#mandarin gin

[askwhatsforlunch]

Winter Sunset

This Winter Sunset is what a Wintry evening tastes like in my mind. At the hour when the late rays colour the skies in splashes of orange and gold and bright red in the farewell ritual, one should drink a cocktail with the warming notes of mandarin, the tang of lemon and the fruity sharpness of raspberries. With gin, obviously, and Tawny Port for a bit of suaveness. Happy Friday!

Ingredients (serves 1):

6 fresh raspberries

1 teaspoon caster sugar

1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

6 ice cubes

75 millilitres/2 1/2 fluid ounces (5 tablespoons) Mandarin Gin

15 millilitres/1/2 fluid ounce (1 tablespoon) good quality Tawny Port

In a shaker, muddle four of the raspberries with caster sugar and fresh lemon juice. Then, add the ice cubes. Poir Mandarin Gin and Tawny Port over the ice. Close the shaker tightly and shake energetically until well-chilled.

Double strain into a coupe glass. 

Garnish with remaining raspberries, speared.

Enjoy Winter Sunset immediately.

[askwhatsforlunch]

Mandarin Gin

As you probably know, if you’ve been following me for a bit, I abhor food waste. And everything I don’t throw onto the compost heap (fruit and vegetable peels, eggshells, coffee grounds, withered flowers...), I try to use in other recipes. Stale bread becomes, etc... When it is too stale, it feeds the birds. I also make my neighbourhood cats happy with fish skin and bones! But citrus skin and peel don’t go in the compost, and I’m not sure cats or birds would be too keen on it! So, it’s one of the things I bin without considering an alternative ( although lemon skins in a bowl of water heated in the microwave makes it easier to clean!) Except when I’ve been using citrus fruit to make supremes. Supremes are nice and elegant to eat, but that means quite a bit of the flesh stays on the skin. Well then, use that peel to make a frangrant Mandarin Gin (or rum or vodka, even whisky!) I reckon, it shall make a fabulous Pink Gin! 

Ingredients (makes 250 millilitres/1 cup):

the peel of two mandarins (or clementines, tangerines or satstumas) usde to make supremes, with some of their juicy flesh still attached

250 millilitres/1 cup good quality London Dry Gin

Place mandarin peels into a clean, sterelised glass bottle. Pour Gin over the peels, and close bottle tightly.

Place the bottle in a dark, draught-free spot, and allow to infuse, at least four weeks.

When infused to your taste, strain into a clean, sterelised bottle. Close tightly.

Use Mandarin Gin to make a very citrus-y Gin and Tonic or mix into a White Lady, or any cocktail you like!