white wine | Retired? No one told me!

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Christmas is coming and very quickly now so I will be giving you a daily recipe of either a tried and tested family favourite or something new to me…

Every year I try to make at least one new dish and it is so much easier here as so many people come and go from all corners of the world through my life now and I mostly manage to wheedle a recipe or two from them…lol

The Juniper Berry I had heard of but not used in my cooking until I moved here…My Swiss friend gave me a recipe for Surre Moche…..which is very, very nice and similar to the Beef Bourgogne which was the very first dish I cooked for my husband…A man who didn’t like garlic, spices anything that wasn’t meat and two vegs…..Guess what? He does now.!..haha

The Juniper Berry comes from beautiful evergreen trees which can grow as high as 131ft or Junipers can come on small low growing spreading shrubs so depending on where you hail from in the world you should able to find these luscious little berries.

They are also used to make a spice which is used in a variety of cuisines and culinary dishes.

But ladies just in case you didn’t know it the primary flavour in Gin….

Oh yes, one of those would go down very nicely at the moment…lol… Cooks perks!

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I also have a recipe( for) most things and I just happen to have one for a lovely homemade tonic water and once you make it you will never ever buy a can or bottle of tonic again…I will share the recipe with you not sure which day so keep watching and don’t miss a post…

The sauce recipe paired with game meat like Venison, quail, pheasant it makes a great sauce. I give you…Ta Da!

Juniper Berry Sauce:

Ingredients:

1 banana shallot peeled and finely chopped.
8 juniper berries very lightly crushed.
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped.
1/2 tsp sugar
200 ml white burgundy or a dry white wine.
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
40 gm butter
25 gm flour
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves.
3oo ml venison stock
100 ml double cream
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Let’s Cook!

Put the shallot, garlic, sugar, white wine vinegar, juniper berries, white wine and the fresh thyme in a pan and bring to the boil.

Lower the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes this needs to reduce to about 2 tbsp.

In another pan melt the butter and whisk in the flour to make a roux. Strain your wine reduction through a fine sieve and still whisking…we don’t want a lumpy sauce now do we? Add the wine reduction….keep whisking!

Pick out the juniper berries from the strained mix in your sieve and add to the sauce. Keep whisking and add the stock slowly ….to the sauce a ladle at a time. Cook the sauce for 10 mins or until it coats the back of a spoon.

Finally, pour in the cream and bring to a very slow simmer.

Remove from the heat and season.

The sauce can be used immediately or reheated when it is needed.

This is a beautiful sauce over when poured over a luscious piece of beautifully cooked venison or my favourite quail… if you have guests for dinner or just for that special occasion.

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Enjoy!

It’s # Fish Friday# what else could be nicer than a lovely steaming bowl of fresh mussels?

Which we had yesterday evening even though it wasn’t Friday but why not? They were calling my name when I went shopping and I couldn’t resist and once you have bought them they just have to be cooked.

The worst job is the debearding and they can tough little buggers to get out but well worth the effort and no one likes to eat the beard do they? It doesn’t look appetising either.

Ingredients:

2lbs fresh mussels scrubbed and debearded.
1tbsp oil
2 shallots sliced
1 cup of chicken broth
3 stalk of lemongrass crushed
3 slices of fresh ginger
Zest of half a lime
1 sm chilli sliced
A handful of Thai basil.

Let’s Cook!

Heat the oil in a large straight-sided pot and add shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes add the other ingredients except for the mussels and bring to the boil, stirring then lower heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Turn the heat up to medium add mussels and put on the lid cook for 2-3 minutes then stir and cook further 1 minute all the mussels should then be open. Discard any which are not.

Spoon the mussels into individual bowls or one serving bowl and spoon over liquid.

These are lovely served with a spicy chilli dip.

STEAMED MUSSELS WITH CHILLI AND LEMONGRASS

If you want something a little more special then try this instead.

Ingredients:

1 stalk of minced lemon grass
2-3 kaffir lime leaves
1/2 cup chicken stock
good 1/4 cup white wine
tbsp rice wine vinegar.
2/3 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 chillies sliced
1/2 cup chopped coriander.
tbsp finely chopped garlic
tbsp brown sugar
2tsp cornstarch dissolved in a little water.

Let’s Cook!

In a large straight-sided pan bring the chicken stock to the boil. Add wine, vinegar, fish sauce, chilli, sugar, lime leaves, garlic and 1/2 cup of chopped coriander when the sauce is gently boiling add the mussels and stir gently, put on the lid.Cook for 2/3 minutes remove lid and stir and cook for further 1 min any mussels which are still closed remove.

Push mussels to one side and add dissolved cornstarch cook 30 seconds and it should have thickened gently stir in mussels.

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