The current passion for gin has inspired not only cocktail recipes but foods too. Contemporary English gins such as Brockmans are so complex and interesting that, like good wines, they lend themselves to recipe inspiration.
Leading London chef, Duncan Impey, head chef at private members’ club, One Alfred Place, was inspired by the complex botanicals and berries in Brockmans Gin to create a series of recipes. The latest of these is…
Roast butternut squash & Brockmans Gin Risotto with Taleggio
Serves 2. Heat the oven to 180o
Ingredients
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into thin wedges
sprigs of rosemary
few sprigs of thyme
1 banana shallot – fine diced
200 gms Carnaroli risotto rice
1 clove garlic, crushed.
1 small bay-leaf
50 ml Brockmans Gin
60 gms butter
splash of olive oil
500 ml vegetable stock – kept hot
90 gms Taleggio cheese (or Camembert) making sure it is a vegetarian version if serving to strict vegetarians
Chopped fresh herbs – flat leaf parsley, chopped chervil and chopped tarragon (a pinch of each)
80 gms freshly grated Parmesan cheese (vegetarian as above if needed)
salt and pepper
Method
Mix the butternut squash with some of the thyme and all the rosemary leaves, sprinkle with olive oil, and roast in the oven for 8 minutes. When tender but still firm, remove from the oven and set aside.
Place half the butter (30gms) in a pan with a splash of olive oil. Dice and chill the rest of the butter for later.
Add the diced shallots and cook for 5-6 minutes.
Add the rice to the pan and gently toast it with the shallot for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Pour in the Brockmans Gin, standing well back as it will flambé. Cook until the liquid reduced by half. Add the bay-leaf.
Gradually add the hot stock a ladleful at a time, stirring the rice mixture with a wooden spatula and adding further stock, a ladle-ful at a time, until the rice is done.
Once cooked, gently add the butternut squash and the cold diced butter and mix taking care not to break up the squash.
Add most of the parmesan and all the Taleggio cheese and stir. Remove the bay-leaf.
Garnish with the chopped fresh herbs. Season with salt and pepper.
Drizzle with olive oil and finish with a sprinkling of the remaining Parmesan.
Chef’s tips
Always use a wooden or a plastic spatula for risotto – metal implements break up the rice.
Ensure the stock is hot as you add it.
If you want to prepare ahead, the risotto can be cooked for 9 minutes (up to part-way through stage 6); placed in a cold fridge; and then reheated and finished for a further 5 minutes or until done.
The butternut squash can be cooked earlier in the day and refrigerated until needed.
Don’t add the salt until the end – it prevents the rice cooking properly.
Pour a Brockmans Gin and enjoy…
© Recipe copyright of Brockmans Gin and Duncan Impey.
©Images courtesy Brockmans Gin and Phil Silcock.
www.BrockmansGin.com
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