Zombie

First posted in 2011. 

Can you have Halloween cocktails and not include the Zombie? I'm pretty sure that's against the rules. Somewhere.

These are, in a word, delicious. In another word, tangy. In a third word (or two), potential lethal.

As a side note: I'd never tasted passion fruit syrup before. It is like a curious combination of pineapple, orange, and mango on the tongue. Quite good.

We now return to the Zombie ... it never does to take one's eyes off of a zombie for too long, after all.

Do not overindulge. Or you will become that thing we all dread. A zombie.

But one Zombie won't hurt. At least we all came out alive. And since we were testing these while watching last weekend's Cowboys game, we needed something to dull the pain.

Zombie
1 tsp. Brown Sugar
1 oz. Lemon Juice
1 oz. Lime Juice
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Passion Fruit Syrup
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 oz. Gold Rum
1 oz. 151-proof Rum
1 oz. White Rum

Dissolve brown sugar in juices. Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, and pour into chilled Collins glass. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Satan's Whiskers

First posted back in 2011. I'd forgotten about this one but will be trying it again soon!

It's interesting to me that Hannah and Rose both seem to choose cocktails to try based on the name. We have discovered some delicious cocktails that way, to be sure, but it is it so different from my method of scanning the ingredients to see if my mind's palate thinks it would be a good drink.

With Halloween coming up, Rose is at it again. Hence, Satan's Whiskers, which filled me with dread because of the double vermouth whammy ... which my mind's palate was nudging me in the ribs about (too much vermouth is not something I adore). Also orange juice. Which none of us are very fond of.

Based on my fears, we made sure we had ingredients for Zombies on hand also. There was no need as it turned out.

Satan's Whiskers was a lovely orange cocktail with no one ingredient overwhelming the others. A rich, deep flavor is the only way I can think of to describe it. Delicious. You'll just have to try it for yourself and see what you think. (More about the Zombies later.)

Satan's Whiskers
3/4 oz. Gin
3/4 oz. Dry Vermouth
3/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz. Orange Juice
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier (our house orange liqueur is Cointreau so we used that)
1 dash Orange Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Coquito

We recently discovered this delicious Latin American drink which seems like a good equivalent to eggnog. If eggnog were a coconut delight.

This is from Cook's Country.

Coquito
Serves 8-10

Step 1
1 15-ounce can Coco Lopez cream of coconut
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1-1/4 cups gold rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Whisk all ingredients together in large pitcher until combined. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

Step 2
Just before serving, working in batches, transfer cream of coconut mixture to blender and process until slightly frothy, about 1 minute per batch. Serve over ice, garnished with extra nutmeg.

Tips & Tricks: Frozen Coffee Cubes

A few years ago I gave y'all a great recipe for iced coffee.

For a while I made it and then my interest in iced coffee took a nosedive.

Recently my interest revived, but not to the point of all that planning ahead. I'll admit it. I just save the leftover black coffee from that morning and dose it up with a bit of milk and some sugar.

To my palate it is just about the same. Which may say more about my lack of discernment about iced coffee than anything.

What I could discern though was that the cold milk wasn't getting the coffee "iced" enough and adding ice cubes watered it down. Ugh.

I have begun using a little trick that I read about decades ago in a mystery novel, The Innocent Flower by Charlotte Armstrong. Some frozen cubes of coffee provided a neat twist in the mystery solution and also powerfully grabbed my imagination.

I began keeping a stash in the freezer and lo and behold! No more diluted iced coffee!

Cable Car Cocktail

Again from our trusty Old Mr. Boston book. I first tasted this at my daughter's home and then had to go buy some spiced rum so I could make it for myself.

Cable Car

2 ounces spiced rum
3/4 ounce triple sec (I use Cointreau)
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup

Combine all in a cocktail shaker, add ice, and shake. Pour into a cocktail glass.

(You are supposed to run a lemon wedge round the rim of your glass and dip it in cinnamon sugar before pouring the cocktail in ... but that's not how I roll ... too sweet.)

Cafe Maria Theresia

This was in Saveur's January/February edition. When the girls were home for Christmas and we were having regular afternoon coffee ... one day I tried this. It truly deserves the praise they gave it.

I must admit that I didn't go to the trouble of whipping cream, especially since I already felt that the drink was rather lavish for an afternoon cuppa joe (though I did show you how it should look, although my Thinkstock photo has no zest). Half-and-half smoothed it out nicely anyway, believe me.

