Yule Mule (Cocktail)

Ever since I made this delicious Dutch Orange Bitters, I've been keeping an eye out for cocktails to use it in. This Yule Mule is (as you can tell by the name) a traditional Yuletime cocktail, but really is great any time of the year. It's incredibly refreshing on a hot Australian summer day, so bring it out at your family Xmas this year. You could even give gifts of little bottles of home made Orange Bitters to family with a copy of the recipe for this cocktail so they can replicate it at home.

How are you going for Xmas gift ideas? If you're a bit stumped, or are looking to add in some home made edible stocking fillers then Gormandize has definitely got you covered! Small edible gifts are also great for colleagues, teachers or neighbours who you want to give a gift to but don't know that well and don't want to spend too much on. All this month starting tomorrow, I'll be sharing Christmas Gift ideas on the Gormandize facebook page. Don't worry, they're not all just different types of biscuits in jars - they're very varied. Follow the page on facebook to get all these nifty ideas in one place. 

Yule Mule

Ingredients

1 1/2 measures of vodka

1/2 measure fresh lime juice

1/2 measure cranberry juice

Dash of orange bitters 

3 measures ginger beer

To Make

1. Combine vodka, lime juice, cranberry juice and orange bitter. Shake well and strain into a highball glass half filled with ice.

2. Top up with ginger beer and serve. 

Makes 1 drink - multiply by however many people you're making it for.

Berry & Rosehip Iced Tea

Spring is here now and the warmer weather seems tantalisingly close. Yet not quite in reach. It's lovely and warm in the sun and the temperatures are not too bad, but as soon as the sun disappears behind a cloud the chill sets in and you're reaching for a jumper. Evenings are still cold enough for heaters and blankets (in our cold house especially) but in the day I can cling optimistically to the promise of warmer things to come. It's about this time of year that I find myself optimistically digging out a t-shirt to wear and starting to think about summer foods. I can't wait for mangoes and stone fruits to become cheap & plentiful, but until then I can celebrate with summer style drinks, sitting out in the sunshine on my back deck.

This iced tea is caffeine free and unsweetened, so it's great if you want to enjoy a refreshing drink on a hot day without the caffeine and sugar. The berry teabags give it the sweet tang of berries without the sickliness of canned berries or berry juices. This recipe uses freshly squeezed orange juice, but feel free to get creative and add any juice you like. And if you have a bit of of a sweet tooth, some elderflower or ginger cordial can certainly be added. It can also be lovely with a small splash of orange blossom water or rosewater.

If you're celebrating or entertaining, add a bottle of champagne and thank me later :)

Berry & Rosehip Iced Tea

Ingredients:
3 berry tea bags (any kind you like, I used a 'forest fruits' one, but any mixed berry type thing is great)
2 rosehip tea bags
2 litres of boiling hot water
1 litre of freshly squeezed orange juice
Juice of 1 fresh lime. 

Optional garnishes - fresh berries, mint leaves, orange or lime slices. 


To Make:
1. In a large jug, add water and tea bags. Allow to cool to room temperature and then fish out the teabags Place in the fridge to chill. 
2. Remove from fridge and add orange juice and lime juice. Stir.
3. You can chill it again if you like, or just serve it straight away (with or without ice, as you prefer). 
4. You can add fresh berries, if you like and if they are in season, or even fresh mint leaves to garnish. 

Makes 12 cups (3 litres).

Plum Infused Wine

It's turning disticntly to Autumn here, the mornings have started to get chilli, the leaves are starting to yellow and the beautiful summer fruits are diminishing in stores. Around this time of year I like to try and preserve some of the flavours of the summer fruits so that I can enjoy them once the fruits are no longer available. Jams are a wonderful way to do this, but I'm also a big fan of infused vodkas - Strawberry & Lime Infused Vodka, Raspberry Vodka & Pineapple & Basil Vodka have featured on the blog in past years to preserve the flavours of summer fruits (plus they make great gifts).

This time around I had a big bag of plums on the verge of being over ripe, and I thought I'd try something a bit different. I love Japanese plum wine, so I thought I'd try a fresh plum infused wine. No, they're definitely not even close to being the same thing, but my fresh plum infused wine worked really beautifully.

