This is a really delicious grilled steak full of wonderful Thai flavors. You do need to marinate it overnight, so keep that in mind. The overnight marinating is key to the intense and unbelievable flavor of the beef.
The original recipe called for skirt steak, but I didn’t have any in my freezer. I did have a fat ribeye, though, so once I thawed it, I sliced it lengthwise to get two large, thin steaks which would easily suck up the marinade I was going to make. And the ribeye was nicely marbled, so it stayed juicy and tender. Beef flap or flank steak are cuts is that would work well with this recipe.
2 lbs. beef ribeye (or skirt steak or beef flap)
1/4 cup chicken stock (homemade is best)
In a bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, cilantro, peanuts, scallions, sugar, lime juice and chile oil. Transfer half of it to a shallow dish.
Add the steak to the dish and turn the meat to coat it well. Cover and refrigerate the beef overnight. Refrigerate the other half of the marinade in a separate container.
The next day, light a grill. While it’s warming up, get out a sauce pan and pour the chicken stock in along with the reserved marinade. Heat it to combine it well, but not letting it reach a boil. Remove it from the heat and let it come to room temperature. This will be the dipping sauce for the beef.
About 30 minutes before cooking, take the marinated steak out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Season it with salt and pepper, and grill it over high heat until it’s medium-rare, about 5 minutes.
If it’s too cold to light a grill, or if you just want to use the oven, heat a cast iron pan on the stovetop, add a few drops of avocado oil or pork fat, and sear the beef on both sides before placing it in a pre-heated 375° oven to finish cooking.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I love the Kona-crusted NY strip at the Capital Grille, so much so that it inspired me to make a coffee rub of my own. I’ve been using it on steaks and burgers for years. But recently, I used it on a slow-smoked pork shoulder for the first time, and it was fantastic!
I used a smaller pork shoulder, about 6 lbs., and smoked it for about 12 hours. Obviously, if you use a larger hunka meat, you’ll need more time. I prefer a bone-in shoulder over boneless. I think it gives greater flavor.
Rubbed and ready to smoke!
My coffee rub is easy to make, and I usually make a lot of it at once, since it stores well.
3 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon Kosher salt 1 tablespoon ground coffee (use your favorite) 1 teaspoon granulated garlic 1 teaspoon granulated onion 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
I mix all the ingredients well, then rub generously on the pork shoulder before placing it a 250-degree smoker for about 12 hours. I use an electric smoker, which allows me to set the temperature and forget it, with the exception of occasionally adding hickory chips. I love just a hint of smokiness…I don’t want the rub to be overpowered by the smoke.
Perfectly smoked, with the bone easily sliding out of the shoulder.
The brown sugar in the coffee rub creates a beautiful crust on the meat, which goes really well with the pork and the barbecue sauce I make.
The barbecue sauce uses much-needed vinegar. It cuts through the rich fattiness of the pork, and is absolutely delicious.
2 cups ketchup
3/4 cup water
6 tablespoons cider vinegar
6 tablespoons white vinegar
6 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the flavors have blended, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temp. If you store it in an airtight container in the fridge, it’ll stay good for a few months.
A beautifully smoked pork shoulder, amazing barbecue sauce…what more do you need for an amazing pulled pork sandwich except a toasted brioche bun and perhaps some of my world-famous home fries on the side?
This is one of my favorites because it not only tastes amazing, it freezes really well.
Lately, I’ve been baking quite a few batches of this banana bread for the people I work with. Lord knows they don’t deserve it, but…
My original banana bread recipe has been tweaked a bit over time. One of the things I’ve changed is the amount of sugar I use. I’ve reduced it, and added maple syrup instead. Not only does it give it a better flavor, but it makes the dough just a little wetter, which, I think, makes a moister bread.
If you follow a gluten-free lifestyle, my gluten-free version of the recipe, at the bottom of the page, is so good, you won’t miss the wheat!
A gluten-free batch.