Cafe Maria Theresia
3 tbsp. orange liqueur (I used Cointreau)
1 tbsp. sugar
8 oz. brewed coffee
Whipped cream, for serving
Grated orange zest, for garnish

Fill a coffee cup with boiling water. Set aside for 3 minutes; pour out water. Pour liqueur and sugar into cup; stir to dissolve sugar. Stir in the coffee. Top with whipped cream, and garnish with zest.

Montmartre: A Favorite Part of Paris and a Favorite Cocktail

This weekend, flipping through our Mr. Boston book, I atypically chose a cocktail the way our daughters tend to ... just because I liked the name.

We usually gravitate to sours but there was something to this drink that we both loved, like a sweet vermouth Martini but with an orange note added. We're not Martini drinkers, sweet or dry, but the Montmartre ... that's a drink we could probably trust a bartender to get right because it has just three, basic ingredients that every bar has.

Montmartre Cocktail

1-1/4 ounce dry gin
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 ounce triple sec (we used Cointreau, as always)

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Vietnamese Coffee

This one's for Jenny who read my favorable comments about In the Vietnamese Kitchen and asked if there were a recipe for coffee.

I haven't tried it, but it looks like a danged good excuse to open a can of condensed milk! For that matter, it's a good reason to pick up a can of Cafe du Monde coffee, which I'm lucky enough to have stores carrying. (One of the perks of being this close to East Texas.)

Coffee and Condensed Milk

An opened can of sweetened condensed milk is a great excuse to indulge in Vietnamese coffee, called ca-phe sua. To create this jolting beverage, brew an inky-strong cup of coffee. Any full-bodied, dark roast will work, although a perennial favorite of Vietnamese Americans is Cafe Du Monde from New Orleans, which contains chicory. Regardless of the coffee, brew it in a regular electric coffeemaker or a stove-top espresso maker. (The small Vietnamese stainless-steel presses are slow and often don't work well.) If you are starting from beans, grind them extrafine to extract the maximum flavor.

Now, put about 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk in a cup. Add about 3/4 cup of your hot, heady brew and stir to combine. Taste and adjust with more milk to your liking, then drink hot as is or pour into an ice-filled glass for a cold version.

Cherie

I had to go restock the liquor cabinet (imagine that!) and picked up Cherry Brandy and Coffee Brandy. It seemed as if I saw tons of recipes calling for these and I was tired of skipping all of them. Plus, I like cherry and coffee flavors.

Naturally, I got home, sat down with Mr. Boston's Official Bartender's Guide and had a heckuva a time finding any of those cocktails.

Eventually, after due diligence, I dug up some interesting prospects.

The first we tried was Cherie which was quite delicious. And it had a maraschino cherry. Which was perfect because we were watching Some Like It Hot.

Don't see the connection? Pick up the movie and watch for Tony Curtis on the train.

Cherie
1 oz. Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Triple Sec
1 oz. Light Rum
1/2 oz. Cherry-flavored Brandy

Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Add a maraschino cherry.

Aperol, St. Germaine, and Mrs. 404

Some time ago the Wall Street Journal ran an article featuring cocktails made with Aperol and St. Germaine.

What was interesting about this article is that both Tom and I read it. Our usual practice is to bring up articles, discover that the other person never read it and then to fill each other in. Was it because it was about cocktails? Was it because the Aperol just could not possibly be that vivid orange color? Was it because we both think of "Your Mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries*" when we see the word elderflowers (prime ingredient in St. Germaine)?

We will probably never know.

What we do know is that at the end of our discussion we had gotten interested enough to go out and buy a bottle of each. Frustratingly, though I remembered having seen Aperol as a mystery ingredient of practically every other recipe in our Mr. Boston: Official Bartender's Guide, now I could find none of them.

The Aperol is vividly orange both in color and flavor, but with an underlying bitter anchor of rhubarb. St. Germaine liqueur tastes, as the liquor store stockboy surprisingly and eloquently told Tom, "Fresh." Fresh as a spring day, one might say, with the full realization that such a description is not at all evocative on the mind's palate.

At any rate, eventually we made an Aperol Spritz and an Aperol Sour, both of which I will supply recipes for in the future.

Rose discovered the Mr. 404 because she chooses cocktails for their names. It is a Vodka cocktail containing both Aperol and St. Germaine. Tasty enough, but I do not favor Vodka, feeling that I enjoy flavor from my alcohol as well as a buzz.

Therefore, I took the creative license of substituting Gin for the Vodka and, in the age-old cocktail tradition, renaming the drink somewhat after myself.

Thus was the Mrs. 404 born. And there was great rejoicing.* We all preferred it to the original and it has become a mainstay among our weekend cocktail choices.

Try it and see what you think.

