The Corkless Mind

Tag: entertaining

  • Watermelon, Rose Water and Gin Slushy

    Watermelon, Rose Water and Gin Slushy

    Summer has reached its peak in Cape Town and with the consequences of one of the worst droughts we’ve seen in decades means there aren’t many ways available to cool down in this exhausting heat. Cue the watermelon! One of a few things I do love about summer, is the bounty of delicious tropical fruit available for sweet pickings.

    Watermelon, Rose water and Gin Slushie 086

    Watermelon, Rose water and Gin Slushie 129This recipe is inspired by one I spotted in the latest Summer issue of Donna Hay’s Magazine. Instead of the doing the Frosé version, I am not much of Rosé drinker, but instead added some of Malfy’s delicious Gin. Malfy Gin, of Italian origin off the Malfy coast to be exact, has refreshing zesty citrus notes with hints of juniper. I chose this particular gin, to see how the lemony notes in the gin would pair with the watermelon and rose-water. To describe the finished product, I’d like to think of it as an alcoholic watermelon, rose-water flavoured frozen lemonade. I know, a mouthful in description, but it’s damn delicious and best of all so easy to make at home! I omitted sugar too, because the watermelon adds the much needed sweetness that this slush requires to be, well a slushy. Watermelon, Rose water and Gin Slushie 004

    Watermelon, Rose water and Gin Slushie 005

     

    Watermelon, Rose water and Gin Slushie 110

    Watermelon, Rose water and Gin Slushie 142

    Watermelon, Rose water and Gin Slushy

     

    Ingredients: 

    • 1/2 small-sized Watermelon
    • A few drops of Rose water (tread lightly, this stuff is potent)
    • 4 – 6 tall tot glasses of Malfy Gin, depending preference.
    • 500 ml of watermelon tonic or any tonic water will do.

     

    Method: 

    Chop up the watermelon, ensuring all of the seeds are taken out. You may spot a few pieces of black seeds in my photos (oops). So expect to find a few in your slushy mix here and there, if you miss a few seeds, that’s perfectly okay. Place the chopped watermelon, rose-water, gin and tonic into a blender, and blitz until smooth. Pour the slushy mix into a loaf pan or tray that can easily fit into your freezer. Freeze for 6 hours. Enjoy chilled!

     

    **Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. All ingredients were purchased and supplied by myself. All views in this post are as a reflection of my honest opinion.

     

    Happy weekend! x

  • Grapefruit Caipirinha 

    Grapefruit Caipirinha 

    Lately, things have been picking up for me and starting to get incredibly busy as you can tell by the lack of posts 😦 I am the worst when it comes to management of time and because of that important things/people in my life tend to suffer because of that. A little recap, I’ve just returned from my very first international trip abroad to Kenya for training and meeting our team for Cookpad Africa, and what an amazing experience that was! I hope to share my food experience here soon! 

     Two days ago, I was notified that Off Beet Blog was selected as one of the Feedspot Top 50 Food Photography Blogs in the world! Coming in at a humble 43rd spot, I am incredibly grateful to each and everyone of you  for the unwaivering support  and for taking the time to peruse my posts sometimes feel inspired by my photos. This is such an honour for me! Congratulations to all of the winners! 

    This post I created a weeks back, the Caipirinha idea came from my mom, as she had been to Brazil and of course came back with a bottle or two of Cachaca. I decided to add my own twist to the traditional recipe. By making two respective simple syrups infused with chili and the other with grapefruit. 

  • Gin & Tonic – three ways 

    Gin & Tonic – three ways 

    For some time Gin and Tonic has long been known as something of an ‘oldtimers drink’, this of course all changed when local distilleries started making artisanal gin, and of course all things artisanal are supposedly ‘cool’ however, this is one the time, I have to agree on this matter purely because I love supporting local. South Africa has such an amazing array of locally crafted gin, using nothing but what is available seasonally is the key to a great botanical gin. The gin I used in this post is one of my favourites, Wilderer Fynbos Gin, and as you can see from the photo above, they are an award winning distillery. 

    I made three different Gin and Tonic recipes, with three different syrups. The first is a rosebud and cardamom gin and tonic, a litchi and thyme, and the last one is a strawberry and basil G&T. The syrups are all super easy to make and can be made ahead of time before your New Year’s Eve bash! To make a syrup, just add two to four tablespoons of castor sugar(depending on how much you intend to make) with equal amounts of water and your fruit,spice or herb of choice and simmer until the sugar is dissolved and infused with the flavour of your choice of spice/fruit. Leave to cool before adding to a carafe with your favourite gin and try using a quality Tonic, this is said to truly complement the delicate flavours of the gin. 

    This recipe can of course be used to spruce up a mocktail too. If you’re thinking of enjoying this G&T recipe for New Year’s Eve, please do so responsibly and take an Uber if you need to get anywhere. 
    Wishing you all an amazing new year! 

    Dominique x

    ** This post was not sponsored**  

  • Festive fare.

    Festive fare.