The original recipe…
What makes this banana bread special is that it uses whole wheat flour…less sugar…and no artificial extracts that make most banana breads taste like crap. It relies on very ripe bananas to give it its wonderful natural flavor.
It’s not always easy to get bananas to ripen exactly when you’re trying to make your banana bread recipe. So I buy a large bunch of bananas and let them get very ripe at room temperature. I then take 5 at a time (for this recipe), peel them, and place the bananas in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. When it’s time to make banana bread, I just pull one of those Ziplocs out of the freezer, let it thaw, and mash with a potato masher.
Since Roundup is a very common herbicide used on wheat, and its cancer-causing characteristics are widely known by now, I always use organic wheat for my baking recipes.
I use organic cane sugar when I have it. I don’t use vegetable oils, especially not canola, so I use healthier avocado oil or olive oil. Eggs are pastured when I can get ’em. Bananas are organic. And I rub the pans with avocado oil or I use an olive oil or avocado oil cooking spray.
3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup sugar (brown or cane) 1/4 cup maple syrup 3/4 cup vegetable oil (I prefer avocado or olive oil) 2 eggs 5 medium-sized bananas, peeled and mashed 2 tsp real vanilla extract Avocado or olive oil cooking spray
Pre-heat the oven to 350°.
Combine the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set it aside. (For a less rustic bread, simply substitute more all purpose flour for the whole wheat flour. Corn meal is also a good substitute for the whole wheat flour.)
Combine the sugar, maple syrup and oil in a mixing bowl and mix at medium speed for 2 minutes. (I use the whisk attachment.) Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat until the mixture is light and lemon colored.
With the mixer running at low-speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the bananas, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Blend well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and blend some more to mix.
Pour the batter into a large baking pan or 2 smaller loaf pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. (A bundt pan works as well.)
Remove the loaves from the pans and let them cool completely on the wire rack before slicing.
The gluten-free recipe…
My go-to gluten-free flour is the brand called Cup 4 Cup. You can find it in most supermarkets. They also offer a more rustic version they call “Wholesome Flour,” which is made mostly of rice. I found that the two combined worked really well for a rustic, chewy texture much like whole wheat.
3 cups Cup4Cup all-purpose gluten-free flour 1 cup Cup4Cup Wholesome Flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup cane sugar (or light brown sugar) 1/4 cup maple syrup 3/4 cup avocado or olive oil 2 eggs 5 medium-sized bananas, peeled and mashed 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract avocado or olive oil spray
Pre-heat the oven to 350°.
Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
Combine the sugar, maple syrup and oil in a mixing bowl and mix at medium speed for 2 minutes. (I use the whisk attachment.) Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat until the mixture is light and lemon colored.
With the mixer running at low-speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the bananas, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Blend well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and blend some more to mix.
Pour the batter into a large baking pan or 2 loaf pans or one large bundt pan that have been sprayed with avocado or olive oil. Bake for 45–60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan on a wire rack.
Remove the bread from the pan and let it cool completely on the wire rack before slicing.
And May is National Hamburger Month. How can you go wrong? First, a favorite burger recipe, then one for brisket.
The Inside-Out Burger: If I’m making bacon cheeseburgers to bring to a barbecue, even if it’s on my back deck, instead of bringing a package of bacon and a package of cheese and a stack of burgers, I put all the ingredients inside the patties themselves. As the burgers cook, the fat from the bacon and the gooey cheese melt and combine with the burger meat to make a really tasty and moist burger.
2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4″ cubes
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked crisp, cooled and crumbled
garlic salt
avocado oil or pork fat
In a bowl, combine the beef, the cheese and the bacon, mixing well so that all the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Form the beef into 1/4 lb. patties. Refrigerate them until you’re ready to cook to firm them up.
Heat a cast iron skillet and add a drop of oil or pork fat. Place the burgers in the hot skillet to sear and sprinkle with the garlic salt. When browned, flip the burgers and place the skillet in a 350-degree oven to finish cooking.
