Category Archives: cocktails

Shades of Fall and Aperol

Posted on November 13, 2009 by missmojito | 1 comment

Miss Mojito was excited to meet a new-to-her aperitif during Richmond Restaurant Week. Aperol is an Italian liqueur that sings strongly with both sweet and bitter notes. In particular, you’ll notice a strong orange flavor that’s tempered by hints of rhubarb and herbs.

I encountered Aperol in a fantastic cocktail called the Hummingbird at Acacia Midtown (check out the fun presentation in the photo at right – I love the mini pitcher that accompanies the glass). Unfortunately, Miss Mojito was not the best reporter this particular evening, and so I’m blanking on ingredients. What I do recall is fresh pineapple juice. I’m thinking a mixture of Aperol, tequila, pineapple and agave might be right on the mark. But if you’re looking for something a bit less experimental, I might steer you in the direction of the Aperol Spritz, which I found over at the fantastic-but-soon-to-be-extinct-Gourmet.com.

Aperol Spritz
Serves one

1 1/2 ounces Aperol
2 ounces Prosecco
Sparkling water
Lemon twist

Pour Aperol and Prosecco in a champagne flute and top with sparkling water. Garnish with lemon twist and serve.

Aperol is easily recognized by its distinctive, burnt orange color, and since that color is a harbinger of fall, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to highlight some autumn-inspired shoes.

(Top) Lovely People Ambrose Open-Toe Platform Bootie, $119 at Piperlime.com

(Middle) Samanta T-Strap Q Pump, $96 at Endless.com

orange_shoe2 (Bottom) Nine West Elkie Sandal, $89 at NineWest.com

Posted by Miss Mojito.

1 Comment

Posted in aperol, cocktails, shoes

Tagged aperol, fall 2009

Dark ‘n’ Stormy

Posted on November 9, 2009 by msshoescocktails | 1 comment

It was a dark and stormy night….Ms. S&C was busy preparing sweet potato skins (with bacon, marshmallows and molasses) for a friend’s annual Halloween bash. She kept watching the clock. The dish was looking good, but there was still a lot to do. And, what about a cocktail? There was no time! No time for simple syrups. No time for punches. She couldn’t show up empty-handed. She’s Ms. S&C! She didn’t want to disappoint. She spotted an almost-full bottle of Gosling’s Black Seal Rum in her cabinet (leftover from last year’s holiday party eggnog). She wondered if she could use it for something. What about the Dark ‘n’ Stormy? Yes, it is a Bermudan cocktail, but it has a spooky name…

Surprisingly, Ms. S&C has never tried a Dark ‘n’ Stormy before (rum is usually not her first choice of spirit). But, she’s heard good things. Read good things. And, she’s seen it on plenty a cocktail menu.

The zesty combination of the sweet rum and spicy ginger brew (only use the good stuff), and the easy breezy preparation — the Dark ‘n’ Stormy will undoubtedly have a regular spot in Ms. S&C’s cocktail rotation. Not to mention, it is great drink for any time of the year — a Bermuda bash or a Halloweeen fest — the ingredients are always available. And they’re always tasty.

Dark ‘n’ Stormy
serves two

Ingredients:

4 oz. Gosling’s Black Seal Rum
Bottle of Ginger Beer (Ms. S&C prefers Reed’s Extra Ginger Brew)
Lime wedge

Directions:

Fill a collins glass with ice. Add 2 oz. rum. Top with half of a bottle of ginger beer. Garnish with lime wedge. Repeat.

posted by Ms. S&C

1 Comment

Posted in dark rum, fall/winter cocktails, spring/summer cocktails

Tagged dark n stormy

Getting Spoooooky

Posted on October 30, 2009 by missmojito | 1 comment

Ghosts, ghouls and goblins bring with them a host of exciting cocktail possibilities to usher in the spookiest of holidays. And with Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, those opportunities for celebrating are all the more plentiful.

Here are Miss Mojito’s thoughts on some festive cocktails that might help get you in the Halloween spirit.

Go Orange and Black: Mix orange curacao liqueur, white rum and lime; garnish with a licorice stick
Go Creepy: Take a nod from Yumsugar.com and mix up a terrifying batch of Eyeball Highballs.
Go Spooky: Mix espresso, orange vodka and coffee liqueur for a brooding, macabre and delicious martini.

Shoe-wise, I think something equally black and brooding is in order. Luckily, I came across these fantastic sandals at Nine West. The hardware toughens up the feminine shape. I’ve been eyeing this particular pair for a while now and am delighted to add them to my collection!

Posted by Miss Mojito.

