Cocktail of the Month

Menu Mistress

Dillusion Cocktail (Serves 1)

I recently came across this cocktail scrawled on a scrape of paper among my recipes. I was straightaway reminded of a fantastic evening many years ago at Dabbous, a restaurant (now closed) that was chef Ollie Dabbous’s first venture; he’s since gone on to bigger things with Hide, a restaurant on Piccadilly. I vaguely remember that the food that evening was very good but it was this cocktail that left its mark on me! It’s incredibly fresh made with gin, elderflower cordial, cucumber and dill – perfect for lifting a late September evening, or any other for that matter!..

2 large slices of cucumber

1 small bunch of Dill

50ml gin

15ml lemon juice

15ml elderflower cordial

1 teaspoon sugar syrup

Handful of ice

  1. Crush the cucumber and dill together in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and shake together with a handful of ice.
  3. Strain into a glass and enjoy!
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Published by Menu Mistress

Cooking has always been something I've enjoyed, I have an extensive collection of cookbooks, some are well thumbed whilst others collect dust on the shelves; I can’t bear to get rid of any cook book, just in case one day I might use it for that one obscure recipe - light on a rainy day! I enjoy eating out and discovering new flavours, whether it’s just a local haunt or a ‘dress up’ to dinner restaurant - food is my hobby! In my opinion food is the one of the most important pieces of knowledge you need to know about any culture in order to really understand it, so when we go away, it’s not the local sights that I’m googling but the best place to eat! I'm not one of those fortunate cooks who can throw something together by looking at the contents of their fridge, I need a plan to work with, then I organise my fridge around the recipe. I am however a very organised person, you might even call me a control freak! I love the orderly fashion of a recipe, I find it soothing to have a plan in front of me, so the thought of trawling through my recipe books and trying new recipes is my idea of a perfect afternoon. But I realise that this is not everyones idea of fun, hence the birth of this blog. This blog is essentially for people who adore food but don’t have the time, patience or energy to search through cook books to find that winning recipe – that’s the job of Menu Mistress!

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