Mrs. 404

1-1/2 ounces Gin
3/4 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce St. Germaine
1/2 ounce Aperol
1/2 ounce simple syrup**

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

**Simple Syrup
Equal parts water and granulated sugar, heated over a flame, and then cooled and stored in refrigerator until needed. Keeps indefinitely refrigerated in a scrupulously clean container.

*Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Champagne Cocktail Discovery: The Korbel Poinsettia

Tom was sent one of those promotional pdfs from Korbel, the kind with recipes. He sent it on to me and, although I was too frenzied at the time to take interest in the food ideas, I did pick up this champagne cocktail idea for Hannah and Rose to try at Christmas. They loved it and so did we, even though champagne does not need any enhancement for us to enjoy it.

It makes a lovely pink drink and we always have cranberry juice and triple sec on hand so it is easy also. We didn't float any berries in the top of the drink as in this Korbel photo, but obviously that is a nice touch.

Korbel Poinsettia

Korbel Champagne
1/4 oz triple sec
Splash Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice or Cranberry Juice Drink

Put triple sec and cranberry juice in a champagne flute and top with Korbel.

The Triple Threat: White Lady, White Spider, and Chelsea Sidecar

It's all about the proportions and never more so than when making cocktails evidently. Perhaps as there are relatively few ingredients, one can taste the differences better.

You may recall that, making good use of our Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide, Tom and I were enjoying the difference that a cocktail can make on the weekends. One of our favorites is the Chelsea Sidecar, which recipe I will repeat below for the sake of simple comparison. It has also become our favorite way to tease test bartenders. We have not yet come across one who knew the recipe or, even more sadly, even had a Mr. Boston book to look it up in. I have written the proportions down on a card to carry in my purse as inevitably I must give the waiter the recipe. At which time, it becomes a test of the waiter's ability to convey the information.

Chelsea Sidecar
1/2 oz. lemon juice
3/4 oz. Triple Sec (we use Cointreau)
3/4 oz. gin

Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

===================

Last Saturday, Tom came across the White Lady recipe and wondered if it wouldn't taste very similar as the ingredients are identical. Not so. It has much more of an "adult" flavor, if I might use that term. The gin is more prominent and it has a bit more bite. It was refreshing and very enjoyable. It might be my favorite of the three.

White Lady
2 oz. gin
1 oz. Triple Sec (we use Cointreau)
1/2 oz. lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

====================

With that successful experiment in mind, I made us a White Spider on Sunday. Notes showed we had made it before but neither of us could call it to mind. Again the same three ingredients, but with a bit of additional sugar to counter the large quantities of lemon juice. This was almost like a Gin Sour and Tom declared it to be the best of all.

White Spider
1 oz. gin
1 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. Triple Sec (we use Cointreau)
1 tsp. Superfine Sugar or Simple Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

===================

There you have it. Three ingredients mixed three different ways for three completely different taste sensations. The triple threat.

Listen My Children and You Shall Hear of a Colonial Drink That Brings Good Cheer: Raspberry Rum Shrub

Shrub?

Isn't that a bush?

Yes, unless you are talking about a refreshing drink from before sodas were the order of the day.

Slow Food USA tells us:

Shrub is a colonial-day drink whose name is derived from the Arabic word sharab, to drink. It is a concentrated syrup made from fruit, vinegar, and sugar that is traditionally mixed with water to create a refreshing drink that is simultaneously tart and sweet. In the nineteenth-century, the drink was often spiked brandy or rum. Ubiquitous in colonial times, the use of shrubs as a flavoring for tonic and sodas subsided with increasing industrial production of foods.

Reading Eric Felton's entertaining and informative book, How's Your Drink?: Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well, I came across his recipe for a Raspberry Rum Shrub. I remembered having seen similar recipes as curiosities in old cookbooks and the vinegar was offputting to my mental palate. Until, that is, I remembered lemonade with its sweet-tart combination that was diluted by water and ice to make a refreshing summer drink.

Ah ha!

Suddenly a shrub beverage was recategorized mentally and I was interested. Especially when considering it as something that would stand up to dark rum.

This was an easy recipe and yielded a lot of syrup. Felten points out, for those who do not want to make the syrup or who want different flavors, that Tait Farm Foods provides ready made shrub syrups in many flavors. They also have recipe booklets I noticed when stopping by their website which may come in handy when trying to figure out what to do with all this Raspberry Shrub syrup. Although, honestly, I like its flavor so well I can dip it out on a spoon. Mmmmm....

I might add here that the Raspberry Rum Shrub, which we made with ginger ale, got two thumbs up.

Here's the recipe for those who want to give it a try.

