cocktails

Harvey & Hillary

Sips

Have you ever picked up a bit of seemingly useless trivia and wondered when it was ever going to be useful? Believe it or not, sometimes it actually does.

Case in point: many, many years ago (could be a decade or more) I vaguely remember someone telling me that when a cocktail has the word “wall” in it–like the Harvey Wallbanger, our topic for today–it contains a specific ingredient. Granted, I misremembered one little detail thinking that the ingredient in question was grenadine when it’s actually Galliano.

CHF Harvey Wallbanger

Ice
2 oz Vanilla Vodka
4-6 oz Orange Juice
.5 oz Galliano

Fill a Collins (tall) glass with ice. Pour the vodka over the ice, then the orange juice until almost full. Stir with a bar spoon (or iced tea spoon if it’s handier) and then top with the Galliano. Sip slowly, letting the Galliano mix in a bit with each movement of the glass.

It turns out I was out of plain vodka (oops!) but I had plenty of the vanilla variety. Since the Galliano is described as being a anise-flavored herbal liqueur with vanilla notes I figured it would mix well and, oh, it did.

If a Harvey Wallbanger is a Screwdriver with a little something extra, the Hillary Wallbanger is the Mimosa with a kick. She doesn’t get Champagne, instead you use white wine in place of the vodka but all else is equal. Most of the recipes I found for Hillary used a reverse ratio for wine to juice and also called for a dry white, like a Chardonnay. I happen not to like dry whites and, as always, prefer more mix to hooch, so kept the Harvey proportions and used a sweeter white.

Todd’s vote went squarely to the Harvey though I think if I’d used a Pinot Grigio instead of the Sugar Sands (a muscadine-based sweet white that I already had open) the Hillary may have been more to his liking. I thought Hillary was a nice, sweet mix but could have sipped either one with no quibbles. We both agree that the vanilla vodka enhances the Galliano (whose smell makes me think of root beer) so it will be how we make it from here on out.

Safe Sipping!

Bogey’s Bar & Restaurant, Defuniak Springs, FL

Nibbles

As part of our impromptu weekend away to visit the local winery and stock up on some favorites, Todd and I enjoyed a night at the Hotel Defuniak and dinner at their on-site restaurant: Bogey’s.

In the looks department, the restaurant is decorated very nicely, lots of sage green with white trim, draped windows and framed black-and-white images from the movie Casablanca. This was a nice touch since it’s one of Todd’s favorite films. The lights are kept fairly low for dinner and there’s a small dance floor across from which the Saturday-evening entertainment performs.

Like most places these days they have a well-arrayed martini list. My Pomegranate Martini was, unfortunately, all alcohol, no juice but I’m sure that’s how a lot of people like it. I just prefer mine tempered a bit. Todd’s Lemon Drop Martini, in contrast, was amazingly good: Citron Vodka, Grand Marnier and sour mix. I think, though, when I work on recreating it I’ll try it with lemon juice and a splash of simple syrup instead. Another interesting cocktail that we didn’t try, but that I took notes of from the menu, was the Pineapple Upside Down (vanilla vodka, butterscotch schnapps, pineapple juice and a splash of cola)–doesn’t that sound just too good? They also featured a pretty long wine list but, surprisingly, none of the wines they offered came from the local winery, not even a token bottle.

The dinner menu is pretty varied running the gamut from steak to seafood to chicken and veal. From the brief appetizer offerings we tried the Oysters Rockefeller and the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, both were tasty, portions were definitely not meant for sharing but it was a nice taste while we waited for our entrees. And speaking of entrees, Todd’s always in the mood for veal so he ordered the Veal Restauranteur (topped with ham, tomatoes and cheese) while I ordered the Catch of the Day Lorenzo (with Blue Crab stuffing and a bernaise sauce). Whereas the appetizers may have been of modest size, the entrees were more than generous.

You know, I had a dream the other night about an upscale restaurant that featured entrees at true portion sizes–talk about a dream! Inflated portion sizes aside, the taste couldn’t have been better. Both of our meals were well-seasoned, well sauced and perfectly prepared. They do have a dessert menu but I honestly don’t remember much about it–I was way too full to even think about dessert. Todd got something very chocolatey a la mode that I had a couple of bites of but that was it.

