Category Archives: spirits

Too much of a good thing

Posted on January 5, 2009 by | 5 comments

Isn’t too much of a good thing what New Year’s Eve is all about?  When Ms. S&C likes something, she kinda gets all consumed by it.  Take Duffy’s Rockferry album for instance.  Once she got it for her b-day, it was in heavy rotation on her Ipod for weeks.  Everyday on the metro, she would listen to the whole album beginning to end (she’s usually a shuffle kind-of a girl).  Now that the Duffy newness has worn off, she’s moved on to T.I’s Whatever You Like.  Damn, that song is catchy.  And, let me tell you — it made the metro ride to work today at least bearable.  The first day back after the holidays is the pits.  Absolute. Pits.

Ms. S&C’s obsession fascination with punch has lasted a lot longer (yes, it made the 2008 Year in Review list).  When given the opportunity to make a holiday cocktail for LKO’s New Year’s Eve party, she could not resist.  Taking cues from the autumn spiced punch and LC’s champagne punch, we came up with this delicious Shoes & Cocktails exclusive — a sparkling cherry punch! This drink’s bright, festive color make it a perfect holiday cocktail.  It was a splendid way to start off the night!

angelas-nye-punch-003

After recently trying a Ritz Cocktail with maraschino liqueur, I knew I wanted to use cherry liquor in something, so I replaced the apricot brandy from the champagne punch.  And, I feel like if you are going to go through the trouble of making simple syrup yourself, you might as well infuse it with something.  I made this simple syrup with cranberries mainly because I had a leftover bag of them in the freezer, but also because I wanted something with the deep red color (I thought more cherries in the syrup may be an overload on cherry flavor).  The frozen cherries were a delicious little surprise at the bottom of the cup, and they helped keep the punch cold.

Sparkling Cherry Punch

Ingredients:

  • 4 bottles of champagne
  • 2 bottles of white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)
  • 8 oz. cranberry infused simple syrup (see ingredients and directions below)
  • 8 oz. cherry brandy
  • 1 bag of frozen pitted cherries

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl.  Stir.  Easy schmeasy!

Simple Syrup Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 bag frozen cranberries

Simple Syrup Directions:
It is recommended that you make the simple syrup a day in advance to maximize the cranberry flavor.  Combine water, sugar, and cranberries in a saucepan.  Bring to boil, reduce heat.  Cover and simmer 10 minutes.  Cover and chill for 12-24 hours.  Strain bits of cranberry from the syrup.

S&C wants to know: What fun, festive drinks did you have to ring in the new year?  Share your NYE drinks below!

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Eleven chefs a cooking

Posted on December 24, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Just like her Christmas shopping, Ms. S&C is behind on the Top Chef recap/drink pairing.  But, there’s not another new episode for two weeks, so I guess we’re okay.

Episode six, or the holiday episode filmed in the summer, brought Martha Stewart as guest judge for the Quickfire Challenge.   Pray tell, why was mega-star-Martha only around for the Quickfire, and we got Rocco for a full hour?

Anyhoo, Martha came to the kitchen to judge the cheftestants one-pot-wonders.  The challenge was to cook an excellent meal using only one pot.  Some cheftestants took this one pot thing literally and cooked all ingredients together in one pot.  Some took it figuratively and cooked ingredients separately and washed the pot in between.  I was expecting Martha to scoff at the figurative group and be totally unforgiving for their lack of imagination.  Not the case.  Everyone was full of holiday spirit this week.  While she praised Hosea’s true one-pot paella, she crowned Ariane the winner with her cauliflower puree and herb rubbed filet.

elim_hosea

The Elimination Challenge had the cheftestants catering a holiday cocktail party for amfAR, using the 12 Days of Christmas for inspiration.  Yes, that meant someone had to turn “eleven lords a leaping” and “nine ladies dancing” into fancy appetizers.  Things took a dramatic yet uplifting turn when the refrigerator malfunction had all the cheftestants scrambling to save Hosea and Radhika’s lost ingredients.  Coincidentally, Hosea and Radhika ended up in the top three.  But, in short, the judges thought that the food stunk in general.  And the bottom three were so bad, they couldn’t choose one to send home.  Or, that holiday spirit thing allowed them to give the losers a break.  It turns out that pulling off Christmas in July, for a celebrity charity gig, is tough for aspiring Top Chefs.wc-pub-pint

Hosea ended up winning with his pipers piping smoked pork loin with chipotle mashed potatoes, braised cabbage and apple jus.  After having cooked a braised pork shoulder awhile back, with caramelized onions and chopped apples, I served my dish with a bottle of cider.  I think cider would be a good pairing for the smoked pork as well.  Tart and crisp, cider can be a delicious beverage, particularly during those warmer months.  I personally like Woodchuck’s 802 Dark and Dry because it is dark and dry, and the sweetness is toned down a bit.  Cider Jack is pretty good too, for a lighter option.

