentils (rinsed) and simmer. Whilst this is bubbling away, chop the creamed coconut as finely as you can so that when you add it in, it dissolves well. Now season it to taste with salt, pepper and a generous amount of nutmeg. Cook until it reaches your preferred consistency and then decide whether you want to blitz it in a food processor for a smooth soup or leave it lumpy. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander to serve.