Drink Recipe: Orange Spritz (non-alcoholic)

Orange Spritz

4.6 stars
Today.com (a Geoffrey Zakarian recipe)

This was not too bad for a non-alcoholic drink. I just happened to have a bottle of sweet tea so this was easy to make. Note that it required quite a few splashes of bitters for the bitters to come through.

Ingredients: orange juice, sweet tea, orange bitters, top with sparkling water

Cocktail Recipe: Shadow Woman

Shadow Woman

Food & Wine Magazine, Mar 2022, p. 61
4.8 stars but a strong drink!

This is a strong drink -- but oh so good. Better than cocktails I've ordered in restaurants. I love the complexity of it. I modified it a little bit in that I used pear liqueur instead of pear brandy. The recipe is from the American Bar in the Savoy Hotel in London. 

I modified it to the following and mixed it all in the glass -- didn't strain it.

• 1.5 oz bourbon
• 0.5 oz pear liqueur
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• orange and lemon peel twist
• ice

Drink Recipe: Frozen Hula Hoop

Frozen Hula Hoop
Food & Wine Magazine, Jul 2021, p. 51
5 stars

I love this drink so much -- great drink for pool time! It's kind of like a frozen daiquiri but better.

The recipe in Food & Wine Magazine was for 4-6 people (more like 4 people).

Their recipe is at the link above, but I adapted it for 1) 1 person and 2) with what we have in the house -- plus my proportions are a tad different.

Blend up:

• 2/3 cup of ice cubes
• 1/3 cup of frozen pineapple
• 2 Tbsp of dark rum
• 1 Tbsp Aperol
• 1 Tbsp red wine
• 1.5 Tbsp of maraschino cherry liquid from the jar (I prefer Tillen Farms Merry Maraschinos that seem less artificial as they are free from artificial colors, flavors, dyes, corn syrup and preservatives -- This is not an ad!) 
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Enjoy! 

Drink Recipe: Paris Between the Wars

Paris Between the Wars 

Food & Wine Magazine, Dec 2020, p. 72

4.5 stars

You have to like Campari or semi-bitter drinks to enjoy this lovely restaurant-worthy cocktail that's not hard to make but tastes complex (how I like it!).

Ingredients: Campari, blended Scotch whisky (such as Dewar's), lemon juice, simple syrup, dry sparkling wine such as brut Cava, ice cubes, lemon peel strip for garnish

Drink Recipe: Sarah's Garibaldi

Sarah's Garibaldi
Martha Stewart Living, Nov 2019, p.74
5 stars

You have to like Campari for this cocktail! I loved it, but I like bitter drinks with a lot of complexity. The bitterness of the Campari is definitely smoothed out by the orange juice.

This drink is so simple to make -- basically shake up the following in a cocktail shaker and strain into a coupe or martini glass:

• 2 oz Campari
• 1 oz fresh orange juice
• A few dashes of orange bitters
• Garnish with an orange twist

Notes:

• I used 2 oz of orange juice
• Next time, top off with sparkling water or club soda to give it some fizz

Drink Recipe: Peach Rosemary Gin & Tonic Cocktail

Peach Rosemary Gin & Tonic Cocktail
My recipe
5 stars

Fill a glass with ice and add:

• 1.5 oz gin
• 0.5 oz peach liqueur
• Top off with tonic
• Add a squeeze of lime
• Add a few peach wedges
• Stir with a fresh sprig of rosemary

Drink Recipe: Celery Tonic / Celery Martini

Celery Tonic (Celery Martini)
Bon Appetit, Sept 2014, p.54
5 stars

I'm always one to try new (and sometimes odd) food and drinks, and I love it when we have everything in the house to make random recipes that I come across.

This recipe is very celery-y as you can imagine but really interesting, refreshing and one of my favorite drinks to make.

Recipe:

• Muddle 1 chopped celery stalk with 1 Tbsp. sugar and 1 oz fresh lemon juice in a cocktail shaker, 1 minute.
• Add 2 oz. gin, fill shaker with ice, and shake until outside of shaker is frosty, about 30 seconds.
• Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice and garnish with a lemon twist.

As you can see from my photo, I made it into a beautiful cool green martini. . .

