Thursday, December 19, 2024

Cheers to You, and to Us All!

What’s cooking? Holiday cocktails



Clockwise from far left: Cranberry Sauce Punch, Holiday French 75, Pink Pom-Pom, Classic Champagne Cocktail, Rosemary Cranberry Margarita, Cranberry Pink Pomegranate Margarita




Getting into the holiday spirit is a lot easier if you actually start with spirits. In my neighborhood in Texas, we have an annual celebration for which we rotate hosting duties, and all the “cheffy” types contribute their specialties for the crowd. The Kitchen Goddess naturally supplies a batch of her decorated roll-out cookies, but it has been settled on me to also recommend a holiday cocktail. As is my wont, I try to make a big deal out of  little, so I hold a “tasting” for a few of the ladies, at which we sample my collected ideas and choose a winner. Nothing like a party to prepare for a party.

This year, I went a little overboard (surprise, surprise) and found 6(!) candidates to be judged. You can imagine that, by the end of the tasting, we agreed that all of them had merit, but we went with number 5 (more on that later), as being not just tasty but also working without the alcohol for the teetotalers among us. We had to fess up to those folks that we couldn’t make it without the Cointreau, but no one seemed to mind.

As the season is all about sharing, I offer the lot of these cocktails to you, dear readers. You could even have a tasting of your own! (If you do, please let me know your winner.) So here they all are, in no particular order other than the order in which I presented them.


Classic Champagne Cocktail

from The New York Times (June 2024)


I started with the simplest and – in my opinion – the most sophisticated. According to Chilled Magazine, the classic champagne cocktail goes at least as far back as 1862, when it appeared in Jerry Thomas’s 1862 Bartender’s Guide. The drink has made glamorous appearances in film, notably Casablanca, when Victor Laszlo and Ilsa order a round at Rick’s CafĂ© (Rick himself gets a French 75), and An Affair to Remember, when Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr share pink champagne cocktails during their shipboard romance.


Serves as many as you have champagne flutes.


Ingredients (for 1 serving)
1 sugar cube (or 1 teaspoon granulated or Demerara sugar)
4-6 dashes Angostura bitters (enough to saturate the cube)
4-5 ounces champagne or other dry sparkling wine, such as Cava 

Garnish: Long, thin lemon twist


Preparation
1. Chill your champagne flutes. (Not really necessary, but whatever...)

2. Add a sugar cube to each flute.

3. Douse each cube with bitters, then top slowly with champagne. (Slowly, because the sugar will cause the bubbly to be extra bubbly.)

4. Garnish with lemon twists.

Serve in a champagne flute.


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Pink Pom-Pom

from Cocktail Chameleon, by Mark Addison


Mr. Addison describes this drink as a “refined combination of elderflower and grapefruit flavors,” to produce a delicate balance of sweet and tart. The lemon-infused vodka, which is easy to make and might even improve in flavor on the commercial stuff, adds a “zesty brightness” to the drink. And the champagne keeps it refreshingly light. It’s flavorful and pretty, especially with the pomegranate seed garnish.


Ingredients (for 1 serving)
½ ounce St. Germain elderflower liqueur
½ ounce lemon vodka* (see below for how-to)
1 ounce red grapefruit juice
4 ounces brut champagne, chilled

Garnish: 5-7 pomegranate seeds


Preparation
1. Fill a shaker with ice and add the liqueur, vodka, and juice, shaking until well chilled.

2. Strain into a flute and top with champagne.

3. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.

Or, if you are serving more than one, combine the quantities of liqueur, vodka, and juice ahead of time, and refrigerate. When ready, pour 2 ounces of the mix into each flute and top with the champagne.

Serve in champagne flutes.

*Kitchen Goddess how-to on the lemon vodka: If you want to commit an entire bottle of premium vodka to the project, pour it into a one-quart mason jar and add 1 cup of lemon zest. For smaller batches, combine 12½ ounces of vodka with ½ cup of zest, or 6 ounces of vodka with ¼ cup of zest. Seal the jar and shake it, then set aside in a cool, dark spot for 3 days. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth and discard the solids. Store in a cool, dark spot for up to a year. 


* * *


Pink Pomegranate Margarita

from Superman Cooks blog (supermancooks.com)


As celebratory as it is to serve champagne, a margarita also lends itself to creative variations, and is a great way to start the evening. These were a big hit at a Kitchen Goddess dinner party. I took time the day before and added red food coloring to my rimming salt; the effect of the red salt with the green lime zest brought out the “Ho-ho-ho” in everyone.


