Fermented Strawberry Cocktail

LACTO FERMENTED STRAWBERRY COCKTAIL

By Anthony Raffo

This time of year isn’t the season for British strawberries although I’m sure there is a spike in sales around 14th February. Valentine’s Day conjures up all sorts of images such as chocolate, roses, jewellery and of course the humble strawberry. Why not do something a little different with them this year to impress someone special? When I say do something special with them anyone that knows me knows it’s a safe bet that the next word out of my mouth is fermentation. And that’s exactly it: lacto-fermented strawberries taste incredible, just as if a strawberry was injected with pure umami. My favourite use has to be this cocktail, which is very unusual and sure to impress the one you love. Ingredients Lacto-fermented strawberry juice: Punnets of strawberries x2 Table salt x 2% of the weight of the strawberries

Method Weigh your strawberries and then weigh 2% of that number of table salt. For example, if you have 100g of strawberries you would need 2g of table salt.

In a large bowl toss the salt and strawberries and leave until you start to see strawberry juice forming at the bottom of the bowl.

Place everything into an air tight Mason

jar and leave for two weeks at room temperature.

Separate the juice from the strawberries and chill.

Lacto-fermented strawberry cocktail

Ingredients Lemonade x 200ml Pink gin x 50ml Fermented strawberry juice x 50ml Ice cubes Fresh strawberry x 1

Method Measure out the pink gin and chilled fermented strawberry juice into a mixing glass with a few cubes of ice and stir for one minute.

Pour into your serving glass with a few more cubes of ice. Top with lemonade and garnish with the fresh strawberry.

MORNING LOVE OMELETTES

By Theo Michaels

For many people the act of creating and sharing food is a means of showing their love. It can be as complex as a lengthy dinner or the simple act of making a morning cup of tea before your partner wakes up. For me, having the opportunity to cook my wife a delicious breakfast is a luxury we rarely get (three kids under 11 and a dog are not conducive to relaxing mornings!).

Here’s my easy Mediterranean omelette with Feta cheese and a piquant tomato salsa.

Ingredients Salsa: Half dozen baby plum tomatoes 1 tbsp finely diced onion Few sprigs fresh parsley, chopped Quarter red chilli, finely diced 30 ml olive oil 1 tbsp tomato purée 15ml cider vinegar Omelette: 4 eggs Handful grated Cheddar cheese Knob butter Dozen mushrooms sliced Handful baby spinach leaves ½ small red onion, diced 50g Feta cheese

Method Mix all the salsa ingredients together, season and taste. Leave in a bowl till later.

Fry the onions and mushrooms for five minutes until the onions are caramelised and the mushrooms are seared, then remove from the pan.

Whisk the eggs and season generously. On a high heat, add a knob of butter to the pan along with half the onions and mushrooms and a small handful of spinach, stir for a few seconds until the spinach starts to wilt then pour in half

the whisked eggs. Swirl the eggs around the pan and using the side of a fork gently pull the edges of the egg towards the centre as it cooks then tilt the pan to fill the ‘void’ with the egg. Repeat for your own breakfast!

Once it starts to solidify, sprinkle over the grated cheddar cheese and before the eggs are fully cooked fold one side of the omelette edge over and then tilt the pan and pour it onto a plate to create a nice clean shape.

Spoon over some of the salsa across the centre of the omelette (I use a fork to let excess liquid drain off the salsa), then crumble the Feta over the top and serve with a cup of coffee and a smug grin.