Nermo

Inspired by the Carnivorous Cocktails seminar at Tales, I started Sunday brunch with the BLTini, a sandwich in a glass.

I like my BLTs on potato bread, so I opted for vodka over gin, squeezed the bejeezus out of a gorgeous heirloom tomato, then decided that lettuce was lame and so opted for basil as an aromatic garnish.

Tip: bacon is best for this purpose when crispy, flat and most of the fat has been rendered off, so I devised this little trick.  Lay raw bacon in a hot pan and then put a Pyrex baking dish on top, pressing the bacon flat while it cooks. Creates perfect cocktail bacon.

BLTini

• 2 ounces vodka (plain or citrus)
• 2 ounces tomato water (see note)
• 1 dash dry vermouth
• 1 piece crispy bacon
• 1 basil leaf

Shake vodka, tomato water and vermouth with ice to chill and strain into a chilled martini glass.  Stir with bacon, and literally clap once with the basil leaf on your palm to release the aromatic oils before floating it in the glass.

Note: to make tomato water I diced the tomato, wrapped it in cheese cloth and squeezed out as much liquid as I could.  When my hand got tired, I put the whole pulpy package into a citrus squeezer, extracted the rest and filtered the tomato water through a fine mesh strainer.  A medium-large heirloom yields about 2 ounces of juice, less than you will get with a roma of comparable size.

Because I couldn’t just spend the weekend celebrating the 4th and packing for Tales, I:

1. made a batch of hot sauce from farm-fresh chilies
2. created a tincture of shiso
3. made a gallon of traditional umeshu
4. improvised almost a gallon of apricot/pluot “umeshu”
5. infused a bottle of Hendrick’s gin with cucumber and persimmon
6. devised the Tomcat Collins with the aforementioned gin (recipe posted soon)
7. hosted the “Squash Blossom” dinner party with the lovely TSB (we may not be together any more, but we still throw one hell of a dinner party), where I served the aforementioned cocktail the following hors d’oeuvres
8. deep-fried two kinds of cheese-stuffed squash blossoms (chevre and mascarpone) with 4 dipping sauces (southwestern salsa, spicy tomoato, lemony aioli and a green onion sour cream).

Tinctures, bitters and infused spirits are all created by steeping culinary components in alcohol to extract flavor.  It really is just that simple and it is easy to do at home, so I will keep an eye out for how they’re being used at Tales of the Cocktail next week and update you on any trends or exciting uses I discover.

At a gin tasting workshop last night (many thanks to Right Gin and Nirvino) I asked a favorite local bartender, Josh Harris of 15 Romolo, what exactly a tincture is, having only recently encountered the term as a cocktail ingredient.

He defined it as being like aromatic bitters: herbs, spices or other ingredients with intense flavor steeped in over-proof, neutral spirits (strong grain alcohol like Everclear) to extract the flavor, which is added to cocktails in dashes or drops. He said that while bitters are a combination of flavors, tinctures are made with a single flavor.  I’ve since seen tinctures online that were composed of more than one flavor, but none so complex as bitters, so a stronger distinction may be that tinctures need not be bitter in flavor.

Note: the definitions of these terms in bar-speak differ from their traditional usage.  Technically, all three are tinctures, defined as an alcoholic extract of plant material with an ethanol percentage of at least 40% (assuming the spirit you are “infusing” is at least 80 proof).  Infusion is the result of steeping plants in water or oil, not alcohol, so infused vodka, rum or gin is a contradiction in terms. Vinegar is also an acceptable medium, so shrubs are really tinctures too.

I would offer recipes, but frankly, all you do is soak stuff in stiff spirits.  Just go try it.

I’m preparing myself for Tales of the Cocktail by ramping up my tolerance through daily “exercise” and a little light reading.  My drinks of choice for reading in this unseasonably warm SF summer are a Tom Collins with cucumber infused gin or a variation on the Lynchburg Lemonade made with smoked lemons.