Ingredients (for 1)
2 ounces of your favorite tequila
1 ounce triple sec or any orange liqueur
1½ ounces fresh squeezed lime juice*
1½ ounces unsweetened pomegranate juice
1 teaspoon simple syrup**

Garnishes: 
¼ cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon lime zest
4-5 pomegranate seeds
Lime wheel

*Kitchen Goddess note: Before juicing your limes, use a zester to remove just the outer green skin and set aside. It’s really hard to zest an already squeezed lime, and you’ll need that zest for the salt rim. To get the most juice from the limes, roll them on a hard surface before juicing. 

**Kitchen Goddess note on simple syrup: Combine 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring only until the sugar has completely dissolved. Once the mixture reaches a boil, remove it from the heat and let cool. Refrigerate in a tightly sealed jar for up to 2 months. (I have actually kept it for several months to no disadvantage.) Simple sugar is an essential ingredient in many bar drinks, so it never hurts to have some on hand.


Preparation
1. For a single drink, add tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, pomegranate juice and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice, place the top on the shaker, and shake vigorously for 20 seconds.

Alternatively, if you are serving a group, combine multiples of those same ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate. This is easy to do a day ahead of time. The Kitchen Goddess served this cocktail to a dinner group of 6, and it was so popular, I was glad I had made enough for more than one drink per person.
 
2. Mix the kosher salt and lime zest in a shallow dish large enough to dip the top of the glass in.

3. Using a lime wedge, wet the rim of the glass and dip the glass into the salt/zest mixture.

4. Fill the rimmed glass with ice and strain the margarita over the ice. Garnish with more lime zest, pomegranate seeds, and a lime wheel.

Serve in a small rocks/old fashioned cocktail glass (6-8 oz).


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Cranberry Sauce Punch

from Cocktail Chameleon, by Mark Addison


This is the most labor-intensive of the drinks, so you can imagine I did not encourage the voting for it. But everyone agreed that the taste was quite nice. So I won’t discourage you from trying it. The cooked cranberry-spice mixture gives this cocktail an extra holiday flavor (Thanksgiving or Christmas), and the recipe makes enough for 8. I would definitely cook the cranberry-spice mixture (steps 1-4) a day ahead and refrigerate it combined with the orange juice.


Ingredients (for 8 drinks)
½ cup frozen cranberries
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 cloves
1 star anise pod
1 cardamom pod (optional)
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
3 cups fresh orange juice, separated
1 bottle chilled champagne


Preparation
1. In a small saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar, spices, water, and orange zest, and bring to a boil.

2. Reduce the heat and simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring often to keep the mix from sticking to the pan. Remove the mix from the heat and cool completely.

3. Add 1½ cups orange juice to the pan and stir to combine, scraping down the sides.

4. Strain the mix into a tall pitcher or quart-sized jar, add the remaining orange juice, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

5. To serve, pour 2½ ounces of the cranberry-orange juice mix into each glass and top with 2½ ounces of chilled champagne.

Serve in a wine glass.


* * *


Rosemary-Cranberry Margarita

from Food & Wine Magazine (November 2024)


Most people associate margaritas with Cinco de Mayo. This winterized riff on the classic combo of lime, orange, and tequila, gets its warmth from the added flavors of woodsy rosemary and tart cranberry. (If you like a lighter colored drink, use white cranberry juice.) Our tasting committee found it delightful, but VERY boozy. So in order to serve it at our holiday party, we added a couple of ounces of club soda to each drink, and it was perfect. A huge hit.


Ingredients (for 1)
For the rosemary simple syrup:
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup water
3 4-inch rosemary sprigs
For the cocktail:
1½ ounces blanco tequila
¾ ounce unsweetened cranberry juice
½ ounce orange liqueur (such as Cointreau)
½ ounce lime juice, plus lime wedge
½ ounce rosemary simple syrup

Garnishes: 
4 tablespoons granulated sugar plus 2 tablespoons kosher salt
rosemary sprigs
fresh cranberries, or sugared cranberries (recipe at the end of this post)


Preparation
1. Make the rosemary simple syrup, even a day or two ahead: Stir together the sugar, the water, and the rosemary in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over medium-low, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is syrupy and rosemary has wilted, 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool completely, about 20 minutes. (If making ahead of time, remove rosemary sprigs, and store syrup in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)

2.  Make the rimming mixture: The F&W writer suggests rubbing the rosemary leaves into the sugar/salt mix with your fingers to get the oils to release, but the Kitchen Goddess got the same result ahead of time and without ruining her manicure by combining the sugar and salt in a lidded plastic container with a rosemary sprig, adding the lid, and shaking the whole thing for about a minute. Then let it sit until serving time. When you’re ready to serve, toss the rosemary sprig and pour the sugar/salt mix into a saucer, rub the rim of a rocks glass with the lime wedge, and dip the glass rim into the sugar/salt mixture. Fill glass with ice and set aside.

