With the weather warming up and summer fast approaching, it is the perfect opportunity to host a summer party.
American chef and founder of Feed Your Soul, a collection of American restaurants, Stax Diner, Boondocks Restaurant, and Butterscotch Bakery, has come up with the most delectable recipes to host the ultimate summer party.
To start, try a heirloom tomato and charred corn salad that pairs perfectly with a berry Gordon’s Pink Spritz.
Get in the party spirit with a Gordon’s Pink Spritz, made with Gordon’s Premium Pink Distilled Gin, lemonade, Prosecco and sumptuous strawberries. For the dish, your guests will love the classic American flavours of heirloom tomato and charred corn salad with Grated Cheddar, Dill, and Gordon’s Premium Pink Distilled Gin vinaigrette. This dish is simple and easy to make but looks impressive.
Bea says, “Charred corn and tomato salad with Gordon’s Premium Pink Distilled Gin vinaigrette is super easy to make ahead of time as well as with a perfectly refreshing taste. With American sweet corn, tomatoes and British Cheddar and Gordon’s Premium Pink Distilled Gin, it’s the perfect U.S & U.K fusion dish. The Gordon’s Pink Spritz has this lovely fruity fizz that works perfectly with the salad’s acidity.”
Gordon’s Pink Spritz - (Serves 1, 2.2 units of alcohol per serve)
Ingredients:
50ml Gordon’s Premium Pink Distilled Gin (1.8 units)
50ml lemonade
25ml Prosecco
Fresh strawberries
Ice
Method:
Fill a large wine glass with ice, mix in the Gordon’s Premium Pink Distilled Gin with lemonade and Prosecco, and garnish with wedges of fresh strawberries.
Corn and Tomato Salad Serves: 4-6
Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
Gin Vinaigrette (0.5 units of alcohol)
2 tsp dijon mustard
juice of one lime
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
15 ml Gordon’s Premium Pink Distilled Gin (0.5 units of alcohol)
2 tbsp. rapeseed oil
1 tsp chopped dill
small handful of basil leaves
black pepper and salt to taste
4 ears of corn
100 g cherry tomato
1 ripe heirloom tomato, chopped
1 tsp chopped chives
80g mild or mature cheddar
juice of 1/2 lime
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1) Heat grill or griddle pan to high heat. Brush corn with oil, and lay on the grill, allow the corn to turn a little black before rotating. Let cool.
2) Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette. Chop dill, and whisk all of the vinaigrette.
ingredients together. Add black pepper and salt to taste. Set aside.
3) Slice cherry tomato and chop tomato coarsely.
4) Putallcorn,tomato,cheddarandvinaigretteinabowl.Tearthebasiland
add, add chopped chives. Taste and add extra lime juice, salt and pepper as needed. Serve at Room temperature.
Follow with Viet-Cajun BBQ Heads on/off Grilled Shrimp with a Classic Gordon’s London Dry gin & tonic premix.
The classic gin and tonic, with its 250 year British heritage, is fitting for a very British celebration, and the tin means it’s perfectly mixed and street-party ready. Pair the crisp taste of Gordon’s gin and tonic with a dish that’s all-American, like Viet-Cajun BBQ Heads on/off Grilled Shrimp. With lip-smacking Cajun seasoning and garlic, mopped up with a good crusty baguette, it’s a holy matrimony of flavour.
Bea says, “This is the type of dish you can only eat surrounded by the friends and family who don’t mind you seeing you get a little messy. This is lip-smacking, finger-licking savageness with sauce so good, people will not judge you for licking the plate clean. The dish really plays to the melting pot of America with inspiration from the Vietnamese community in Louisiana, along with rounding it out with British Worcestershire sauce and butter to give that extra punch of richness and depth.”
Classic Gordon’s Gin & Tonic – (Serves 1, 1.9 units per serve)
Ingredients:
50ml Gordon’s London Dry Gin (1.9 units of alcohol)
Fresh bottled tonic
Cubed ice
Wedge of lime to garnish
Method:
Fill a chilled highball glass with fresh ice cubes. Pour 50 ml of Gordon’s London Dry Gin over the ice and top up with chilled tonic. Gently squeeze a wedge of lime into the glass before dropping it in, then give it all a final stir. The definitive Gin & Tonic, and a great way to begin any occasion.
