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    • Downpour Recipes, by The Wilder Kitchen

    We know that there are a lot of bakers out there who love to find ways to incorporate Downpour into their cakes and bakes, but today we have something a little different - some delicious savoury recipes featuring Downpour gin and seasonal vegetables, cooked over an open fire on the beach. 

    Beetroot cooking on a plancha over an open fire, on the beach. A bottle of Downpour gin sits next to it and the chef tends the beetroot

    These mouth-watering recipes come from William of The Wilder Kitchen, a chef living and working in North Uist and sharing his cooking inspirations and adventures with local, sustainable and foraged ingredients, cooked outdoors over open flame, on his beautiful instagram account. 

    It's so exciting to see Downpour used in new and inspiring ways, especially in the wild with local foraged ingredients like samphire, that are so much a part of our inspiration in trying to capture the flavour of island life in our drinks. 

    A pair of white hands holds a green plate, filled with grilled vegetables and ricotta cheese. One hand pours a dark red liquid from a bottle over the vegetables.

    If you find yourself hungry for a little Downpour-infused feast but would rather have someone else do the cooking for you then you are in luck. The Wilder Kitchen Outdoor Cooking Experiences run until the end of September, where you can join William at the beautiful Clachan Sands beach for food, fire, conversation, and a G&T or two, for £25 per head.

    Hop over to The Wilder Kitchen instagram account for more information and to follow William on his culinary adventures, and scroll on for some serious culinary inspiration. 

    a close up of a pair of white hands, unwrapping a foil package sitting on a green plate. The plate sits on the sand.

    Burrata with charred samphire & North Uist Distillery Downpour Sloe and Bramble Gin vinaigrette 

    Serves two 

    For the burrata & charred samphire
    1 ball of burrata
    1 large handful of samphire
    2 garlic cloves, roughly sliced
    2 tbsp of pine nuts
    2 tbsp of British rapeseed oil

    For the vinaigrette
    4 tbsp of Downpour Sloe and Bramble Gin
    ½ lemon juiced
    2 tbsp of white wine vinegar
    Salt & pepper to taste


    Get a hot fire going. Roll out some tin foil and place the samphire, sliced garlic, pine nuts and rapeseed oil in the middle. Season with a little salt & pepper and enclose, twisting and scrunching the top of the foil to create a little handle, this will make it easier to pull it from the fire when it's ready.
    When hot, place the parcel in the fire and as it cooks, prepare the vinaigrette.
    Place the sloe & bramble gin, lemon juice and white wine vinegar in a bowl and whisk thoroughly for 1 minute, taste and if it calls for a little salt, go for it.
    After 5 minutes, the samphire will be cooked beautifully. Remove the foil from the fire and carefully open it, place the ingredients in a bowl before putting the burrata nicely on top.
    Spoon the sloe & bramble vinaigrette generously over the samphire and enjoy.
    photographed from directly above, a green plate of grilled samphire with a ball of burrata atop it

    Charred beetroot a la plancha with North Uist Distillery Downpour Gin, fennel, radishes, hazelnuts & ricotta


    Serves 4

    6 large beetroots, peeled
    2 fennel bulbs, roughly sliced
    3 large radishes 
    1 generous splash of British rapeseed oil
    1 tbsp of salted butter (optional)
    1 extremely generous splash of Downpour Scottish Dry Gin
    1 large handful of hazelnuts
    250g ricotta
    Salt & pepper to taste

    Prepare a hot fire and begin by peeling the beetroots. Once peeled, roughly slice them, along with the fennel and radishes. When the fire is hot, place the plancha over the fire and wait for 5 minutes.
    Whilst the plancha is heating up, gather all the ingredients and place them within reaching distance of the plancha. Splash the rapeseed oil onto the plancha and when it glistens, lay the sliced beetroot, fennel and radishes onto the hot surface and cook for 4 minutes.
    Now add a very generous splash of Downpour Gin, being sure to try a little beforehand. Cook for another 1 minute. Add a little salted butter before turning the sliced beetroot, fennel and radishes over and cook for another 2 minutes.
    Remove all the ingredients from the plancha and transfer to a large serving bowl, season with salt and pepper before spooning on a generous serving of ricotta.
    Sprinkle the hazelnuts on top and serve with fresh sourdough and a gin & tonic, if there is any left...
    A man in a checked shirt and hat, leans over a griddle over an open fire. He pours gin from a blue Downpour bottle onto the sliced beetroot cooking on the griddle

    A huge thank you to William for these recipes, and to Paul Little for the beautiful photographs.

    You can also follow Paul over on instagram to see more of his work, and please do let us know if you try either of these delicious Downpour delights!

     

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