Tag archive for cocktail

There is a small corner of my mind that is always flirting with the concept of savoury drinks. It started a few years back when I was working as a barista and doing the occasional competition. I had grown tired of the sweet drinks. Seriously, we are so bombarded with sweet drinks that something a little savoury always sounds like an intriguing break to me. The problem with savoury drinks is that they are tricky. I have tried numerous ideas, and based on trial and error I can tell you this for sure, NEVER EVER EVER make yourself a sparkling iced Americano. Really bad idea. If you think about the number of savoury options that are out there, the caesar and the bloody mary are two of the few drinks that come to mind. Perhaps it is a sign, savoury is just to tricky to make well.

I however am not ready to give up on the idea just yet. Perhaps the answer to the savoury drink conundrum lies in infused syrups. In fact some of my favourite coffee drinks are ones that feature herb infused syrups. So, a few weeks ago when I saw Love and Lemons Lavender French 75 it got me thinking about what other options might just work. I decided to start slowly with this recipe from Martha Stewart. It is lightly sweet, a little tart and has just a hint of celery on the end. If you aren’t to sure about savoury flavours in a cocktail this is the place to start.

Celery French 75
Adapted from Martha Stewart

1/2 cup sugar
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2 tablespoons packed fresh celery leaves, plus more for garnish
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 4 to 5 lemons)
6 ounces gin, chilled
1 bottle (750 mL) sparkling wine, such as cava or prosecco, chilled
lemon twists, for garnish

Directions
In a small sauce pan combine sugar and water. Simmer the mixture over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add the celery leaves. Allow to cool. Strain out the leaves and discard.

For the cocktail, combine 1 tablespoon of celery syrup, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and a half an ounce of gin. Top with sparkling wine. Stir lightly to incorporate. Garnish with a celery leaf or a twist of lemon.

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The deluge started this afternoon, settling itself in for the weekend like an unwanted house guest. Can you tell that I am pretty much over the rain this season? In my mind there is only one cure for such unsavoury situations like the arrive of the pineapple express. Gin.

Gin has long been a favourite of mine, but not because I often have unwanted house guests. I love its botanical flavours, its simplicity and at the same time its complexity. It was much to my delight when I learned that 2 and a half blocks for my house, a small batch distillery had opened up. Joy of joys, gin was one item on their fresh sheet. So after work one day I meandered on down to their store front to check out the situation.

Long Table Distillery is Vancouver’s first small batch distillery. Charles, one of the owners showed us around, introduced us to their products and shared some of the exciting things we have to look forward to from Long Table. Then Charles pulled out a 10 gallon bucket of foraged juniper berries. Long Table’s London Dry style gin lets their hand-picked, west coast juniper berries be the star, with just a lovely hint of lemon. All and all the gin is a real star. One that is equally exceptional, whether enjoyed shaken over ice or in a cocktail. Did I mention their distillery is just one block off my daily running route. I think I need to adjust my route!

 

Lemongrass, Gin & Soda

2 oz gin
1 oz lemongrass syrup (recipe below)
Dash of fresh lime juice
Soda water

Fill a highball glass half full of ice, pour in gin, lemongrass syrup and the juice of one wedge of lime. Stir and top with soda water. Garnish with a lime. I found experimenting with different types of citrus can give you really lovely results. You could switch out the lime for a little blood orange and lemon or perhaps even a meyer lemon.

Lemongrass Syrup

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 stalks lemongrass (core only) grated or sliced

In a small sauce pan bring to a light boil water, sugar and lemongrass. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Gently boil for 10 to 15 minutes, then set aside to cool. Using a sieve or cheese cloth strain the lemongrass from the syrup, pour into a jar and store in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

For me, the best gatherings happen in the kitchen—food preparation in full swing, maybe a little snack or something to sip on, all the while chatting with friends or family. The meal comes together at a leisurely place, but the time spent preparing and enjoying it together is the event itself. These are the cooking moments that I hang some of my best food memories around.

One of my favorite “cooking as the event” moments happened in Paris with my sister. Since when does an evening cooking dinner in a tiny rented kitchen upstage an afternoon wandering the avenues of Paris, right? It was years ago, but I still remember the deep pleasure of shopping for our dinner items at the market, deciding what suited our mood for the evening, then negotiating with the market vendor on the exact specimens, according to our estimated meal time. Hauling our supplies up flights and flights of stairs to our apartment, deciding to while away the chilly evening hours in the kitchen. At some point, the hot steam coming from the pots bubbling on the stove fills up the tiny space forces us to throw open the window to the narrow courtyard that our building wraps around. Outside we hear the clatter and bustle of dinner coming together for everyone else in our building and we feel at ease.

