Mulling things over

So, it’s the end of another year. Time for a little contemplation. What have I achieved? What haven’t I achieved? Things can get rather all too philosophical. Cue motivational meme.

So while you’re mulling things over, why not get on with the other, more practical kind of mulling and make some mulled wine. Trust me, it will be your best friend all through the long, grey January weeks.

Simply take a bottle of red wine, for once the quality really doesn’t matter as you add so much to it, and pour it into a saucepan. Over medium heat, add a tablespoon of mixed peel, a teaspoon of cloves, 4 lightly crushed cardamon pods, a teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg, a tablespoon of ground cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Heat for a few minutes until the mixture reaches a simmer and the sugar has dissolved. You’ll know it’s ready by its decidedly mulled winey nature.

Serve hot.

Christmas Cocktail Recipes

Why not try your hand this festive season with some of our cocktail creations?

Bethlehem Buzz

20ml ginger syrup

squeeze of fresh lime

top with Prosecco in a Champagne flute

This is the perfect drink to start your evening with. Light but filled with warming ginger.

Gin-gle Bell

50ml London dry gin (this is a style of gin)

10ml cherry liqueur

20ml lemon juices

top with tonic water (go for premium tonic)

Stir ingredients together and pour over ice. Serve in a tall glass. A refreshing drink to revive your frazzled Christmas nerves! Garnish with retro style lemon.

 

Santa’s Sleigh or should that be Santa’s Slay?

30ml bourbon

20ml Cointreau

50ml cold black tea

10ml sugar syrup

pinch of cinnamon

Stir all ingredients together and pour over ice. Serve in a short glass. A full-bodied drink with attitude and Christmas spice. Garnish with a sour cherry.

 

 

 

 

Perfect Christmas Gifts for the Difficult to Buy For

We all have those people in our lives who are impossible to buy gifts for. They either have everything or give us the old “oh, I don’t need a present” lie, or perhaps they are one of those family members you only see once a year – like Uncle Stanley and the only thing you know about Uncle Stanley is that he’s a single malt kind of uncle…

We have decided to take the edge off gift-buying for you and have come up with a list of killer gifts to get for those difficult people.

We’ll start with Uncle Stanley, the single malt kind of guy… When giving someone a bottle of scotch, you don’t want to get it wrong. If somebody gave me an average bottle of scotch, I would judge them, and I would have no idea what to do with the scotch. I couldn’t even re-gift it as I wouldn’t want anyone to cast the same judgement on me… So stay away from anything that can be bought at the supermarket, and try for something a little more interesting such as the Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old.

For only £34 a bottle, this Highland single malt delivers a quality the same as bottles many times its price. A complex dram with punches of green apple, vanilla and a whisper of smoke. It tends to become woodier in flavour with the addition of water. And when Uncle Stanley, or Uncle Bob (apparently he’s your uncle) unwraps it, you can throw in this fun fact – Queen Victoria visited this distillery in 1848 when she was staying at Balmoral.

With Uncle Stanley, inevitably comes choosing a gift for Aunt Meredith. All you know about Aunt Meredith is that she belongs to the WI and often wins prizes for her champion marmalade. Enter Chase Marmalade Vodka (£37). After its initial 1000 bottle run, it was such a coveted product that the family-run Chase distillery decided to make it a permanent feature in their beautifully crafted spirit selection.

Made using Chase’s triple distilled award-winning vodka, the tang and bite of Seville orange marmalade is added and then distilled a fourth time, creating a gorgeous and natural tasting vodka. Breakfast martini, anyone?

Moving on to Mum. Although you know Mum better than you know anyone, she is still hard to buy for, and is always guilty of the “oh darling, I don’t need anything”… What she means is she needs gin. A bottle of the old mother’s ruin to amp up the festive times this Christmas. With the craft gin scene thriving in the UK currently, you are spoiled for choice. So we will help you choose.

Dodd’s Gin is small batch and crafted in Battersea, London. Using organic botanicals including, juniper, angelica, fresh lime peel, bay laurel, cardamom, red raspberry leaf and London honey, this gin is fresh and exciting. London’s gin scene is exploding, and the distillers are being bolder with their choices. Gone are the days of overly heavy juniper-focussed gins. The gins are layered and complex and can be used in a variety of ways: neat, with tonic or in a cocktail.

You can pick up Dodd’s (£37.50) from Fortnum & Mason and you can ogle the Christmas decorations while you’re there, or oder online from leading spirits retailers.

