Finesse your Margarita

You may have noticed that I’m an effective if not subtle barman. So occasionally it’s good to sample the arts of a proper cocktail bartender and see how the professionals perform. In my experience this is not as easy as it seems – never mind the state of modern cocktails, any barperson with a shaker […]

Christmas Tapas

Just for a change I actually managed to prepare a few little things before Christmas – nothing major, just a few nibbles to complement the first drinks of the day, chatting in the kitchen. All lifted from Pepita Aris’ Tapas & Traditional Spanish Cooking, Kindle edition currently £2.99. The whole of this book is contained […]

2020 Goes Out with a Bang

Twasn’t the night before Christmas, twas the day before New Year’s Eve and we’re having a very lazy lunch. A nice bowl of Mexican fish soup has brought us as far as mid-afternoon and next up will be a dish of pasta with smoked salmon & porcini. Instead there’s a bang, the music stops and […]

Flatbreads @ 80% Hydration

Yet another use for my 80% hydration dough – https://thepartisanbaker.com/80-hydration/ Comme d’habitude there’s dough in the fridge awaiting the call. Couple of weeks back there was some six or seven days old by which time the gluten is pretty knackered. Freezer was full of buns so I thought I’d do something crazy and make flatbreads. […]

Drinkies VII – Grog

This all started when Kev gave me a litre bottle of Wood’s 100 Old Navy Rum that had been sitting gathering dust for some years on his top shelf. He’d had a bad experience with it after a night on the rum and blacks – not surprising as it weighs in at 57 proof. To […]

Raisin Challah Again (Why Not?)

Has to be one of my favourite breakfast breads. Don’t really do sweet stuff but this has a gentle sweetness from a small amount of honey (12%) and the raisins. Look carefully. Not a single raisin has been stolen by the raisin thief – you have to get up early for that. Remembering and negotiating […]

Drinkies VI – Horse’s Neck

Drinkies don’t come simpler than this: 2oz of Bourbon, 2oz Ginger Ale, long twist of lemon peel, loads of ice. Simple to drink as well.

Drinkies V: Ti-Ponche

Petit-Ponche, Ti-Ponche, ‘tit Ponche, whatever … This is more of a chemistry set than a cocktail. The one constant is 2oz rum. Less if you want to consume a smaller amount of alcohol but everything is relative to the rum. Even that’s not accurate because all you do is arrange the ingredients on a table, […]

Isolating

We have been self-isolating since the week of 15 March, today being Friday 13 November. We have nothing to complain about. We work from home anyway, we have a garden and Pant Dreiniog, a reclaimed quarry site, is a few hundred yards away. We can do a nice gentle circuit of a quarter-to-a-half mile when […]

Drinkies IV – Old Fashioned

One of the few sweet cocktails I like is the Old Fashioned, which is basically just bourbon with sweetened, orange flavoured melt-water. This is a cocktail that is “built”. A teaspoon of sugar is put in a glass followed by a couple of strips of orange peel (just the zest), a few shakes of bitters […]