Brisketta:There’s a wonderful Italian roasted meat dish called Porchetta (por-ketta). The classic version consists of a pork belly that is seasoned and then wrapped around a pork loin. The meat is tied, then roasted slowly for hours, basted with wine and the meat juices until the pork is cooked and the outside skin is crackly and crispy. Then it’s sliced like a log and served as a sandwich or a main dish.
I decided to use the same method of cooking for beef brisket, and I called it “Brisketta.”
I flipped the brisket fat-side-down on my cutting board and carefully sliced it down the middle horizontally to make two large–even thinner–slabs of meat. The bottom half, with the fatty side of the brisket, would eventually be my outside layer. The top half would be my inside layer.
I took the top half and slathered some of my seasonings on it. Then I rolled it tightly into a log. I slathered more of my seasonings onto the bottom half of the brisket, then rolled it around the first log, so that the fattiest side of the brisket would now be on the outside of this large meat log. I tied the meat log up tightly with butchers’ twine and let it rest in my fridge overnight.
7 lbs. beef brisket
1 tablespoon fennel seed, toasted and cooled
5–3″ strips of bacon, cooked and cooled
2 tablespoons oregano
2 tablespoons parsley
2 teaspoons basil
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons granulated onion
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
Grated zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup olive oil
Pour the fennel seed in a hot, dry pan on the stove. Toast the seeds until they release their aroma, but don’t let them burn. Set aside to cool.
Crumble the bacon strips and place in the bowl of a food processor. Add the cooled fennel seeds, oregano, parsley, basil, salt, pepper, onion, garlic, and lemon zest.
Run the food processor and slowly pour in the olive oil, until you have a paste much like pesto.
Slice the brisket in half horizontally. Save the piece with the fatty side for last, because this is the piece that will wrap around the others, with the fatty side out. Smear the rub on the first piece of brisket and roll it tightly into a log. Smear the rub on the second piece of brisket and wrap it around the first piece, making sure the fatty side is on the outside.
Once you’ve rolled both pieces into a single meat log, scored the fatty exterior with a knife and rub any leftover seasoning paste onto it. If you have none left, simply season with salt and pepper.
Tie the meat log tightly with butchers’ twine, tucking in all loose ends.
At this point, you can place the meat log in the fridge until ready to cook, remembering to remove it at least an hour before cooking so that it comes back to room temperature.
Pre-heat an oven or smoker at 250 degrees. Place the meat log directly on the grate, with a pan underneath to catch the dripping fat. Place a bowl of water in there as well, to keep the meat moist while it cooks. Cook for 4 1/2 hours, or until the interior temperature reaches 130 degrees. Let it rest an hour before slicing…if you can wait that long!
Out on the North Fork of Long Island, there’s a steak restaurant called the Elbow Room. It’s nothing fancy…old school cooking. But they’re famous for their steaks because of a super-secret marinade. Ages ago, I spotted a newspaper article that claimed they found out what that secret marinade was, and they published it. Whether this really is the official Elbow Room marinade or not, I have to say it’s pretty darn tasty and it makes for a delicious steak on the grill.
My biggest concern with the marinade was the salt factor, since it uses soy sauce. But the ribeye I had was almost an inch-and-a-half thick, which meant that it could sit in the marinade for a long time…my ribeye sat in it for 8 hours. If you choose to use a thinner cut of meat, you might need to reduce your marinating time.
The recipe uses a product called Gravy Master, available in most supermarkets. Look for it in the section where you find gravies and instant potatoes.
1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Gravy Master
2 large Vidalia onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons celery seed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Combine the onions and garlic in a large food processor and purée. Add the remaining ingredients and run the processor until it’s smooth and sort of resembles root beer.
Marinate the beef in the marinade overnight, or for as long as possible. The thicker the cut of meat, the longer you can marinate it.
Looks delicious, but it hasn’t been cooked yet! Straight out of the marinade.