As well as the ginaissance, bourbon has certainly been making a come back on the scene. And you know what? Rightly so, as the new wave of small batch bourbons are pretty special. And who doesn’t love an Old Fashioned? Your dad certainly does, which is why a lovely bottle of some craft bourbon is an ideal gift. Often bourbon gets a bad wrap as the big boy bourbons come premixed in horrible cans with cola and evoke nights that end up in gutters… But bourbon is a classic spirit. It can be sophisticated and timeless and can possess much complexity.

Four Roses has been named American Whisky Distiller of the Year four times, and currently hold the title bestowed by Whisky Magazine, and they are incredibly deserving.

Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon is a mix of four different original bourbon recipes and creates a multifaceted and quite frankly, amazing drink. There’re notes of spice and fruit and sweet oaky caramel and it has a lingering finish. This baby just picked up double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, so you know it’ll deliver. And for only £27 it’s a bloody bargain.

Grandpa deserves a top notch bottle of something too, so why not indulge his naval heritage and get him some rum?

The East London Liquor Company Demerara Rum (£25) is produced in Bow Wharf and uses Guyanan sugar. Aged for three years in ex-bourbon casks, it has sweet vanilla notes as well as a good amount of spice. It is also distilled in the world’s last surviving wooden still. The upside down horse on the label is a tribute to the distillery site once being a glue factory. Bottoms up!

Grandma will love you (even more than she already does) if you give her a bottle of Glayva Liqueu (£20). This Scottish gem is Christmas in a bottle, and is made of a blend of whisky, honey, spices, almonds and tangerines. In fact, Glayva is now trademarked as “the best liqueur in the world”, after winning the IWSC trophy a record-breaking 5 times! Who can argue with that?

Pour over Christmas pudding, mix in with warm custard, pour down your throat, mix with chilled ginger ale… Endless possibilities for this luxurious tipple.

And now we arrive at what to get your other half. Always difficult. If your other half is the beer kind, then why not break out of that Carling mould and make your own craft beer hamper? The world of beer is staggeringly diverse and is certainly worth exploring. Some tips for a super little hamper include, Er Boqueron, which is a Spanish beer brewed with sea-water. The result is a lovely minerality and lightness, not a mouthful of salt.

Founders All Day IPA is a gorgeous example of a hoppy and floral American style beer with plenty of punch.

And for something with some weight to it, throw in a can of Beavertown Smog Rocket. Not only is the branding out of this world, but this beer is like a velvety mouth hug. Packed with a rich, smokiness this beer is perfect for winter drinking. These and other excellent craft beers are all available at Ales by Mail.

And now if your other half is the non-beer drinker, a case of a rather marvellous thing called Harry Brompton’s will be a hit. Harry Brompton’s is a London invention combining black tea with vodka and citrus. Alcoholic ice tea. Yep. Delicious. It’s crisp and refreshing and is the perfect thing to drink on any occasion… I see it going down very well in a hot and tumultuous Christmas kitchen on the 25th. Available also from Ales by Mail, a dozen will set you back £21. Why not get a dozen of their other flavour, Berries and Cucumber? Yes. Do it.

Christmas shopping sorted… And you didn’t even have to brave the crowds. Go have a drink… Get into the Christmas spirit, whichever your favourite is.

 

Indian Street Food and Beer Pairing

Last week, a couple of blokes who know a lot about beer hosted an event at The King & Co in Clapham Common, that paired Indian Street Food from Rotli Crew with a bunch of delicious craft beers. Those blokes were none other than our very own Charlie Pountney and Philip Harding – a pair of master beer sommeliers and top-notch funny guys to boot.

Rotli Crew were resident at The King & Co and provided a modern Indian menu full of traditional flavours and surprises alike; the perfect fare to pair with a lovely array of interesting beers.

Like all beer and food matching it is important to think critically about why each match works – and that’s where Charlie and Philip come in – to help educate the patrons about what makes certain beers work with certain foods. These events are always very interactive which is the best way to learn and have fun. Plus, it’s always good to keep our hosts on their toes and to really test their knowledge!

Here’s a summary of what went on and perhaps some inspiration for your own pairings at home.

Stod Fold Gold uses the renowned Challenger hops (a variety bred in 1961 at Wye College, for its aroma and disease resistance) and Maris Otter barley in its malt (renowned for its low nitrogen and superior malting abilities). With this combination of key ingredients at play, the result is a lovely, light beer with a mild sweetness, perfectly matched to the Pani Puri filled with sweet potato, kala chana, tamarind ketchup and green chutney. This dish isn’t overly hot with spice, so needs a gentle beer to match the subtlety of its ingredients.