It's not really a recipe, use whatever quantity you have or want. Use whatver type of plums you have, and choose a wine you like. I recommend starting with a mild flavoured wine, and definitely not one that is too sweet. I recommend starting with a Semillion or Semillion Savingnon Blanc. If you start with a wine that is already sweet, all the sugars in the plums will make for a very sweet wine! Mine turned out just the right amount of sweet with a mild Semillion Sauvignon Blanc, it was fresh and fruity - and a truly beautiful colour.

Plum Infused Wine

Ingredients
About 500-750g plums
1 bottle mild flavoured white wine

To Make
1. Wash the plums (then pat dry, you don't want to water your wine down) and then remove the seeds and slice. 
2. Place in a large (probably 1 litre) clean jar and pour the wine over the top. Seal well and store in the fridge for 2-4 weeks. 

Will last several months in the fridge. 

Jamaican Lemonade

It's wonderful to make your own lemonade - at least that way you know what goes in it! I absolutely loved the Limoonada (Egyptian Orange Blossom Lemonade) that we had for Egypt month, so I jumped at the chance to make another variation from another culture. This Jamaican lemonade is fantastic, the dark brown sugar and molasses make for a much less sickly sweet drink with a bit more of an adult flavour. It goes fantastically with a shot of rum mixed through, but mostly we just appreciated it on ice because the day I made it was so hot and we were running around cleaning the house. It seriously hit the spot!

This recipe fills up about 3 x 750ml bottles, so great for a party. If you're just making it for yourself at home, you can use a half or third of the recipe or just bottle it up and drink it over the course of a week or two. Those 3 bottles we made, they didn't last for long!

Jamaican Lemonade

Ingredients
10 limes (if your limes are not very juicy you may need a couple more)
2 lemons
2 cups dark brown sugar
2 (generous) tsp molasses
10 cups cold water

To Make
1. Juice the lemons and limes. Combine the juice with the brown sugar, molasses and water and stir until all the sugar and molasses has dissolved.
2. Pour into bottles and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Makes about 3 x 750ml bottles. May be more or less depending on how juicy your lemons and limes are.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Jamaica.

Check out my other Jamaican recipe posts:

Jamaican Rum Punch

Jerk Tofu & Pineapple Skewers

Jamaican Peanut Punch

Gizzada (Coconut & Brown Sugar Tarts)

Jamaican Ginger Cake

Pineapple Salsa

Callaloo

Jamaican Patties

Jerk Sweet Potato Chips

Jamaican Peanut Punch (Peanut Milkshake)

I can't resist trying some of the more unusual recipes which come up in my research, because I think it's great to try things a little out of your comfort zone. This traditional Jamaican drink is flavoured primarily with peanuts, which is certainly a new experience for me. It is sometimes made with sweetened condensed milk, and sometimes with regular milk sweetened with honey or sugar. I've used home made oat milk and sweetened it with lovely dark brown sugar. It was actually really nice.

It's not part of the traditional recipe to blend the peanuts twice but I wanted to get as much peanut-y-ness out of them as I could. I ended up saving the peanut mush I was left with and I'm planning to throw it into my next cupcake batch.

Peanut Punch

Ingredients
1 cup chopped roasted peanuts (unsalted)
2 cups oat milk
3 cups water
2-3 tablespoons dark brown sugar (more or less to taste, depending on how sweet you like it)
1 tap vanilla extract
1/4 tap nutmeg, plus extra to sprinkle on servings

To Make:
1. Place the peanuts in a blender with 1 cup oat milk and 1 cup water and blend thoroughly.
2. Strain the liquid into a jug or bowl and then return the peanut mush back in the blender with the remaining oat milk and water and blend again. Strain again and then discard the peanuts.
3. Rinse out your blender and return your strained liquid to the blender along with the remaining ingredients. Blend again until frothy and serve immediately. Or, store  in the fridge and blend or whisk just before serving. Serve sprinkled with some grated nutmeg.

Makes about 4-6 servings.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Jamaica.

