Nermo

After stealing two sips of a friend’s Ramos Gin Fizz at Rickhouse, I wanted to make my own.  It’s one of those drinks that you don’t order just anywhere and it’s rarely worth the effort to make unless you are really trying to impress someone.

Ramos Fizz

• 2 ounces Hayman’s Old Tom gin
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 ounce lemon juice
• 1/2 ounce lime juice
• 1/2 ounce Clement’s Creole Shrubb
• 1 ounce heavy cream
• soda water

Combine all ingredients but soda and shake with ice for 2 minutes.
Strain into a collins glass and top with soda water.

Lots of Tips:

1. When making the Ramos Fizz for others, use a three-piece shaker instead of a Boston shaker, because nobody wants to see the cream in their cocktail curdle with lemon juice in glass.
2. Using a soda siphon enhances the drink aesthetically, because adding soda under pressure allows you to create a bubbly head on the drink that simply pouring soda will not allow. Lacking a siphon, you can use a trick I learned from mischievous students when I was teaching middle school.  Poke or drill a hole in the cap of a plastic soda water bottle and squeeze it into the glass in a sharp stream to froth the drink.
3. The traditional recipe calls for orange blossom water, but it is absurdly hard to find outside of the middle east, so Clement’s Creole Shrubb, or another orange liqueur, such as triple sec, Cointreau or Grand Marnier, can be substituted as above.  Alternately, rosewater can be used.
4. Drop the spring from a cocktail strainer into the shaker and shake before adding ice and shake again to expedite the emulsification of the egg white.
5. If you don’t have an Old Tom gin, use a regular London Dry gin like Beefeater and add a barspoon of sugar.

            

I just found out that it’s National Oyster Day.

Pairing drinks with food may consider the flavors, smells and even textures of a dish, but rarely the motion involved in its consumption.

Pairing shots with oyster shooters is a great way to enhance the sensory experience, and to move the accoutrement off the oyster and into a glass.

An for those of you who don’t like oysters, just remember that taking a shot first makes anything more palatable.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Colorado Rattlesnake (Pepper/Spicy)

• 1 ounce  Tequila
• 3/4 ounces tomato juice
• 1/4- 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• course ground black pepper

Aviation (Citrus/Sour)

• 1 ounce gin
• 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 1 dash maraschino

Last Word (Citrus/Sour)

• 1/2 ounce gin
• 1/2 ounce green Chartreuse
• 1/2 ounce maraschino
• 1/2 ounce lime juice

Bourbon or Mezcal (Smoky)

• 1.5 ounces cold bourbon or mezcal

Dirty Martini (Brine/Salty)

• 1.5 ounces vodka
• 1/2 ounce olive juice

            

As promised, I bought an ice cream maker and started concocting my boozey Vice Cream.  The first batch is fantastic.

Cherry Chocolate Port Ice Cream

1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups milk, scalded
1 1/2 cups cream, cold
1/2 vanilla bean (about 2 inches), scraped
3/4 cup dried bing cherries, reconstituted in port
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Stir together sugar and starch and whisk in egg yolk, then milk.  Over medium heat, stirring constantly, bring to a boil and continue stirring for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and pour into a chilled bowl, stir in vanilla scrapings, cover and chill.  Once cold, whisk in cream and put in ice cream maker (mine took 20 minutes, but follow the instructions on your own), and then stir in cherries and chocolate before covering and putting in the freezer to harden.

Notes:  scalding milk is simply bringing it briefly to a boil, which will cause solids to separate from the milk and stick to the pan, so they are left behind when you pour off the milk.  To make the cherries, put a cup of dried bing cherries in a cup of good port and let them sit, covered at room temperature for a few days.

            

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).

            

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.

            

I keep seeing articles in (otherwise reputable) food blogs on the controversy of poached eggs and the difficulty of making them. It’s like arguing about how to pick your nose: anyone can figure it out and ultimately, you do it however feels best.

I find it easiest and most reliable to bring 2 inches of water to a gentle boil, add a tablespoon of vinegar, crack the eggs directly into the pot and don’t touch it again until they are done.  I’ve never had one come out badly.

            

“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.

            

Generally, I just steam and serve with garlic butter, but this weekend I was inspired by a beautiful globe and a few odds and ends in my fridge that were begging to be eaten.  The recipe is for two because if you make this, you will want someone there to be impressed by it, although the recipe is easily halved.

• 2 larger globe artichokes
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large shallots, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 large carrot, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 lemon
• 4 pecans, finely diced
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup loose, shredded Parmesan Reggiano
• salt and pepper, or other seasoning mix (Old Bay or Slap Ya Mama recommended)
• 2 cloves garlic, diced

1. Lay each artichoke on its side, and cut off top 1/2 inch, taking off the majority of the prickly tips.  Cut off stems, trim off ends and peel stems with a vegetable peeler.
2. Pull out pale and purple leaves from the center and scrape out hairy chokes with a spoon, thoroughly, but careful not to remove any of the heart.
3. Steam artichokes and stems for 40 minutes or until outer leaves pull away freely.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
5. Saute shallots in oil, adding carrots for the last two minutes.  Remove pan from heat and add 4 tablespoons butter, stirring to melt.
6. Incorporate breadcrumbs, zest of the lemon and pecans, adding water as needed to achieve desired consistency.  Stir in cheese and season to taste.
7. Remove artichokes and stems from steamer.  Invert artichokes on a kitchen towel to remove excess water.  Dice stems and add to stuffing mix.
8. Loosely pack stuffing into artichoke cavities, then spread out leaves and sprinkle remaining stuffing between them.
9. Bake 15 minutes.
10. While baking, combine remaining butter and garlic in a small pan and boil the garlic in butter, skimming solids that rise to the surface.  Remove from heat, add the juice of the lemon and whisk to incorporate.
11. Serve artichokes with lemon garlic butter on the side for dipping and an additional plate for discarded leaves.

            

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