The second course was bite size nuggets of Masala Cod Cheeks in an IPA Batter which was paired with Nanban Kanpai Yuzu Wheat IPA. Anything deep-fried is always going to be a bit fatty, and therefore will require a sharp beer to cut through this fattiness. The notes of yuzu (a citrus fruit with a distinct tang to it) are ideal in balancing the richness of the batter and masala spice.

For something a little more substantial, the Kashmiri Mutton Curry (think rich and hearty) was paired with Brew By Numbers Brown Ale. The nuttiness and depth of this beer married in with the levels of flavour not only in the curry but of the flesh itself; mutton is a flavoursome flesh and needs to be paired with beers of heft.

The favourite pairing of the evening was next: Chickpea, kale and coconut curry with a Saison Lemongrass from Partizan Brewing. This curry was almost reminiscent of Thai cuisine in its flavour profile with the combination of coconut and kaffir lime. Saison Lemongrass was an outstanding match as its grassiness and bitter lemon notes cut through the creamy coconut and tied in with the fragrant citrus present in the curry. For those who are unfamiliar with saisons, they are simply pale ales with rustic fruity notes.

Dessert saw a decadent slice of Chilli Chocolate Brownie with Cardamom Ice-cream paired with a gorgeous Milk Stout from Bristol Beer Factory. The nuanced spice and heat from the dessert was welcomed by the full-bodied and slightly sweet stout. Stouts are often ideal for pairing with puddings as they balance out the sugar content from the dessert well and don’t cloy your palate.

We’d love to hear from you if you have any favourite beer and food pairings. Tweet us @BBBrandsUK

How to taste a beer

People love to throw around concepts and ideas when they taste things – it has a blueberry nose, it has a long dry finish, there are lots of malty undertones… Sometimes, analysing the taste of a beer can be rather overwhelming, especially if you are only new to drinking beer.

After the success of last week’s beer and cheese pairing event at The Mall Tavern in Notting Hill, we thought we’d try and guide you through how to taste a beer with a little bit more of a critical palate.

Firstly, before you even taste your beer, have a good look at it. Beer is always better from a glass, so if you’re in the habit of drinking from the bottle, pour it into a glass next time and see how much the flavour changes. What colour is your beer? Is it pale straw or a deep amber? Or perhaps it’s a lovely dark rust? Often the colour of the beer gives some indication as to what style it is and what it may taste like. One would hardly think an almost-balck stout is going to taste light, so look for clues in the colour. Also look at the beer’s opacity. Is it clear or is it turbid? This too can give you clues as to what style of beer you’re drinking, filtered or unfiltered. Also, observe how much of a head the beer has.

Next, bring her slowly up to your nose. Have a good smell of the beer. What does it smell like? Yes, it smells like beer, but can you discern any other notes? Does it smell sweet, or malty or bitter? Try and pinpoint any specific flavours: passionfruit, chocolate, citrus. It is best to take a few sniffs to really connect the aroma to the thought.

Have a sip. Try to let the beer sit briefly in your mouth before swallowing. What do you notice? What is your first reaction? Does any one thing stand out? Have another sip. Pay attention to the mouthfeel. How carbonated is it? Does it have a long finish? A long finish is where the flavour of the beer continues to persist after you have swallowed. Some beers finish short and dry – you swallow and bang, that’s pretty much it.

What flavours or flavour categories stand out? Is it a bitter beer or a sweet beer? Can you detect any hops? Hoppy beers are often very aromatic and have a zing to them. When does the hops kick in? Sometimes it can be as soon as you take a sip, other times it can finish with a hoppy kick. Other beers finish with a distinct malt flavour. Can you single out any specific flavours?

All of these points of analysis ultimately lead to one overriding and important thing: do you like the beer? If you do, which of those elements has left a good impression on you? Do you like the citrus burst that you receive initially when sipping the beer? Do you like the soft chocolatey finish? Do you like the smooth mouthfeel? Conversely, if you don’t like it, why not? Is it too bitter and has no length? Is it under carbonated? Is it at the wrong temperature? Is there a certain flavour present that doesn’t suit?

Tasting beer is all about equipping yourself with the right artillery to analyse what’s going on in that glass. Also, the more you can analyse a beer, the better you’ll be at pairing it with food.

