Sangre de Frambuesa

Still in a state of fascination with basil-flavored drinks.
Also a sudden urge to use some raspberry vinegar (artisanal no less!), half-empty bottle of it collecting the dust in my pantry (well, how many beet salads one can make).
The point of departure was Sangre de Fresa from the excellent Art of the Bar book. And it worked like a charm!

5 raspberries, two lemon wedges, 5 basil leaves, tsp of sugar, 1/2 oz vinegar, 1.5 oz tequila blanco, 1/2 oz Cointreau, splash of lemon juice. Over the crushed ice in a pilsner glass, topped with soda.

Pepitas Crusted Chicken Winglets Reimagined in Tokyo

Miso as a secret ingredient. Not necessarily a japanese or fusion dish. Straightforward south-western flavor – hot hatch chiles powder, oregano, roasted garlic, but with some white miso mixed into a marinade.

Irresistible!

Backyard Delight

ok so the truth is that lovage is not the only herb that survives in my backyard – basil does well too and here’s the proof:

now somewhere along the way i got tired of basil as a ubiquitous salad herb: that’s why it was such a relief to discover its great flavor value in cocktails!
I’ve mentioned rum-based Companero in some previous post and plan to play with the recipe soon but tonight i mixed another drink.
Its main appeal (besides the basil) was an opportunity to finally use a hibiscus-rose infused vodka i made sometime ago while being on a serious infusion spree.

Quite savory, and i’m surprised again how well basil matches sweet flavors (like rose in this case or cacao before).
And now i have a hope for my infusion – it seems working with orange as well as herbs flavors. Something to think about – i have almost 500ml of this stuff

Lovagely

I’m a poor gardener: and the only plant that hasn’t failed me is lovage. It comes back year after year, just begging to be used more.
So here’s to you lovage!

A simple gin and tonic base. Dash of Peychaud bitters. A muddled celery stalk. Lovage straw adds its subtle anise/celery flavor. Quite an elegant drink.

Flowers of Sunset

Wrapping up a great Sunday: a small elegant Aperol drink that miraculously matches the color of the sunset.
Audrey Saunders christened her cocktail the Aperol Sunset, a wordplay on the well-known Tequila Sunrise…
My variations on her theme became Rita Sunset

and Rosa Sunset

Just The Two Of Us

Finally a perfect day for a motorcycle, after too long of a break: blame it on a rainy summer.
And we ride through the beautiful jersey countryside – our destination is Grounds for Sculpture.
Where we can always find a quiet spot for an uninterrupted conversation:

Or a secluded trail for a magical walk:

The World on Your Dumplings Plate

“When you present dumplings with this sauce, the combination may recall an italian pasta dish, but the sauce zesty qualities resemble the latin flavors of Mexico…” – Andrea Nguyen, Asian Dumplings book…
Guess what dumplings she’s serving? Mongolian lamb with caraway: “The creative use of a few ingredients is a hallmark of Mongolian cooking…Caraway leaves its warm yet sharp imprint on the filling…”
Well caraway is also very popular in Russia, and the tomato sauce is quite close to Adjika (georgian).
Wait a minute, so with this one dish we just zigzagged Europe, America and Asia! Isn’t this amazing?..
Okra is not in Andrea’s book but i consider it a natural dumpling. And it’s a truly international ingredient too – asian, southern european, southern american, african…incredibly tasty and healthy! (at this point i think i pretty much reached the per post limit on the exclamation marks )

Kamikaze Sunrise

i can’t bring myself using vodka in cocktails; there are so many interesting base spirits out there that vodka seems like a waste… I know – empty canvas and stuff, but my palette (pun not intended) is limited…
So i worked from the classical kamikaze formula but made it with tequila. And some lemon thyme.

nice but i should stop serving everything on the rocks, this one is a definite Up – it’s a burst… like kamikaze.

Poquito Picante

A great list of ingredients and a clever name. Add to this a
recommendation from a friend and the drink of the night is pretty much sealed.

The original recipe calls for Tanqueray but Hendricks works well considering its obvious cucumber background. The drink is a bit sweet but so pleasantly so…

Ingredients in my version:
6 to 8 cilantro leaves with some stems
2 slices of cucumber, skin on
3 slices of jalapeño, seeds in
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz agave syrup
½ oz Cointreau
2 oz gin

Directions:
1. Muddle cilantro, cucumber, and jalapeño with lemon juice and agave syrup.
2. Add remaining ingredients.
3. Shake well and strain into an ice-filled glass.
4. Garnish with de Arbol chile.

Oh and i just found a rosemary version (sort of) of this drink – a possible candidate for tomorrow: stay tuned

Arroz a la Tumbada

Arroz a la tumbada is presumably one of the favorite dishes of Veracruz. And Rick Bayless chose to answer the question of Where you’ll be heading in the future by cooking this dish at the Top Chef Masters final episode…
Well, after making this dish tonight i’m fully with Bayless and the people of Veracruz. But it was Kennedy again who succeeded to nail down the essence of the flavor in the arroz a la tumbada – the careful choice of herbs.