Now follow along in your test booklets as I read aloud:

• -In local news: I discovered that my latest batch of chipotle infused tequila is about 20x too potent, so I can take a small bottle to new Orleans and buy tequila there (unless a quality tequila brand wants to sponsor this endeavor) and dilute it to share with anyone who wants to sample.
• -Worth reviewing: the Times just published a mini glossary of topical cocktail terms.
• -Proof66 will aggregate booze reviews for you(s).
• -It’s stone fruit season, time to make your own plum wine… or cherry, or apricot or whatever you want by following the process described in the linked tutorial.
• -Manolith presents an Illustrated History of Beer (pictured).
• -More vodka infusing advice and a piece from Chow on meat infusions.
• -Lawmakers in Arizona are trying to repeal the no guns in bars law, under the assumption that drunk, gun-toting good guys will serve as a safe deterrent to gun-toting bad guys who want to rob bars.
• -Utah is relaxing their absurd liquor laws because the Tabernacle Choir isn’t enough of a tourist draw.
• -Finally, when I get back from Tales, I intend to spend the rest of the summer touring local breweries and distilleries. If you want to come along, let me know.

I am thrilled to announce that I secured media credentials to Tales of the Cocktail, the annual festival/conference of cocktails, cuisine and New Orleans culture, July 8-12, and I managed to get a room at the (supposedly sold out) Hotel Monteleone.

This will be my first trip to the Big Easy, I know nobody there, and I will likely be going alone unless my sister manages to get the Ice Man to send her along.  If you have any thoughts on what I need to see while I am there, please chime in with suggestions in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

Brief overview for those unfamiliar with TotC:

“The event brings together the best and brightest of the cocktail community—award-winning mixologists, authors,  bartenders and chefs—for a five-day celebration of the history and the craft of the cocktail. This year, the most spirited event of the summer invites everyone to “Stir Your Soul” with a spirited series of dinners, cocktail demos, tastings, competitions, seminars, book signings, tours and special events all perfectly paired with some of the best cocktails ever made.

To put the event in quantifiable terms you can taste, Tales of the Cocktail 2008 used 85 pounds of mint leaves, 40 pounds of super-fine sugar, 280 liters of lime juice, 350 liters of lemon juice, 1815 lime wedges, 2115 lemon twists, 2340 jalapeño slices, 50 pounds of ginger root, 12 pounds of cherries and satisfied the taste buds of thousands of cocktail lovers from across the world.”

I am looking forward to learning for personal enlightenment/intoxication and of course I will be sharing my experience with all of you (Hi Mom!) If you will be there and want to meet up, or just want to be jealous of all the fun I will be having, here is my itinerary:

• 7/7/2009 21:00-23:30    Secrets of Benedictine
• 7/8/2009 14:30-16:00    Teaching Technique: Improving Cocktails by Uplifting Your Staff’s Skills
• 16:30-18:00    The Fine Art of Banging Out the Drinks like a Maniac
• 18.30-21.00    Tales of the Cocktail Welcome Reception Presented By Beefeater Gin
• 21.00-24.00    The Hendrick’s Enchanted Portal to the Peculium
• 7/9/2009 10.30-12.00    Mixologists and Their Toys
• 12.30-14.00    The Molecular DNA of Classic Cocktails
• 14.30-16.00    From Brewer to Distiller
• 16.30-18.00    Creative Mixology: Finding Inspiration in the Everyday
• 17.30-19.30    Cocktail Carnival Happy Hour
• 22.30-24.30    Mischieve in the Garden of Agave
• 7/10/2009 14.40-16.00    Sugar: The Science of Sweet
• 16.40-18.00    The Fine Art of Tending Bar
• 22.00-01.00    Birth of the Daiquiri
• 19.00-20.30    Grand Marnier and Navan  presents On The Fly Competition
• 21.00-22.30    Leblon Cachaca Presents the USBG Caipirinha Competition
• 7/11/2009 24.00-02.00    Grey Goose Tasting dans le Noir
• 10.30-12.00    Secrets to Successful Cocktail Photography
• 12.30-14.00    Carnivorous Cocktails
• 14.40-16.00    Hammer of the Gods
• 16.30-18.00    Agavepalooza-Spirit of Mexico: The Agave Elixirs
• 18.00-20.30    Seven Deadly Sins
• 20.30-23.30    Spirit Awards Presented by Pernod Ricard USA
• 23.30-02.30    Audrey & Simon’s  Bartenders Breakfast 2009 The Masquerade Breakfast Ball
• 7/12/2007 10.30-12.00    Buddy, Are Your Bitters Better?
• 12.30-14.00    Asian Influenced Cocktails
• 14.30-16.00    Beer Garden