Raspberry Rum Shrub
1 ounce raspberry shrub syrup
2 ounces dark rum
4 ounces ginger ale or soda water

Build with ice in a stemmed goblet (I used wine glasses), and stir. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Raspberry Shrub Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 pints raspberries
2 cups white wine vinegar

Whisk water and sugar together at a boil. Reduce heat for a few minutes and add raspberries, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add vinegar and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Strain, cool, and bottle. Keep refrigerated (even if the Founding Shrubbers didn't).

(Recipe courtesy of Walter Staib, Chef of Philadelphia's City Taverns.)

Oh, Gosh!

While you're snuggled up reading on these very cold winter nights that are overtaking us, you might enjoy sipping this delicious sour which Hannah picked out to try over Christmas vacation. It is a close relation to our other favorite, the Chelsea Sidecar, as it uses the same relationship for the measurements. Think of it as a Rum Margarita. That's the impression we were left with and it was definitely enjoyed by all who tried it.

Notes:

• We used Cointreau which is our favorite orange liqueur.
• We treat the recipe below as a double (which we then split). If you check the Chelsea Sidecar recipe you'll see that those amounts are halved and we find them perfectly adequate for one cocktail.

Oh, Gosh!
1-1/2 ounces light rum
1-1/2 ounces Triple Sec
1 ounce lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

A Happy Hour Duo: Garnet and X.Y.Z. Cocktails

Actually we had these separately. The Garnet cocktail was tried out last Saturday with Hannah and a friend who came home to attend a wedding. The X.Y.Z. Cocktail was the one thing about watching the Cowboys' game last Sunday that we found enjoyable.

The Garnet lived up to its name as pomegranate juice lent it a ruddy hue. It was one of those drinks that you have to be careful about. The alcohol is not very obvious perhaps until one has had one too many.

The X.Y.Z. is a classic seeming "sour" cocktail and, as such, would naturally be one that Tom and I would really enjoy.

Garnet

1-1/2 ounces gin
3/4 ounce Triple Sec
1 ounce pomegranate juice
1 ounce grapefruit juice

Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a flamed orange peel.

X.Y.Z. Cocktail

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 ounce Triple Sec
1 ounce light rum

Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Rum Daisy

Another addition to the very pleasant surprise from the first sip category ... the Rum Daisy. The grenadine makes this a gorgeous pink which would be a nice offering for a holiday drink now that I think of it!

The only thing I changed was that Daisy drinks are traditionally served in a beer mug or metal cup. I couldn't bear to do that so went with a traditional cocktail glass. And without the ice cube.

Rum Daisy
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar or simple syrup
1 teaspoon grenadine
2 ounces light rum

Shake with ice and strain into chilled beer mug or metal cup. Add one large ice cube and garnish with fruit.

Bee's Kiss Cocktail

Something else to be thankful for ... perhaps when sipping it as an after dinner drink? Simply delicious and very simple.

It is creamy, rich and powerful with a feel possibly reminiscent of Bailey's Irish Cream or a well-dosed eggnog.

Bee's Kiss

1-1/2 ounce White Rum
1 ounce heavy cream
3/4 ounce Honey Syrup*

Shake and strain into a champagne flute. (which I chilled quickly in the freezer while assembling)

* To make Honey Syrup: Mix equal part of honey and warm water. Stir well until dissolved, and then chill.

Recipe for a Happy Hour ... Heck, For a Couple of Happy Hours!

Tom and I suddenly found that we have slid into having our very own little happy hour every Saturday and Sunday evening before dinner.

This began when Hannah turned 21, became enamored with cocktails, and I bought her a Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide. I liked it so much that I bought one for us also.

We've never been cocktail drinkers before but how boring things would be if we always did the same thing all the time. About 5:00 or 5:30 in the afternoon, we settle down with a new cocktail to sample, listening to music and either reading, knitting (yes, that would be me), or just chatting. Without meaning to, it has become a routine that we have realized we both anticipate with pleasure. Just a little time to stop the day, slow down, and mark the progression into the evening.

We tend to play jazz or other music that could be classified, perhaps, as happy hour music. For those who are not sure what that would be, do go over to The Happy Hour Lounge where Andrew and Jeremy host a delightful podcast that gives wonderful samples of that musical category.

(I must confess that, although we confine ourselves to a single cocktail each, I am a real lightweight. I have begun planning evening meals that are largely done ahead or don't require much work afterward when I've got a little buzz going. Although I am sure the lighthearted singing along with the music forms a delightful background to the rest of the household. I repeat: I am sure of it!)