Recipe: Ensalada de Calabacin

Ensalada de Calabacin (Frida Kahlo's Zucchini Salad)
Saveur, Oct 2014
5 stars

This is a great side dish -- very flavorful and oh so easy.  It's only 8 ingredients!  Apparently, this was a favorite of artist Frida Kahlo's.

Ingredients:  zucchini, avocado, queso anejo, cilantro, sugar, olive oil, red wine vinegar, Kosher salt

Tips:

• Don't cut the zucchini too thin because when you saute them, they'll get too soft/mushy
• Instead of queso anejo, we used cotija

Drink Recipe: Maple-Bourbon Cider Cocktail

It's fall and a great time for apple cider cocktails!
Here is one I made the other day -

In a mixer, shake up:

• 2.5 oz Bourbon
• 2 tsp pure maple syrup
• 3 oz apple cider
• Pinch of Cayenne pepper
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• Ice

Enjoy!

Drink Recipe: Pear Ginger Martini

Pear Ginger Martini

My own creation

Basically. . . add the following to a martini shaker:

• Ice
• Half of a ripe Bartlett pear, diced
• 1 1/2 oz of vodka
• 1/2 oz of Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
• Pinch of cinnamon

Shake it up and strain into a martini glass.  Add pear chunks if you like.

Then top it with Fever Tree ginger beer.

Now, some people might not like the non-clear texture of this martini or the chunks of pear floating in it, but I love it!

Drink Recipe: Peach Bourbon Ginger Cocktail

I saw a recipe for something like this but came up with my own version:

• 1.5 oz of Bourbon (I used Knob Creek which has a smoky flavor)
• 1 oz of Dekuyper Peach Schnapps
• Squeeze of lemon 
• Top with Fever Tree Ginger Beer
• A few dashes of bitters

Refreshing for the summer but using a brown spirit!

Drink Recipe: Strawberry-Basil-Aperol-St-Germain-Champagne Cocktail

These days, our mentality is -- why go out and spend $10 on a cocktail when we can make it at home with our own booze?  2 people, 2 drinks each plus food is a minimum of $50.

Well, that thought turned into a fun trip to our favorite liquor store where we bought some provisions, one of which was a bottle of St-Germain elderflower liqueur.  The bottle is a beauty!

Interestingly, I wasn't a fan of St-Germain about 4 years ago, but the popularity of the liqueur in drinks (and perhaps a change in my taste buds) has changed my mind about its flowery taste and smell.  It smells a little bit like lychee to me.

I created a drink inspired by a cocktail I saw on the people's last stand bar + bistro's menu.  It was called la bonne fille meaning "The good girl" - Classy, bright and sweet but when it's finished, she leaves with just a touch of bitterness.

• Squeeze 1/4 of a grapefruit into a glass
• Add 2 sliced strawberries and 6 basil leaves and muddle them with the grapefruit juice
• Add 1 oz Aperol
• Add 1/2 oz of St-Germain
• Fill the glass with ice
• Top with sparkling wine
• Pour back and forth into a mixing tin and the glass a couple of times

Enjoy!

Recipe: Watermelon, Grapefruit, Ginger Tequila Cocktail

This is my new [and favorite] summer cocktail that I concocted this evening.

Rim 1/2 of a cocktail glass with a mix of Kosher salt and chili pepper (not seen in my photo above).

In a cocktail shaker:

• Muddle 4-5 cubes of ripe watermelon
• Add 1.5 oz of reposado tequila
• Squeeze 1/2 of a fresh grapefruit
• Add 1.5 oz ginger beer
• Add ice
• Shake and pour into a cocktail glass

Drink Recipe: The Triple Crown (Southern Comfort)

I couldn't figure out what to drink.
I saw our bottle of Southern Comfort (which we've had for a few years).
I looked up what drinks I could make with SoCo.
I found "The Triple Crown" recipe on the SoCo website.
I made it.

In a shaker, I shook up:

• 1/2 of a grapefruit, freshly squeezed
• 6 mint leaves
• 1.5 oz of Southern Comfort
• 1/2 oz of triple sec
• a splash of simple syrup

The drink was a tad sweet for me, so I topped it with club soda which turned it into a nice spritzy summer 

drink!

Drink Recipe: Italian Refresher

Here is a cocktail that I concocted (when I couldn't decide between making an Aperol Spritz and something with Campari).  I call it the Italian Refresher.

