Food & drink

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OF THE Month

January Punch

January tends to be a time to hunker down and become all virtuous on the drink front. But, if you think that this month is already depressing enough, then shun the traditional ‘Dry Jan’ and celebrate the start of the New Year with a warming winter fruit punch instead...

INGREDIENTS • 500ml Pimm’s • 500ml brandy • 1.5 litres apple juice • Ice • 2 cinnamon sticks • Apple, sliced • Orange, sliced INSTRUCTIONS • Fill a large jug with ice. Then mix the Pimm’s and brandy with the apple juice and give it a good stir. Add the cinnamon sticks, the sliced apple and orange and enjoy!

IN THE MIX

Of course, if you’d rather sit back and relax while somebody mixed your ideal cocktail for you, then why not visit Sheldon’s in Colwyn Bay? From a Margarita to a Mojito, it has quite the cocktail selection and is quickly becoming the place to go for cocktails in North Wales.

Food for thought

I think I might be in the minority here, but I really love January. For many, January is like the worst, most braindeadening hangover imaginable, following the greatest night-out ever. There’s the sombre ceremony of taking down the bright, sparkly decorations and returning the house to comparative drabness once again – not to mention the painful experience of hoovering up all the pine needles off the living room carpet. (When will we learn not to do this wearing just socks?)

There’s a sense that the magic has been suddenly switched off, like a 17th Century Puritan stamping through your house, grabbing anything that looks like fun and throwing it into a sack of shame. All you have to look forward to now is the annual tradition of joining a gym to rid yourselves of your surplus Christmas weight, knowing full well, that by February you’ll have given it all up and asked for a partial refund.

Well, sorry everyone but January is a highlight of the calendar for me. Firstly, my birthday lands three weeks in (as most others are observing ‘Blue Monday’, officially the most depressing day of the year). As any January-born person will tell you, the pay-off is that your presents are markedly better than the average because they were all bought in the New Year sales. Then there’s the food. Quite often January diets are based on just that – diets. This is the month that people start measuring their muesli portions on kitchen scales, giving up alcohol, and using curly kale to make milkshakes.

For me, food at this time of year is all about staying warm with winter at its bleakest, so it’s soups, casseroles, stews, tagines, cassoulets and one-pots all the way. When it’s cold enough outside to freeze the tail off a brass monkey (PG version), a quinoa and cucumber salad just isn’t going to hit the spot.

Instead, reach for a couple of old, never-fail favourites to give you and your family some inner warmth as the wheels of 2022 start to turn.n

Cai Ross is co-owner and Maitre d’ of the award-winning Paysanne Bistro in Deganwy, which has been serving French country-style food to the fine people of North

Wales since 1988. He also writes for Calibre Magazine, BBC Good Food, HeyUGuys.com and The North Wales Weekly News

RECIPES

SOUPE AU PISTOU

Serves 6

(For the Pesto sauce) J 4 garlic cloves J 1 large bunch basil J 125g pine nuts J 125g grated Parmesan cheese J Olive oil

(For the Soup) J 2 potatoes, peeled J 350g green beans J 350g courgettes J 2 carrots, peeled J 2 leeks J 2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and de-seeded J 250g Savoy cabbage, finely sliced J 2.5 litres vegetable stock J 2 400g tins haricot beans J 125g small macaroni J Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to season

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON

This is a classic, three day recipe, the beauty of which being that on the day you serve it, all you have to do is reheat everything.

Serves 6.

You will need: J 1kg chuck steak, cut into fairly large chunks J 200g thick, rindless streaky bacon J 85g beef dripping (or butter if you can’t get any) J 2 cloves crushed garlic J 100g button onions, soaked in hot water and peeled whole J 1 punnet whole button mushrooms J Plain flour J Brandy J Fresh chopped parsley for garnish

For the marinade, you will need: J 1 onion, 1 carrot and 1 stalk of celery, all sliced J 1 bottle red Burgundy J 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped J 2 bay leaves J 3 sprigs thyme J Salt and pepper J 2 tablespoons olive oil

Put the diced beef into an earthenware pot and season. Cover with the ingredients for the marinade, stir it together briefly and leave it

To make the pesto sauce, place all the ingredients in a blender with enough oil to give a consistency of thick cream and blend thoroughly.

