I have sage growing in the garden so I thought I would make good use of it. When infused in gin it adds a subtle dimension to a martini. It also goes very well in a gin and tonic.
Pick a generous bunch of sage leaves, approximately 15 per 100ml of gin you intend to infuse.
Wash, pat dry, then roughly chop the leaves.
Add them to a jar and top up with gin. I used around 300ml. Give it a rigorous shake and leave it to brew for two days, shaking it once or twice more over the course of the period.
When it’s time to pour, make a classic martini but replace the standard gin with your infused sage gin. Feel free to garnish with a fresh sage leaf.
As an accompanying amuse-bouche try turning the heat up on a frying pan and add some olive oil. When it’s hot stir in some minced garlic, chopped walnuts and more fresh sage leaves. Stir fry for about a minute or two until the leaves are crunchy. Serve immediately.
When frying sage leaves I prefer to use butter. Warm butter so that when you throw the leaves in it froths up and covers all the leaves, careful not to burn the butter and only cook for seconds. Tastes like sage toffee. Delish (also wonderful if poured over sweet potatoes).