Archive for the ‘drink recipes’ Category

WHEN IT COMES TO BOOZE, ONE SIZE FITS AL!

Posted: December 24, 2013 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, MARTINI, mixology, Southern New England
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For me, fine spirits are the best gift for the holidays. You can go with some aged rums…sipping tequilas…or classic cognacs. And then there’s the whole list of liqueurs…sweets for the end of the meal or a key ingredient in a flavorful cocktail. Here’s my list of favorite bottles…

Kelt XO Cognac: What makes this cognac special is that it leaves the Cognac region of France in barrels and gets loaded onto ships that travel the world for months at a time. The barrels of cognac mellow, as they slowly rock back and forth in the ship’s hold out in open seas, much like they did hundreds of years ago before we loaded pallets of product onto cargo planes. The ships then return to Cognac, where the spirit is unloaded and bottled. The result is an exceptionally smooth cognac that is still my favorite to date. What’s really cool is that each bottle has a summary of what ship it was on and where it traveled. The VSOP is great, but the XO is outstanding. And they say it makes a difference if the ships go around the world clockwise or counterclockwise!
Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum: If you’ve got a friend that likes sipping rum, this takes it to a whole new level. Made in Venezuela, it has a sweetness that you won’t want to mix…on the rocks is perfect. I have turned more friends on to this rum in the last couple of years than any other spirit I’ve discovered. Thanks to Jeff and Geremie, owners of Fluke restaurant in Newport, Rhode Island, for giving me my first sip of this wonderful rum years ago.

Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia tequila: I am not a fan of Jose Cuervo tequila in general. If all you want is a reposado or anejo, there are so many other better ones out there: Don Julio, Don Eduardo, Corazon, and Sauza Tres Generaciones just to name a few. And for silver, nothing beats Patron. But this top-of-the-line Cuervo is excellent, and you pay the price for the designer box as well as the tequila. Worth every penny.

St Germaine: a sweet liqueur crafted from hand-picked Elderflowers that grow in the Alps, and featured in an excellent house drink called The Elixir at Cooke and Brown Public House in Providence, Rhode Island, featuring Irish whisky, St Germain, honey, lemon and bitters.

Bols Genever: First made in Holland in 1575, this is the stuff the British fell in love with, tried to copy, and then shortened the name of their resulting product and called it “gin.” But it’s better than gin. Many a great cocktail starts with this key ingredient. One of my favorites is a take on the classic Negroni: combine 1.5 oz Bols Genever, 1 oz Gran Classico, and .5 oz Punt e Mes.

Coole Swan: Imagine a Bailey’s that tastes like melted vanilla ice cream, and you sort of have an idea of the flavor of this terrific cream liqueur. It’s a key ingredient in my espresso martinis. Here’s my recipe: 3 oz Belvedere vodka, 3 oz freshly brewed espresso, 1.5 oz Kahlua and 1.5 oz Coole Swan. Mix all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously. Makes 2 martinis. You will never drink another espresso martini as long as you live!

Rumchata: Horchata is a very popular drink in Hispanic countries. It comes from many ingredient combinations, but one of the most popular is rice, vanilla and cinnamon. Imagine a liquid version of rice pudding and you sort of get the idea. So if you add rum to it…you get a liqueur unlike anything you’ve had before. Very tasty.

Castries: This creamy liqueur takes its name from the capital city of the island of St Lucia….and it surprises me that it took this long for someone to come up with a peanut flavored liqueur. Sure, there are other nut liqueurs: almond liqueurs, like real Amaretto (not Disaronno, which is made from peach or apricot pits)…and hazel nut liqueurs like Frangelico. But this one is very different. It’s creamy, not clear, and delicious.
Sortilege: This liqueur made from Canadian whisky and maple syrup is the definition of liquid dessert. It’s hard to describe how good this stuff is. All I can say is: once you open it, it will vanish very quickly. I haven’t poured it on pancakes yet, but some hungover morning I will!
Cheers!

WHISKEY SLUSH FOR THE HOLIDAZE

Posted: December 16, 2013 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, mixology, Uncategorized
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This is my version of a holiday drink I was introduced to by my mother-in-law from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I knew I was marrying into the right family after one sip!

