Get the taste for cooking with gin with these recipes

We all know gin goes well in a glass with tonic and ice – but what about in a casserole or a salad dressing?

A new cookbook is aiming to open gin lovers’ eyes to the spirit’s potential in the kitchen, as well as behind the bar.

The Ginologist Cook, which hit the shelves this month, contains around 150 recipes utilising gin from tempting appetisers to meaty main courses to indulgent puddings, as well as a selection of cocktail recipes.

It is the brainchild of South African gin brand Ginologist, with each recipe recommending an appropriate expression of Ginologist to use (Floral, Spicy etc.), and has been put together by a team of chefs, distillers and mixologists from the country.

The book is on sale through the publisher’s website, through Amazon and at selected spirit retailers in box sets with a bottle of gin.

 

Got a taste for gin cooking? Here are four recipes from The Ginologist Cook which you can try at home:

Carrot and Orange Salad with Citrus Gin (serves four)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 carrots, grated
• 3 oranges, peel and pith removed, chopped, juices retained
• 1 large shot (around 45ml) Ginologist Citrus Gin
• Handful mint leaves, to garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

• Place all the ingredients, including and orange juice lost during chopping, into a medium-sized bowl and mix two combine. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Serve garnished with the mint leaves.

 

Indian Lamb Curry with Spice Gin (serves four)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 2 cloves
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 4 rainbow peppercorns
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1kg stewing lamb, cut into pieces
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ginger, minced
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground chilli for medium heat, or 2 tsp for hot
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1 x 400g can peeled and chopped tomatoes
• 250ml Ginologist Spiced Gin
• 750ml hot water
• 4 potatoes, halved or quartered, depending on size

INSTRUCTIONS

• Place oil and ghee in a large non-stick pot on a medium heat and warm until the ghee is melted.
• Add onions and cook for about five minutes. Add cinnamon, cloves, cumin seeds, rainbow peppercorns and cardamom and cook for a further five minutes.
• Add lamb, turmeric, ginger, garlic and salt. Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring often.
• Add ground chilli, coriander and cumin, pepper, tomato paste, canned tomatoes and gin and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.
• Add water and potatoes and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and the sauce has thickened.
• Serve with plain basmati rice or mini poppadum.

 

Passion Fruit Layer Cake with Floral Gin (serves six to eight)

INGREDIENTS

For the sponge:

• 225g margarine/butter
• 250g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 125ml sour cream
• 125ml coconut cream
• 125ml oil
• 315g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp passion fruit essence
• Pulp of 2 passion fruits
• 20ml Ginologist Floral Gin

For the passion fruit curd:

• 4 egg yolks
• 80g sugar
• 250ml passion fruit pulp
• 65ml passion fruit juice
• 125g butter
• 20ml Ginologist Floral Gin

For the passion fruit coulis:

• 3 passion fruits
• 65g caster sugar
• 2 tsp Ginologist Floral Gin
• 80ml water

For the buttercream icing:

• 150g butter
• 200g icing sugar
• 40ml milk
• 1 tsp passion fruit essence

INSTRUCTIONS

To make the sponge:

• Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and passion fruit essence and continue to cream. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until combined. Add the passion fruit pulp.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together. Mix the gin, sour cream and oil together. Alternately add the dry and wet mixtures into the butter mixture, starting and finishing with the dry mixture.
• Pour into three greased tins and bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.

To make the curd:

• Heat the butter, sugar, passion fruit juice and pulp in a saucepan (the sugar must melt before it boils).
• Put the egg yolks into a bowl and whisk until pale. Add the hot mixture into the yolks slowly and stir continuously until the mixture thickens. Put the mixture back on the heat and whisk continuously.
• Cool in the fridge, then sandwich between stacked cake layers.

To make the buttercream:

• Cream the butter using a paddle attachment on an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
• Add the icing sugar, passion fruit essence, gin and milk and continue to beat.
• When firm, spread over and around the three-layered cake. Decorate with passion fruit coulis and pulp.

 

Choc Out Cocktail with Spice Gin (serves one)

INGREDIENTS

• 50ml Ginologist Spice Gin
• 20ml chocolate liqueur
• 10ml line juice
• 10ml cinnamon syrup
• 2 dashes chocolate bitters
• Milk stout, to top up
• Flamed cinnamon bark and dark chocolate flakes, to garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

• Put ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake and serve in a brandy balloon, top up with milk stout and garnish with the cinnamon bark and chocolate flakes.