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Holiday party cocktails

Posted on December 23, 2008 by | 2 comments

Break out the punch bowls!  S&C has two great holiday drinks for you.  Our friends LC and CA hosted their annual gift exchange party over the weekend.  LC served the delicious champagne punch she makes every year.  I think it is a family recipe.  It is bubbly and festive and everybody loves it.  If you don’t make it for the Christmas holiday, it would be perfect for a New Year’s Eve bash.

LC’s Family Punch

champagne_punch

Ingredients:

  • 2 bottles of champagne
  • 1 bottle of white wine
  • 8 oz. apricot brandy
  • 8 oz. triple sec
  • 1 liter club soda

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl.  Add block of ice.  For less potency, half the amounts of brandy and triple sec.  (As the night goes on and you continue to refill the punch bowl, halving is not a bad idea.)

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After attending the Holiday Cocktails seminar, I was inspired to make homemade eggnog for LC’s party.  Eggnog is quite easy, as long as you have an electric mixer.  And by mixing the ingredients one by one, it ensures that they are well blended.  This recipe is an adaptation of several I’ve seen.  I didn’t add cognac or brandy (a spirit found in most recipes), mostly because I didn’t want it to be too boozy.  I also added more vanilla extract and spices to make it more indulgent and dessert-like.  I think the final product was a perfect accompaniment to chocolate pound cake and the other fine desserts served at the party.  It is also a fine substitute for cream and sugar in your coffee.

Eggnog

Ingredients:

  • Dozen eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon clove
  • 2 teaspoons nutmeg, plus extra for garnish
  • 4 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 5 cups milk
  • 2 cups dark rum (I used Gosling’s Black Seal)

Directions:
In a large bowl, beat the eggs until frothy.  Add sugar, continue beating.  Add vanilla, clove, nutmeg, continue beating.  Add heavy cream, little at a time, continue beating.  Add milk, little at a time, continue beating.  Chill for 1-2 hours.  Before serving, add rum and mix well.  Garnish with nutmeg.  For less indulgence, substitute some of the heavy cream with milk.

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S&C Wishes You Happy Holidays and Best in 2009!

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Posted in cocktails, dark rum, fall/winter cocktails, spirits, wine

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The city of brotherly love

Posted on December 21, 2008 by | 1 comment

Mr. and Ms. S&C recently took a short trip to Philadelphia.  We visited the city of brotherly love to catch the Neil Young and Wilco concert at the old Spectrum arena.  Before the show (which was awesome), the mister and missus stopped off at two places that couldn’t be more different.  Our first stop was Midtown II, the quintessential dive bar.  It is a 24-hour, greasy-spoon type of place, that’s dirt cheap, and where you’re not too far removed from the grittier side of Philly.  And, it has a jukebox.  I love bars with jukeboxes.  It is also the type of place that doesn’t serve a garnish in your gin and tonic.  Mr. S&C is usually the one to seek out these bars, and I’m so glad he does.  While I don’t get the off-the-charts inventive cocktail, I get a strong cocktail.  And, I get a lot of atmosphere.

After a few drinks at Midtown II, we headed to its antithesis, Continental.  Continental is an upscale diner plus martini bar.  It has an extensive cocktail menu, and it is place where the beautiful people go.  While the people are not nearly as interesting, we had a great bartender and really good drinks.  I started off with a Side Car, a classic I’m loving right now.  Then, I had a Pimm’s Cup with champagne.  Mr. S&C had a refreshing Tom Collins and a martini with a blue cheese stuffed olive.

side_car

Side Car (circa 1922)

  • Hennessy
  • Cointreau
  • Lemon juice
  • Served with a sugar rimmed glass

Pimm’s Cup (circa 1823)

  • Pimm’s no. 1
  • Champagne
  • Ginger Ale
  • Lemon
  • Slice of cucumber

Tom Collins (circa 1902)

  • Gin
  • Lemon juice
  • Simple syrup
  • Topped with club soda

The Continental

  • Zyr vodka
  • Blue cheese stuffed olive

The remainder of the trip had nothing to do with shoes and cocktails, but it was a great time, so I’ll share it nonetheless.  The next morning, we headed to Reading Terminal Market for breakfast and a little gift shopping.  It is must-see attraction when you’re in Philly.  It is an extraordinary farmer’s market with fresh produce, baked goods, meats, crafts, etc.  Lots of Amish specialties and ethnic vendors too.  Next, we went to the Rodin Museum, which holds his largest collection outside of the Paris museum.  I never get tired of looking at the Gates of Hell and The Burghers of Calais, and was able to see a new sculpture, The Martyr – all so haunting and tragic.  Rodin was a genius.

