This year one of our goals is to inspire you all with new ideas and so today we’d like to offer some Gin’spiration (see what I did there) on how you can cook with The Botanist Gin.
Thanks to our friends at The Botanist Gin we’ve been given some mouthwatering dishes using their fabulous gin as well as a cocktail suggestion to go with your meal that will make you look like the Don you always knew you were.
So have a read below and let us know if you try any of the dishes. Share your pictures with us on Twitter/ Instagram at @cutthecap.
Venison Ragu
For something extra special why not show off your cooking skills with a Venison Ragu.
For this you will need:
Venison haunch
Chicken stock
Red wine
Carrot
Celery
Onion
Garlic
And here is how you do it:
- Dice mire poix (that’s a nice way of saying dice the vegtables)
- Salt venison haunch and grill.
- Sweat mire poix, add red wine and reduce. Add chicken stock and bring to boil.
- Put venison and liquid in gastro and braise for 4 to 5 hours in low oven
- When meat is ready and can be pulled from bone, shred meat and reduce liquid.
- Check seasoning and finish with sherry vinegar
Cocoa Pappardelle
For dessert, whip up a Cocoa Pappadelle .
Ingredients:
1240g ‘00’ flour
200g semolina
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
7 eggs
360g egg yolk
And here are the instructions you need:
- Mix dry ingredients and add yolks and eggs and knead until soft
- Roll pasta through machine to 1 mm thickness and cut to 1cm ribbons
Lamb belly
As a massive fan of lamb this is something right up my street. Here’s what you need in your arsenal and steps to prepare:
- Salt lamb bellies over night
- Wash and vac pack with thyme garlic and olive oil.
- Cook at 84C for 6 hours
- Remove from bags, take out bones and press between grease proof and chill
- When cold, portion
- Grill and cover with mint sauce
Wild Mint Sauce
If you are making lamb then you need a good mint sauce. Why not show off your culinary skill and make a wild mint sauce.
- Make a gastrique by boiling together equal white vinegar and demerara sugar.
- Chill and add chopped wild mint and pour over lamb bellies – simples.
Beetroot salmon
However, if you have a fish eater, the guys at The Botanist have you covered as well with a recipe that fuses fish and The Botanist Gin
All you need is:
1 side of salmon, skinned
30ml The Botanist gin
500ML beet juice
50G brown sugar
30G Caster
130G salt
10G pink Salt
And here is how to prepare it:
- 1 side of salmon, skinned
- Combine ingredients and cover fish.
- Cure for 48 hours turning each day
Apple Cake
Rather than running to McDonalds at 9pm as you forgot to make dessert (that NEVER happened to me honest) why not prepare your own apple cake.
All you need is:
250 grams unsalted butter
300G sugar
4 eggs
300 G flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons cream
6 braeburn apples peeled
demerara sugar (for sprinkling on top)
And here is how you make it:
- In an electric mixer, mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at the time and stir
- Sift the flour and baking powder together, mix some of it onto the batter, then add some of the milk, then some of the batter like this until all blended. Don’t over work
- Smear half of the batter in a buttered gastro, cover with cake batter and add apples all over mix.
- Sprinkle with Demerara sugar
- Bake at 180 C for 25-30 mins
Islay Martini (most Important part of any cooking experience)
To wash your creations down, you need a nice The Botanist gin cocktail to sip on.
All you need is a Martini glass and the following ingredients
50ml Botanist Gin
5ml Dulce Infused Dry Vermouth
2.5ml Port Charlotte Whisky
Garnish: Sea Aster
And to make the cocktail all you need to do is stir in mixing glass over cubed ice, strain and garnish.
So there you have it. You can thank us later, or just invite us round to help test your dishes out perhaps. The Botanist Gin is available from most drinks outlets including Amazon priced around £31