Let me know if you have any burning questions for the cocktail elite.  What have you been wondering?

For years I’ve been making cocktail ingredients at home. I’ve mentioned some favorite infusions and liqueurs, including roasted ginger vodka, chipotle tequila, firewater, pumpkin pie spiced rum and kumquatcello, but I have also been making sweeteners, including grenadine, flavored syrups and marmalades, and novelties like dried bing cherries reconstituted in port.  I’ve been wanting to make aromatic and potable bitters, but I haven’t gotten around to procuring the obscure ingredients.

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Most recently, I remembered an experiment from my college days, dissolving a bag of gummy peaches in cheap peach schnapps, making a sweet, peachy goo that dissolved well in other things.  A month ago, I bought 5-ounce bags of Haribo Peach Rings and Fizzy Cola and dissolved each in a cup of vodka. After a couple weeks, both batches had reached an oozy equilibrium, but I haven’t concocted any good uses for them yet.

The latest trend according to GQ is Liquid Smoke, which is simple to make, but a slow, involved process.  As far as I am concerned, liquid smoke is already a common cocktail component called BOURBON.

On a final note, instructions on infusing your own spirits are easy to come by online, but here are a few tips and tricks I’ve learned from experience and haven’t seen elsewhere:

Infusion Tips:

• -Smirnoff has an incredibly clean flavor, great for infusing, and is not an expensive vodka.
• -With tequila, only use 100% agave, even if you are infusing with something strong.  It makes a difference.
• -If an infusion is too strong, spicy, sweet, etc., decant some and dilute that with more booze until the levels are right, and keep track of the measurements so that you can repeat.  Don’t just keep adding more booze to the original infusion.
• -Interesting glass vessels with tops or corks can do double duty as decoration while their contents mingle.
• -If you are experimenting with ingredients that may not infuse at the same speed and desired intensity, infuse smaller, separate batches of each and combine teaspoonfuls to get the balance right before mixing the whole batch.
• -Dried fruit infuses better than fresh fruit.  Water is the infusion killer.
• -When infusing with herbs, bruise leafy herbs before adding, but insert woody herbs unharmed.

“Rooster Sauce” is the MacGyver of condiments, the DaVinci of deliciousness, the A-Team of aliment, the Edison of esculence, and the Benjamin Franklin of foodstuffs.

Recipes in orange below.

1. Turn marinara sauce into Arrabiata (like driving through Phuket to get to Rome).
2. Whisk into mayo for a powerful sandwich spread on roast beef, pork or poultry.
3. Buffalo sauce: combine 1 part vinegar, 2 Sriracha and 3 clarified butter; toss cooked wings in pan to coat
4. Substitute for Tabasco 2:1 in any situation for improved results.
5. Ratchet up ranch dressing as dip to enliven frozen pizza, carrot sticks or bland chicken wings.
6. Serve it straight-up as dipping sauce for seafood, just like they do in Si Racha, Thailand.
7. Drizzle on fresh, grilled peaches or pineapples.
8. Wet rub: 2 bulbs roasted garlic, 1 T. salt, 2 T. Sriracha, 1 T. brown sugar, 1 T. oil, 1 t. cumin
9. Saturate with soy sauce for spicing up Asian noodle dishes or dunking potsticker dumplings.
10. Combine with ketchup and dip your tater tots.
11. Mix with mayo (for Canadians and other Europhiles) and daintily dip your pommes frites.
12. Rain Forest Fire shot: 1 teaspoon Sriracha stirred into a shot of tequila
13. Add quick heat to boring BBQ sauce when you need more acid and spice.