Whiskey slush

Ingredients:

9 cups water
2 cups sugar
4 “Constant Comment” tea bags
12 oz frozen OJ concentrate
12 oz frozen lemonade concentrate
2 cups whiskey (I use Crown Royal)
7Up or Sprite

Boil water and sugar, making sure sugar dissolves. Turn off heat and steep tea bags in liquid for 10 minutes. Discard tea bags.
Add OJ, lemonade and whiskey. Mix well, pour into a freezeable container with a lid. Freeze.
To serve: Scoop the slush out of the container (it doesn’t freeze solid) and mix in a tall glass with 7 Up.

KILLER HOLIDAY EGGNOG

Posted: November 29, 2013 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, mixology, Uncategorized
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Let’s face it: there’s no such thing as healthy eggnog. This recipe kicks ass but is also a heart attack in a glass.

My buddy, Rick Sammarco, a former bartender at Mill’s Tavern in Providence, RI, credits his father, Al, for this eggnog. The original recipe calls for a lot more of everything. I’ve cut it down to a “more reasonable” size. It’s been so long since I bought ice cream, that I didn’t even know that the standard half-gallon size was replaced by a 1.5 quart size!

A word about salmonella: most cases are caused by raw chicken, not raw eggs. Eggs you get in the supermarket are washed so the chance of salmonella, found on the exterior, is minimal. (The inside of the egg is sterile.) Plus, you’re dumping a lot of booze into this drink and that will kill bacteria. In fact, some recipes say to make your eggnog weeks in advance to “sterilize” the drink.

eggnog

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1.5 quarts vanilla ice cream (I use Breyer’s)

1 pint half and half

15 whole eggs (raw)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

 

At least 3/8 cup of each:

spiced rum (I use Capt. Morgan)

whiskey (I use Crown Royal)

brandy (I use E&J)

 

Let the ice cream soften 1 day in the fridge. Mix ice cream, eggs, vanilla, half and half in a blender.

Add spices and liquor. Blend until it’s frothy.

Taste, and add more cinnamon and nutmeg if you like.

After fully blended, let sit in fridge 12-24 hours for flavors to blend. Even longer is better.

 

 

MAKING YOUR OWN COCKTAIL ONIONS

Posted: October 21, 2013 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, MARTINI, mixology, Recipes
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I love me my onions! Raw, sauteed, caramelized, yellow, Spanish, Bermuda, Vidalia, Texas Sweets, scallion, pearl, Crimini, Walla Walla…they can do no wrong. In fact, my wife and daughter gave me the Lithuanian nickname: “Ponas Svogunas.” ( “Mr. Onion.”) I answer to it proudly.

I also love me my vodka martinis! So if I’m going to buy a top shelf vodka like Stoli Elit or Chopin, I’m not going to ruin it with vermouth, whether it’s mixed in with the vodka or whether I find it inside a jar of store-bought cocktail onions.

I looked at several do-it-yourself cocktail onion recipes, but I wasn’t inspired to try any of them until I found a package of already peeled pearl onions at Whole Foods one day.

Once that time-saving ingredient was in my possession, I took the best ingredients of all the recipes I found, deleted the vermouth, and proceeded.

cocktail onions

Ingredients:

8 oz pearl onions, peeled

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 tablespoons organic cane sugar

1/4 teaspoon brown mustard seed

12 juniper berries

6 black peppercorns

3 allspice berries

3-inch fresh rosemary branch

small piece (1/4″) dried chile pepper

 

Add all the ingredients except the onions to a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil, making sure the sugar and salt dissolve completely.

Add the onions to the saucepan and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 2 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow the onions to cool to room temp in the liquid. Transfer the onions and liquid to a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and store in the fridge. It will keep in the fridge for a month.

 

A “SECRET” LIMONCELLO RECIPE

Posted: October 13, 2013 in Capri, Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, mixology, Recipes, travel, Uncategorized
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Many years ago, my wife and I visited the Amalfi coast, and we spent several nights on the beautiful island of Capri. On our last night, we dined at the legendary Grand Hotel Quisisana, and our incredible meal ended with a glass of the most delicious limoncello I had ever had.

