A ‘good’ cocktail for Good Friday!

Had the most amazing cocktail at our hotel in Tunisia on holiday – called the ‘Riu Palace’…. tried to recreate it and think I did an awesome job actually, especially considering I had no quantities…

Anyway whether you have spent the day entertaining the children, we have been for a bluebell walk and to the beach, or just chillin’ you deserve a great cocktail once the sun is past the yard-arm and this one is full of vitamins!!

Fee’s take on the ‘Riu Palace’ cocktail – Tall glass or hurricane glass

Double of vodka, shot of Creme de Bananes, shot of cherry brandy

Top up with 300ml of a mixture of pineapple and orange juices (or… pineapple and ‘tropical juice’)  and splash of lime juice to taste

Shake in a cocktail shaker and pour over ice, garnish with a slice of orange….

‘Jumping Jellies Batman!’…..

So…. orange and cardamom jelly; some advice…. don’t try to mould it unless you use a lot more gelatine! I had a moment of madness whilst doing this last night! I put the mould in a bowl filled with hot water, as you would… it was a bit wobbly, but I remained committed to the task.
I then turned out the jelly onto a large plate…. it collapsed! SO I TRIED TO FLIP THE PLATE TO PUT THE JELLY BACK IN THE BOWL – aaargh what was I thinking! Jelly on me, the table, the floor…. everywhere!
The jelly that I did manage to salvage was delicious, however, and all of us finished our portions with some left for Abs and me tomorrow.

Orange Jelly and soy custard - yum!

Jumping, juicing, jelly, jam tarts….. and all things that start with ‘j’!

Abbie was learning about the letter ‘j’ this week so when her friend, Lily, came to play I thought it would be great to theme the day, using this letter – just call me ‘alpha mother’!  After lunch and much JUMPING, we headed to the kitchen to JUICE the citrus fruits ready for the JELLY and then bake some JAM tarts ready for tea with Lily’s mum and little brother.  Abbie and Lily shared all the tasks really well and I think they did a fantastic job – do you agree?

Jumping.....

Jelly..... bashing the cardamon the most fun way I know!

Orange and Cardamon Jelly – Nigel Slater (from The Kitchen Diaries)

12 oranges, 1 lemon, 1 pink grapefruit

6 cardamon pods

8 sheets of gelatine

1 tsp sugar (optional)

• Squeeze the oranges – you need just under a litre of juice – reserve for later.
• Squeeze grapefruit and lemon – put into small pan with equal quantity of water
• Remove 3-4 strips of zest from grapefruit and lemon and add to pan
• Split open cardamon pods – can do this with the flat side of a knife (although much more fun with a hammer!) – add to the pan
• Heat the pan until the juice bubbles – lid on, turn heat off and leave for 15 minutes
• Slide the gelatine sheets into cold water – 1 at a time – leave to soften for 5 minutes
• Pour juice, through a sieve, into a scrupulously clean bowl – reserve the cardamom seeds
• Lift the softened gelatine sheets from the water and whisk into the warm juices until dissolved – it takes seconds
• Add orange juice and stir thoroughly, making sure that every bit of gelatine has melted
• Add reserved cardamom seeds – they will float around, apparently pointlessly, but will in fact discreetly give some of their flavour to the jelly as it sets
• Refrigerate for 4-5 hrs

Enough for 6-8

Jam tarts.... rolling out the pastry

...adding jam

Jam and Jelly all done!

 

Jam Tarts – the easy way

I bought ready rolled pastry today – life is too short! Pre-heat oven to 180C.  Use a cutter just bigger than your tin ‘holes’ and cut 12 crimped  rounds to push into the dips.  Fill each with a small tsp of jam and bake for 10-12 mins – take tarts out of dips and cool on a rack. Child’s play!