Food & Drink

OF THE Month

Gin Hot Toddy

Since January was so mild, many people are predicting a cold snap for this February. And if that does come to pass, then what better way to warm up than with this modern twist on the traditional Hot Toddy?

INGREDIENTS • 45ml gin • 90ml freshly squeezed lemon juice • 1 teaspoon sugar • 60ml hot water • Cinnamon stick • Lemon wedge INSTRUCTIONS In a wine goblet or glass mug, add the gin, lemon juice and sugar. Then simply add the hot water and stir well until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cinnamon stick and a lemon wedge to garnish and then sit back and warm up!

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

Each year when winter hits, my mind tends to drift northwards for comfort. As the darkness descends in the afternoon, or in the morning when I’m scraping the ice from the van windscreen with the edges of a cassette case (still the best tried-and-tested method), I often imagine myself in the wilds of Scandinavia, where this kind of icy weather makes some kind of poetic sense.

One way to get there, figuratively at least, is by turning to Rachel Khoo’s excellent ‘Little Swedish Kitchen’ cook book. Whilst wearing an obligatory chunky white polo-necked jumper, I tried to make one of her recipes but couldn’t get my hands on about a third of the ingredients. This bit of Scandi/Welsh compromise went down very well nonetheless.

‘SORT OF’ SWEDISH PRAWNS ON TOAST

Serves 6

J 6 slices of sourdough bread, medium-sliced, toasted J 75g cooked tiger prawns 75g cooked small prawns J Butter J 1 large tbsp mayonnaise J 1 large tbsp crème fraîche J 1 tsp Dijon mustard J White pepper J 1 tsp chopped fresh dill (or dried if you can’t find any) J 100g pack of hot smoked salmon flakes J Chopped parsley

Dead easy, all this. Mix the mayonnaise, the crème fraîche, the mustard and the dill. Season with a good twist of pepper, then stir in the prawns. Toast and butter the sourdough bread slices, then plate them up. Spoon a healthy portion of prawns onto each slice of toast. Then scatter salmon flakes over each one before sprinkling some chopped parsley over to finish. Serve with something cold and fizzy.

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

PORK CHOP WITH ROQUEFORT BUTTER

This was another compromise which went down a storm. It’s based on a recipe by the great Valentine Warner, but once again I was hamstrung by the paucity of my larder. Not that anyone was complaining afterwards!

Serves 4

J 4 free-range pork chops J 1 garlic clove, finely chopped J 100g Roquefort cheese J 100g soft, room temperature butter J Red wine vinegar J 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard J 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped J 75g (approx) shelled walnuts J Butter J Salt and pepper J Fresh sage leaves

First, stir the Roquefort and the butter together, adding the garlic, the mustard, a teaspoon of vinegar and the parsley. Keep in the fridge.

Heat some butter in the pan. Season the chops and hold them, skin-side-down for a good minute so that it gets nice and crispy. Fry the chops two at a time so as not to crowd the pan. Six minutes per side should do it, but do check that they are cooked through.

Keep those first two chops in the oven on a low heat while you do the same to the others. In the final phase of cooking, add the walnuts and cook for about five minutes.

Serve on hot plates. Spoon an immodest quenelle of Roquefort butter onto each chop, surround them with the walnuts and artfully scatter each chop with fresh sage leaves.

New Year, new us…

Hello readers, friends of TGTG.

We headed into the New Year full of vim and vigour, and Tim had the desire to make some changes. So we closed for a few days and harnessed that enthusiasm to make everything TGTG just that little bit better.

If you’ve ever met Tim you will know the whole concept of The Grape to Glass as a shop was based around change. Changing perception of wine, how we buy it, ripping up the rules and changing minds.

That journey began over six years ago and things have changed in that time. The stocklist is a LOT longer, the number of bottles in the shop is higher. We have wines from new countries and more local wines than ever.

Over the last two years Elementary was added to the family to take a similar journey for craft beers. Tim and Ant have been a constant between the two establishments, but it felt like time for more.

A large part of the change is bringing Elementary closer into the TGTG family, ‘Elementary By The Grape to Glass’! A slight change of focus, a more cohesive feel. Breeding familiarity and making both feel more connected to the other. You will see lighter colour, rejigged seating, and a definite feel of the shop in the bar now with more wines available by the glass, as well as a range of take-away wines. Its feel is certainly cosier, seating is more configurable, it’s lighter and brighter, and has a lot more to offer range wise!

The vault has had complete transformation (the sofa is back!), with a new layout and feel to it. The space outside the vault has seen the fridges banished and more spacious seating arranged (the naughty corner).

But the changes haven’t just been in the bar, the shop has had work also – a few nips and tucks to keep it looking fresh. Some bespoke (and very clever) display cases have been built to allow us to have even more of that expansive stock list in the shop at any time. But they have a secret…

Remove the wine from the top, spin them around and we have a large table around which to host tastings, meet the makers events and talks. Our motto – Taste, Share, Educate, Enjoy. We will be offering more ways to do that, Tim and Ant are already plotting and planning events for the year.

Sometimes change is for the better and we think you are going to love the changes we have made.

It is February, the month of love! Shakespeare wrote: “If music be the food of love play on” – I don’t wish to suggest the bard was crazy, but wine and cheese are clearly the food of love. If you want a gift for your loved one, a stunning bottle of wine to accompany the meal that you are preparing to show how much you love and appreciate your significant other, or some craft beers because nothing says” I love you” like a dank DIPA, a coffee stout and a fruity sour that hits that right spot then come and chat. Whatever you’re looking for we can help you find it. n

Gyda’n cariad Tim, Nic, Mark, Pete, Ant, Huw, Hollie, Marie and Albie

The Grape to Glass Wine Shop

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 33stocks locally produced beers, wines and spirits 2022 Page 33