Viet Cajun Prawns
Serves: 4-6
Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
800 g of prawns with head and shell on
4 shallots, sliced
8 cloves of garlic, chopped
125 g of butter
220 g of caster sugar
1.5 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
175 ml of water
2 tsp cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp black pepper
100 g spring onion / salad onions
100 g of fresh chopped coriander
Method:
1) Over medium high heat, saute butter and shallots for 4 minutes until
softened and brown.
2) Add chopped garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
3) Add Caster Sugar and turn to high heat—stir and it will make a caramel.
When it bubbles and thickens and is a nice dark colour about 3 minutes.
4) Deglaze and add cajun seasoning, fish sauce, soy sauce, black pepper.
5) Whenthatisincorporated,addprawnsandspringonions,andsautefor4
minutes until prawns are pink.
6) Addwatertothinthesauce,stirandthenputintoservingbowl.
7) Top with Fresh Coriander.
And finally, for a deliciously indulgent dessert try Baileys Irish Cream Mocha Monkey Bread with sumptuously rich Baileys Iced Coffee.
Baileys is the ultimate indulgent treat and perfect to enjoy after a meal. Double the indulgence by pairing cool and creamy Baileys Iced Coffee with Baileys Mocha Monkey Bread – chocolate soft cinnamon bun bundt cake flavoured with a Baileys Mocha Icing, for a touch of luxury.
Bea says, “Americans love eating with their hands and this monkey bread is the perfect dessert for people to pull apart and savour. The Baileys Mocha Icing just gilds the buttery soft dough, and this will definitely be talked out for months to come. This dessert represents the best of American and British desserts, moreish, tender, reminiscent of your mum’s home baking and thoroughly satisfying.”
Baileys Iced Coffee - (Serves 1, 0.9 units per serve)
Ingredients:
50ml Baileys Original Irish Cream (0.9 units per serve)
Brewed coffee
Three large ice cubes
Method:
Brew coffee and allow it to cool
Pour Baileys and coffee into a tall, ice-filled glass
Monkey Bread - (0.3 units per full monkey bread) Serves: 8-10 people
Time: 4 hours
Ingredients:
2 packages of active dry yeast
75 ml of milk lukewarm
2 egg yolks
150g of butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla
60g of caster sugar
1 tsp white wine or cider vinegar
85g of greek yoghurt
425g of plain flour
1 ts salt
Filling:
200g dark brown sugar
250 g melted butter
2 tsp instant coffee
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
Icing:
100 g icing sugar
25 ml milk
1 tsp instant coffee
1/2 tsp cocoa powder
15 ml Baileys (0.3 units of alcohol)
Dark Chocolate, melted
Method:
1) Add Yeast to warm milk (make sure the milk is warm to the touch, but not
hot so you don’t kill the yeast. Stir and wait for bubbles to come.
2) Meanwhile, beat butter and caster sugar in a stand mixer with a paddle
attachment or with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and whip until combined. Slowly add vanilla and vinegar. Add Yeast/milk mixture and slowly combine.
3) Stir Flour and salt. Incorporate and mix for about 2 minutes.
4) Put the dough onto a floured surface, knead it until it’s a nice, soft ball. It
will feel softer than a normal dough, but that is normal.
5) Putinsideabutteredbowl,wrapwithclingfilm,andsetasideinawarm
place until the ball has doubled, about an hour.
6) Punch down the dough. Make the filling:
7) Melt the butter. Brush melted butter onto the 10 inch bundt pan, or a grease proofed cake tin/two loaf tins if you do not have a bundt pan. With
the remaining butter, add instant coffee and mix until combined.
8) Inaseparatebowl,addcocoapowder,cinnamonandbrownsugar.
9) divide the dough and roll into 25g balls. Dip in melted butter, and then dip
in sugar. Place around the bundt pan. Add remaining sugar mix to the top. Cover in cling film and let rise until it’s doubled, about one hour. 30 mins in, preheat oven to 175 ‘C.
10) Bake for 30 minutes.
11) Remove from oven. Let cool for 10 minutes and take a butter knife to
loosen the bread around the edges. Invert onto a plate.
12) Make the Baileys Mocha Icing – sift icing sugar and cocoa powder
together.
13) Warm milk to warm, and add instant coffee.
14) Add milk and baileys to icing sugar, and stir until it’s a thick, golden
syrup/molasses like consistency. You might need to add more milk to thin.
15) Pour over the bread. Drizzle melted chocolate (optional)
Bea Vo
Instagram: @london_bea
feedyoursoul.co.uk