I asked the waiter if it was possible to get the recipe of the limoncello, and he made a big deal about the fact that the recipe was a “secret.” Though disappointed, I understood, and I left Capri thinking that I would never taste that limoncello again.

Two weeks later, now back at home, I was reading the latest issue of Conde Nast Traveler, and there in black and white, was the Quisisana limoncello recipe! WTF?

My twist on the recipe: instead of lemons, use grapefruit. I’ve tried other citrus, too, like oranges, but grapefruit-cello is fantastic!

Sampling vintage limoncello and grapefruit-cello, aged 2 years or more

Sampling vintage limoncello and grapefruit-cello, aged 2 years or more

Four ingredients, easy to make. The toughest part is waiting for it to mellow a bit.

Ingredients:

4 lbs lemons, zest only

2 750-ml bottles 100 proof vodka (I prefer Absolut)

5 1/2 cups sugar

6 cups filtered water

Peel the zest off all the lemons, making sure you don’t get any of the white pith that could make the limoncello bitter. Place all the zest in the bottom of a glass jar with a lid that can hold all the vodka.

Pour the vodka on top of the lemon zest pieces, seal the container, and keep at room temperature for a week, swirling the jar around gently once a day.

On the sixth day, combine the sugar and water in a pot over medium-high heat, and stir until all the sugar completely dissolves. Remove from the heat, cover, and let it thoroughly cool to room temperature (overnight is best.)

On day seven, strain the lemon zest, pouring the infused vodka into a clean glass jar. Discard the lemon zest.

Pour the sugar/water mixture into the vodka and mix well.

At this point, you can pour the finished product into individual bottles, but let it mellow for about a month before drinking.

I keep my limoncello refrigerated.

TEQUILA PIMM’S CUP

Posted: September 9, 2013 in Cocktails, Cucumbers, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, mixology, Recipes
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I love tequila. I love Pimm’s. And I love Dark & Stormies. I’m a lush. This cocktail has an interesting nod to all three.

tequila cup

 

Ingredients:

3 oz Patron silver tequila
1.5 oz Pimm’s No. 1
1 dash fresh lime juice
Chilled Ginger beer (I use AJ Stephan’s, a local product made with cane sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup)
Ice cubes
Fresh mint
Cucumber slices (optional)

Combine tequila, Pimm’s and lime juice in a highball glass filled with ice.
Place slices of cucumber in the glass, if desired.
Top with Ginger beer and stir gently.
Garnish with mint sprig.

VELVET ELVIS: 2 INGREDIENTS. 1 DELICIOUS COCKTAIL.

Posted: July 26, 2013 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, mixology
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If you’ve been to the Capital Grille, you might be familiar with the Stoli Doli, a drink made by soaking fresh cut pieces of pineapple in Stoli vodka. A large glass container sits on the bar, and they simply pour out the wonderfully infused pineapple vodka into a cocktail shaker with some ice, shake vigorously, then strain into a martini glass.

When I decided to make this at home for myself, I only had a bottle of Stoli Vanil (vanilla) vodka in my liquor cabinet. But I thought: how could vanilla hurt this recipe? Turns out it made an even better cocktail than I ever could have imagined. The touch of vanilla accents the sweetness of the pineapple.

Velvet Elvis

Comprised of just 2 ingredients and named after my old dog, Elvis, this is a huge hit at parties. Here’s how I make it…

 

Ingredients:

2 fresh, ripe pineapples, peeled, cored and sliced

1 bottle (1.75l) Stoli Vanil vodka

1 glass jar with lid (1 gallon size)

Cut the top off, then peel, core and slice the pineapples and place the slices in the glass jar. Feed the top, peel and core to your compost pile. Pour the vodka over the slices. Tightly seal the lid, shake well, then place the jar somewhere where it won’t be disturbed for 3 weeks at room temperature.

At the end of 3 weeks, strain the vodka, squeezing as much vodka out of the pineapple slices as you can. Discard the spent pineapple slices.

Store the Velvet Elvis in glass containers in the refrigerator. Enjoy over ice!

