18
Jan
10
After experimenting with self-infused ginger vodka, I decided to try the first bottle after two weeks of infusing. This recipe is straight out of the Yazi book that comes with the bottle when you buy it, but I've adjusted the quantities a bit to take advantage of the slightly lighter homemade ginger brew.
After straining the vodka infusion through a coffee filter, I refilled the Yazi bottle with my own vodka. Then I mixed up the typical Gingertini I'd grown to love according to the Yazi label directions. The other flavors ended up overpowering the ginger flavor. So for the next batch, I think I'll double the raw ginger for infusion, (and probably muddle them a bit). And as previously stated, I've adjusted the other liquors so the ginger vodka shines through. My second martini was much better. ;)
- 3 oz Ginger-infused Vodka
- 1 oz Cointreau (or Triple Sec)
- 1 oz Cranberry Juice
- splash of Lime Juice
- Slice of fresh ginger
Run the ginger slice around a martini glass edge. Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker until it sweats and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with the ginger slice.
03
Jan
10
Given my love of White Russians, I burn through a lot of vodka and Kahlua. I've heard that making your own isn't too difficult, so I decided to give it a try. It seems there are as many recipes as there are vodkas out there, but I wanted to use real beans instead of the instant coffee most recipes call for. In this case, I bought Caribou's Obsidian Dark Roast Blend knowing I'd get a wonderfully powerful rich taste from it.
Homemade Kalua
- 1/2 lb dark roasted coffee beans
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 whole vanilla beans
- 4 oz unsweetened chocolate
- vodka
- dark rum
- brandy
- Divide the coffee beans into two equal portions. Grind half the beans very finely. Leave the other half whole.
- Use your coffee maker to brew half the ground beans with 2 cups of water to make a very strong coffee. An espresso machine would be even better. Repeat a second time with the other half of the ground beans and 2 more cups of water.
- Add the coffee, cinnamon sticks (broken in half), whole coffee beans, and brown sugar to a stock pot. Heat slowly and mix until the sugar is dissolved. Don't let the water get hot enough to boil.
- Meanwhile, melt the chocolate.
- Distribute the coffee mixture evenly among four 1 quart canning jars. Then add the melted chocolate to each along with the vanilla beans cut in one inch diagonal slices. The jars should be roughly 1/3 full.
- Add 1 cup of vodka to each jar. Then add 3/4 cup of dark rum. Then add 1/2 cup of brandy. Fill the remaining volume with vodka until within an 1/8 inch from the top. This will use nearly an entire 1.75 liter bottle of vodka.
- Screw on the lids tightly and shake. Store the jars in a cool dark place for at least a month. Shake the jars every day or so until ready.
- After a month of storage, strain the jars into dark glass bottles with a metal coffee filter.
And since I was busy making my own booze, I decided to attempt to infuse my own ginger vodka. I (and others) have fallen in love with a delicious gingertini, but Yazi is $35 a bottle. So making my own from a ginger root and $12 bottle of Svedka is much more economical.
Ginger Infused Vodka
- 1 large ginger root
- vodka
- Peel and slice the entire ginger root into thick slices.
- Divide the ginger slices into two 1 quart jars evenly.
- Fill the jars with vodka to within an 1/8 of the top.
- Shake and store in a cool dark place for at least a week shaking daily.
- Strain the vodka through a metal coffee filter and store in the refridgerator for up to a month.
So now these jars are busy resting in my basement. It'll be hard to simply look at them and shake them each day without getting to taste them, but it should be worth the wait. I'll definitely report back on this in a month to let you know how it all turns out.
13
Nov
09
It's been a little while since I've played with my "chemistry set" and come up with a new concoction. A bottle of strawberry vodka from the liquor store got my creative juices running again though. :)
This strawberry martini is coupled with chocolate flavors that are pretty much hidden in the strawberry flavor, but really bring out the berry sweetness. Grapefruit juice is used to cut the sugar and provide a little color. It's absolutely delicious!
- 4 oz Strawberry Vodka
- 2 oz Clear Creme de Cocao
- splash of Ruby Red grapefruit juice
- few drops of Grenadine
- white sugar
- fresh strawberry
Slice the strawberry and run a slice around a martini glass edge. Rim the glass with sugar. Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker until it sweats and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a strawberry slice.
24
May
09
While hanging out before the Rebel, Rebel show. Someone mentioned we have a David Bowie inspired martini called a Moonage Daydream. I quickly stepped in to suggest something with Blue Curacao for color and Godiva White Chocolate to make it creamy. Originally, I thought of using Coconut Rum as the base, but after getting home and experimenting with the chemistry set, I decided the coconut flavor with chocolate was too much like the Obama-tini. So I swapped it out for pineapple and the result was perfectly delicious and unique. Garnished with a small colorful fruit salad, I think the drink fits Bowie's persona just fine.
- 5 oz Pineapple Rum
- 1 1/2 oz Blue Curacao
- 1/2 oz Godiva White Chocolate Liquor
- splash of Frangelico
- drizzle of Grenadine
Shake all ingredients except the Grenadine with ice in a shaker until it sweats and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a small orange slice and a pineapple wedge with Maraschino cherry on a cocktail spear. Use a spoon or eye dropper to drizzle a lightning bolt shape with the Grenadine in the blue foam.