    

14. Hot Salt (great on the rim of a margarita or on edamame): 1 T. Sriracha mixed with 1/4 c. kosher salt, dried
15. Escape from prison (if it works for salsa…).
16. Coat leftover boxed mac’n'cheese in eggwash and breadcrumbs, pan-fry and douse in Sriracha.
17. On buttered corn on the cob (seriously spectacular).
18. Spicy Marinade: Juice of 1 lemon, 1 T. zest, 2 T. Sriracha, 3 garlic cloves, ½ c. fresh herbs, ½ cup oil, S&P
19. On top of deviled eggs instead of paprika or folded into the yolk for kick and color.
20. Make your own.
21. Add to raw ground meat when making burgers or sausage.
22. Mix into melted butter and pour over popcorn.
23. On ice cream (dark chocolate or tropical flavors).
24. Create a compound butter with Sriracha and Thai basil for cooking fish or daubing on steak.
25. Make cocktail sauce (essentially Bloody Mary paste, but so good):
    1-2 parts Sriracha, 5 parts ketchup, 1 part horseradish, celery salt, pepper and lemon juice
26. Substitute for jalapenos in a recipe if you don’t feel like slicing hot peppers.

    

27. Spice a Bloody Mary.
28. Make a Cerveza Preparada more enticing.
29. Throw together with a little mayo and chopped raw tuna to make “spicy tuna” for sushi rolls.
30. No salsa? No problem!
31. Polish copper (that’s polish, not Polish)
32. Blend into cream cheese on a bagel.
33. Feel better: add to chicken noodle soup for flavor enhancement and to clear your stuffy nose.
34. Mix with mustard on bratwurst. (34-41 suggested by Jen at seejeneat)
35. Red onion sauce (like at NY hot dog carts): sweat a large diced onion in 1 T. oil, add 2 c. water, 1/3 c. cider vinegar, 1 T. Sriracha, 3 T. tomato paste, 1 T. sugar, and simmer 45-60 minutes.
36. Chili-fy sloppy Joes.
37. Heat up hummus or other Mediteraenean food (falafel, gyro, kebab, dolmas, tzatziki, etc.)
38. Make meaner meatloaf by adding a couple tablespoons to the mix.
39. Piquant pesto: add the following, in order, to food processor with motor running: 6 garlic cloves, 1/2 c. pistachios, 1/2 c. grated Parmesan, 1/2 c. olive oil, 2 c. packed fresh basil, 1 1/2 T. soy sauce, 1T. Sriracha. Blend until smooth



40. Spice up sour cream with scallions as a dip for potato chips.
41. Maple glazed nuts: toss 6 c. nuts in 1/4 cup maple syrup, 2 T olive oil, 2 T herbes de Provence, 1 T. Sriracha, salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes and stir half way through.
42. Make a spicy science fair project by loading the volcano with Sriracha and baking soda.
43. Stop kids from thumb-sucking with minimal neurological damage.
44. Handjob lube for a cheating partner (44-47 via Amanda at datingismiserable).
45. Create a variation on the Russian Roulette cupcakes from Vanilla Garlic.
46. Thai Massage Parlor shot: 1 oz. bourbon, 1 oz. peach brandy, 5 drops Sriracha
47. Add to lip gloss to make your lips puff up.
48. Blistering Brine: boil 4 c. H2O, 1 c. sugar, 1.5 c. salt, 2 T. pickling spice, 2 T. pepper & 1/4 c. Sriracha; add 4 c. ice
49. Make grilled cheese that will please.
50. Create kicky vinaigrette: 1/4 c. cider vinegar, 2 t. Dijon, 1 shallot, salt & pepper, 1 T. Sriracha, 3/4 c. olive oil
51. Make Thai peanut sauce.
52. Apply liberally to eggs, any style.

