Beautiful find! Damon's + Gin = Damson Gin!!

Wow! So a few weeks ago I was walking home from town and spotted what I thought was plum tree, a few moments i realised it was a Damson tree! Jackpot! I took one home to check it with Steve to make sure it was actually a Damson, we came to the conclusion that it was (hopefully!) I went back to the tree and picked as many as I could get. Then decided to make the most easiest and tasty drink! Damson Gin! We haven't opened the bottle yet as we have another 2 months to wait, perfect timing for winter cocktails! Fingers Crossed!

Damson Gin

Ingredients

Large jar or bottle enough to fit in Damsons, must be serialized

Enough Damsons to fill 1/2 the jar
Granulated sugar

Gin

Method

Put all the damsons into your bottle/jar. Pour in enough sugar to totally cover the damsons and give a good shake. Top up to recover the fruits. 

Fill the jar with any gin, I'd advise not to use expensive gin until you have perfected the recipe.

Give a jolly good shake and store in a dark cool place for about 3 months to develop. Keep shaking the jar every week or so to get the sugar dissolved and mixture to even out.

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Cocktail Time!!

Hi everyone I thought I'd make a post of a my current signature cocktail I'm in love with! Especially because the jam is home-made.

Gooseberrytini

Ingredients (makes 1 strong or two weak drinks)

2 shots Gin preferably Bombay Sapphire or Bloom

2 Tablespoons Gooseberry and Ginger Jam

Ginger Ale

Ice

Juice of Lime

Method

Half fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add in the 2 shots of Gin and the Jam. For now squeeze in the juice of 1/2 Lime.

Shake the cocktail for about 30 seconds till blended well.

Taste the mixture to check for sweetness/acidity and adjust to taste.

Pour into a chilled Martini glass or wine glass if you don't have one.

Top up with a small amount of Ginger Ale and enjoy!!

This recipe would be great to adjust! Change the jam to Raspberry, Strawberry or whatever tickles your fancy! Also changing the Gin to Vodka would be fab too!

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Few Bits

OK so I thought id post a few pics of things me and Carly have made in the kitchen over the last few months as we are really getting into cooking, and now making preserves and chutneys :D

Rhubarb Syllabub! This was absolutely delicious! 

Recipe:

Few sticks of Rhubarb cut into small chunks

1-2 pieces of Stem Ginger finely chopped

few tbsp Stem Ginger Syrup

75g Caster Sugar
100ml White Wine

100g Mascarpone

300ml Double Cream

50g Icing Sugar

Put the Rhubarb, Ginger, Caster Sugar and White Wine into a pan. Bring to the boil then simmer till Rhubarb is soft and slightly broken down.
Meanwhile Whisk together the Mascarpone, Cream and Icing Sugar to soft peaks then fold in the Ginger Syrup. 

Let the Rhubarb mixture cool right down in the fridge with the cream mixture for about 30 min to an hour.

To serve use small pretty glasses or bowls and layer the mixtures alternately, then enjoy!! 

Smoked Mackerel and Horseradish Salad

Serves 4

4 Fillets Smoked Mackerel 

1 bag New Potatoes

2-4 tbsp Horseradish (depending how hot you like it)

Juice of 2 Lemons

Tub of Creme Fraiche

1-2 bags of watercress and rocket salad or any salad of your choice.

Boil the New Potatoes in salted water until cooked.

Meanwhile make the dressing by mixing the Creme Fraiche, Horseradish and Lemon juice. Add some black pepper but not any salt as the fish is quite salty and the potatoes have already been seasoned.

Drain the potatoes and set aside to cool for a few minutes. when cooled a little mix in the dressing and flake in the fish (but not the skin). Mix together Gently and serve on the salad leaves.

For an added extra bit of healthyness we added some Tender Stem Broccoli as it needed using up and it worked really well with it. Also a wedge of Lemon for some extra ZING!

Our Home-made Strawberry and Gooseberry Jams :D

Millions of recipes and be found on Google.

I haven't tried any of them yet but Carly has and says the strawberry is yum! Yet to try the Gooseberry which was our first ever jam eeek!

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