Spirited Cocktails

The recipe for this cocktail is long overdue. I’ve been wanting to reconstruct it since I first tried it at the Gramercy Tavern a few months ago. I’ll skip the excuses and get right down to business, with the exception of saying the following: make this cocktail. You won’t be sorry.

The premise is simple: a Greyhound has long been recognized as a a spirit combined with grapefruit juice. The spirit is usually vodka, but you know we don’t use much of that here.

The Cruzan Silver Greyhound follows that premise with two minor variations: the addition of a little sugar, and the critical addition of grapefruit bitters. If you don’t have any grapefruit bitters, you can order them online (Amazon). They play a huge role in giving this cocktail the depth that sets it apart from the standard Greyhound. 

Here’s what you’re going to need:

2oz aged white rum (I used Cruzan, as they provided me with this recipe)
3oz fresh grapefruit juice
1/2oz simple syrup (optional, if you prefer your cocktails on the sweet side)
2 dashes grapefruit bitters

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well, and strain into a tall glass over fresh ice.

When I enjoyed this cocktail at Gramercy Tavern, it was garnished with candied grapefruit peel. This was certainly a wonderful touch, and if you have candied grapefruit peel, I recommend including it as a garnish. Sadly, I didn’t have any lying around, so I omitted it this time.

Again, I really enjoyed this cocktail at Gramercy, and I’ve made it a number of times since recreating it. I really recommend you try it, and I look forward to hearing what you think!

Cheers!

I’ve been on the hunt lately for new summer cocktails. I’m hoping that, in a tribute to mind over matter, the imbibing of summer cocktails will actually cause summer to materialize (which, as those of you enduring the incessant rain along with me in New York know, is long-overdue).

So recently when the folks at Bulldog Gin sent me their list of new summer cocktails, Friday I’m In Love jumped out at me (you’ll see why in just a moment). It also gave me a good opportunity to give Bulldog a try.

Bulldog itself is very well suited to summer cocktails. It’s on the drier side with some nice hints of citrus and pine. It’s also got some interesting ingredients like poppy and Dragon Eye (which is related to lychee). I’ll admit though, I had trouble picking out the Dragon Eye in the flavor, but hey, I’m still an amateur taster :-)

In any case, here’s what you’re going to need to give Friday I’m In Love a try:

2oz dry gin (I used Bulldog, obviously, which worked very well)
2oz white cranberry juice
1/2oz lemon juice
club soda
lemon wedge to garnish

Combine the gin, cranberry juice, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a tall glass over fresh ice. Add club soda to top and a lemon wedge for garnish.

The crisp, citrusy flavor of the gin combined with the tart white cranberry and just a hint of lemon gave me exactly what I was looking for – a light, refreshing summer cocktail; the perfect choice to enjoy outdoors on a warm summer day (if we ever have one).

Plus, any cocktail named after a song by The Cure gets extra points in my book.

Cheers!

Editor’s Note: Today we’re lucky to have another small plate recipe from guest-blogger Katy. What could go better with cocktails than Prosciutto Palmiers?? That’s right – nothing. Oh – be sure to check out her blog, BirkenMommy.

Palmiers look fancy but are quite simple to make. If your a cooking newbie, I’ve written a more detailed (and photographed) palmier tutorial on my blog, BirkenMommy.

Ingredients

1 sheet of slightly thawed puff pastry  (storebought is fine)

1 heaping teaspoon dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon honey

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

5 slices prosciutto

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1) Mix honey and mustard together in a small bowl.

2) Gently unfold puff pastry onto a floured board.

3) Brush honey-mustard mixture onto the puff pastry all the way to the edges.

4) Lay prosciutto on top of pastry.

5) Sprinkle parmesan on top of prosciutto.

6) Starting from the edge, gently roll pastry to middle. Repeat on other side to achieve palmier shape.

7) Gently slice into 1/2″ slices using a serrated knife. (It will be easier to slice if you chill the log in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up the puff pastry.)

8) Lay slices on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.  Flip and then continue baking for another 8 – 10 minutes.  The palmiers are done when the pastry is puffed up and golden brown.