3. Make the cocktail: Combine tequila, cranberry juice, orange liqueur, lime juice, and rosemary simple syrup in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until well chilled, about 20 seconds.

3. Strain cocktail into prepared rocks glass. Garnish with rosemary sprig and fresh cranberries.

To batch this cocktail in advance, stir together 1½ cups tequila, ¾ cup cranberry juice, ½ cup orange liqueur, ½ cup lime juice, and ½ cup rosemary simple syrup in a large pitcher. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes (overnight is good). Serves 8.


* * *


I served this to a group of friends for our annual Christmas lunch. Happy Holidays to all!


Holiday French 75 (a.k.a. Holiday Spritz)

from Food & Wine Magazine (November 2024)


“A Mimosa, a French 75, and an Aperol Spritz walk into a bar...” That’s how Food & Wine Magazine described this cocktail, and if that doesn’t intrigue you, well.... The drink was in fact inspired by a group of classic brunch drinks; it’s bright and citrusy, with a touch of effervescence.

The freshness of the Holiday 75 flavor profile comes by combining citrusy, acidic ingredients in balance. The bitterness of the Aperol cuts through sparkling wine and simple syrup; lemon and orange juices bring mouthwatering acidity and an ultra-fresh edge, and a citrusy gin like Tanqueray provides a boozy backbone. 

And by the way, this is a drink that works well to accompany a Christmas pancake-and-bacon brunch.


Ingredients (to serve 1)
1 ounce orange juice
¾ ounce gin
½ ounce Aperol
½ ounce lemon juice
½ ounce simple syrup (See directions under Pink Pomegranate Margarita)
2 ounces dry sparkling wine, such as Cava, chilled*

Garnish: 1 orange slice 


Preparation
1. Combine orange juice, gin, Aperol, lemon juice, and simple syrup in an ice-filled wine glass. Stir to combine.

2. Top with sparkling wine and garnish with orange slice.

The Holiday 75 can be partially batched in advance for a crowd. To make 8 servings, combine 1 cup orange juice, 3/4 cup gin, and ½ cup each of Aperol, lemon juice, and simple syrup in an airtight container. Chill the mixture in the fridge, even overnight.

When ready to serve, pour 3-4 ounces of the refrigerated mix into ice-filled wine glasses. Add 2 ounces of sparkling wine directly to each glass when ready to serve. Garnish with orange slice.

Serve in a wine glass.

*Kitchen Goddess note on dry sparkling wine: You could use champagne for the Holiday 75, but why would you? For half to a third of the price, you can get a nice Cava (Spanish). Why not Prosecco (Italian)? Both are sparkling wines, but they differ in production method, grape varieties, and flavor profile. For the consumer, you should know that Cava is drier and more complex than Prosecco, with notes of green apple and pear. Prosecco is sweeter and fresher, with primary fruit aromas. With all that citrus already in the cocktail, the dryness of a Cava will provide better balance.


* * *


NOTE: You’ll notice that a couple of these cocktails came from Cocktail Chameleon, a book I stumbled upon in a bookstore on a visit to Palm Beach. The photos are stunning, and the cocktails cover a wide range of purposes and styles. It’s a beautiful book – sort of a coffee table book of cocktails – published by the luxury lifestyle company, Assouline. Here’s the cover and a sample of the inside pages.




Wednesday, January 31, 2024

My New Favorite Comfort Food

 What’s cooking? Chinese Stir-Fried Tomatoes and Eggs






There’s something about January that makes even decent weather feel drab. It has rained – or seemed that way – about every other day this month, so much so that my hubby keeps turning to me and saying, “Does it always rain this much in Austin?” Of course, now that we’ve been here for 15 years, he’s more aware of the weather than he lets on, but we have had a remarkable amount of precipitation lately. And when it wasn’t raining, we’ve had lots of overcast days, quite a few very cold days, and with that much water in the air, when it warms up – as it did this week – we get heavy fog.

So what to do in these periods of gloom? Comfort food. Whatever it is that your mom used to make when you stayed home from school with a cold or flu. It was warm and soft. I’d say chicken soup is my favorite comfort food, with bean soups and risottos right behind, except that I’ve recently discovered a Chinese dish that tops them all: Stir-fried Tomatoes and Eggs, served over a bowl of white rice.