Light the grill. I prefer pure hardwood charcoal because that’s where the flavor is. If I’m just cooking one steak, I get my camping grill out. It lights quickly and easily, and it doesn’t waste a whole lotta charcoal.
Always use a charcoal chimney, never lighter fluid…unless you like the taste of petroleum products in your food.
Pure hardwood charcoal gives you a hot fire. I like to sear the beef really well on both sides, then move the steak to a cooler spot on the grill and close the cover. I’ll let the beef cook until it gets to a perfect medium-rare.
If you try this marinade on burgers–and it’s great on burgers–simply brush the burgers with the marinade as you place them on the grill. Go easy or you’ll get a very salty burger.
Marinated grilled ribeye with a side of fried rice…an easy combination of veggies and rice leftovers I had in the fridge with a dash of soy sauce.
Grilling makes food taste great, but sometimes you don’t want to stand out there in a cloud of smoke while your friends are at the table, sipping wine and having a good time without you.
This is a great dish for those that want to pass on the grill for a day. It’s a delicious salad that you can serve warm or cool. You can make it the day before. Wrap it in plastic, and keep it in the fridge. Then, when your guests arrive, let it warm to room temperature. Taste for seasoning before serving. If you’re not a fan of quinoa, brown basmati rice works well, too. And use what’s fresh and in season. If you can’t find asparagus, some chopped and lightly sautéed squash works just as well.
1 1/3 cup dry quinoa (or 1 cup basmati rice)
Chicken stock
Juice of 1 lemon
2 lbs. wild-caught American shrimp, peeled and de-veined (16 to 18 count)
1 cup of asparagus stalks, cut into 1″ lengths
1/2 cup minced scallions, green part only
1 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded and medium-diced
1/4 cup red onion, small diced
1/2 cup seeded and chopped tomatoes
3/4 lb. good feta cheese, crumbled
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Prepare the quinoa according to the package directions, using chicken stock instead of water. Once it’s cooked, place it in a large bowl. (1 1/3 cups dry quinoa should give you about 3 cups of cooked quinoa.)
Place the chopped asparagus on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss them to combine and spread them out in a single layer. Roast them for just a few minutes at 350 degrees. Set them aside to cool to room temperature. (You can also simply sauté the asparagus in a pan on the stove top with olive oil, salt and pepper.)
Place the shrimp on the same sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss them to combine and spread them out in a single layer. Roast for 5 to 6 minutes at 350 degrees, until the shrimp are cooked through. Turn them once while cooking. Don’t overcook them! (again…you can simply sauté the shrimp in a pan on the stove top with olive, salt and pepper.)
Add the shrimp to the quinoa, then add the asparagus, lemon juice, scallions, dill, parsley, cucumber, onion, tomatoes, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Add the feta and stir carefully.
Set it all aside at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend…or, if you’re not serving soon, place the bowl in the fridge. Before serving, allow it to warm almost to room temperature. Taste it and season again, if needed, before serving.
In my travels, I’ve had my share of Michelin star restaurant experiences, in Spain, England, and the US. And though the food has been amazing, only one or two are etched in my mind as perhaps the most incredible dining experience I’ve ever had. But after dining at Vila Joya on the Mediterranean in Portugal, I can now add a third to the list.
Austrian chef Dieter Koschina came to southern Portugal in 1991, and earned his first Michelin star in 1995. He received his second in 1999. And he has been creating outrageously beautiful dishes ever since.
My reservation was at 7:30 PM, and they asked if I would like to make a cocktail reservation a half hour earlier, at 7. I thought that would be a great idea, and so I arrived, to be shown a comfortable couch facing the Mediterranean as I was handed the drink list. I’ve had OK cocktails up to this point on my trip, so I was really craving a perfectly made ice cold gin martini, and that’s exactly what showed up moments later.
I asked for a twist in my martini, and it came with beautiful little flowers, punched out of the lemon peel.
As I sipped my martini, I looked over the tasting menu I was about to explore with much anticipation.
Once I finished my cocktail, I was moved a bit closer to the large floor-to-ceiling windows, to get a much better view of the beautiful Mediterranean waters below.