We saved our grocery shopping until we got to the Italian Market in South Philly, where I picked up ingredients for lasagna: fresh pasta, fresh mozzerella, Sicilian sausage — everything needed for the best lasagna I’ve ever made.  Then, we capped off our trip with an authentic Philly Cheesesteak at Pat’s.

italian_market

pats

A lot was accomplished in the 24 hours we were there.  And, I would go back to every single stop next time.

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Something borrowed

Posted on December 18, 2008 by | Leave a comment

In the fifth episode of Top Chef, the cheftestants are teamed up to cook for Gail Simmons‘ very own bridal shower.  Gail’s friend, and Editor-in-Chief of Food & Wine, Dana Cowin is guest judge.

The episode starts, as always, with the Quickfire Challenge.  I think most fans of Top Chef really like the reoccurring taste-test challenge, where the chefs have to guess the name of ingredients in a blind taste-test.  This time the challenge was some kind-of disjointed head-to-head thing that I personally didn’t like as much.  Anyway, Hosea wins and gets immunity so you know he’s around for another week.

The Elimination Challenge is Gail’s bridal shower, where the cheftestants draw knives for the something Old, something New, something Borrowed, and something Blue teams.  The “old” team cooks classic foods such as tomato carpaccio and terrine.  The “new” team cooks a disastrous assemble-it-yourself not-sushi-sushi.  The “borrowed” team borrows the Indian heritage of a fellow cheftestant (Radhika), and the “blue” team uses the deep blue ocean for inspiration.  No big surprise that the “new” team is crucified and it is Danny who gets sent home.   He may have been okay if he didn’t insist it was a great dish after hearing everyone destroy it.  The winners are team “borrowed,” and Ariane was the surprise champion.  Jamie was overconfident and therefore totally pissed because the dish was her idea, her concept, her secret ingredient (vadouvan), and she was team leader.  While I think she could have been a bit more gracious, she did get screwed.

something-borrowed1

 The winning dish was lamb marinated in french and curry spices, served over vadouvan carrot puree, and kale.  While Ms. S&C prefers red wine with lamb, she just doesn’t love it with Indian spices.  She’s open to it, but has never found the right match.  Please send her suggestions if you have ‘em.  Instead, she may choose an Alsatian white wine (Pinot Gris or Riesling) for the pairing.  Sweet, but dry, she thinks it compliments the complex Indian flavors nicely.

PS – Fabio update: We are still swooning.  How about the high praise he bestowed on Tom Colicchio, in his charming broken English?  “Tom come in the room make me nervous.  Colicchio for me is like if you are the priest and there is the pope in the room.”   Yeah, he’s adorable.

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Amuse the mouth

Posted on December 9, 2008 by | Leave a comment

We are running a bit behind on the Top Chef recap/drink pairing, so we’re gonna keep things short and sweet.  Episode four brings us Rocco, the chef famous for being famous, and the NBC cross-promotion machine.

The Quickfire Challenge has the cheftestants making a breakfast amuse bouche.  Boy, do I love an amuse bouche.  Mostly because I love saying amuse bouche, but also because I love that small little bite that a chef sends out to get you excited for your meal.  Amuse bouche is a one-bite hors d’oeuvre, and Leah went to great lengths to make sure we, and the judges, understood that she, and not many of her cheftestants, knew that.  It worked; she won the Quickfire by cooking bread and an egg, and was granted immunity during the Elimination Challenge.

leah-amuse
The Elimination Challenge involved showcasing the cheftestants’ demonstration and presentation skills.  Yeah, I thought it was lame at first. I overheard a few of my friends mention that the challenge doesn’t really relate to being an actual chef.  While there’s no question that the level of difficulty and complexity of the food prepared was pretty low, my man Tom Colicchio had this to say on his blog:

“It’s amusing to me how so many of our cheftestants said, in response to this week’s Elimination Challenge, that they did not want to “do TV” in their careers as chefs … while they’re doing TV to advance their careers as chefs. As I recall, they were saying those words directly into the lens of a television camera. Let’s face it: The media has long been a critical factor in shaping high-level careers of all kinds, and today’s Top Chefs must be able not only to cook, but to generate heat about their cooking. On TV.”

