RAISE a glass and say cheers – or is it cheese?
An expert mixologist has crafted four unusual new cocktail recipes featuring Stilton cheese.
TV presenter and drinks writer Aidy Smith is encouraging the nation to be braver with festive tipples and has updated the Martini, Old-Fashioned, Gin Sour and Bloody Mary with the crumbly cheese.
For the unsure, he suggests first trying a twist on the classic martini by adding a Stilton-stuffed olive as the garnish.
He said: “The creaminess of a good quality vodka or aromatic botanicals from the gin work perfectly with the creamy savoury notes of the stilton stuffed olive.
“Your lemon peel garnish and aroma will bring out a vibrant zesty note which elevates the sensory elements of the experience.”
Braver drinkers can try the updated version of an Old Fashioned featuring a “blue cheese fat wash” – a staple to cocktail aficionados, where the marbled delicacy is shaken with bourbon, maple syrup and bitters, to create the Blue Maple cocktail.
The quartet of cocktail recipes were commissioned by British Stilton maker Long Clawson, to celebrate its artisanal Stilton, 1912, named after the year the dairy was formed and first made by its Master Cheesemakers, who grade the cheese multiple times to ensure the quality, taste and texture.
Long Clawson is a cooperative of 30 milk producing farmers within a 30-mile radius.
RECIPE REVEALED
Blue Maple, a twist on the Old Fashioned:
Ingredients:
60ml Bourbon (1912 blue cheese fat wash with Whistle Pig 10 Year Old)
1 table spoon maple syrup
1 table spoon water
2 dashes angustora bitters
2 dashes chocolate bitters
Garnish: orange peel
Method:
Add all ingredients to a Boston glass with ice and stir for 60 seconds until chilled. Fine strain ingredients into a tumbler filled with ice and garnish with some peeled orange.
Festive Martini Garnished with Stilton Stuffed Olive
Ingredients:
70ml of Quality Vodka or Gin
Rinse of Sweet Red Vermouth*
Lemon Twist
Garnish: Stilton stuffed olive
1912 Stilton
Fresh olives
*a rinse is where you put a splash of vermouth in the glass, rinse it around and throw it away
Method:
Rinse your martini glass with vermouth and rub the essential oils from your lemon peel garnish around the rim and stem of the glass. Fill a mixing glass ¾ of the way with ice and pour your vodka or gin in. Stir gently for around 40-60 seconds until you reach an ice-cold temperature.
Garnish with your 1912 blue cheese stuffed olive. If you want to make your martini dirty, just add 5-20ml of olive brine/juice depending on how dirty you like it. To make the garnish, a larger pitted olive is ideal for stuffing. Simply kneed the cheese a little with a bread knife and smooth into the hole, skewer with a cocktail stick (metal preferred) and place over your glass.
Figgy Gin Sour with Stilton Stuffed Fig
Ingredients:
50ml Gin
20ml Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
2 tsp of Fig Jam
10ml of Strawberry or Raspberry Syrup
1 Egg White or 30ml of Vegan Aquafaba
Garnish – Stilton stuffed fig
1912 Stilton
Fresh figs
Method:
Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Dry shake (with no ice) for around 30-40 seconds to incorporate the egg white and then wet shake (with ice) until chilled. Double strain into your coupe glass ensuring the creamy texture sits on top of the drink for visuals and taste! Use a long cocktail skewer wide enough to reach over the rim of your Glasses rim and place half a fig and place a little blue cheese on top.
Bloody Mary with Stilton celery
Ingredients (serves 4)
1.5L of Quality Tomato Juice
100ml Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp black pepper
6 tsp salt
6 dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
12 Dashes of Hot Sauce
Garnish: Stilton celery
1912 Stilton
Celery sticks
Method:
Pour all your ingredients into a large jug and mix well so you can shake in batches. Take the large side of your cocktail shaker and fill it ¾ with ice and the same with your Bloody Mary mixture. Shake until chilled and fine strain into your glass before adding the garnish. Make sure to stir the jug each time you shake more mixture to incorporate the flavours! For the garnish, use the curved dip on the length of celery and smear in a generous portion on cheese. Leave the section that is submerged in your tasty cocktail bare unless you want the delicious flavour to infuse the juice.
How To Create a 1912 Stilton Fat Wash
Melt 125g of butter into a pan on low heat
Add in your half a pack of 1912 Stilton and stir until combined and melted
Once combined, pour the mixture into a large Tupperware box or equivalent
Once cooled, add in 750ml of bourbon, stir and freeze for 24-48 hours
Remove from the freezer and gently scrape off the frozen layer of fat then fine strain the liquid through two muslin/cheese cloths
Pour the mixture back into the original bottle and store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
The partnership between Aidy Smith and the Master Cheesemakers at 1912 is designed to inspire foodies to take Stilton beyond the cheese board and experiment with different types of recipes – which are available on the presenter's social channels and the brand's website.
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He said: “Stilton really is the King of British cheese and there are only six dairies in the world that can make it as it has a Protected Designation of Origin status (PDO).
“At this time of year you really do get the best of the 1912 Stilton as the milk that’s produced in Autumn is deliciously creamy, because of the wetter weather and richer milk.”
“Taste and texture are two incredibly important things when it comes to what we sip and finding that perfect balance can be difficult, but not impossible.
“I found 1912 was the perfect cheese for a fat wash, that would also combine with a delicious nutty flavour.”
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