1 Comment

Posted in cocktails, fall/winter cocktails, shoes, spirits, vodka, white rum

Tagged halloween, holidays, nine west

Anything but revolting

Posted on October 26, 2009 by msshoescocktails | 1 comment

The Restaurant Wars episode is easily the most anticipated challenge of Top Chef. The judges said that this season was the best they’ve seen in TC history. I don’t think the caliber of the cheftestants has ever been higher. And, having said that, I was so glad they didn’t have to bother with the whole decor planning part this go round.

Here’s a much too lengthy recap (but it was such a good ep):

The Quickfire Challenge was a tag-team relay/cook-off (which may become the most anticipated Quickfire Challenge). It was super fun. The chefs were separated in teams of two, blindfolded, and had to cook one dish total — with each of them cooking for 10 minutes, one right after the other, not allowed to talk, and obviously not able to see what the chef ahead of them was doing. Yes, this is confusingly written, I know — let’s just say, it was much better watched.
The Blue Team (with Jennifer, Kevin, Mike Isabella and Laurine) won with Sablefish, Sauteed Mushrooms, Shitake Broth and Radish Salad. I thought the Read Team (with the Voltaggio Brothers, Eli and Robin) made a tactical error in having the two weakest chefs (Eli and Robin) start off. As opposed to the Blue Team, where perfect-planner-Jennifer started and perfect-closer-Kevin finished.
The Blue Team’s tactical mistakes came when their overconfidence let their $10,000 prize ride, and they chose not to make a dessert for the Restaurant Wars (RW) Elimination Challenge.
For the RW, the cheftestants took over guest judge, Chef Rick Moonen‘s restaurant, rm Seafood. The Blue Team became “Mission,” (think clean, San Francisco-style), and took over the white tablecloth section of rm. The Read Team became “REVolt,” (think rebellious and play on initials, rather than revolting and disgusting), and took over the more rustic-looking section.
REVolt won convincingly, and Michael Voltaggio won $10,000, for his Pressed Chicken with Calamari Noodles, Tomato Confit and Fennel Salad. He shared his earnings with his teammates.
I was shaking in my boots, thinking Jennifer would be sent home for her fish dishes. Instead, Laurine was given the boot, for her poor front-of-the-house performance, and not stepping in when Kevin didn’t properly cook her lamb.

TC_pear-des

Robin’s Pear Pithivier with Vanilla Ice Cream and Elderflower Syrup

For the drink pairing, it was hard not to use Robin’s pear pithivier dessert for inspiration, particularly because of the elderberry syrup. I found the Gigi, a pear elderberry cocktail over on Chow.com, which sounds just about perfect (and slightly reminiscent of the S&C celebratory Elderberry Spritz). According to Chow, Jackie Patterson, former mixologist at Le Colonial in San Francisco, created this stiff cocktail, combining three French spirits. When I try at home, I will likely cut back on the liquor portions, and possibly substitute the pear vodka for pear simple syrup. Or, just find a way to add more pear.

Gigi Cocktail
Courtesy of Jackie Patterson, from Chow.com

2 parts Lillet Blanc
1 1/2 parts St-Germain elderflower liqueur
1 part Grey Goose La Poire vodka (or other pear-flavored vodka, if available)
Ice
1 part brut rosé champagne
1 pear slice, for garnish

Combine Lillet, St-Germain, and Grey Goose in a cocktail shaker and top with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Float champagne on top of Lillet mixture. Garnish with pear slice and serve.

posted by Ms. S&C

1 Comment

Posted in cocktails, lillet, spirits, st germain, vodka

Tagged gigi, pear, top chef drink pairing

Dressing boldly (an update)

Posted on October 2, 2009 by msshoescocktails | 4 comments

About a month ago, Ms. S&C declared that the goal of her fall wardrobe was to dress boldly. In her original blog post, she highlighted a few trends that were catching her eye. Did she follow-through on her own advice? Yes, sort-of.

Below are some of her recent purchases. Obviously, there’s not a lot of bold color and flashy prints in this selection – with the exception of the bright cobalt clutch. She likes this sweet, satin bow clutch because it can brighten up a lot of outfits. She’ll take it out when she’s in distressed denim (or her new black denim), and when wearing the all-occasion black dress.

Biker chic accessories are a popular fall trend. Ms. S&C picked up this studded belt, which she’ll wear high-waisted over her numerous black and gray cardigans, to make them much more exciting.

clutch_belt

As for shoes – Ms. S&C recently tossed a pair of black, peep-toe pumps from Nine West. She’d had them for at least five years, probably longer, and they showed their years. Replacing them was a necessity. She spotted these Nine West platforms when researching suede shoes for a reader, and she loves them. Her first day wearing them — a lady stopped her in Starbucks to comment.