Check out my other Jamaican recipe posts:

Jamaican Rum Punch

Jerk Tofu & Pineapple Skewers

Gizzada (Coconut & Brown Sugar Tarts)

Old-time Jamaican Lemonade

Jamaican Ginger Cake

Pineapple Salsa

Callaloo

Jamaican Patties

Jerk Sweet Potato Chips

Jamaican Rum Punch

Getting back into exploring the lesser-known cuisines of the world this month with the first featured country for 2015 - and it's Jamaica! I've been keen to get to the culinary delights if the Caribbean, so I'm very excited about this month. Since it's hot as anything here at the moment and I'm dreaming of being on a beach in the Caribbean as we speak, I thought I'd start us off with a cocktail.

A classic Caribbean Rum Punch has a basic formula, which is fun because it leaves you with lots of room to experiment with different flavours and combinations. Here are the basic guidelines:

1 measure Sour

2 measures Sweet

3 measures Strong

4 measures Weak

Quite straightforward and nice and easy to remember. The sour is usually lemon juice or lime juice, the sweet is usually raspberry syrup, grenadine or cherry syrup, the strong is rum (of course!) and the weak is where you can get creative. A lot of people just use water as their weak, which is ok but makes for a pretty weak flavoured punch. You can use juice, especially of tropical fruits. You can use lemonade or ginger beer. Some people use beer. I've used apple cider and it was so delicious, you can also use sparkling apple juice instead.

I've used a standard 30ml cocktail measure for mine, which serves two. If you're making a big bowl of punch, you'll probably want to use cups as your measure

Jamaican Rum Punch

Ingredients
1 measure fresh lime juice
1 measure raspberry syrup
3 measures rum
4 measures apple cider

To Make:
1. Mix all ingredients together. Fill 2 glasses with plenty of ice and distribute punch between them.
2. Garnish frivolously with slices of fruit or superfluous drink umbrellas.
3. Sip & feel all your worries fade away.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Jamaica.

Check out my other Jamaican recipe posts:

Jerk Tofu & Pineapple Skewers

Jamaican Peanut Punch

Gizzada (Coconut & Brown Sugar Tarts)

Old-time Jamaican Lemonade

Jamaican Ginger Cake

Pineapple Salsa

Callaloo

Jamaican Patties

Jerk Sweet Potato Chips

Oranjebitter - Dutch Orange Bitters (Vegan Virtual Potluck 5)

Remember when we had Netherlands month on the blog? Of course you don't, it was ages ago! This recipe for Oranjebitter (Orange Bitters) is from way back then but I was holding onto it for a special occasion. The return of the spectacular Virtual Vegan Potluck is the perfect time to share this one with you, not only because I'm in the beverages category - but also because the (optional) theme ingredient this time around is Citrus.

Cue: Orange Bitters. You might be wondering what orange bitters is, and thinking that the use of the word "bitter" in the title is not so appealing. Ever had a Lemon, Lime & Bitters? They use Angostura bitters. Dutch Orange Bitters (Oranjebitter) is another type of bitters, but an orange flavoured one - pretty self explanatory.

Their uses are very broad, they make a great aperitif, digestif and cocktail ingredient. One of the easiest ways to use your orange bitters is to make yourself a Lemon, Lime & Orange Bitters. Just swap out your angostura bitters for orange. There are many cocktails which specifically used orange bitters, but you can also use it to drizzle over ice cream, to flavour cakes and desserts or just to drink on ice if you love the taste of bitter orange (if you're a marmalade lover, then you probably do love the taste of bitter orange!). If you're keen to just drink it as a dessert, you can whip up a simple sugar syrup (gently heat 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar to dissolve and then cool to room temperature) and then add the orange bitters to taste.

Because it's been such a long time since Netherlands month, I'll remind you of some of the delicious vegan recipes I shared:

Lazybones Buns (Luilakbollen)

Speculaas (Spice Biscuits)

Hollandse Stroopkoek (Syrup & Beer Cake)

Gevulde Speculaas

Naked Babies in the Grass

Dutch Orange Bitters (Oranjebitter)

Ingredients

1 lemon, washed

1 orange, washed

5 cardamom pods

3 tbsp sugar

2 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

1/3 vanilla bean

2 cups vodka

To Make

1. Use a potato peeler to thinly peel the orange and lemon. Juice them both and then set the juice aside, but save the seeds. Lay the peel and the seeds out on a tray and dry them in a warmed oven until dried out and crisp.

