a Cucumber-Infused Cocktail

We went out to dinner a few nights ago and I ordered a cocktail with cucumber-infused vodka.

 It was love at first sip.  

Cucumber is a bit unexpected as a flavor but when done right, 

nothing is quite as refreshing.  

It tastes just like summer but not in the typical sweet way...

It has more of an herbaceous, crisp thing going on.

And I liked it so much, I infused my own vodka.

Which is not difficult to do--I sliced up 1/2 a cucumber; peeling and removing all seeds...

And added the thin cucumber slices to a bottle of vodka for 3 days. 

 (Remove all cucumber after 3rd day or vodka will taste bitter.)

Easy and tasty!

I can't quite seem to replicate the drink that I had--yet! but instead, I made 

Cucumber Mint cocktails...

which were just as good!

Mint, Cucumber and Vodka Cocktails

makes 2 

 adapted from Martha Stewart

1 cup loosely packed mint leaves

1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 2-3 limes)

4 ounces (1/2 cup) cucumber-infused vodka

1 ounce (2 tablespoons) Cointreau

ice & club soda
spears of cucumber for garnish

Fill shaker with ice.  Add mint, sugar, lime juice and shake.  Add Cointreau and vodka

and shake again.  Strain 3/4 way into 2 glasses filled with ice.  Add club soda till top.

Stir, garnish with cucumber and enjoy.

Very summertime!

Happy New Year Cocktails!

This summer I got into making cocktails (See here and here).  

For Christmas our good friends/neighbors got us this great gift--

The PDT Cocktail Book by Jim Meehan.

PDT (short for Please Don't Tell) is a cool bar on St. Mark's Place in the East Village, NYC
that to get to--you have to walk thru a secret telephone booth door
inside a store that sells hot dogs (Crif Dogs)...
kind of like a modern speakeasy but it's NOT illegal;

 they just did it that way to get around not having to obtain an additional liquor license.
(Crif Dogs already had a liquor license...its complicated...)

ANYWAY...

lets just say the PDT Cocktail Book is like the PhD to the child's play of my past efforts.

As I flipped thru the pages, not only had I not heard of half the ingredients, 

I couldn't pronounce them either.   And there were a LOT of egg whites...

But I was not daunted.  I selected three recipes.  

And then I was off to the liquor store...at 3pm on New Year's Eve day...

not the best time to look for obscure liquor 

when 300 people are in line trying to buy champagne...

but somehow I managed.

We invited M&L--who gave us the book and 

C&E--who have bar tending/cocktail drinking experience 

over for a pre-New Year's Eve party cocktail...

The three recipes I chose, oddly enough represented the past, the present & the future.

For the present, we made The Tuxedo 

(not that any of us were wearing a Tuxedo for New Year's Eve, 

but just to be fun and festive...)

Parts gin and fancy cherry liqueur with a dash of orange bitter.  

Did not necessarily blow our socks off, 

but cherry and gin is actually really nice together 

and it was all together drinkable!

For the past, we made Champs Elysees

in honor or C&E who spent their 10th anniversary in Paris in 2011...

This one was described (and I paraphrase)

 going 100 miles an hour with your hair blowing straight back and strong wind in your face...

This drink, just to note, was my personal favorite and had 

Cognac, Green Chartreuse--which isn't cheap! lemon juice and bitters

For the future, we made...

in honor of my husband 

who was going to do a detox diet starting January 1, 2012...

THE MASTER CLEANSE!!

This one DEFINITELY BLEW OUR SOCKS OFF!

It is Apple Brandy, lemon juice, maple syrup and jalapeno slices!!

At the liquor store, I definitely had to improvise, 

because they didn't have a lot of the brands/types of items the book listed.

The biggest swap was this one:  

The recipe called for Apple Brandy...the store had Apple JACK...

The diference: Brandy--more expensive; more intense apple flavor.  

My solution: to add a .5 ounce natural, unfiltered apple cider to boost the apple flavor.  

I think it was a good fix.

You start by adding several ice cubes to your glass to get it nice and cold.

I invested in a good bar jigger by OXO with clearly marked ounce lines;

You pour in all the ingredients and give a good shake....

Then, garnish with two slices of jalapeno...

On New Year's Eve, the Master Cleanse was the first recipe we tried...

I was really nervous as I passed the freshly-made creation to 

a very brave --and very good sport--C...who, 

(as we waited with bated breath...)

declared upon tasting...IT WAS DELICIOUS!!  

Oh! I was so relieved!! So we made another round and another...

It was just the right blend of sweet and tart and the little bit of heat that 

the jalapeno slices give it, is just perfect...all the flavors balances beautifully 

and it really was a taste sensation that I HIGHLY recommend...