BEAT THE HEAT WITH THIS REFRESHING SUMMER CUCUMBER COCKTAIL

Posted: July 17, 2013 in Cocktails, Cucumbers, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, garden, mixology, Uncategorized
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This a fantastic drink that requires a little prep. If you have a juicer, use that instead of pureeing in a food processor. Just peel the cukes and juice.

cuke drink pic

 

Ingredients:

2 English cucumbers or 4 regular cucumbers

Small ice cubes

1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves

2 teaspoons granulated organic cane sugar

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/2 cup top shelf vodka, like Chopin

1 oz (2 Tablespoons) Cointreau

 

Peel and seed cucumbers. Coarsely chop them and then purée in a food processor until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing solids to extract as much liquid as possible.

To a large glass pitcher, add mint leaves, sugar and lime juice. Muddle ingredients so that mint leaves release their oils. Add 3/4 cup (at least) cucumber juice, the vodka and Cointreau. Muddle again briefly.

Fill tall drinking glasses with ice cubes. Strain cocktail into glasses. Garnish with cucumber spear or mint.

THE CULT FOLLOWING OF SCHWEPPES BITTER LEMON

Posted: June 28, 2013 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Recipes
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Schweppes Bitter Lemon is a carbonated beverage that was invented in 1957 and was available in the United States for a while, but poor sales forced Schweppes to withdraw the product from US store shelves.

Fanatics, however, have kept the demand up for Schweppes Bitter Lemon, and so you can now find the import at websites like amazon.com and britishdelights.com. Some say that a proper Pimm’s cup is not made with ginger ale, but with this stuff. I was curious, so I bought a few bottles and started out with a simple vodka + Schweppes Bitter Lemon: refreshing, and a wonderful twist on the basic vodka-and-tonic.

So I’m hooked.

One of my favorite new drinks of the summer is this recipe that I found on line and tweaked the proportions of the ingredients to make my own. For the light rum, I like to use the new Caliche Puerto Rican rum from the Serralles family of rums, makers of Don Q and Captain Morgan. And second to Angostura bitters, Peychaud’s bitters, invented by famous New Orleans apothecary Antoine Peychaud around 1830, should be a staple of any home bar, especially since it is a key ingredient in making the perfect Sazerac cocktail. It works equally well here.

banana1

BITTER BANANA COOLER

Ingredients:

3 oz light rum

3 oz of ripe banana

1 1/2 oz pineapple juice

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Schweppes Bitter Lemon

 

In a blender (no ice) combine all ingredients except Schweppes, and blend until smooth: just a few seconds will do. Pour into a cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain into a 16 oz glass filled with ice. Top off with Schweppes Bitter lemon.

banana2

 

 

THE BEST MOJITOS ARE BY THE PITCHER

Posted: May 28, 2013 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, mixology, Recipes, Uncategorized
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I love me my Mojitos, and they’re even better when I have fresh organic blueberries and raspberries to add to the mix. Frozen fruit works well, too. Make it by the pitcher and you’ll never make it any other way again!

The ingredients

The ingredients

Ingredients:

Make ahead of time…
1 1/2 cups fresh squeezed lime juice
1 1/3 cups turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)

Mix both ingredients together and let stand at room temp. Shake until dissolved. The mixture can be covered and refrigerated for several weeks and ready to use any time. Shake well before using.

mojito pitcher

For the Mojitos…

1 cup sugar/lime mixture
1 cup mint leaves, packed
1/2 pint blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 pint raspberries (fresh or frozen)
3 or 4 cups white rum, preferably Don Q Cristal rum
3 or 4 cups club soda

Combine mint leaves and 1/2 cup of sugar/lime mixture in bottom of a pitcher. Muddle mint up very well to release mint oils. Add blueberries and continue to muddle.

Add remaining sugar/lime mixture, rum and raspberries. Mix well. Just before serving, add club soda and ice. Stir. Pour into glasses.

Or…for drinks one at a time, fill a tall glass with ice. Fill one-third to halfway with club soda. Top with Mojito mix. Garnish with mint leaf.

 

Cheers!

Cheers!

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