Enjoying experimenting with different ingredients and recipes, thus far we have found that we are the biggest fans of that category of drink known as "sours." Considering that our favorite cocktail before now has always been the margarita, this is no surprise.

Thus far our favorites have been the Chelsea Sidecar and the Daiquiri, which I realized that I'd never had as a plain drink without a lot of strawberries in it. Coming in third has been the Maiden's Blush. Great name isn't it? And it is a pretty shade of pink as one would expect.

The recipes for all three follow ... and may all your hours, be happy hours!

(For the uninitiated, as we were, a cocktail glass is what most people call a martini glass.)

Daiquiri
1 oz. lime juice
1 tsp. superfine sugar or simple syrup*
1-1/2 oz. light rum

Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Chelsea Sidecar
1/2 oz. lemon juice
3/4 oz. Triple Sec (we have Cointreau on hand and use that)
3/4 oz. gin

Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Maiden's Blush Cocktail
1/4 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Triple Sec
1 tsp. Grenadine
1-1/2 oz. gin

Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

*Simple Syrup
Equal parts water and granulated sugar, heated over a flame, and then cooled and stored in refrigerator until needed. Keeps indefinitely refrigerated in a scrupulously clean container.

Hot Cocoa

Last night an ice storm blew through. Dallas being what it is, essentially a warm weather spot, this means that the town has shut down. People left work early yesterday, schools are closed, no traffic can be heard on the main road near our house, businesses will open late. Yes, I know. To anyone who has lived in harsher climes, this sounds ridiculous. However, when you live with weather that is in the 70s in April, hits two to three weeks of consecutive over 110 degree weather in August and can have you wearing shorts at Thanksgiving and Christmas, that is how it goes.

This is as wintery as it may get so it is time to break out the cocoa in celebration. I am not talking about those powdered mixes. Nor yet am I going too far on the other side with decadent melted chocolate. We're talking about true all-American cocoa of the sort that my own mother whipped up regularly when I was growing up in Kansas.

I remember reading a few years ago that someone, maybe America's Test Kitchen, discovered that water intensifies chocolate's flavor. News flash, folks. That already was known as you can see if you look at this recipe from one of my favorite American cookbooks, The New Doubleday Cookbook by Jean Anderson and Elaine Hanna.

Be sure to use whole milk, especially since this is using water first in the recipe which will bring out the flavor of the chocolate. Also, if you have a good rich cocoa that helps the drink, of course. I grew up on Hershey's cocoa like the rest of America, but have since found Penzey's cocoa which is a delectably dark cocoa. They recommend Dutch cocoa for cocoa but I only keep natural on hand. It works just fine.

Hot Cocoa
1 serving

1 tablespoon cocoa
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup milk

Mix cocoa, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan, slowly stir in water. Heat and stir over moderately low heat until mixture boils, then boil slowly, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Add milk and heat to scalding [almost boiling] but do not boil.

Cocoa for a Crowd
12 servings

3/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 quart warm water [4 cups]
2 quarts milk

Make as above, except take 8 minutes to incorporate water and bring to a boil.

My Newest Obsession: Iced Coffee

About 4:00 in the afternoon, I need a caffeine fix. In the summer it tends to be iced tea but my favorite is a cup of coffee. Not being a Starbucks junky (yep, we're cheap that way) the idea of iced coffee never occurred to me. That is, until I read Smitten Kitchen's caffeine-fueled raves about the recipe she'd found in the New York Times.

It was just the sort of gimmicky thing that appealed to me. So simple. Let the grounds steep in water for 12 hours, drain, mix with an equal amount of water, and then adjust flavor to taste with sugar and/or milk ... and add ice. Could it really work?

I got caught up in an intensive discussion with a Central Market coffee lover who kept digressing to urge me to buy special "toddy" equipment at a certain website and then looked grave when I refused. You know, all I really wanted was to know what number to set the coffee grinder on to get a "coarse grind. I finally emerged, triumphant, with my #8 ground coffee and sallied homeward to begin the Great Experiment.

The result?

Heaven in a glass.

So heavenly, in fact, that I am having to severely restrict myself to one glass daily. Does it taste like Starbucks? I have no way of knowing. But it is absolutely delicious.

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee
Time: 5 minutes, plus 12 hours’ resting

1/3 cup ground coffee (medium-coarse grind is best)
Milk (optional).

1. In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

2. Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. In a tall glass filled with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. If desired, add milk. (I also like a little sugar mixed with the coffee mixture before pouring it over ice.)

Yield: Two drinks.

NOTE: To make hot coffee, dilute concentrate one-to-one with water and heat in the microwave.