You never know – maybe some of the cheftestants aspire to be Rocco – a chef that seems to only do presentations and hardly any real cooking.  Anyhoo, Alex was sent home, and your top three contestants, Jeff aka The Hair, Fabio, and Ariane, headed to the Today Show so NBC’s morning talking heads could choose the winning dish.  I honestly don’t remember off-hand what Jeff and Fabio prepared.  I know that Ariane won with an easy as poo lame watermelon, tomato, feta salad with basil oil.

ariane-dish

Because time is short, I think I would serve up S&C’s very own watermelon lemonade cocktail with Ariane’s salad.  It is light, refreshing, and the basil garnish would compliment nicely.  Clearly this episode was filmed in the summer, and that being the case, you can also pour me a glass of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

PS – I heart Fabio.

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Birthday recovery

Posted on December 8, 2008 by | 2 comments

Ms. S&C’s birthday-cocktail-repeal-day party was a success.  But, it was also a reminder that Ms. S&C is now 32, not 23, and therefore she needs to take it easy next year.  Many thanks to all her friends who stopped by!  Here are a few highlights.

The Drinks:
The jalapeno margarita won the reader poll, so that’s what was served.  The jalapeno infused simple syrup was used in both a traditional and a pomegranate margarita.  While we fixed some fine margaritas, we need to perfect the recipes before we share.  We didn’t want to overdo the jalapeno flavor, but we were much too conservative when making the simple syrup.  Next time we’ll use more than two jalapenos and let the syrup sit overnight before straining.  Other margarita ingredients included: lemon, lime, orange and pomegranate juices, tequila and cointreau.

The Menu:
Our Southwestern-style appetizers included:

  • Zesty bean dip, recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook
  • Guacamole, also influenced by Moosewood Cookbook’s recipe
  • Bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos 
  • Mini quesadillas
  • Grilled chicken and shrimp skewers
  • Tres Leches cake, from our neighborhood bakery, My Bakery & Café

The Conclusion:
The next day clean up looked a little something like this.  Love you guys.

birthday_cleanup

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Food fighters

Posted on December 1, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Episode three of Top Chef is filled with last minute surprises and twists, in addition to having the cheftestants cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the band Foo Fighters.

During the Quickfire Challenge, the cheftestants randomly choose a page from the Top Chef recipe book and have to get inspired by previous contestant’s dish.  After several minutes into the challenge, Padma tells them to S-T-O-P.  Surpise Twist #1 – the challenge is changed and the cheftestants must take their ingredients and make a soup.  The Quickfire is sponsored by Swanson after all.  Guest judge, and James Beard Foundation’s 2008 Best Chef, Grant Achatz, chooses Jamie’s chickpea soup, Danny’s ham and egg soup and Leah‘s white asparagus soup as the top three dishes.  Jamie’s over-confidence would annoy me, but it appears she’s very, very good.  Not good enough, because it is Leah, who doesn’t hide that she hates the flavor of white asparagus, wins the challenge.

leah_soup

As winner, Leah gets to pick her team for the Foo Fighters Thanksgiving Elimination Challenge.  The Elimination Challenge has Team Sexy Pants (Leah’s team) going up against Team Cougar.  Aside: there should have been more air time discussing how terrible these team names are.  Anyway, the teams arrive at the concert venue and Surprise Twist #2 – the Thanksgiving dinner is to be prepared using microwaves, toaster ovens and one burner.  Plus, they have to cook outside.  Surpise Twist #3 – it starts to rain.  My favorite line of the night comes from Fabio, of the “Euro Duo,” who says, ” I’m not going home because of rain in my tiramisu.”  It may have been the Italian accent that got me.

fabio_dessert

Team Cougar cooks the best turkey, and Team Sexy Pants fixes the best desserts.  It is a close one, but Team Cougar makes the most mistakes so they lose.  The Hair’s pumpkin parfait and Danny’s al dente potatoes are no good, but it is Richard who gets sent home because of his failed s’mores. The judges thought it looked liked someone spat on the s’mores.  Too bad for “Team Rainbow;” it looks like Jamie is on her own.