Note: Don’t worry if there is a little black along the inside edges.  They aren’t burnt – the natural sugars in the honey have caramelized.

Makes 12 – 14.

Serious Eats has a great story today about the High Tech Cocktails class being taught at the French Culinary Institute. The class is being taught by Nils Noren and Dave Arnold, professors at the FCI and proprietors of Cooking Issues – their “Tech’N Stuff” blog. The combination of “cocktails” and “high tech” has me all wound up. This is a must read.

Cheers!

Father’s Day strikes me as a good time to celebrate the classics. I’ve mentioned before my own father’s love of the classics (ahem – Frank Sinatra). So it occurs to me that the best way to celebrate Fathers Day is with a classic spirit – whiskey. I’ve chosen Canadian Club Classic (see – it’s even in the name!) It’s a blended whiskey, aged 12 years in oak barrels. It can certainly be used in cocktails (some of the cocktail recipes in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book even call for Canadian Club by name), but I’ve chosen to just pour a shot in a solid, heavy-bottomed glass, and enjoy it neat.

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers out there – especially mine :-)

Cheers!

Last week, I told you about a mistake I made in preparing the Queens Park Swizzle (I used gin instead of rum, but I learned a lesson!) Well, since I teased you with one of my favorite rum cocktails, I thought it was time we walked through it for real.

A quick aside: this is the first cocktail I ever had prepared for me at a “real” cocktail bar – Milk & Honey (of London and New York City fame). Milk & Honey is largely credited (and rightfully so) with reigniting the love for the classic cocktail in New York, and whether or not that’s true, they definitely lit the spark in me. The staff and Milk & Honey are infamous for matching their customers with their ideal cocktail. Before serving you, they ask insightful questions about preferred spirits, flavors, and even mood. The first time I went to Milk & Honey, this is the cocktail they prepared for me, so it will always hold a special place in my heart :-)

So let’s get started. Here’s what you’re going to need:

2oz aged white rum
1/2 of a lime
1/2oz simple syrup
2-3 sprigs of mint
A few dashes of Angostura bitters
Club soda
Plenty of crushed ice

The technique for this cocktail is a little different than anything we’ve used in the past. There’s no shaking involved, so we’re going to build the entire cocktail right in the glass. Start by squeezing half a lime into the glass. (Some people will choose to drop the shell of the lime in once you’ve squeezed it – your choice.) Next add the simple syrup, and the leaves of 2-3 sprigs of mint. Finally, add the rum, and fill the glass with crushed ice. The use of crushed ice here versus cubes is important – you want the ice to really mix with the ingredients. Once you’ve added the crushed ice, use a swizzle stick to – yes – swizzle the cocktail. That is, use the swizzle stick to agitate the ingredients along with the ice, which will not only help mix everything, but also chill it (you’ll notice a nice frost form on the outside of the glass within 30-60 seconds.)

After swizzling, top off the glass with some fresh crushed ice, an ounce or two of club soda, and a few dashes of Angostura bitters.

So this cocktail is slightly more work than some of the others we’ve tried so far, but I guarantee you it’s worth it. I’m anxious to hear what you think.

Cheers!

There’s currently a thunderstorm raging outside my window, so it’s not all that difficult to figure out why I decided to whip up a Dark and Stormy cocktail tonight. When the rain is pelting your windows, nothing will whisk you away (mentally, anyway) faster than rum and ginger beer.

This one is really as simple as it gets. Here’s what you’re going to need:

2oz dark rum (Goslings Black Seal seems to be widely preferred, but I didn’t have any on hand, so I used an aged Barbancourt, which worked quite well)
3oz ginger beer
1/2 lime juice (optional; I personally didn’t find it necessary)
Lime wedge for garnish

Simply combine the rum and ginger beer over ice and give it a quick stir. Garnish with a lime wedge, and you’re good to go. It really doesn’t get much easier.

Now if you want to get a little fancy, you can make your own ginger beer. Doing so will result in not only a better taste, but a non-carbonated ginger beer that you can shake with your cocktails. Expert mixologist Jeffrey Morgenthaler provides the ginger beer recipe of record. The little bit of extra work is well worth it!

So off you go, away from the rain and on to a Bermudian beach.

Cheers!