Of course, not every meal is a magical Parisian memory. Most often, I enjoy the company of friends and family in my own kitchen where we partake in the age-old ritual of preparing and sharing a meal. It’s likely not a fancy meal, but nourishing and prepared with care—the very acts of chopping and dicing friendship at its best. And in these dark days of winter, it is something to look forward to. So in that celebratory spirit, I created this cocktail to share.

Meyer lemons are a seasonal favorite of mine—but hording fresh fruit is only advisable when there is a good use for it in sight. This cocktail proves to be a delicious way to highlight the sweet and pronounced flavor of the lemon.

Meyer’s Refresher

Serves 2
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3 oz. Meyer lemon juice
3 oz. gin
4 dashes grapefruit bitters
Scant 2 teaspoons rosemary simple syrup, recipe follows
Sparkling wine or cava, to finish

Combine all ingredients and shake over ice. Pour into two small glasses, add ice and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with a slice of Meyer lemon.

Rosemary Syrup

Makes 1 cup

1 cup white sugar
1 cup water
1 cup fresh rosemary sprigs
peel of one Meyer lemon

Combine water and sugar in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for about 5 minutes, until all of the sugar is dissolved. Add in the rosemary and lemon peel and stir to incorporate. Remove from heat and let steep for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove peel and rosemary and store in the fridge.

This Sunday I had the pleasure of spending the better part of the day hanging out with the very talented Joann from Slice of Pai (don’t forget to check her out on Instagram). For a month or so Joann and I have been talking about doing a collaboration. On Sunday the planets or perhaps more accurately, our agendas finally aligned and we carved out a bit of free time in-between babyshowers and other such obligation to share some time baking and taking photographs. I have been really excited about this collaboration because Joann has an such an amazing eye for food styling and photography. The majority of the photographs you see here today are Joann’s handy work!

Our morning started nice and early (for a Sunday) with me arriving on Joann’s doorstep with a giant box of props and a bottle of whiskey. The whiskey was one of the props of course! Our plan was to bake shortbread two ways, savoury and sweet. I have always loved baking that mixes sweet and salty so when we came across a recipe for a delicate sweet and salty pre-dinner cocktail shortbread (enter the Whiskey) I was all in. For our sweet selection we chose an amazing buttery and crisp almond shortbread sandwich. The almond shortbread maybe one of the best shortbreads I have had in years; so good that I have since made a second batch. See below for recipes.

Sweet and Salty Herbed Shortbread
Recipe Adapted from Food52 

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sal
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1 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, thyme and lavender
1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a rack positioned in the centre. In a medium bowl sift together flour and salt. In a small bowl, combined 2 tablespoons of sugar and the chopped herbs. Using your fingers gently rub the sugar and the chopped herbs together, this will release the oils from the herbs. Stir the herb mixture into the flour.

Add butter chunks to the flour, mix using a fork until a soft dough forms. Transfer the dough into a 9-inch round or square baking pan; gently pat the dough down. Using a fork prick the dough and sprinkle the remaining teaspoon of sugar evenly over the dough.

Place the pan in the oven and bake the shortbread for 20 to 30 minutes, until it is golden and no longer looks at all wet. While the dough is still warm, score it into fingers using a very sharp knife. Allow it to cool completely in the pan before separating the pieces.

Almond Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Recipe adapted from FineCooking

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sal
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond meal
Strawberry jam
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a mixer combine butter, sugar and salt at low speed. Mix the ingredients on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes until the butter blends with the sugar but isn’t perfectly smooth. Continue mixing at low speed while adding the flour and almonds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing until the dough begins to hold together. Be careful not to overmix.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, quickly rolling the dough to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Thinner cookies will make a more attractive sandwich.

Make an even number of cookies and cut a smaller shape into the middle of half of your cookies. This will become the top of the sandwich. The tops of the cookies can be fragile so make sure the border is fairly wide. Transfer the cookies onto baking sheets and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

While the cookies are cooling position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat to 300°F. Bake the cookies until golden, about 30 min. Halfway through the baking time switch the pan from top to bottom and rotate them 180 degrees, cook for the remaining time.

Allow the cookies to fully cool. Place a small teaspoon of jam in the centre of the cookie bottoms and spread the jam lightly over the cookie avoiding the edges. Using a sifter dust the cookie tops with confectioners’ sugar. Place the sandwiches tops on the jammed cookie bottoms and very gently press together.