Recipes
Watermelon Mule
Watermelon Mule
This drink is so pretty in pink it might make Elle Woods jealous. It’s bright and festive. It’s refreshing. And to top it off, all that watermelon means it’s hydrating, so have as many as you want! (Or at least that’s what I tell myself.) This variation really amps up the already cool, refreshing nature of the classic Mule.
Ingredients
- 5 oz. ginger beer
- 1.5 oz. vodka
- 3 watermelon chunks
- ½ oz lime juice
- A sprig of mint for garnish
- Watermelon slice for garnish
Instructions
- Muddle watermelon chunks and lime juice in a shaker tin
- Add vodka
- Add ice and shake well
- Strain into a pure copper mug filled with ice
- Pour ginger beer over vodka mixture until full
- Garnish with a mint sprig and watermelon slice
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Strawberry Moscow Mule
Strawberry Moscow Mule
As a kid, the best part of summer was going out to pick-your-own strawberry patches with my family. We’d cart home boxes of the sweetest strawberries you could imagine. Now that I’m an adult, I like to mix this joyful summertime nostalgia with the best perk of being an adult: alcohol. Sweet strawberries set off the spiciness of the ginger beer which can be amplified with (if you dare) a sprinkle of black pepper.
Equipment
- chilled copper mug
- muddler
Ingredients
- 5 oz. ginger beer
- 2 oz. vodka
- ½ oz lime juice
- 3 large fresh strawberries or 5-6 tiny ones, stems removed and sliced, 1 reserved for garnish
- 2 cranks of fresh black pepper optional
Instructions
- Using a muddler , smash the strawberry slices with lime juice in a shaker tin
- Add vodka
- Add ice and shake well
- Strain mixture into your chilled copper mug filled with ice
- Pour ginger beer over the vodka mixture
- Garnish with a strawberry
- If you want to add a complex, grown-up touch, finish the drink off with a couple of cranks of fresh black pepper. This adds a great, deep flavor that brings out the slight sweetness of strawberries.
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Jalapeño Moscow Mule
Jalapeño Moscow Mule
Kicking Mule / There’s no better way to spice up a Moscow Mule recipe than with a little bit of spice. The jalapeño mule is great to beat the heat or bring a bit of tropical warmth to your midwinter hideaway. This variation adds the perfect hot-cool combination of mint and jalapeño to amplify the refreshing qualities of the original.
Equipment
- muddler
Ingredients
- 5 oz. ginger beer
- 2 oz. vodka
- ½ oz lime juice
- 1-2 jalapeño slices to taste, seeds removed
- 1 sprig fresh mint
- Fresh lime wedge a slice of jalapeño , and a mint leaf (for garnish)
Instructions
- Using a muddler , smash lime juice, fresh mint, and jalapeño slices in the bottom of a mixing glass
- Add vodka
- Add ice and shake well
- Strain the mixture juice into your chilled copper mug filled with ice
- Pour ginger beer over the vodka mixture
- Garnish with a lime wedge, jalapeño slice, and sprig of mint; or any combination of the three.
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Classic Moscow Mule
Classic Moscow Mule
Equipment
- Moscow Mule pure copper mug
- highball glass
Ingredients
Instructions
- our lime juice into a fresh chilled glass with ice (preferably a Moscow Mule pure copper mug , though a 10 – 11 oz highball glass will also work).
- Pour in Tito’s Handmade Vodka
- Fill the rest of the glass with Fever-Tree Ginger Beer
- Garnish with a lime wheel
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Spinach soup with haddock
Spinach soup with haddock
Ingredients
- 25 g butter
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 1 baking potato about 250 g diced
- 1 litre vegetable stock or chicken stock
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 225 g young spinach leaves rinsed and drained
- 300 ml milk
- 400 g smoked haddock
- 9 quail’s eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 150 ml double cream
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and fry gently for 5 minutes until softened.
- Add the potato, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour in the stock, add the nutmeg and salt and pepper then bring to the boil.
- Cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the potato is soft.
- Reserve a few tiny spinach leaves and add the rest to the pan.
- Re-cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes until just wilted.
- Purée the soup in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth, then pour back into the saucepan, mix in the milk and set aside.
- Cut the haddock into two pieces, cook in a steamer for 8–10 minutes until the fish flakes when pressed with a knife. Put the quail’s eggs into a small saucepan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 2–3 minutes, drain, rinse with cold water and peel off shells.
- Mix the 2 hen egg yolks with the double cream. Stir into the soup and bring just to the boil, still stirring. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Flake the fish, discarding the skin and bones, make small mounds in the base of 6 shallow serving bowls and top with the quail’s egg halves. Ladle the soup around the fish and eggs and garnish with tiny spinach leaves and pepper.
Notes & Wine Advice
For cream of nettle soup, make up the soup as above using 200 g (7 oz) young nettle tops instead of the spinach. (Pick nettles using rubber gloves so that you don’t get stung and rinse the leaves well in cold water.) Purée the soup in a blender or food processor and finish with milk, egg yolks and cream, as above. Garnish with diced smoked ham.
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Oriental mussel soup
Oriental mussel soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 3 spring onions sliced
- ½ red pepper cored, deseeded, diced
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- 2.5 cm piece of fresh root ginger peeled and grated
- 3 teaspoons ready-made red Thai curry paste
- 400 ml can full-fat coconut milk
- 450 ml fish or vegetable stock see page 13
- 2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce grated rind of
- 1 lime small bunch of coriander
- 500 g mussels scrubbed and beards removed, any cracked or open mussels discarded
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large shallow saucepan, add the spring onions, red pepper, garlic and ginger and fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 minute, then mix in the coconut milk, stock, fish sauce and lime rind. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Snip half the coriander into the soup using scissors. Add the mussels then cover and cook for 8–10 minutes until the mussels have opened.
