OK, I am well aware that I have not written a blog post for over 6 months and this could be because I’m either lazy or in need of a holiday ”“ I probably need a holiday. The idea compelled me trawl through iPhoto to reminisce of holidays gone by and remember the amazing food experiences I’ve had in the last half a year or so. These cocktails were but one of them”¦

Picture this. You’re in the Barossa Valley attempting to explore the endless wineries on offer. You’ve begun tasting wines at Yalumba by 10am, tasted nearly every brilliantly soft, supple wine that Two Hands has to show-off and ended the day at Charles Melton indulging in some classic big reds before realising that you somehow accidentally got drunk by 1pm.

So what do you do? You do what Mikee and I did of course”¦ You follow through with what you planned for the day, which (very smartly) included a pre-degustation dinner nap and then a pre-degustation dinner cocktail overlooking the amazing Australian countryside. All in the name of readying one-self for the most magnificent degustation meal that’s been designed around the wines (not the other way round) ”“ I digress.

This entry will be short so no time to ramble on about 10 or so dishes that I can’t quite recall from 9 months ago. This is about the pre-dinner cocktails and how we can try our best to re-invent them for ourselves at home.

Here are my versions of the cocktails:

Appellation’s garden Pimms

Ingredients:

A few thin slices of fresh cucumber (cut around the edges to make flower shapes)

½ cup of Pimm’s No. 1

1 shot of camomile vodka (or normal vodka)

A squeeze of limejuice

A squeeze of lemon juice

½ tsp sugars

Ice cubes

1 spring fresh rosemary

Chilled dry ginger ale

Method:

1)   Using muddler or handle of wooden spoon, mash well. Add Pimm’s, vodka, lemon juice, and sugar.

2)   Fill a long glass with ice and set aside

3)   Add ice to Pimm’s mixture, cover, and shake vigorously 20 times

4)   Strain into glass

5)   Push rosemary and all but 1 slices of cucumber into glass of ice and Pimm’s

6)   Fill glass with ginger ale and garnish rim with slice of cucumber

Makes 1 serve

___

Appellation’s Creation

Ingredients:

Fresh apple juice

¼ tsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp finely grated ginger

A squeeze of lemon

Cranberry juice

1 shot of vodka or gin

Tall glass of ice

Method:

1)   Place cinnamon, ginger, lemon juice in glass of ice

2)   Then place the rest of the ingredients in, cover and shake vigorously 20 times

Makes 1 serve

 ___

Appellation Restaurant

The Louise Hotel

Barossa Valley

South Australia

http://www.thelouise.com.au/dine/

+61 8 8562 2722

Share this