 

Price Point of Difference

Winston Churchill once said, “the price of greatness is responsibility”… well according to  this article, it’s £7.50. For an ‘eye watering’, £7.50, you can purchase your own little pool of greatness in the form of a pint of Gotlands blueberry IPA from the Singer Tavern, a lovely and very happening establishment in the City. Quite frankly, my eyes would certainly be watering if I followed another lead in that article and paid £3.50 for a Foster’s.

Comparing a craft beer with a mass-produced beer is simply silly. Why? Because you pay for what you get, or sometimes you even have the privelege of paying for things you don’t get, such as flavour or craftsmanship. There’s a huge hint in the name craft beer as to what you’re paying for… You are paying for supremely superior ingredients, small-batch production and love. Yes, I said it. You are paying for the love. So many craft beer producers start up because they have a love for creating something truly unique and special. And you can taste it.

So many people who’d balk at the price of a craft beer have perhaps not actually tried one, because beer is beer. Well beers, unlike the American men in the Declaration of Independence, are not created equal. Nopey nope nope… And I hold this truth to be self-evident.

When you bring a pint of craft beer to your nose, instantly you are hit with a giddy aroma of hops or malt or some other tantalising beast. When you pick up a mainstream beer, you are hit with notes of cardboard and soggy bathroom rug. But hey, it only cost £3.00, so that’s ok… Who wants to pay extra for someone to sing lullabys to the hops as they rest their weary buds as the sun sets? Or pay extra for someone to carefully label and bottle things by hand, hands that have been protected in kid gloves mind you… Surely that claw machine imparts just as much care? And you certainly don’t want to pay for something that is bursting with flavour and complexity! Remember the acronym KISS! Keep it simple stupid. Yep, forgive me for getting notions of grandeur in my pretty little head.

In fact, the Blueberry IPA from Gotlands can’t even honourably accept the accolade of most expensive in London. Why at The Ritz, one can indulge on a bottle of Heineken (you know that beer in the green bottle) for a very reasonable £9.50. And then there’ll be the service charge. Still, very reasonable.

Moroccan Chicken Salad

Sometimes it’s nice to change up your lunch repertoire. Weekends often get so busy that a day in the kitchen might seem laborious, however, this salad is simple to make and won’t take too long, so there will still be ample time to go about doing lovely weekendy things. It is also a great thing to take to work for lunch, especially if there are no heating facilities.

Ingredients – for 1 serve

• 1/4 preserved lemon wedge
• 1 cup couscous
• 1 chicken breast
• large wedge of pumpkin
• handful of sultanas
• handful of ripped mint, parsley and coriander
• tablespoon ras el hanout
• tablespoon of harissa
• 3 tablespoons natural yogurt

Method

1) In  a medium sized bowl, pour in couscous and cover with 1 cup warm water. Place the wedge of preserved lemon in. Try and keep the wedge whole as if it breaks up it makes the couscous really sharp, a little too sharp. Let the couscous do its thing, occasionally agitating it so the lemon gets around. Slutty lemon. 

2) Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cut the pumpkin into bite-sized cubes and drizzle with olive oil before roasting for about 20 minutes or until cooked through. When cooked, set aside to cool.

3) Slice the chicken breast up into strips or chunks, whichever you prefer, and sprinkle with the ras el hanout. Pan-fry in some olive oil until cooked through. Set aside. Be careful not to overcook the chicken; breast can dry out very quickly.

4) When everything is cool, mix the chicken and pumpkin through the couscous (remove the lemon) along with torn handfuls of the coriander, parsley and mint. Sprinkle on the sultanas. Dollop the harissa into the yoghurt and dress the salad just before eating. 

The chicken is mysterious with its fragrant spice and works well with the subtle tang of the couscous and the boisterous freshness of the herbs. This is all topped off by a splash of fire on top. The perfectly balanced dish. Any beer that has a bright hop to it will work with this dish, as you need something to cut through the spice. Gotlands Sleepy Bulldog Pale Ale is an ideal choice.

Punjabi Masala Lamb Cutlets

To celebrate National Curry Week, why not try your hand at this amazing recipe for Punjabi Masala Lamb Chops? A dish with a lot of intense flavour in every bite, as well as heat that will potentially send you into meltdown if you’re not the chilli-loving type. A perfect match for this dish would be our Bellerose as this dish needs a beer with plenty of flavour and hop, otherwise it would be overwhelmed by the curry’s potency.