It was Francis Lam’s contribution in his last New York Times column a few years ago, so I thought of it the way I think about my grandmother’s brownie recipe, which I will give to you when I stop blogging. It’s that last hurrah – the writer’s favorite recipe. And I know the idea of stir-fried tomatoes and eggs sounds a little weird, but you will not believe how good this simple combination is and how quickly it comes together. The gentle mix of flavors – the fragrant rice wine in the eggs, the subtle hit from the fresh ginger and sweet ketchup in the tomato sauce – combine in a wave of umami that cradles the softly scrambled eggs as they finish in the sauce. Even my prince perks up when I tell him that’s for dinner. I often have to hide the leftovers so I can have them for lunch the next day.


Start by assembling the ingredients.

The only caution I will give you is that the dish spends so little time (no more than 15 minutes) actually cooking – and that includes all those movements between steps, like the time to get the eggs out of the pan, time for a last-minute stir of the cornstarch mixture, etc. So the only way to successfully pull it off is to have every ingredient (yes, every one) ready in little bowls. If not, you will drive yourself crazy from the 15 seconds on this and 2 minutes on that, and something will overcook, which will be bad.




Chinese Stir-fried Tomatoes and Eggs

Adapted from Francis Lam in The New York Times


Kitchen Goddess note: Making rice is not part of Lam’s directions, though I don’t know why not, because that’s the first thing you need to do. Rice generally takes a half hour, so if you start it before you begin gathering your ingredients and assembling your mise en place, it’ll be ready when the eggs and tomatoes are. Or maybe you’d like to make it the day before and re-heat it in the microwave. Either way, get the rice ready before you start the eggs and tomatoes. This dish is best eaten warm.


Active Time: 30 minutes

Serves 2-3. I would say 3-4, but at my house, at least one person always goes back for more.


Ingredients

6 large eggs
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry (not rice wine vinegar!)
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 pound beefsteak tomatoes in season, or one 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes in juice (In the off-season, KG prefers heirloom tomatoes for the texture, if they’re available, but canned ones work just fine.) 
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon minced or grated ginger (from about ½ -inch nub)

Steamed rice, for serving


Directions

Get the rice started, following the directions on the box. (Kitchen Goddess note: KG and Ina Garten both recommend Texmati for its flavor and aroma. Jasmati – made by the same company – has longer grains and is plumper, softer, and a bit more moist, but the flavor is equally good.)



Set your mise en place:

1. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs well with the sesame oil, the rice wine (or sherry), and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl (think custard cup), stir 2 tablespoons of water into the cornstarch until it dissolves. Add the sugar and ketchup and stir until the entire mixture is well combined. Set aside.

3. If you will be using fresh tomatoes – and let me say here that in the summer when beefsteak tomatoes are available, you would be a fool not to use them in this dish – core and slice them into ½-inch wedges. Set them aside in a mixing bowl. If you are using canned tomatoes, open the can and set it aside.

4. Grate/mince your ginger and put it in a small bowl. Set aside.

5. Slice the scallions and put about three quarter of them into a small bowl, and the remaining quarter into a separate small bowl. Set both bowls aside.

Now that you have your mise en place, heat a wide (10- or 11-inch) skillet over high heat with 3 tablespoons of the oil. (Mr. Lam recommends a non-stick skillet, but I’ve never had a problem with my heavy-duty stainless.)

When the oil begins to shimmer, add the larger portion of the scallions and stir them around for 20-30 seconds, until they give off a good aroma. Give the eggs a final stir and pour them into the pan, stirring constantly until the eggs are just set but still a bit runny, which will take about 45 seconds. Pour the eggs back into their mixing bowl, and wipe out the pan. (The Kitchen Goddess has never wiped out the pan, but Lam recommends it, so... your choice.)



Move the pan back to the stovetop over high heat, and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the ginger and stir until it is aromatic, likely about 15 seconds. Add the tomatoes all at once, with a sprinkling of kosher salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes until the flesh softens and the juices have begun to thicken. (If you are using canned tomatoes, add the juice from the can as well and give the tomatoes an extra couple of minutes  – total 4-5 minutes – for those juices to thicken to a saucelike consistency.)

Reduce the heat to medium. Stir the cornstarch-ketchup mixture one last time and add it to the pan. Continue stirring the sauce until it reaches a boil and thickens. Taste the sauce and add salt or sugar or ketchup if you like. (I have never added anything.) It’s supposed to be a savory, sweet-tart sauce.



Stir the eggs in the bowl again to “chunk” the curds, then add them to the sauce. Cook, stirring the mixture for about another 20 seconds (less depending on how runny you like your eggs) to finish the dish, and scatter the remaining scallions over the top.

Serve over steamed rice.