• 1 oz Aperol
• 1/2 oz Campari
• Squeeze of 1/2 a lime
• 1 oz Sprite
• 1 oz Club Soda

Drink Recipe: Chocolate Bulleit - Revised

This is admittedly not the best drink photo -- I was halfway through the drink before I thought about writing about this.  

I was craving a drink with bourbon perhaps influenced by the Kentucky Derby being on TV, yet didn't want a Mint Julep.

I had just used part of an orange for another recipe and decided to make my own version of the Chocolate Bulleit cocktail, but using different proportions of ingredients since that drink is a bit too strong for me.

The Bistro 31 Chocolate Bulleit recipe is as follows:

• 1 oz Bulleit Bourbon
• 1 oz Licor 43
• Squeeze of orange juice
• 6 dashes of Aztec Chocolate Bitters
• Garnished with a fresh orange slice

My "revised recipe" that is a little sweeter:

• 1 oz Maker's Mark (we were out of Bulleit Bourbon)
• 1/2 oz Licor 43
• Juice of a whole orange
• 3 dashes of Aztec Chocolate Bitters

Cheers!

The Greyhound

I admit, I LOVE complex cocktails.  When we go out to restaurants, I often order the craziest drinks that are on the menu . . . drinks that have strange combinations of ingredients (ingredients like thyme, peppercorns, bacon, rhubarb, jalapeno, ginger -- not all of those together, of course, but hey that combination might be interesting).

But as the phrase goes, sometimes less is more and simple is best.  The Greyhound is that go-to drink when I want something simple yet refreshing.  It's grapefruit juice (must must must be freshly squeezed grapefruit) and vodka (Ketel One is my preferred choice).  That's it.

Plus, I get my vitamin C so it's healthy, right?

Recipe: Raspberry and Aperol Floats

I am a huge fan of Aperol.  Aperol is like Campari and is actually produced by the Campari company.  It's hard to describe the taste -- it has a slightly bitter orange and herbal-y (I made up that word) flavor to it.

I made the Raspberry and Aperol Floats recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine (July 2013, p. 79) the other day, and it is delicious!!!!  If you like Aperol, try this drink.  It involves making a very easy thyme-infused simple syrup and then muddling it and the raspberries in a glass.  Add Aperol, ice cream, and club soda. . . Voila!

Art-inspired Dinner

Rothko-inspired bramble jelly shot

Phase-Mother Earth inspired chocolate & vanilla cake

A few weeks ago, our friends threw an art-themed dinner party which was inspired by Caitlin Freeman's book Modern Art Desserts.  Everyone invited brought a dish, and we each had to guess what artist/artwork inspired the dish.  It was tons 'o fun, and I'm hoping we do it again soon.

We made 2 items:

1. A bramble cocktail jelly shot that was inspired by Marc Rothko's work.
2. A cake inspired by Nubuo Sekine's Phase-Mother Earth which is considered to be a pivotal work of the Mono-ha Japanese art movement of the late 60s and early 70s.  Phase-Mother Earth was a large cylindrical tower made of packed earth which was removed from a cylindrical hole with the same shape.

The jelly shots were a hit and fun to eat.  (From now on, I think I'm going to make a fun jelly shot for every dinner party we have.)

The cake turned out fine, we just had to do some minor repairs at the end.  Making the cake was an interesting undertaking as you probably imagine from looking at the photo.  I do need to find a great cake recipe that produces somewhat dense and moist cake AND that is meant for layering so if anyone has a tried-and-true recipe, please let me know and respond in the comments!

Cherry Bourbon Cocktail

I've been into bourbon for a little while now and was craving a bourbon-cherry type drink the other night.  I really wanted to use some of the all natural Chukar maraschino cherries (they're amazing) our friends gave us, so I searched for "bourbon cherry" online and scanned through some recipes.  Here's the concoction that I created that is my new go-to drink:

• 1.5 oz of bourbon (we use Bulleit brand)
• 4 or 5 Chukar maraschino cherries
• 2.5 tbsp. of Chukar maraschino cherry syrup/juice
• Splash of tonic
• Splash of club soda (so the drink isn't super sweet)
• Squeeze of lime

I've seen some other recipes that mix cherry/bourbon/lime/ginger and cherry/bourbon/triple sec/cream, so I'll be experimenting some new recipes tonight. 

Happy 4th!