2. Place the peel, seeds, cardamom pods and sugar in a mortar and pestle and crush up just a little bit.

3. Combine all ingredients in a medium sized jar and pour the reserved orange and lemon juice and the vodka over the top. Shake well and put the lid on nice and tight.

4. Leave in a cool, dark place for 2-3 weeks to infuse, taking it out and shaking it up every couple of days.

5. You can leave it as long as you like, and taste it every so often until you get it as strong and bitter as you like. When you like how it tastes, strain through a tea strainer lined with filter paper to get a clear golden liquid. Stores in the cupboard for 12-18 months. 

Makes 2 1/2 - 3 cups. 

A quick note- I've photographed mine before I strained it out, to show the ingredients infusing in the jar, which is why it's still quite cloudy in my pictures. The final result after straining will be clearer.

Cocktails using Orange Bitters:

Yule Mule

This is part of the Virtual Vegan Potluck #5, so please use the buttons below to check out what other delicious recipes have been brought to the potluck:

Or, if you'd like to start at the beginning and work your way through, click here.

Thanks for stopping in and enjoy the potluck! If you like what you see on the blog and want to keep in touch, I recommend liking the Gormandize facebook page so that you can get my new recipes all up in your feed!

In case you're interested.... this month is Myanmar (Burmese) Food Month on the blog.

This month I'm featuring vegan recipes from Myanmar (Burma).

Check out my other Burmese recipe posts:

Vegan Fish Sauce

Ohn No Khao Swe with Chickpea Tofu

Burmese Tomato Salad

Gin Thoke (Ginger Salad)

Burmese Sticky Rice Cake

Chilli Vodka (Easy Home Made Christmas Presents!)

People who love chilli are great to have in your life when it comes to gift giving season - they're so easy to make presents for! I'm big on home made gifts, it's a win win in most cases. Making infused alcohols has to be one of the easiest home made gifts to make, and I've done a few over the years! They're quite possibly also the most fun to receive :)

Strawberry & Lime Infused Vodka, Raspberry Vodka & Pineapple & Basil Vodka have featured on the blog in past years as edible gifts (or just great things to make for yourself!).

I'm adding to that list now with Chilli Vodka! Simple, yes. Done before, certainly. But the chilli loving vodka drinker in your life will think of no better gift you could possible have given them, it is always a hit! It looks beautiful and keeps on giving, as you can instruct the recipient to just keep topping the bottle up with vodka as they use it to keep the supply coming. Eventually the chilli will turn completely white and it might be time for a new one, but that will take quite a while.

Chilli Infused Vodka Gift Bottles

This is not really a recipe, as you can probably work it out for yourselves!

1. Get a nice bottle to put your gift in.
2. Take 2 long red chillis (you can use small red chillis or green ones, but long red ones look elegant in the bottle) and wash well. Make a slit in each one without cutting the chilli completely in half, just to allow the vodka to soak all through the chilli.
3. Place the 2 chillis in your gift jar and fill to the top with vodka. 
4. Seal well, decorate with festive ribbons or labels as you choose and attach a card. Done.

This is best done 2-3 days in advance, to allow the chilli to infuse the vodka, but not so early that the chilli starts to lose any colour.

Have fun with combinations, try:
~ Chilli & Lime Infused Vodka
~ Chilli & Lemongrass Infused Vodka
~ Chilli & Watermelon Infused Rum or Vodka

Any other cool ideas? :)

Egyptian Limoonada (Orange Blossom Lemonade)

The second of my Egyptian Food Month recipes stays with the "lemons" theme :) A couple of days ago I posted my Preserved Lemons (yum!!) and now here is some absolutely fantastic Egyptian Lemonade. This is a bit different to traditional lemonade, it's mostly lemons and has very little sugar. This means it isn't very sweet and it's very lemony! It is smoothed out with delicious orange blossom water and fresh mint but it's actually not meant to be served as it. Because it's so lemony, it is served with only a bit on the bottom of the glass on ice and then topped up with soda water. This small jug of limoonada plus two bottles of soda water kept 8 people very well watered for a whole evening - so a little bit can go a long way! I, personally, much prefer this to the sugary sweet lemonades which I'm more used to. 