Prepare the vegetables by chopping into small chunks about the same size. Bring the stock to a rolling boil and add the vegetables. Simmer for 45 minutes, then season with salt and pepper. Add the haricot beans and the macaroni, and continue cooking with the lid off until the macaroni is done.

Drizzle the pesto sauce over your bowl of soup and sprinkle Parmesan over it all. Have some extra Parmesan on the table along with some warm crusty bread. covered overnight. Remove meat from the marinade and dry with a kitchen towel (otherwise it won’t brown when you fry it). Strain and reserve the marinade and vegetables.

Heat the beef dripping (or butter) in a heavy casserole dish and brown the meat on all sides, transferring it to another bowl when it is browned. Do this a few chunks at a time and don’t crowd the pan. When that is done, place the vegetables from the marinade into the casserole and fry them for about five minutes until browned a little,

adding a little olive oil if necessary.

At this point, return the beef to the casserole, together with any juices which may have collected in the bowl, sprinkle it with a good tablespoon of the flour, stir in the reserved marinade liquid and a good

slug of brandy, season and let it simmer very slowly with the cover on, for two hours.

In a frying pan, cook the bacon and baby onions until golden in a little olive oil, place them in the casserole then fry the mushrooms in the remains of the oil for 2 or 3 minutes and add them as well. Carry on cooking it slowly for another hour. Let it stand overnight again. To serve, heat it up the next day for one more hour. To add a little colour, add some freshly boiled carrots.

Don’t fancy cooking?

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda, welcome to ‘Tryanuary’ 2022!

We have had a tough couple of years that have pushed us harder than we knew was possible. There have been good times, but tough times also.

It feels to me like a ‘new normal’ (whatever that may mean) is starting to establish itself, we are used to the differences in how we are living and spending our time. As things start to feel more comfortable, I think it is the right time to push my boundaries.

So while many will be doing dry January, I am going to do try January. The plan is to challenge myself with things that have always been on the edges of my tastes and what’s acceptable. So lots of foods that I have never tried, but have no reason not to (other than things on the bone, I hate things on the bone).

So if I am going to be having that rack of lamb, Jacobs ladder beef joint or a lamb shank, it only seems right that I start to push my boundaries in what I am drinking also. In recent times I have certainly pushed the boat out with beers and tried lots of new things. New flavours and styles in cocktails and spirits have also been tried (in moderation) recently.

All that being said my taste in wines has remained fairly stable. Despite the best efforts of Tim and Mark, I am still no fan of French wines or Chardonnay. Ant has tried but Rosé is still on my ‘its ok but no thanks’ list. So it is time for me to do what I tell others to do, put my trust in the team and let them pick out some wines for me to try.

The tasting counter has always made it easier to try new things without the risk of ending up with a bottle or glass of something that you really don’t like. The layout of the shop encourages you to stray out of your comfort zone. But nothing beats that personal recommendation, something that can perfectly complement that meal, music, relax in the garden, dip in the hot tub, or just feet up on the couch reading. The teams knowledge always manages to find that perfect

thing to test you. Why not put them to the test?

Or put yourself to the test, put your trust in them, tell them how much you want to spend, what you like (either styles or characteristics – way more important to say ‘I like slightly woody but not too heavy’, than to say ‘I like Chardonnay’) and what the occasion is.

See what gems they find to test your palate with. They spend

a lot of time tasting and researching to get the best new wines onto the shelves to tempt you with, it would be a shame for that time to not be put to good use.

There are going to be a few changes to TGTG Wine Shop this 2022. There’ll be more ‘Supplier and Wine Maker’ tastings, dedicated ‘Discovery Wine Courses’ led by Tim and Ant, ‘Special Tasting Counter’ exhibitions, and new room centre display shelving offering range deals and offers. All in the name of making TGTG the ‘Best Tasting Room’ ever!

Felicidades; here’s to 2022! n

The Grape to Glass Wine Shop and Tasting Room

8b Rhos Parade, Penrhyn Avenue, Rhos-on-Sea, LL29 7RE Tel: 01492 545934

www.thegrapetoglass.co.uk

Tim Watson and his team run the Grape to Glass Wine Shop and Tasting Room in Rhos-on-Sea which, as well as offering wine from far reaching lands, also NWMNWM 2019 Page 35stocks locally produced beers, wines and spirits 2022 Page 35