The sun was setting as I started my dinner experience, mother nature‘s light show illuminating every plate as it appeared on my table.
This incredibly delicate potato shell, surrounding sour cream and topped with a generous amount of caviar, was a great way to start any meal, anywhere, anytime!And so it began…
I’m going to let you follow along with the menu I posted above to see if you can match the dishes with the list!
All small plates, intensely flavored, all beautifully plated and skillfully prepared.
…And more than one dessert!
End of the meal…now dark outside…
Before I departed, my lovely sommelier, Catarina, wrote down a list of great cocktail lounges and restaurants I had to visit in Lisbon, my next stop.
I love avocado, and using it in this chicken burger recipe gives each bite a creamy, fatty richness the chicken needs. It’s a simple burger, with just a handful of ingredients, but it’s really full of flavor.
If you want to go lo-carb, you can skip the breadcrumbs (and the bun for that matter.) If you’re going gluten-free, simply use GF breadcrumbs and buns and you’re all set to go.
If you don’t like avocado, leave it out. There’s still plenty of flavor.
Wanna add cheese? Go for it.
The bacon is optional, but what burger isn’t better with bacon?
The one thing I wouldn’t substitute is ground turkey for the chicken. To me, ground turkey is the cardboard of the meat world. It’s just nasty, and I won’t eat it.
1 lb. ground chicken
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 ripe avocado, sliced into small cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
pinch granulated garlic
slices of bacon, cooked
Sauce (recipe below)
Combine the chicken, breadcrumbs, chopped avocado, salt and pepper, and garlic in a bowl and mix them thoroughly but carefully so that you don’t squash the cubes of avocado. I like to put the meat in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm it up a bit.
Form the meat into burger patties. It will be a bit sticky, but just make sure you get the avocado evenly distributed. (I find that using gloves and lightly spraying my hand with avocado oil helps me make the patties without sticking.) Chill the patties again in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm them up some more before cooking.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Heat a little avocado oil (or bacon fat!) in an oven-proof pan, and place the burgers in it when it’s hot. Let the burgers sear on one side, then flip them. (Make sure they sear well, or they’ll fall apart when you try to flip them.) Place the pan in the oven to finish cooking. It’s chicken…so you don’t want to undercook your burgers!
When they’re ready to serve, place the patties on a bun and with a slice of or 2 of bacon and slather with this burger sauce…
Starting in the mid 1700’s, sailors in the British Navy were given a daily ration of rum. They called it a “tot,” and the practice of daily “tot” distribution lasted for almost 200 years, until July 31, 1970. When it ended, not only were there many sad British sailors, but there was also a vast amount of leftover rum. Much of it was sold off at high prices because the taste was excellent and the methods of its distillation were no longer used.
It made sense. In the old days, when liquids were stored in wooden barrels aboard ship, water, beer, and wine would go bad very quickly. Only something with a much higher alcohol content wouldn’t spoil. Rum was the answer. And getting the sailors drunk every day kept them from deserting…it was good for morale!
But while the sailors drank rum, Royal Navy officers drank gin. The use of exotic spices in gin was made possible by imports from Africa and Asia. Gin’s prevalence around the world is largely due to the fact that sailors set foot in many new cities on new continents.
And though the British Navy stopped the practice of issuing alcohol to its sailors in 1970, the Royal New Zealand Navy abolished the practice as late as 1990!
Until a recent trip to New Zealand, I was not a huge fan of gin. Don’t get me wrong: I liked it. A gin and tonic was a nice refreshing drink on a hot summer’s day. And my fascination with the Vesper martini, a combination of gin and vodka, made me appreciate gin even more.
But it wasn’t until I went to New Zealand, and tasted their magnificent gins, in combination with delicious tonics only available in that country, did I really start to appreciate the subtle differences between them.