Egyptian Limoonada

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup boiling hot water

10 lemons

2 tsp orange blossom water

1/2 bunch mint, roughly torn

Ice & soda water, to serve

To Make

1. Dissolve the sugar in the boiling hot water and set aside to cool.

2. Juice the lemons and tip into a jug. Add the sugar and orange blossom water and stir well. Chill until ready to serve.

3. When ready to serve, stir through the mint.

4. Pour a small amount over ice in a glass and top up with soda water. Enjoy!

If you'd like to make this a bit more adult you can add a splash of vodka, gin or white rum.

I've submitted this recipe to the Vegan Virtual Linky Potluck - click here to see the other entries.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Egypt.

Check out my other Egyptian recipe posts:

Preserved Lemons

Mesa'a'ah (Spicy Eggplant)

Orange and Olive Salad with Cumin

'Ancient Egyptian Peasant' Beer Onions

Creamy Tahini Sauce

Ful Medames

Khoshaf

Grapefruit Mojito (Guest Post by Big Fat Baker)

Today I have another wonderful recipe courtesy of Erin from Big Fat Baker (isn't she awesome?!). This one positively makes my mouth water just looking at it! It's a perfect spring cocktail, and even though it's not quite spring yet (only one more month to go!!) in Australia, it's a good time to sit back and sip a cocktail and pretend that it's spring already! Of course, if you're living in the Northern Hemisphere (like Erin!) then this is perfect for you on your long hot summer afternoons! As you read this I'll be nearing the end of my trip and just arriving in Tallinn to spend a couple of days.

It is summertime in the US and the heat is really kicking in. Cold fruity drinks are the perfect way to cool off.

Grapefruit is a tangy alternative from some of the sweet fruits, and it’s great with mint. Can’t have grapefruit? Try a mix of lemon and lime juice.

This cocktail is beautiful and simple. All you really need is some juice, mint, sugar and rum. If you like bubbles in your drink, or want to make a kid friendly version, try adding a splash of soda water.

Grapefruit Mojito

Yield: 7 - 8, 10 oz drinks

Ingredients:

• 4-5 cups grapefruit juice*
• 1 cup mint simple syrup
• 2 cups white rum
• 1 cup mint leaves, torn
• soda water (optional)

* I used fresh squeezed juice = 3 or 4 large grapefruits

Directions:

1. Make Mint Syrup - Boil 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar over medium high heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Cook for 5 minutes then turn the heat off. Mix in 1 cup torn mint leaves and steep for 5 - 10 minutes (it will just continue to get more minty with time). Strain out the mint, reserve the liquid.

2. In a large pitcher combine the grapefruit juice, simple syrup, and rum. Mix well and taste. Adjust as needed with simple syrup or rum. Chill in the fridge for an hour or two.

3. In a large glass combine; a few torn mint leaves, 1/2 cup ice, and about a cup mojito mix. Stir well and top off with soda water if you like yours bubbly.

Resbaladera (Costa Rican Barley and Rice Drink)

Hello February how are you doing? I'm well, but a little cold - so could you warm things up a bit? Don't forget that it's still summer!

February means one important thing on this blog - and it's not lots of heart shaped/red/pink desserts for Valentines Day. It means the return of my World Food Challenge! Did you miss it? I had a much needed month off in January which left me excited at the prospect of returning to it and learning about lots more dishes from countries all over the world.

February's featured country was suggested by 'a fish' - now I don't normally have fish making suggestions to me, but if that fish reads my blog then I'm happy to oblige! This little fish suggested that I feature cuisine from Costa Rica! Great suggestion, thank you! I'm so happy to get my teeth stuck into a Central American country and I think you're going to enjoy going on this Costa Rican journey with me!

Shall we begin?