14
May
09
I stopped in at Everett's Meats on 38th yesterday to pick up a few red meat essentials for the freezer. They had this tenderloin winking at me from the case and I thought it would make a mighty tasty dinner.
To prepare, I mixed up some herb butter by chopping a few various herbs (rosemary and thyme) and then combining them with softened butter. I reused the wrapper to shape it into a butter log to put back in the fridge.
An hour before I wanted to eat, I took the steak out of the fridge and heavily salted both sides of the cut. Use rock salt for this so the grains can easily be washed off later. The salt is important in that it removes water from the beef. Otherwise, when you cook the meat, the water steams it and drains flavor away. The salt draws the moisture to the surface of the meat and leaves the fat and proteins behind. Furthermore, once the water is drawn out, the meat re-absorbs some of the salt, seasoning the steak and breaking down the proteins making the meat more tender. The juiciness of the steak will come from the melted fat, so the more marbled the steak, the more tender it'll tend to be. read more »
19
Jan
09
Tomorrow is Obama's first day as President of the United States. It's the end of a bad era and the beginning of New Hope. To honor that, we'll be gathering with friends and watching the Inauguration saved via Tivo whilst sipping tasty drinks. I've created a new martini just for the occasion.
The Obamatini:
- 2 oz Coconut Rum - Malibu or similar is fine.
- 1 1/2 oz Pineapple Rum
- 1 oz Godiva White Chocolate Liquor - no substitute here. The Godiva gives the drink the creamy texture and color.
- 1 oz Creme de Cacao - I cut the Godiva with this to save on the cost a bit without losing the chocolate flavor.
- Powdered Cocoa - Swiss Miss works nicely. :)
Shake all the liquors with ice in a shaker until it sweats and strain into martini glasses. Garnish with a dusting of cocoa powder and a Kit Kat stir stick. (A spear of maraschino cherries would do nicely as well.)
The inspiration for this martini comes from Obama's Hawaiian heritage. Adding chocolate tastes good with the tropical flavors and is an obvious choice for a drink named after our first black President. Careful when drinking these, it tastes like a chocolate piña colada and sneaks up on you quickly.
On that note -- good riddance, Bush! Your time is nigh.
02
Jan
09
In honor of the Big Lebowski party, I created a purple martini we now call the Quintanatini. Named after the purple Jesus in The Big Lebowski. It's a berry-licious concoction comprised of pomegranate and vanilla flavors.
- 3 oz Vanilla Vodka - Absolut makes a fine one.
- 2 oz Pama - pomegranate liqueur
- splash of pomogranate/blueberry juice
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker until it sweats and strain into martini glasses. Garnish with fresh blueberries if you've have them.
02
Nov
08
Seems like there're as many pear martini recipes as there are types of pears. I played around for a good part of the week trying various ways of consuming Absolut Pear vodka and here's my final cut:
- 4 oz Pear Vodka - Absolut makes a fine one.
- 1 oz Disaronno - don't even pretend that there's a different kind of amaretto
- splash of grapefruit juice
- juice from 1/2 a lime
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker until it sweats and strain into martini glasses. Garnish with a pear slice if you've got it, else a lime slice works fine.
I like these kinds of experiments, I'll have to come up with some other martini recipes so I can perfect them and drink all the "mistakes". ;) read more »
08
Oct
08
After depleting the Manfort of everything except beer, drink additives, and a few hard boiled eggs, it was time to grocery shop and replenish the pantry. The first thing I made with all my new yummy ingredients was gnocchi and pesto all from scratch. Always my preferred method -- I get a kick out of cooking from the basics.
Recipe after the jump... read more »
15
Apr
08
Speaking of martinis, here's how I like mine:
(Dirty of course.)
the Goobertini
- 3 oz Vodka (Ketel One, Skyy, Grey Goose) -- or Bombay Sapphire. Depends on my mood, but I find the vodka is a bit smoother.
- 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth -- Noilly Prat please
- 1/2 oz Olive Juice -- especially the fine squeeze from olives marked as "martini olives".
Before-hand, stick the martini glass in the freezer to chill it. Fill your shaker half full of cracked ice. This is important as the ice serves two purposes: to chill the ingredients (obviously), but also to add enough melt water to the drink to soften the alcohol's bite. Add the above ingredients and shake vigorously for half a minute. Cheers, Mr. Bond. strain into your frozen glass and toss in a few olives on a spear.
Tasty business there. Remember, although a good martini is stiff, don't sip and nurse it. Nothing ruins a martini faster than letting it get too warm. I also think they taste better whilst wearing a silk robe Heffner-style. :) read more »
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After experimenting with self-infused ginger vodka, I decided to try the first bottle after two weeks of infusing. This recipe is straight out of the Yazi book that comes with the bottle when you buy it, but I've adjusted the quantities a bit to take advantage of the slightly lighter homemade ginger brew.)
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