Creme de Mure

I must admit, I've been lazy recently. No particular reason, I've just gone through one of those periods where I don't feel quite so much like cooking something fancy, and I'm more likely to fall back on an old reliable recipe rather than something interesting or new.

But! Spells of apathy can't last forever, and time changes all things. Tides turn, seasons change, sunrise, sunset, circle of life, like the circles that you find, in the windmills of your mind, etc. The thing that has brought me out of my slump is the coming of blackberry season.

I moved to Bristol about this time last year, which meant that when blackberry season came around I had no idea where to find the best spots to pick them. But I play the long game, and I've been keeping my eye out for months. This time around I knew exactly where to go, and have successfully cleaned out, like, so many blackberries. If blackberries were a new species of human/vampire type deal, I would be the I Am Legend guy. They would speak of me in hushed tones as the Bringer of Death, Maker of Pies.

And now I finally have enough for me to make Creme de Mure, or blackberry liqueur. Ages ago Pete gave me 'How To Make Your Own Drinks' by Suzy Atkins (her off Saturday Kitchen) that had a recipe for Creme de Mure in it, and this is the first time I've been able to try it out.

Her recipe requires:
1 1/2 kg blackberries
2 litres red wine
1kg sugar
70cl vodka or brandy

This is meant to make 2 1/2 litres, and she recommends drinking within 6 weeks. However. As you know, I prefer to treat recipes as the opening offer in a negotiation, and therefore subject to amendments. My thoughts on this recipe were as follows:

1) 2 1/2 litres of a liqueur is a lot to get through in 6 weeks.
2) Blackberries are free.
3) Wine and vodka are not.

My conclusion was to use about the same amount of blackberries, but only one bottle of wine, and amend the amount of vodka and sugar as I saw fit. That way I'd produce less liquid over all, it would be more blackberry-y, and it would be cheaper. This is how it went:

Creme de Mure (Bronners Style)

You will need:

1 1/2 kg blackberries
1 bottle of red wine (Suzy says to use something decent, but then she would say that, wouldn't she?)
50cl vodka (actually, next time I'll probably up this to 70cl)
350g sugar

Wash the blackberries, getting rid of any twigs and bugs. Put them in a large tupperware box or any other receptacle large enough that can still fit in the fridge. Mash with a potato masher and add the whole bottle of wine. Stir a little, then put on the lid and keep in the fridge for a day or so. Suzy says 48hrs, but I'm a busy woman and only left it a day.

After they've macerated pass the wine and blackberries through a sieve into a large pan and add the sugar and vodka. I think I worked the blackberries through the sieve a little too hard so I did get a lot of extra liquid and some pulp in the final mix, but it doesn't seem the worse for it.

Heat through without boiling until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid has thickened and turned slightly syrupy. Store in sterilised bottles.

This ended up making 2 litres,  but as I said I may have forced more blackberry juice into it than perhaps I should. It has a little warmth of alcohol but is a bit weak, which is why I'd recommend upping the vodka. Or, you know, following the original recipe. Either way. On the other hand, I've mainly been drinking this in cocktails where I add more spirits anyway, so it all works out in the end.

Speaking of which...

The Bramble

You will need:

2 measures creme de mure
1 measure gin
dash of lemon juice (optional)

Pour everything over a tumbler of ice and stir. Drink. Drink it up.

Ooooh, this is nice. Not too sweet, fruity and refreshing. I've seen and tried a number of other cocktails that use Creme de Mure, but in my opinion nothing really matches up to this. Go. Drink it up.

Wine tasting at Majestic

I am officially an old woman. You know that beautiful bank holiday we just had? The one where everyone was outside, enjoying the sun and life and finding inner peace and joy and all that bullshit? Well I had a bad back. Yeah. Initial plans of a walk and picnic were quickly downgraded to staying in and sitting very, very still. Even my 'occasionally turning my head to look at something' ideas became impractical. I was not happy, to the point where I began cursing the happiness of others, and that may well have led to my descent into misanthropy and super-villainy if I hadn't remembered one very important fact: alcohol. It exists.

On Tuesday my local Majestic had their Summer Wine Tasting to showcase the new wines they have in stock, and even though my back wasn't entirely better there was no way I was missing it. So off I hobbled to find some nice summer drinks and anaesthetise my back. Two birds, y'see.

They had about a dozen wines out. I would have preferred a bigger selection, but it was respectable enough. I recall a wine tasting which had about 80 wines out, and even though I limited myself to the ones I really wanted to try I was still pissed as a bastard by the end of it. I ended up being half carried home and drunk texting some friends my opinions on Lethal Weapon. So I guess 12 wines is fine.

My highlights were:

Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc, £19.99 or £15.99 each when you buy two.

I'm a big fan of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, so I was kind of hoping that this wouldn't be much better than the cheaper versions which are my standard. It is, goddammit. It's got a beautiful, big, fruity, grassy taste, all tomato vines and lemons and apples. I could drink this all day.

Amarone, Cantina Negrar, £22 or £18.99 when you buy two.

This was rich, smooth and deep; almost fortified. It had a spicy, dried fruit finish, and a bit of honeyed sweetness. A very nice special occasion wine, and probably a good match for a cheeseboard.

Nyetimber Classic Cuvee, £23.99

English wine! I know, right? I've tried a couple of English whites which I have enjoyed very much and I want to try more, but there's still only limited availability and they're generally on the dear end. Nyetimber, as the enthusiastic chap at Majestic was telling me, have a vineyard in Sussex that almost exactly matches the soil and climate of the Champagne region, and as the wine is made by the same method it's about as close to champagne as you're likely to get. I can't disagree. It has a lovely honey-on-toast yeastiness and a really deep, full flavour. A real celebration wine.

As you can see, all of these are a bit expensive, so even though these were my favourites the likelihood is I'm not going to get them. I might treat myself to the Greywacke one day, but that's about it. The one wine I tasted that I almost certainly will get is the (drumroll please):

Mister Shiraz, £8.74 or £6.99 each when you buy two

This was rich, smokey and tasty, and not nearly as drying and tannic as I often find with beefy Shiraz's - it went down smooth. I think this would be a great food wine, and my tasting guide even recommended it for a barbecue. I reckon a couple of grilled steaks, chips, some good company and a bottle of this will suit a Summer's evening down to the ground.

You'll be pleased to know my back is much better now, but if it strikes me down again and my movement is limited to sitting in one spot and raising a glass, well, I'm prepared for that eventuality.