It was my birthday a few weeks ago and to celebrate I had a few friends for dinner. It was a bit challenging because our home is a building site at the moment, and how not to make it look like one was very tricky. But with a beautiful table outside with many small vases of colourful daisies and sunflowers, big and small, and lots of candles everywhere, it looked magical and so full of golden light.
I also asked my guests to bring a dish, so the cooking wasn’t so stressful. I asked Noa to bring her spinach pie which is so delicate and delicious with a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth crust and a creamy, cheesy filling dotted with spinach. I provided her with a bag of kale, swiss chard and spinach that she steamed and put in this special pie she has perfected. Anna and Leon made a bowl of quinoa which was presented in a beautiful wooden bowl – Leon had decorated it with a circle of purple flowers. They also brought along a plum crumble and a tapioca pudding decorated with mango slivers in a mandala design. I added a green garden salad all fresh from the garden and a simple dal and red lentil hummus. I wish I had photos of all this, but the flash on my camera wasn’t working. As it is Summer, I really wanted to make a wonderfully refreshing drink before we sat down for dinner. Something to quench our thirst and ignite our appetites. I had made this ginger beer once before and it was delicious. Refreshing, icy cold with a ginger, lemon sweet bite. And it is so easy!
ginger beer
The original recipe came from Jamie Oliver’s cookbook, “Happy Days with the Naked Chef”.
Serves 4 – 6
ingredients
140g fresh ginger
4 Tbsp light brown sugar
5 lemons
1-litre soda water or sparkling mineral water
sprigs fresh mint
slices lemon
preparation
1. Grate the ginger on a coarse cheese grater – you can leave the skin on if you like. Place the ginger with its pulpy juice into a bowl and sprinkle with your sugar.
2. Remove the rind from 2 of your lemons with a vegetable peeler or sharp knife, then chop the peeled lemons in quarters and add to the bowl, and slightly bash and squash with something heavy like a rolling pin or pestle. Just do this for 10 seconds, to mix up all the flavours.
3. Squeeze the juice from all 3 lemons and add it to the bowl.
4. Pour in the fizzy water or soda water and allow to sit for 15 – 30 minutes. I actually put it in the freezer, so it stays nice and cold.
5. Taste. You may feel that the lemons are slightly too sour, therefore add more sugar; if it is slightly too sweet, add more lemon juice. These amounts are always a little variable, so just follow your own taste buds.
6. Pass the ginger beer through a coarse sieve into a large jug and add lots of ice and lots of fresh mint.
Goodness shared from Stacey