The first thing that caught my eye when I was served a sample of Roots gin, distilled in Marlborough, was the label: “Navy strength dry gin.” I asked what that meant. Well, for one thing, it had more alcohol. And the reason for that was surprising. Since gin, like rum, was stored in wooden barrels on ships, very often next to barrels of gunpowder, the gin had to contain enough alcohol so that if it spilled onto the gunpowder, the gunpowder would still ignite! Not enough alcohol in the gin would waterlog the gunpowder and make it useless. So tests were actually done by pouring gin on gunpowder to see what the minimum percentage of alcohol was required to keep the gunpowder burning. The answer was about 57%. Anything below that and the gunpowder would not burn. They coined the term “Navy strength.”
(Although the bottle of Roots gin above weighs in at 54.5%, it’s properly called “Navy strength.” In 1866, to keep sailors from getting completely hammered, the British Royal Navy reduced the alcohol content of the rum they were distributing to 54.5%. Hence, a new “Navy strength.”)
I was allowed to take only 1 bottle home from New Zealand, but, as you can see, it was not Navy strength. Still delicious!
The other advantage to a Navy strength gin is taste. If you’re not diluting it with water, not only are you getting more alcohol, but you’re also getting more of the herbaceous flavor you want in a gin.
Up until my trip to New Zealand, my experience with gin was limited to the usual list of suspects: Tanqueray,Bombay Sapphire, and Hendrick’s. I also more recently discovered Ford’s, a very nice London dry gin I sometimes use in my Vesper martinis.
But in New Zealand, many of the gins were floral and herb-forward, and I found that I like that. I like that a lot. For example, Victor, another Marlborough gin, was like “Hendrick’s on steroids.” I said that to my bartender at the Urban Eatery and Oyster Bar in Nelson, NZ, and she agreed. Delicious.
Although gins may vary in alcohol content, rules about serving liquor in New Zealand are very strict, certainly by US standards. For example, a “double” in New Zealand is 30ml. That’s 1 ounce! And that’s a standard pour for a cocktail. You can, I found out, ask for a “double-double.” And in that case, they would serve you a 1-ounce shot on the side with your drink, and you would have to pour it in yourself.
When I told the bartenders in New Zealand that we have 4-ounce martinis at any decent steakhouse in the US, and they realized that was 120 mls, their jaws pretty much dropped and hit the bar. One bartender gasped: “That’s irresponsible!” I told her that two of those drinks is widely considered the “businessman’s lunch” here in the states. She just shook her head.
Much to choose from at Kismet, my favorite bar in Nelson, NZ.
The phrase “proof” also has a very different meaning.
In the states, it’s pretty simple: it’s double the percentage of alcohol. So a bottle that’s 40% alcohol is 80 proof.
But the phrase “proof” comes from there British Royal Navy’s “proof” test. They would take the gin, pour it onto gunpowder, and if it ignited, that would prove there is sufficient alcohol in the gin. They would say that the gin was “gunpowder proof,” and it would be allowed onboard the ship.
So in the UK, a spirit with 57.15% is 100 degrees proof. A spirit with 40% alcohol is 70 degrees proof.
For me, it’s easier to simply remember to check the percentage of alcohol, and go from there.
One of the reasons I fell in love with New Zealand gin was because it was often served with East Imperial tonic, a New Zealand product that was not available in the United States for some time. But when I returned from my trip, I googled it and found that it was now being distributed in the US! When the amount of alcohol you’re allowed in your glass is limited (by our standards, anyway), what fills the rest of it up becomes incredibly important. East Imperial was the best line of tonics I’ve ever tried. (I’m saying was now, because, sadly, the company went under last year, and I managed to purchase a couple of 12-packs of the last of the available inventory. Once it’s gone, it’s back to Fever Tree.)
It stands to reason that a great cocktail is the sum total of its parts: great gin, great tonic, great ice.
I was enjoying a few Roots and tonics at the Bamboo Tiger, a bar inside the D’Urville Hotel in Blenheim, NZ, when we felt earthquake tremors. (My first!) It only lasted a few seconds, and when the chandeliers stopped moving, everyone pretty much went right back to business!