What do you know about Costa Rica? I didn't know much, as it's a long way from where I live! Costa Rica is Spanish for 'Rich Coast', although it's official name is the Republic of Costa Rica. It is bordered by Nicaragua to the North and by Panama to the South East, it's also rich with diverse and gorgeous flora and fauna - like this spectacular tree frog:

It also has a delicious, fresh and healthy national cuisine. Lots of beans, corn and rice (sounds familiar!), plenty of fish (maybe that's why a fish suggested it?) and everything wrapped up in corn tortillas. They've also got a great selection of drinks -from refrescos naturales made of blended fresh fruits (yum, yes please!) to refreshing rum cocktails to this delicious resbaladera. Similar to a Mexican horchata, this drink is essentially home made rice and barley milk flavoured with cinnamon and nutmeg and sweetened to taste.

Resbaladera

Ingredients
1 cup long grain rice
1 cup barley
2 cinnamon sticks
10 cups water, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground nutmeg
4-5 cups unsweetened rice milk

To Make
1. Place the rice, barley and cinnamon sticks in a large saucepan and cover with 4 cups water. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer and cover.
2. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add more water if needed to prevent sticking to the bottom. Once the rice and barley are cooked turn off the heat and stir though the sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and another 3 cups cold water.
3. Remove the cinnamon sticks and blend in batches.
4. Pass the blended liquid through a strainer into a large bowl, using a spoon to press down and squeeze as much liquid out as possible. You'll end up with a bowl of thick liquid and the mushy solids that you couldn't strain any more liquid out of (put these aside in a container and eat them for breakfast as porridge, seriously, it's so delicious!)
5. Stir the remaining water and the rice milk through the liquid that you strained out of the barley and rice. If you like you can thin it out a bit more with some more water, it's up to you.

Makes somewhere between 2 and 3 litres (I didn't measure it, sorry!)

NOTES:
~ The leftover pulp from the rice and barley makes really delicious porridge. Store it in a container and then heat up a bit to eat for breakfast with some rice/almond/soy milk.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Costa Rica.

Check out my other recipe posts:

Orange & Passion Fruit Pudding (Atol de Naranja)

Paprika de Papa (Paprika Fried Potatoes)

Chayote con Maiz (Chokoes and Corn)

Home Made Salsa Lizano 

Arroz con Leche (Rice Pudding)

Gallo Pinto (Beans and Rice)

Hearts of Palm Salad with Lime Coriander Dressing

Mushroom Ceviche

Summer's Glow (Yellow Watermelon Cocktail)

You know how I've been posting and tweeting about improving my food photos? Well, this one is shamefully a testament to how far I had to go. Sadly, food photos take patience and sometimes I just want to put down the camera and eat or drink whatever is there immediately. In some cases, if I failed to get any good shots then I make the recipe again and have another go. In this case, that wasn't possible.

Why? Because it contains a somewhat obscure ingredient. Yellow Watermelon! My lovely partner currently works in the fruit and vegetable department of a supermarket, and one day when they were cutting up the watermelons they cut one open to find that it was bright yellow inside! The staff immediately bought all the pieces of it and my partner proudly brought it home, knowing I would be excited by a somewhat exotic ingredient! In another sad photography fail, I didn't actually take any photos of the yellow watermelon, but you can check out what a yellow watermelon looks like here.

Most of it I just chopped up and ate. But I thought it would be silly of me not to blog something about it, and it just so happens that the Eat the Alphabet challenge bloghop is on it's last hop for the year. That means it's X, Y and Z time. Somewhat challenging letters, but luckily I can show you my Yellow Watermelon Summer Cocktail.

Summer's Glow Cocktail

Ingredients

500g yellow watermelon

2 cups vodka

1L lemonade

Juice of 2 limes

Fresh mint

Ice, to serve

To Make

1. Chop the watermelon and remove the seeds.

2. Place in a blender with the vodka and a few pieces of ice. Blend until completely liquid.

3. Add the lemonade, lime juice and plenty of torn fresh mint. Stir gently and transfer to a large jug or glass bottle to serve. Serve over ice, with additional mint sprigs, if desired.

Serves 6.

NOTES:
~ You can, of course, make this with pink watermelon instead. It will be just as delicious, although I would suggest calling it a Lover's Glow, to suit the pink colour.
~ It is preferable to chill the watermelon, lemonade and vodka before hand, so that the drink will be nice and cold when you serve it.