We always enjoy London Cocktail week when it comes around but the highlight for us this year had to be the wondering dinner we attended at SAGAR & WILDE in Bethnal Green hosted by The Botanist Gin. Here’s a insight into the food and drink pairings we had on the night along with recipes so you can try them for yourselves.
I still dream about that Venison Ragu and the Islay Martini was quite possibly the best gin cocktail ive ever had!
Venison Ragu
Venison haunch
Chicken stock
Red wine
Carrot
Celery
Onion
Garlic
- Dice mire poix
- Salt venion haunch and grill.
- Sweat mire poix, add red wine and reduce. Add chicken stock and bring to boil.
- Put venison and liquid in gastro and braise for 4 to 5 hours in low oven
- When meat is ready and can be pulled from bone, shread meat and reduce liquid.
- Check seasoning and finish with sherry vinegar
Cocoa Pappardelle
1240g ‘00’ flour
200g semolina
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
7 eggs
360g egg yolk
- Mix dry ingredients and add yolks and eggs and knead until soft
- Roll pasta through machine to 1 mm thickness and cut to 1cm ribbons
Lamb belly
- Salt lamb bellies over night
- Wash and vac pack pack with thyme garlic and olive oil.
- Cook at 84C for 6 hours
- Remove from bags, take out bones and press between grease proof and chill
- When cold, portion
- Grill and cover with mint sauce
Wild Mint Sauce
- Make a gastrique by boiling together equal white vinegar and demerara sugar.
- Chill and add chopped wild mint and pour over lamb bellies
Beetroot salmon
1 side of salmon, skinned
30ml Botantist gin
500ML beet juice
50G brown sugar
30G Caster
130G salt
10G pink Salt
- 1 side of salmon, skinned
- Combine ingredients and cover fish.
- Cure for 48 hours turning each day
Apple Cake
250 grams unsalted butter
300G sugar
4 eggs
300 G flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons cream
6 braeburn apples peeled
demerara sugar (for sprinkling on top)
- In an electric mixer, mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at the time and stir
- Sift the flour and baking powder together, mix some of it onto the batter, then add some of the milk, then some of the batter like this until all blended. Don’t over work
- Smear half of the batter in a buttered gastro, cover with cake batter and add apples all over mix.
- Sprinkle with Demerea sugar
- Bake at 180 C for 25-30 mins
Islay Martini
Glass: Martini
50ml Botanist Gin
5ml Dulce Infused Dry Vermouth
2.5ml Port Charlotte Whisky
Garnish: Sea Aster
- Stir in mixing glass over cubed ice, strain and garnish.
For more info on The Botanist Gin head over to https://www.thebotanist.com or to buy yourself a bottle click here.