Ingredients

8 lamb chops

3cm ginger, peeled and roughly choped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 teaspoons garam masala

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon mild chilli powder

800g plum tomatoes, chopped

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon sea salt

450ml natural yogurt (use less for a hotter result\)

coriander leaves to garnish

Method

1) Blitz in a food processor or blender the ginger, chilli and a tablesppon of water until a wet paste forms. You can also do this in a mortar and pestle if The elbow grease adds extra flavour.

2) Trim the excess fat from around the chops, but leave a thin even layer, and then season well.

3) Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wide, heavy-based pan and when you can feel a strong heat rising, add the lamb and fry for about 1 or 2 minutes on each side, until lightly coloured. Remove the chops from the pan and set aside.

4) Add the remaining oil to the pan and add the onions, garam masala, cumin, cayenne and chilli powder. Mix together and sauté gently for 3 or 4 minutes or until the onions have softened slightly and the spices are fragrant.

5) Add the ginger and garlic paste and cook for a further couple of minutes.

6) Increase the heat and add the browned chops, tomatoes, lemon juice and salt. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and partially cover the pan.

7) Simmer for 50-60 minutes, stirring occasionally or until the meat is tender and sauce thick.

8) Reduce the heat and gradually stir in the yogurt, and simmer for a few minutes more. Taste, and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

8) Arrange the chops on a warm platter and garnish with the coriander leaves. Serve immediately.

Porter Stew

As we descend into chilly autumnal evenings, nothing is better than coming home to a big bowl of hearty beef stew. Porter is a wonderful ingredient to use in stews, as it adds a gorgeous depth of flavour that really marries in well with beef. It also adds a sweetness that isn’t overpowering and there is no better porter to use than Andwell Brewing Co; rich and dark with notes of vanilla and coffee it makes the gravy absolutely lipsmacking.

Stew cannot be rushed. You need at least three hours. But what a wonderful way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon. It also keeps well for 3 days in the fridge and freezes well.

Ingredients

olive oil

2 brown onions, diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

250g mushrooms, sliced

4 carrots, diced

500g stewing beef, cut into chunks

bottle of Andwell Porter

300ml chicken stock

sprig rosemary, chopped

salt and pepper to season

Method

1. Splash some olive oil into a pan and add the onions and garlic. Sweat down for about 5 minutes and turn off the heat.

2. In a separate frying pan, sauté the carrots and mushrooms for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are cooked through. Take off the heat and set aside.

3. Add the diced beef to the pot you cooked the onions in and add a splash of olive oil. Brown the meat to seal in the juices. When the meat is coloured add about 1/3 bottle of the Andwell Porter. Season well with salt and pepper.

4. Stir through and add 150ml of chicken stock to add more depth of flavour. Reduce the mixture by about half.

5. Add the vegetables you’ve set aside to the beef and another 1/3 of a bottle of the Porter and another 150ml of chicken stock. Sprinkle in the rosemary and stir thoroughly.

6. Preheat the oven 130°C.

7. Reduce again by about half and then place in the oven and cook for three or so hours. The meat needs to break down and become tender, so time is key here.

8. Serve with potato mash or dumplings.

Bellerose and Duck

Duck is something people rather adore when they dine out, but somehow it gets a little neglected in the domestic kitchen. For under £10, you can buy a champion Donald or Daffy that will easily feed four people.They key to delicious duck is rendering the fat. If roasting, this will ooze out and collect in the tray – you can scoop it into a bowl and refrigerate to use next time you want crispy duck-fat potatoes. If pan frying, the same thing will happen; the clear fat will seep out and you can collect it for later. It’s imperative to render the fat, otherwise you’ll be biting in to a flabby, soggy, yucky duck. Quack, quack, no.

Duck is rather versatile and is popular in both classic French, and Chinese cuisine, so it lends itself to a variety of flavours. Our little duck was treated to a dry spice rub helped by my splurge at a Chinatown supermarket. The rub involved a mix of ginger, Szechuan peppers (the tingle is somewhat of a sensation on your tongue), dried chilli and salt.

Roast in the oven at 180 degrees until the skin is golden and the flesh cooked through (roughly 1 hour and a half, depending on the size of your duck).

Rustle up some veg of your choice; whatever you’ve got lying around, or whatever looks good and is in season – buying produce which is in season is paramount. Buy fresh and buy local wherever possible.

Matched with this quacking dish is the gorgeous Bellerose full-bodied blonde ale, dry hoped with American hops; its grapefruit zing and notes of lychee cut through the richness of the duck and work beautifully with the heat and spice.