I spent about 10 days last summer in Scotland and Ireland, and though they’re known for their whiskey, it was their gins that really impressed me. But I’ll save that for another blog.
The 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, May 2nd, and although I’m not a big horse racing fan, I am a huge fan of the official drink: the Mint Julep!
The Mint Julep is such a perfect, classic and historic bourbon drink, it seems silly to wait until Derby Day to have one. Of course, as any aficionado of spirits will tell you, there are as many right ways as wrong ways of making one.
The first step in my Mint Julep is making the simple syrup. Learning from one of my old radio buddies, my pal Rick O’B, I infuse mint into my simple syrup to take my cocktail to the next level. I use the standard ratio of 1 cup of clean, filtered water to 1 cup of sugar. I place the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until just boiling. I’ve found that it needs to reach this stage for the sugar to really dissolve.
Waiting for the sugar to dissolve.
As soon as it starts to boil, I remove the saucepan from the heat, and throw in a handful of freshly picked mint leaves, stirring to make sure the mint gets in there, and then I leave the saucepan to cool to room temperature.
Once it’s at room temp, I strain the simple syrup into a squeeze bottle, and place it in the refrigerator to cool. It will keep for about a week.
An equally important ingredient for a perfect Mint Julep is the ice: specifically, crushed ice from clean, filtered water. Don’t even think of using tap water for any cocktail much less this one. Why ruin a good bottle of bourbon by going cheap on the ice? I make my own ice cubes, then put them in an untreated canvas ice bag and bash them with a mallet to the perfect crushed size. But if you don’t want to go through all the trouble, just buy a bag of good ice. Untreated canvas bags for crushing ice can be purchased online from bar supply companies for about $30. I got an untreated canvas tool bag (the exact same shape and size) at Home Depot for 3 bucks.
Da bag.
The next step is a little tougher: which bourbon to choose. The explosion of choices on the bourbon market has made it all but impossible for the average imbiber to know which bourbon is best for their tastes. If you’re a beginner, I suggest you go to a trusted bartender and explain that you’re new to the bourbon world, and could you have the tiniest of tastes and sniffs of what he’s got at his bar. Chances are, you’ll get a sampling of some of the better known brands: Maker’s Mark, Woodford Reserve, perhaps Buffalo Trace or Bulleit, and the standard Jim Beam. This is a very good start. (Also, hinting to your spouse and friends that “I’m trying new bourbons” around your birthday or Father’s Day inevitably gets you a few bottles as well!)
My go-to bourbon for Mint Juleps used to be Eagle Rare 10-year-old when it was around $32.99 a bottle. Now it can be as high $100! (Although the bourbon craze has calmed quite a bit recently, and prices are slowly going down.) My latest go-to bourbon is 1792 Small Batch. At $29, it’s almost unbelievable, like someone made a mistake in the stock room! Very tasty on its own and great for mixing. Others that work well and are around the same price range include Buffalo Trace, and Larceny. I’m actually not a fan of the official bourbon of the Derby: Woodford Reserve.
Finally, a Mint Julep needs a metal–not glass– Julep cup. Made of pewter, it frosts on the outside as you stir your drink, keeping your beverage ice-cold on even the hottest of days.
3 oz. bourbon 1 oz. mint-infused simple syrup crushed ice Julep cup Fresh mint for garnish
Crush the ice and pack it into the Julep cup, even letting it dome slightly over the top. Don’t worry…the alcohol will melt it.
I like to add 1.5 ounces of bourbon, then the ounce of simple syrup, another 1.5 ounces of bourbon on top, and then a quick squirt of simple syrup to top it off. Break off a few mint leaves from the stem and push them into the ice. A beautiful layer of frost will form on the outside of the cup. Add more ice, if necessary, and garnish with a sprig of mint.
A nice selection of bourbons. This is an old photo: that Pappy Van Winkle is long gone…but I saved the bottle!
Live the Live ™ 