Ms. S&C has been toying with buying a pair of booties for awhile now. She didn’t want anything too flashy, as she plans to wear them with shorter-length skirts/dresses and colorful tights. And, she didn’t want to spend a lot of money. She thinks she satisfied both requirements with these Report Dylan ankle boots.

While Ms. S&C likes trends, she prefers classic items with a long shelf-life. Not purposely, this mentality has transferred over to cocktail preferences of late. The drink in her hand on Friday’s, after work? It was a Tom Collins over the summer. For the early fall, it’s been the classic martini — or more specifically, the original-pre-Prohibition martini, which is currently called the Fifty-Fifty Martini. Confused? It’s the martini with equal parts gin and equal parts vermouth. Why the extra vermouth? Read Jason Wilson’s, WaPo columnist, article “Stirrings of a Better Martini,” or this article from NYT’ Shaken and Stirred column. Vermouth is good in cocktails,people. Use it.

Since there are so many variations of the martini, I find it’s easiest just to tell the bartender what I want in it, and how I want it prepared. For example, tonight, I’ll simply say, “Martini with equal parts gin and vermouth, up, with a twist. And, a dash of orange bitters, if you got ’em.” Please.

posted by Ms. S&C

4 Comments

Posted in cocktails, gin, shoes

Tagged booties, fall 2009, martini, nine west, platforms

Deconstructed

Posted on September 29, 2009 by msshoescocktails | Leave a comment

The theme of last week’s Top Chef episode was dynamic duo-ing and deconstruction. Presumably the dynamic duo idea comes from Penn & Teller being there as guest judges. The deconstruction concept comes from the oft misunderstood culinary technique.

Here are a few highlights:

The Quickfire was an “angels vs. demons” duo challenge. The chefs were asked to created two dishes of conflict, i.e. healthy vs. unhealthy, or new vs. old. Robin, who can’t be long for the show, won. Everyone was shocked. Eli, in poor taste, attributed the victory to her playing the cancer survivor card.
Deconstruction was the focus of the Elimination Challenge. The chefs had to “deconstruct,” or separate out all the ingredients, of a classic dish — yet, the newly re-constructed dish should maintain the dish’s original flavor. I think this means that meat lasagna shouldn’t look like meat lasagna, but it should taste like it.
At judges’ table: Michelle Berstein, and strong-opinioned Brit, Toby Young, rejoined the group.
On the top: Jennifer (lasagna), Ashley (pot roast), Kevin (chicken mole), and Michael Voltaggio (caesar salad). Kevin won.
On the bottom: Laurine (fish and chips), Ron (paella), Ash (shepherd’s pie). Ron was sent home.

Kevin Gillespie’s Deconstructed Baked Chicken and Chicken Croquetta,
Mexican Coffee, Chili Flake, Pumpkin and Fig Jam

For the drink pairing — Kevin’s fig jam recipe includes strong brewed coffee and hot chocolate. Having tried the most incredible bean-to-cup hot chocolate at Rick Bayless‘ restaurant, XOCO, that’s what I want alongside this dish. I don’t even care that it doesn’t have booze in it. The hot chocolate is that incredible. It is ground from Mexican cacao beans right in the restaurant, and was my surprise favorite on a menu with a lot of great food (try the ahadoga torta also). As you can see from the pic, I drank it with hot-from-the-fryer churros, but I think the bitter sweetness would complement many savory creations as well. Muy delicioso!

hot-chocolate Bean-to-cup hot chocolate and hot-from-the-fryer churros at
Rick Bayless’ XOCO restaurant in Chicago.

posted by Ms. S&C

Ups and Downs

Posted on September 11, 2009 by missmojito | 5 comments

Well, you win some and you lose some. Miss Mojito spent the long weekend with friends, with plenty of snacking and imbibing along the way. Of course, there were highs and lows in our drink and cocktail agenda for the weekend. Here’s a quick recap – maybe we can all learn from my failures (and successes)!

Starting to Wine at Keswick
Miss Mojito and pals brought some snacks to Keswick Vineyards, outside of Charlottesville, for a sunny afternoon of Viognier-sipping. The wine was sublime, the company delightful and the setting perfect.