    Welcome to December! How quick did this year go by!? Every week to celebrate the festive season and to of course give you ideas for your next dinner party, I will be doing at least one festive themed recipe per week. This week I wanted to create a light snack for summer, something for anyone and everyone to enjoy and a refreshing drink that all can enjoy too. 

    I found a recipe from the renowned Chef Liam Tomlin from the revered Chefs Warehouse in Cape Town that he recreated for Woolworths Taste Magazine. The recipe is incredibly simple to recreate at home with very little effort involved, doesn’t that sound good? And of course I added a little(a lot) of sparkle because tis’ the season! 

    I’ve been a weekly regular at a certain awesome bacon themed restaurant in my area, and they serve the most delicious, refreshing locally made artisanal iced tea. Mesmerized by its unique flavour and texture, I have been racking my brain to recreate it at home. This is a recipe that I have developed.

    Ingredients: 

    4x Rooibos tea bags

    500ml boiling water 

    200g strawberries 

    100g blackberries/any other berry of your choice

    A drop or two of rose water

    250g castor sugar 

    Juice of one lemon
    Method: 

    Over a medium to low heat, bring the berries, sugar, lemon juice and rose water to a simmer until the berries are macerated and the juices of the berries have covered the berries and sugar dissolved, take off the heat and leave to cool. 
    Brew the rooibos tea in the boiling water and let the tea draw for 10 minutes, leave to cool and place in the fridge. Once both the tea and the berries have been cooled, pour the compote mixture into a tea pot or carafe with the rooibos tea, serve with a slice of lemon and a few sprigs of mint. 
    This is the ideal drink for long scorching summer days or switch it up and add alcohol to make a crisp cooler. 
    Happy festive season! 

    Dominique x

  • Slushy Piña Colada Cocktail

    Slushy Piña Colada Cocktail


    Piña colada, the scent of sunscreen, and sticky ice cream hands are just a few of the things that make us all think of summer and all the perks it brings along with it. I do love craft beer and wine as my go to choice of tipples, but the occasional refreshing cocktail is good for the soul and in the spirit of welcoming long hot summer days and nights. 
    My ice cream machine has been sitting in my freezer waiting for the opportunity to make something spur of the moment, hence I will have it ready when I do decide to make a batch of ice cream or sorbet. Never did I think I could make anything else with it, let alone a cocktail mix. So with much zeal to attempt this recipe I found on my second home Food52, I cracked open a bottle of rum and excitedly got out the ice cream machine. 
    The recipe is pretty simple, although patience(something that does not come naturally to me) is needed when churning the mixture. Garnish with mint and a pineapple ring on top of the glass. You can of course omit the rum and enjoy as a non-alcoholic drink. 
    The photos were taken in quite a hurry due to some pressing deadlines. Below is a clue as to the deadline, I can’t wait to share the finer details soon! 🙂 
    Here’s to many more moments we could lift a glass in a celebration! x

  • Ricotta on crusty bread with pickled Courgette and Pear. 

    Ricotta on crusty bread with pickled Courgette and Pear. 

    My love of cheese knows no bounds! Feta, cream cheese, cottage cheese, Brie, Camembert, Goat’s cheese or 24 month matured Parmigiano Reggiano, name it and I’ll be there with a bottle of wine to pair it with! Ricotta is so very versatile, I mainly use it as a substitute for cream in my pasta sauces, it makes the texture that more luxurious and velvety smooth. But ricotta is more than just an addition to a great sauce. I usually make my own from scratch which is rather easy and foolproof. I have a healthy obsession (excuse the pun) of knowing exactly what goes into my food same can be said for what goes into my body. 
    Beside making a really creamy sauce, if there’s any leftover Ricotta, I make blueberry ricotta hotcakes/flapjacks that I smother in lemon curd and bacon, because why not? This time I wanted to do something a bit different and at the same time keep it simple. Simplicity in food sometimes is the key. 

    I bought a fresh plain rusticata loaf at my local Woolworths and this time purchased my ricotta, instead of making it, and also spotted some lush green courgettes. I made a quick pickle (I used 1 cup of white wine vinegar to equal amounts of castor sugar) and two cloves, a few cumin seeds and a few drops of this amazing white balsamic vinegar(Sonoma Harvest Passion fruit White Balsamic vinegar) the quick pickle is a tad unconventional, but it’s all in the spirit of experimenting and playing around with flavours. 

    I added thin slices of Courgette and Pear to the pickle, allow to simmer on a low-medium heat to let the flavours fully permeate and the speedy process of pickling take place. Take off the heat and assemble on thickly spread Ricotta on crusty bread sprinkled with a pinch of sumac and toasted cumin seeds and finish with a sprig or two of mint. I’m so enamoured with the lip puckering taste and crunch of the courgettes, I do like the pickled pear, the variety I used was really sweet, the pickling balanced the flavour of the pear beautifully. I made an extra one with blueberries for another tart flavour combination. There are so many flavour combinations one can experiment with Ricotta. 

    The photos were taken just after noon. Only once I have looked at them on my computer screen, did I realize how similar in some ways it is to my previous post, The ultimate toastie. I hope this post will inspire and fuel you with ideas for your next get together with friends and family.