I wanted to make a list of 101 uses. What do you do with Sriracha? Add more ideas in the comments section below.

Just because you are on a budget, doesn’t mean you need to drink bad wine. OK, that was tacky.  If I ever write  like Rachel Ray again, please find me and slit my throat.  I’m not a connoisseur, but my pedestrian palate knows what I like and what I don’t and generally, people agree, so here are a few gems I’ve encountered of late.  The first three are from Sonoma Valley and the last is Argentinian.

Taft Street in Sebastopol is one of my new favorite wineries.  I’ve heard that their wines haven’t been the greatest in past years, but when I was up there a few weeks ago, I was blown out of the water by their Riesling, Sav Blanc and Pinot Noir, and as much as I hate to admit it, the Rosé of Pinot Noir was really enjoyable too.  All of their bottles run in the $16-22 range, making Taft Street a steal.  The tasting room is small but homey and Greg was engaging in how he guided our tasting, not to mention an all-around fun and interesting guy.  We walked in as a group of five including one member of their wine club, and departed three members stronger (all four joined really, considering that the 4th is marrying one of the new members).  Greg invited us and friends back for a barbecue next weekend, if anyone wants to be my designated driver on the 16th.

Gloria Ferrer does fantastic sparkling wines at the $20 price point (often on special at Safeway and with case discounts, I’ve bought it for $12 a bottle).  The Brut is fine and I see it around more often, but the Blanc de Noirs is totally tantalizing and tinted pink without being one of those sissy-looking sparkling rosés (which I secretly have begun to enjoy).  Worth popping for a celebration, but not so precious that you can’t dump it into mimosas.

Rosenblum must be clearing out their cellar of 2005 North Coast Zinfandel, Appellation Series because I don’t see it listed online, but here’s a link to the 2006 vintage.  I loved it enough to be shocked by the price.  I just picked up a case at their tasting room for about a hundred bucks, making it an $8 bottle of delight!

Colores Del Sol only makes one wine, and the 2008 Reserva Malbec is their first vintage, but they hit on a winner.  It was introduced to me on a recent trip to Sonoma, despite being an Argentinian wine.  After dinner, TSB thrust a glass under my nose, chanting, “Smell it! Barbecue ribs, right?” and I absconded with the bottle after my first sip.  I just found it at BevMo for 10 bucks a bottle.

I’ve been scheming and testing out recipes for my forthcoming “50 Uses For Sriracha” list and this weekend, I decided to follow in the footsteps of George Thorogood, so I drank alone, mixing and sampling some Sriracha cocktails.  A hot shot is a good start to any weekend, in Bangkok or sitting alone in the darkest corner of my living room.

Thai Massage Parlor:

• 1 ounce bourbon
• 1 ounce peach brandy
• 5 drops Sriracha

Shake with ice and serve in a shot glass beside a 24-oz. can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Thanks to Amanda for the suggestion.

I found a bag of tiny shrimp while cleaning out my freezer and decided I should eat them now or put them to rest.

Thinking of the “50 Uses For Sriracha” list that I am compiling,  I reconsidered the cocktail sauce my father taught me to make as a kid.

You may notice that this interpretation is essentially a Bloody Mary paste, making the term “cocktail sauce” doubly relevant, and also delectable.

Cocktail Sauce:

• 1-2 tablespoons Sriracha
• 5 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon horseradish
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• juice of 1/4 lemon
  

Combine all ingredients