Time for a Drunken Mule
Post-wine sipping, we gathered back at a friend’s house for even more good eats and cocktails. I was truly excited to prepare the Peach Donkey. Somehow, though, I convinced myself that the name of the drink was actually the Drunken Mule. Although neither makes much sense, I prefer the latter. It’s a mixture of peach purée, vodka, Domaine de Canton (a ginger liqueur) and ginger beer. I subbed club soda for the ginger beer and was less than pleased with the end result. Maybe the peaches weren’t peachy enough, or maybe the ginger beer is crucial to the success of this drink. I think it’s a recipe that’s worthy of some more experimentation, particularly now that I’m left with a practically full bottle of Canton (check back for more cocktail recipes inspired by this ginger liqueur).

Drunken Mule
serves one

1 ounce vodka
1/2 ounce Domaine de Canton (ginger liqueur)
3 ounces peach puree (Miss Menu peeled peaches and whizzed them about in a food processor with some lime juice to prevent discoloration)
1 ounce chilled ginger beer

Combine the vodka, Canton and puree in a glass. Stir. Top with ginger beer and serve.

Taking a Trip South
Miss Mojito was excited to hear about the Southside, billed as the gin-lover’s mojito. It combines mint, simple syrup, club soda, lime and gin. So on Sunday evening, we enjoyed a pre-dinner version of the cocktail, subbing agave nectar for simple syrup with delightful results.

Southside
serves one

1 1/2 ounces gin
1 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup or agave nectar
1 handful mint leaves, plus more for garnish
Club soda

In the bottom of a cocktail shaker, muddle the mint with the simple syrup or agave. Add gin and lime juice and shake thoroughly. Pour over ice and top with club soda. Garnish with more mint leaves.

Posted by Miss Mojito.

5 Comments

Posted in cocktails, gin, spirits, vodka

Tagged drunken mule, keswick, southside

Reporting for duty

Posted on September 8, 2009 by msshoescocktails | Leave a comment

Michael Voltaggio is on fire. Every week he is vying for a win on Top Chef. In episode two, Michael’s Golden Delicious inspired dessert was second best, losing only to his brother. In the most recent episode, he wins the Air Force Challenge, convincingly.

Let’s hope Michael Voltaggio isn’t burning too bright after
a red hot start in the competition.

A few highlights from last week’s Air Force Challenge episode:

The Quickfire competition challenges the cheftestants to create an “out of this world” potato dish. Guest judge is Mark Peel, who landed his first culinary job peeling vegetables for Wolfgang Puck. The challenge involves potatoes; his last name is peel — get the connection? I didn’t at first, but it’s clever all right.
Jennifer, who is also on fire, kicks ass and wins the Quickfire (with steamed mussels with lemongrass potato sauce), giving her immunity — and more importantly, total respect in the kitchen.
The Elimination Challenge has the cheftestants working as a team to prepare a meal for 300 airmen at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The menu includes hearty classics such as clam chowder, braised pork shoulder and potato salad, and chocolate bread pudding with peanut butter sauce.
Michael V stands out, making a more contemporary dish of braised pork belly with soy mustard, wrapped in lettuce and served with a peanut garnish.
Preeti is the chef sent home, because she was inexplicable in her defense of her and Laurine’s hodgepodge, yet unflavorful, pasta salad. I felt bad for Preeti. The dish was as much Laurine’s fault as her own. But someone’s gotta go.

Michael Voltaggio’s pork belly lettuce wrap is on the right.
Ignore Michael Isabella’s greek salad on the left.

For the drink pairing — over the weekend, I made my own version of Michael V’s pork belly lettuce wraps and served the dish with sake, a rice wine from Japan. Whole Foods has a good selection of inexpensive sakes, so Mr. S&C picked us up a 375 ml bottle of Fudo Myoo, for less than $6.00. The Fudo Myoo brand is fairly sweet (hints of banana and anise), and is best served chilled. The chilled sweet beverage is a nice counter balance to the richness (and absolute deliciousness) of the pork belly. Kanpai!

The Top Chef Drink Pairing is a reoccurring feature on the S&C blog, where we recap the previous week’s episode, and pair the winning dish with a cocktail, or other suitable alcoholic beverage.

posted by Ms. S&C

The brothers Voltaggio

Posted on August 31, 2009 by msshoescocktails | 2 comments

The second episode of Top Chef was typical Vegas – dice rolling, shots, bachelor and bachelorette parties. They even threw in a battle of the sexes. Though the episode focused on men vs. women, it looks like the season is shaping up to be Voltaggio vs. Voltaggio.

Todd English appears the second episode of Top Chef as a guest judge

The show started with the Quickfire Challenge, where the cheftestants rolled the dice and had to create a dish with the same number of ingredients (as shown on the dice). Michael V won with a nitro [liquid nitrogen] gazpacho, compressed cucumbers and toast point.

