Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

Enjoy a few modern takes on some classic gin cocktails, plus some delicious recipes to pair with those drinks. This is the third of three posts, each featuring a gin cocktail paired with a tasty side dish. The previous posts featured the Sapphire & Sin cocktail paired with Prohibition Turkey Bites and the French Highball paired with Speakeasy Baked Clams.

The following recipes are courtesy of Bombay Sapphire gin and Corbin Tomaszeski, host of Canada’s favourite food shows Dinner Party Wars and Restaurant Makeover.

The Dorothy Parker
PLUS
Blind Tiger Potato Rounds with Pea Puree and Shaved Fennel

The Dorothy Parker

(Makes 2 cocktails.)

The Dorothy Parker is an updated twist on the Mary Pickford, a white rum cocktail that was invented in Cuba and made popular by wealthy traveling Americans during the 1920s. Re-imagined using gin instead of rum and dry vermouth instead of maraschino cherry juice, this recipe helps enhance the earthier elements of the gin, such as orris root and angelica.

The Dorothy Parker and Blind Tiger Potato Rounds

Ingredients:
1-1/2 oz Bombay Sapphire gin
1 oz fresh pineapple juice
1 tsp grenadine
2 tsp dry vermouth (In this case: Martini & Rossi Bianco OR substitute with Martini Extra Dry and a teaspoon of sugar.)

Preparation:
Add all ingredients to a shaker with plenty of ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a pineapple leaf and a lime twist.

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The folks at Bombay Sapphire gin shared a few modern takes on some classic gin cocktails, plus some delicious recipes to pair with those drinks. This is the second of three posts, each featuring a gin cocktail paired with a tasty side dish. The previous post featured the Sapphire & Sin cocktail and Prohibition Turkey Bites.

The following recipes are courtesy of Bombay Sapphire gin and Corbin Tomaszeski, host of Canada’s favourite food shows Dinner Party Wars and Restaurant Makeover.

Sapphire French Highball
PLUS
Speakeasy Baked Clams

Sapphire French Highball

(Makes 3 cocktails.)

A variation on the French 75 cocktail that was standardized during the prohibition era, the Sapphire French Highball reflects the passion for cocktails that was taken up internationally and by Americans during the times of temperance. The classic French 75 has been re-imagined with the addition of pear nectar to add a rich, fresh flavor that helps to combat the acidity of the lemon and champagne.

Sapphire French Highball and Speakeasy Baked Clams

Ingredients:
1 oz Bombay Sapphire gin
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup (2 parts sugar and 1 part boiling water; stir until dissolved and chill)
1 oz pear nectar/juice
Top with champagne or sparkling wine

Preparation:
Add the first 4 ingredients to a highball glass and stir. Fill the glass with cracked ice (lightly smash some ice cubes).

Top slowly with champagne and stir once more. Garnish with a long “shoestring” lemon twist and edible gold flakes for pizzazz.

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Thanks to the kind people repping Bombay Sapphire gin for sharing a few modern takes on some classic gin cocktails, along with some delicious recipes to pair with those drinks. This is the first of three posts, each featuring a gin cocktail paired with a tasty side dish.

Bring the speakeasy style home and impress your guests with re-imagined cocktail and cuisine pairings that put a modern twist on timeless classics. The following recipes are courtesy of Bombay Sapphire gin and Corbin Tomaszeski, host of Canada’s favourite food shows Dinner Party Wars and Restaurant Makeover.

From the press release:

Inspired by the botanicals in Bombay Sapphire, each dish is rich in worldly, exotic tastes, and is perfectly complimented by the mixable and tantalizing flavours of the gin cocktails. There is a pairing for every palate and these new recipes will inspire Canadians to recreate cocktails at home in their own exclusive clubs to experience classic sophistication and style with a modern twist.

Sapphire & Sin
PLUS
Prohibition Turkey Bites

Sapphire & Sin

(Makes 2 cocktails.)

The Sapphire & Sin is a twist on the classic Gin Fix – a traditional cocktail that was developed during the prohibition era – re-imagined by replacing grenadine with ginger syrup.

Sapphire & Sin and Prohibition Turkey Bites

Ingredients:
1-1/2 oz Bombay Sapphire gin
1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 oz fresh orange juice
1/2 oz fresh ginger syrup (recipe follows)

How to make ginger syrup:
1 cup of powdered white sugar
3/4 cup of boiling water
5 thick slices peeled ginger root.

Add all to a saucepan over a medium heat for 10 minutes, leave to cool for 30 minutes and strain into clean bottle and refrigerate.

Drink preparation:
Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or on the rocks in an old fashioned glass. Garnish with ginger slices and coriander/cilantro leaves.

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I just received some recipes from Random House and one had such a cool photo that I had to share.

The recipe is for Cocktail Cubes, ice cubes filled with berries basically. Not sure that the idea is an original, but it's still a pretty neat looking effect. I also created a picture gallery featuring this recipe plus three others from the book On a Stick! by Matt Armendariz. Great photos and easy recipes perfect for a standing-around cocktail party.

Cocktail Cubes

Cocktail Cubes. A fun, easy and attractive way to garnish and cool your cocktail.

This is such a simple recipe: Fresh berries make their way into ice cube trays and are topped with fruit juice. The resulting colorful cocktail cubes can be dropped into any drink, whether boozy or virgin.
–Matt Armendariz

Ingredients:
20 cocktail picks
About 1/3 cup blackberries
About 1/3 cup blueberries
About 1/3 cup raspberries
About 2 cups all-natural fruit juice, flavor of your choice

Preparation:
1. Place 1 blackberry, 1 blueberry, and 1 raspberry into each section of an ice cube tray and then fill with fruit juice. Cover tray with plastic wrap; poke a cocktail pick through wrap into each section.

2. Freeze at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

3. Remove cubes from tray and serve in the drink of your choice. Cheers!

Serves 4.

Excerpted from On A Stick! by Matt Armendariz. Copyright © 2011 by Matt Armendariz. Excerpted by permission of Quirk Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission from the publisher.

The kind folks representing Sailor Jerry Spiced Navy Rum sent along a few warm weather drink recipes to enjoy during your summertime grilling sessions. They even came up with a tasty sounding barbecue sauce recipe that I'm personally looking forward to trying.

First up is the Backyard Tea a light and refreshing sipper made with lemonade and iced tea. Easily made for small and large groups, serve it as a punch so guests can serve themselves and you can focus on socializing and manning the grill.

Backyard Tea

Backyard Tea. A refreshing summer sipper.

Ingredients:
2 parts Sailor Jerry spiced rum
1 part iced tea
2 parts lemonade

Glass:
Highball

Preparation:
Add ingredients to an ice-filled highball glass and stir gently to combine. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

Made with a spicy combination of ginger beer, pilsner, Tabasco and Sailor Jerry, the ingredients aptly explain thuis next drink: The Hellfire. Sweet, spicy, and salty come together nicely here. It can also provide that much needed hair-of-the-dog in the morning following a successful summer celebration.

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