For the drink pairing – in a recent post, DC Foodies, suggested a few wines for Thanksgiving dinner.  Since a meal like Thanksgiving has so many different dishes, they think you should play towards the middle and keep bonny-doon-winethe reds light and the whites big.  I agree, which is also why I recommend a Rose.  It has all the refreshing qualities of a white wine mixed with some of the depth in a red.  One of my favorites is Bonny Doon’s Vin Gris de Cigare.  Bonny Doon has always been one of my favorite wineries.  It is a funky vineyard in California that uses esoteric techniques (one of the first to use synthesized corks, and then the screw cap).  It also happens to have cool, artistic labels.  Their wines are very affordable and available in many wine and grocery stores.  S&C recommends you give any of them a try.

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Hot dawg

Posted on November 24, 2008 by | 2 comments

The second episode of Top Chef had the chef’testants making hot dogs and serving lunch at Tom Colicchio’s NYC restaurant Craft.

The writing was on the wall for Baltimorean Jill who lost the hot dog Quickfire Challenge.  She was the only one who didn’t make her own hot dog.  She prepared a store bought thing in a spring roll, and it.did.not.look.good.  The cute Indian girl, who wants people to think she can cook stuff other than Indian cuisine, won with an Indian-style dog, nonetheless.

The Elimination Challenge separated the chefs into three groups (appetizer, entrée, dessert), and had them prepare a “New American” lunch menu.  I don’t really know what constitutes “New American cuisine,” and apparently the chef’testants don’t either.  The judge were underwhelmed, including the woman-with-an-amazing-resume, Donatella Arpaia, who was guest judge.

The Losers:

Jill used an ostrich egg for quiche, and Gail said it tasted like glue.  The ever emotional Ariane made some kind-of super sweet cherry dessert that Padma spat it in her napkin.  Gross on both accounts.

The Winners:

Looks like desserts are our hometown girl Carla’s specialty.  Her apple turnover with a slice of cheddar isn’t particularly “new,” but Padma loved the crust.  Jamie of “Team Rainbow” impressed with her chilled corn soup with chili oil and mint.  But it was, Fabio of “Team Europe,” (or “Euro Duo” as I’ve also heard them cleverly referred to), who won with his beef carpaccio and gastronomical olives.

fabio_dish

The Drink:

Red wine is the inevitable choice for the beef carpaccio pairing.  For delicate beef dishes such as carpaccio and steak tartare, a young Bordeaux is the best match.  A Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blend will compliment, not overpower. Bon Appétit!

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Knives down, hands up

Posted on November 14, 2008 by | 2 comments

Top Chef has begun!  Season 5 brings the culinary contestants to New York City, which should make for some awesome challenges.  The first episode starts with 17 contestants, so I can hardly remember who’s who.  I know there’s a group of three two that call themselves “Team Rainbow.”  I think I’ll start calling the German and Italian dudes “Team Europe;” its clear they’ve bonded pretty well.  Then, there’s a faceboy I’ve named “Mr. Hair.”  And, other than our Washington, DC gal, I think everyone else is pretty much from New York or California.

The Quick Fire Challenge has the contestants peeling apples, chopping apples, and cooking with apples.  And then, just like that, we’re down to 16.  Lauren-with-the-overbearing-personality has to hop right back on the boat and head home.  Now, its time for the Elimination Challenge.  The remaining 16 go head-to-head and chose one of eight New York City ethnic neighborhoods to find inspiration for their next dish.  The neighborhoods include:

  • Astoria (Greek)
  • Brighton Beach (Russian)
  • Chinatown
  • Little Italy
  • Little India
  • Long Island City (Middle Eastern)
  • Queens (Jamaican)
  • Ozone Park (Latin)

stefan_dish2Stefan of “Team Europe” wins with his classic Middle Eastern fare, and Patrick of “Team Rainbow” loses with his clichéd Chinese dish.  Stefan served up a lamb chop with tabouli and beef skewers with caramelized onions and hummus.  Guest judge, Jean George Vongerichten, kept commenting on the great lemon flavor found in the dish.  While I would likely be drinking red wine with this meal, here’s a cocktail that may complement nicely.  Given that I love Lillet and lemon these days, and thyme being a natural accompaniment, I think it would pair well, or at least serve as a pretty good aperitif.

This drink is a Shoes & Cocktails exclusive!

Ingredients:

  • 1 part Gin
  • 1 part Lillet blanc
  • 1 part Lemon Juice
  • 1 part Thyme-Infused Simple Syrup

Directions:
For the simple syrup, combine 1/2 cup water, 1/3 cup sugar, and a teaspoon of thyme in a saucepan.  Cover and simmer 10 minutes.  Strain spices from syrup.  Combine all ingredients and shake well.  Serve over ice.   Garnish with lemon twist and sprig of fresh thyme.

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