Both Voltaggio bros end up preparing the top two dishes of the Elimination Challenge. In the Elimination Challenge, it was men vs. women, and the chefs created dishes for a joint bachelor/bachelorette party, with the food complementing one of three shots: the Moscow Mule, tequila, and something called the Golden Delicious (which one chef described as sweet, gooey, and disgusting).

Michael V reworked the ingredients (fresh ingredients, of course) from the Golden Delicious, and made an apple and ginger sorbet with a goat cheese cookie. The judges loved it, but his big bro Bryan V won with his sweet and sour macaroon, filled with guacamole, corn nuts and corn puree, which he paired with tequila. His dish was a modern version of the all-time favorite Mexican appetizer — chips and guacamole.

Bryan Voltaggio’s sweet and sour macaroon, with guacamole
and corn puree, paired with tequila

For the drink pairing, S&C is hot-to-trot over tequila lately. Recent blog posts have highlighted watermelon margaritas and a modified cantarito. We’ve also shared recipes for cranberry margaritas, the pink panther, and a Q-cumber fizz. Using the categories on the right-hand side, you can search for all blog posts featuring tequila.

Because Ms. S&C recently drank a great Paloma at Bar Pilar in DC, she’ll share a new tequila drink, to go with Bryan’s macaroon (otherwise, she may have picked Miss Mojito’s cantarito). The traditional Paloma drink is made with grapefruit soda (same as the one at Bar Pilar — and similar to the cantarito), but the below recipe uses freshly squeezed white grapefruit juice and club soda, to add fizz. It was featured in a great article on tequila, from the Washington Post’s spirits columnist, which was recapped by S&C last year.

Paloma
serves one

Ingredients:

Ice
2 ounces blanco or silver tequila
3 ounces freshly squeezed white grapefruit juice
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 ounce agave nectar
Sea salt, to rim the glass
1 lime wheel, for garnish
Club soda

Directions:

Fill a cocktail shaker two-thirds full with ice and add the tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice and agave nectar. Shake well and strain into an ice-filled collins glass rimmed with sea salt. Garnish with the lime wheel and top with a splash of club soda.

Recipe Source: The Washington Post, from Apothecary in Philadelphia. Photo: Julia Ewan for The Washington Post.

posted by Ms. S&C

2 Comments

Posted in cocktails, spirits, tequila

Tagged agave nectar, paloma, top chef drink pairing

A Citrusy Celebration

Posted on August 28, 2009 by missmojito | 5 comments

Miss Mojito’s good college pal just started medical school in Norfolk, and a trip east was in order to help her friend explore a new town. We chatted over champagne, enjoyed a few tapas and indulged in the kind of reminiscing that old friends do so well.

Of course, a weekend of good times isn’t complete without a signature cocktail. To celebrate our friend’s accomplishments, tequila was the drink of choice. As August comes to an end, my goal is to make the most of summery drinks while I still can! I’ve been reading about the Cantarito, a citrus and tequila drink that uses grapefruit soda, and decided that this weekend was as good as any to give the delectable mix a test run.

Unfortunately, grapefruit soda proved harder to come by than I had hoped. (I hear a Mexican market might be my best bet for finding this particular beverage, so I’ll report back on grapefruit soda cocktails once I’ve put my hands on a bottle.) I improvised with grapefruit juice for flavor and agave nectar syrup for sweetness. What this drink lacks in fizz it makes up for in flavor.

Since our friend just moved into her (stellar) apartment only a week ago, she was a bit short in the housewares department. So, as you can see from the photo, plastic cups came to the rescue!

A Modified Cantarito
Serves two.

1 oz. fresh lime juice (about 1 small lime)
1 oz. lemon juice (about 3/4 medium lemon)
1 oz. orange juice (about 1/2 orange)
1 oz grapefruit juice (Miss Mojito recommends Simply Grapefruit)
1 teaspoon agave syrup
4 oz. tequila
Orange slices, for garnish
Ice

Pour all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake well. Pour over ice and serve with orange slices.

What shoes did I wear while Cantarito-concocting, you might ask? Well, it’s a pair that has absolutely nothing to do with the Cantarito, but I’m so utterly obsessed with them that I had to share. I got these brown leather peep-toes at Target for a steal at $30. But, lucky you, they’re now available on Target.com for $14.98! I promise you’ll find yourself creating excuses to wear these Frye-inspired, Mossimo sandals. Plus, they’re a stellar transitional shoe as we head into September: the peep-toe sandal styling screams “summer” while the brown leather nods to fall. And despite the 3.75-inch heel, they were just comfortable enough for some nightlife exploring in Norfolk.