Porn Star Martini

Birthday is coming up and the only drink to put me in the mood to celebrate could be this one:

25ml vanilla vodka
25ml Wyborowa Vodka (or plain vodka if you do not want to be that particular)
25ml passion fruit liquer
1 tbsp passion fruit puree
10ml lime juice
fresh passion fruit to decorate
50ml Champagne (in a shot glass)


Shake well all ingredients apart from champange. Pour in martini glass. Serve with a shot of champagne. 
Keep some Alka Seltzer next to you for the morning after.

Leek, Wine & Parmesan Risotto

• 25g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
• 3 leeks, trimmed and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves 
• 250g Arborio rice
• 1 glass (or two) white wine
• 750ml good vegetable stock
• 25g Parmesan (veg option can be found in shops these days), finely grated 

This is dead easy but there is one thing you need to be careful with: if you are planning to drink the rest of the white wine, buy a good quality bottle. I bought an average one and now I am writing this with a toddler running around my feet, trying to grab my laptop while I 'm typing and a banging headache.
Bring the stock to a simmer. Heat a large wide pan and add half the butter and the olive oil. Add the spring onions, leeks and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
Then add the rice and stir to coat. Tip in the wine and bubble until reduced. Add the stock a little at a time, stirring until the rice is tender with a little bite and oozy. When the rice is almost done, stir in the Parmesan and the rest of butter and season. Serve with green salad.

To Have And Have Another

Yes, everyone around is drinking Hemingway cocktails at the moment.
Here is an easy guide to successful making:

2 oz white rum

1/2 oz ounce fresh grapefruit

3/4 oz fresh lime juiced

1/4 oz Maraschino liquer

a pinch of brown sugar

1 cherry, slice of grapefruit (optional)

Combine all ingredients except the optional into a shaker over ice.

Shake hard

Strain

Serve up with a cherry or slice of grapefruit 

Drink

Repeat procedure

Be happy 

Drunk Mushrooms

Lets assume you do not mind peeling onions and garlic cloves. Good. So keep on reading then. If you also do not mind Ouzo in your food then go for it.
It is an old Ottolenghi recipe that I decided to turn Greek, mostly because a few ingredients were missing from my supply cupboard.
It is unusual but very tasty.

olive oil

80g butter

25 shallots, peeled

25 garlic cloves, peeled

dried thyme 

2 cinnamon sticks

200g portobello or oyster mushrooms, chopped

250g chestnut mushrooms, quartered

100g buna-shimeji or wild mushrooms

pinch of chilli flakes

200ml vegetable stock

1¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

100ml Ouzo

dried parsley & dried oregano

250g ricotta or (hard to find in the UK) Manouri cheese

Zest of 1 lemon

Heat the olive oil and two-thirds of the butter in a large pan and gently sauté the shallots, garlic cloves, thyme and cinnamon for about five minutes, until the onions begin to soften. Add the portobello and chestnut mushrooms, stir well so the mushrooms pick up the oil, and cook for a couple of minutes on a medium-high heat. Add the buna-shimeji and chilli flakes, and cook for a further minute.
Pour in the vegetable stock and simmer over a high heat for eight to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has almost disappeared, and the shallots and garlic are cooked through. Season, then pour in the Ouzo. Cook for a minute or two to allow the alcohol to evaporate, then stir through the remaining butter and all the chopped herbs.
Mix the ricotta (or manouri) with the lemon zest in a small bowl. Divide the warm mushrooms between four plates and top each serving with a quarter of the ricotta mixture. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with watercress or other leafy salad and rice.

Elderflower I Adore You

Being pregnant is good for my liver but oh how I miss you alcohol!
There are always ways to trick myself and the super non-alcoholic champagne I got from Fresh & Wild can be used for this cocktail.
Normal people of course can use proper champagne.

Ingredients:

• 3 oz Champagne
  
• 2 oz elderflower liqueur or cordial
  
• club soda or soda water
• lemon twist for garnish

Preparation:

1. Pour the liqueur/cordial and Champagne over ice in a chilled glass.
2. Top with club soda.
3. Stir well
   
4. Garnish with a lemon twist.

A bucket Full of Mulled Wine

1 bottle of red wine (or two bottles of red wine it evaporates remember? )
vanilla pods
lemon zest
orange juice
a bit of honey or brown sugar
cinnamon sticks
a dozen of cloves
aniseed

put everything in a pot and cook in small gentle fire. it would be good to put the cloves around the orange slice. but it doesn't matter if you forget.
ho ho ho

i added a few red fat raisins at the bottom of the glass. eat them at the end. they are THE secret treat.
have a good one. hips.