Hooray!! 

Happy New Year, Everyone!!  

Hope 2012 a great year filled with lots of

good times with family and friends...

Cocktail: Pimm's Cup No. 1

I guess its official: I am on a cocktail kick...but its more than only drinking cocktails, because I still want to drink wine with dinner.  I am learning that there are so many wonderful drink flavors and great combinations of tastes (especially for summer!) out there--its like a whole new world and I just want to mix things up a bit... literally and figuratively with my pre-dinner drink.  Plus, I love the whole notion of an aperitif...An aperitif is usually served before the meal to stimulate the appetite...the whole notion reminds me of Parisian or Roman cafes circa 1890...seems so civilized--so this is my new thing.

Last year for my birthday, we went to The Tabard Inn for a delightfully delicious meal in this historic (one of the oldest in DC!) and quirky restaurant/hotel.  The Tabard is known for its famous chefs, New American cusine and using only what is local & seasonal.  For a change of pace, I ordered the house cocktail instead of going right for the standard glass of wine.  It was a PIMM'S CUP.  I had no idea what is was...but it was DELICIOUS and I have thought about it ever since.  So, this year, I decided to find out what it was and how to make it.

From Wikipedia:

Pimm's was first produced in 1823 by James Pimm, a farmer's son from Kent who became the owner of an oyster bar in the City of London. Pimm offered the tonic (a gin-based drink containing quinine and a secret mixture of herbs) as an aid to digestion, serving it in a small tankard known as a "No. 1 Cup", hence its subsequent name.

Pimm's No. 1 Cup is based on gin and can be served both on ice or in cocktails. It has a dark tea colour with a reddish tint, and tastes subtly of spice and citrus fruit. It is often taken with "English-style" (clear and carbonated) lemonade, as well as various chopped fresh ingredients, particularly apples, cucumber, oranges, lemons, strawberry, and borage, though nowadays most substitute mint. Ginger ale is a common substitute for lemonade. Pimm's can also be mixed with champagne (or a sparkling white wine), called a "Pimm's Royal Cup". 

Its base as bottled is 25% alcohol by volume.

So, it started out as a liquer or an aperitif, very low in alcoholic content, to mix with Gin.  A Pimm's Cup is very popular in England--kind of like the State drink!  But what the English call "leomonade" we call lemon/lime soda.  Think 7-Up!!  This is really a wonderfully refreshing drink because you add a couple ounces of Pimm's to glass of ice with lemon/lime soda, stir and garnish with a cucumber spear.  Ginger ale also works well.   It tastes summery and a little bit spicy and it's like it was meant for the cucumber!!  Plus, since its low in alcohol, it won't bowl you over...

Then, I found a Pimm's Cup Punch recipe (adapted from Martha Stewart)...I made a batch of this recently and its SOO good.  In a pitcher combine:  

2 parts (real, American) leomande

2 parts Ginger Ale

1/2 part Gin

1/2 part Pimm's

lots of ice...stir and garnish with lemon and cucumber slices.  

Really, really wonderful and surprisingly light and summery.

I promise, once you try this--you will only want to drink wine with dinner too!

Cocktail: Sherry Spritzers

Have I got a summer-time drink for you!!  For your next get-together, hand your guests one of these sparkling refreshments and I guarantee they will be delighted!  I know I was when I first tried it...I love trying new things and this aperitif/cocktail will definitely be a summer star!! 


Looking around on the internet, I am finding this lovely has a few names: a sherry spritzer is one. a REBUJITO--the other, it's what they are called in Spain--I am curious: would love if any of our Spanish friends would post a comment and let us know their thoughts on this Spanish drink...just so you know: Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez, Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez.

These are great cocktails for guests when they first arrive and go perfectly with olives or small appetizing bites.  To start, grab a bottle of Spanish Sherry.  I don't really know Spanish Sherries but the recipe I came across called for Fino or Manzanilla.  (Fino means Fine-this refers to the paler, dryer types of sherry.  Manzanilla is an especially light variety of fino Sherry made around the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda)....I think all you need to keep in mind is that whatever you get should be a dry sherry not a cooking or dessert sherry.  I chose this lovely $10 bottle of Savory & James (practically with eyes closed) from the shelves of my liquor store.  It worked just fine...

REBUJITO

(a sherry spritzer--serves four)

Bottle of Sherry--look for dry FINO or MANZANILLA type

lemon, cut 4 thin slices

orange, cut 4 thin slices

natural lemon-lime soda

ice

Take four tumbler type glasses.  

Add ice; mix in half glass full of sherry and half glass full of soda.

Stir.

Garnish with orange & lemon slices.

Hand to guests and watch them smile wide...

Really wide....