- Scoop the mussels out of the soup with a slotted spoon and put on to a large plate. Discard any shut mussels then reserve half the opened mussels in their shells for garnish. Take the remaining mussels out of their shells and stir them back into the soup. Ladle the soup into bowls, top with the reserved mussels in shells and garnish with the remaining snipped coriander. Serve with warm crusty bread for dunking into the soup.
Notes & Wine Advice
For saffron mussel soup, fry 3 sliced spring onions, 2 cloves finely chopped garlic, ½–1 deseeded and finely chopped large mild red chilli according to taste, ½ a red pepper and ½ a yellow or orange pepper, deseeded and diced in 1 tablespoon olive oil until softened. Add 3 large pinches of saffron threads, 150 ml (¼ pint) white wine and 750 ml (1¼ pints) fish or vegetable stock. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the mussels as above then cover and simmer until the shells have opened. Serve in shallow bowls garnished with snipped parsley.
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Apple & celery soup
Apple & celery soup
Ingredients
- 25 g butter
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 1 baking potato about 250 g diced
- 1 cooking apple about 250 g (8 oz), quartered, cored, peeled then diced
- 1 head of celery base trimmed
- 750 ml chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 300 ml milk
- salt and pepper
Stilton & walnut cream
- 50 g Stilton rind removed, cheese diced
- 25 g walnut pieces chopped
- 6 tablespoons full-fat crème fraîche
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives or tops of 2 spring onions, chopped
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until just beginning to soften. Stir in the potato and apple, cover and fry gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Reserve the tiny celery leaves from the centre of the celery for garnish and keep in a bowl of cold water until needed. Thickly slice the rest of the stems and add with the larger leaves to the onion and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes. Pour on the stock then season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the celery is soft but still a pale green.
- Purée the soup in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return to the saucepan, stir in the milk and then reheat. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Stir half the diced cheese and half the walnuts into the crème fraîche, then mix in the chives or spring onion and a little salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into shallow bowls, then spoon the crème fraîche mixture into the centre. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and nuts and add a little black pepper.
Notes & Wine Advice
For apple & parsnip soup, omit the potato and celery adding 625 g (1¼ lb) diced parsnips when frying the apple. Stir in 1½ teaspoons crushed cumin seeds and ½ teaspoon turmeric, then mix in 900 ml (1½ pints) of vegetable or chicken stock and season. Bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Purée and reheat with the milk. Make the Stilton and crème fraîche mixture as above, adding ½ teaspoon finely chopped red chilli instead of the walnuts.
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Spinach bouillabaisse
Spinach bouillabaisse
Ingredients
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 fennel bulb diced
- 400 g potatoes diced
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 3 large pinches of saffron threads
- 1.8 litres vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 150 ml dry white wine
- 125 g baby leaf spinach rinsed and drained
- 6 eggs
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan (or shallow sauté pan if possible) then add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until just beginning to soften. Add the fennel, reserving any green fronds for later, the potato and the garlic and fry for 5 more minutes, stirring.
- Mix in the saffron, stock and white wine, then season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally or until the potatoes are tender.
- Add the spinach, tearing the larger leaves into pieces and cook for 2–3 minutes until just beginning to wilt. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Scoop out most of the vegetables with a slotted spoon and divide between warmed shallow serving bowls. Add the eggs one at a time to the remaining hot stock, leaving a little space between them and simmer gently for 3–4 minutes until the whites are just set and the yolks are cooked to your liking.
- Lift the poached eggs out of the soup carefully with a slotted spoon and place on top of the vegetables in the soup bowls. Ladle the stock around the eggs, top with any reserved and snipped green fennel fronds and sprinkle with black pepper. Serve with toasted olive ciabatta bread.
Notes & Wine Advice
For creamy spinach & fennel soup, make the soup as above, with 1.2 litres (2 pints) stock and 150 ml (¼ pint) white wine. Purée the soup in batches in a blender or food processor when the spinach has just wilted. Reheat, omit the eggs, and serve topped with spoonfuls of crème fraîche and some fennel or dill fronds.
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Gingered cauliflower soup
Gingered cauliflower soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 25 g butter
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 1 cauliflower cut into florets, woody core discarded, about 500 g (1 lb) when prepared
- 3.5 cm piece of fresh root ginger peeled and finely chopped
- 900 ml vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 300 ml milk
- 150 ml double cream
- salt and pepper
- Soy-glazed seeds
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
Instructions
- Heat the oil and butter in a saucepan, add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until softened but not coloured. Stir in the cauliflower florets and ginger, then the stock. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the cauliflower is just tender.
- Meanwhile, make the glazed seeds by heating the oil in a frying pan, add the seeds and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring until lightly browned. Add the soy sauce, then quickly cover the pan with a lid until the seeds have stopped popping. Set aside until ready to serve.
- Purée the cooked soup in batches in a blender or food processor, then pour back into the saucepan and stir in the milk and half the cream. Bring just to the boil, then taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Ladle the soup into shallow bowls, drizzle over the rest of the cream and sprinkle with some of the glazed seeds, serving the remaining seeds in a small bowl for further sprinkling.
Notes & Wine Advice
For creamy cauliflower & cashew soup, heat the oil and butter as above then add the chopped onion and 50 g (2 oz) cashew nuts and fry until the onions are softened and the nuts very lightly coloured. Mix in the cauliflower florets and stock as above, then season with salt, pepper and a little grated nutmeg. Simmer for 15 minutes. Purée and finish with milk and cream as above, ladle into bowls and garnish with 50 g (2 oz) cashew nuts fried in 15 g (½ oz) butter until pale golden, then cooked for 1–2 minutes more with 1 tablespoon honey until golden and caramelized.