Bogey’s offers breakfast and lunch, as well, at least on certain days. It’s not unusual for restaurants to close on Mondays and, even, to have abbreviated Sunday hours but I have to admit I was a little puzzled that a hotel that bills itself as a Bed & Breakfast offers only a Continental breakfast on both Mondays and Sundays. Sundays, really? Sure, Sunday night isn’t a big travel night, most people head home that day so going Continental on Monday is probably not a big deal. But Saturday night? I would think that’s a fairly busy time for overnight guests so not offering a hot breakfast on Sunday morning seems really alien to me.

We’ll definitely go back–there’s a room that’s supposedly haunted that I want to check out, after all–but I guess we’ll have to go over after work on a Friday to try out their true breakfast.

Gin!

Sips

Growing up, the only gin I was interested in was the card game of the same name, which Mom and I would play in the evenings on a regular basis. When I reached the legal drinking age, it was one of the liquors I figured I’d never like. After all, it smelled like the tree by the neighbors door and who wants to drink a tree?

Until an old boyfriend (he of the dirty martini, which I still don’t like) introduced me to the tart goodness that is the Gin & Tonic. Oh, my, but it was love at first sip. But, like all new loves, there’s an adjustment period. While attending an event with an open bar I had, perhaps, one (or three) drinks too many for the amount of catered hors d’oeuvres available to balance them out (or lack there of). It didn’t help that the bartender was an old high-school acquaintance and mixed with a generous hand. The party was fun, the next day not so much.

And then there was the time, in an attempt to be suave and sophisticated, I took a nod from the barenaked ladies’ song, “Alcohol,” and attempted to order it as a “G&T.” The guy behind the VFW bar had no clue what I was talking about. Kinda takes the wind out of your sails.

I don’t measure my gin & tonics, nor my gin & cranberries or gin & grapefruits, I just sort of eye-ball it and, like it’s predecessor for the top cocktail spot–the Rum & Coke, it depends a lot on my mood and tastebuds how much juniper berry I really want to taste in relation to everything. Seems the suggestion is 2:1, tonic to gin, and I guess I go more like 4:1 when it’s juice instead of tonic.

One problem some people have with gin & tonic is the tonic, more specifically the taste of the quinine. For the gin and the lime without the taste of quinine, try this recipe for a sharp citrus cooler perfect for Summer days:

Lime Rickey

3/4 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
Ice cubes
1 1/2 oz gin
Chilled club soda
Lime wedge

Dropped the squeezed lime half (which the juice was squeezed from) into a highball glass, and then fill the glass three-quarters full with ice cubes.

Add the gin and lime juice. Top with club soda. Stir, but not too much. Garnish with the lime wedge and serve with a stirring device, preferably a long thin spoon.

—from Good Spirits, AJ Rathbun

Fruit[y] Cocktails

Sips

I’m not a girl who likes her liquor straight. On the contrary, I prefer mine well-mixered and my favorite class of mixer is fruit juice. Frou-frou umbrellas are not necessary and the blender can usually stay in the cabinet, but a good juice-to-booze ratio makes a happy camper of this cocktail chick.

I went flipping through my mixology books and found a promising “Mocktail” (a non-alcoholic cocktail, from the book of the same name) that I thought had potential. Even better, I had plenty of fresh strawberries and honeydew melon on hand that the recipe called for.

The one criticism I have for the original recipe is that the quantities are not specific. In school my chefs quickly figured out that I was definitely a baker (as opposed to a line cook) since I preferred (and always asked for) exact quantities, times and temperatures–everything that’s necessary for proper baking chemistry but more subjective for cooking on a line. How much is a “slice” of honeydew? What, to you, is a “part”? Since one ingredient was pineapple juice and the cans I keep on the bar are 6 oz. I decided that a “part” for this trial would be 3 oz. to prevent waste. (I decided to try the recipe two ways.) Here’s my version of the original:

Fantasia

6 strawberries, hulled and washed (halves are okay if the strawberries are very large)
6 1-inch balls of honeydew melon (I’d just finished a party and had extra melon balls, adjust as necessary)
3 oz orange juice
3 oz pineapple juice
1 c ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. This makes 1 tall smoothie or 2 short ones to share.

—adapted from Mocktails, David Biggs

Now, this was okay. Todd commented that it was all sort of mushed up together–no one flavor dominated. And that’s okay, really, but it doesn’t make the drink stand out. Even with the amount of liquid in this, it’s still very frothy and a bit chewy. If you, as the original recipe suggest, blend everything but the ice and then pour the mixture over crushed ice it may make a difference. I combined them for convenience.

So we have Fantasia, non-alcoholic and, frankly, G-rated. I was in the mood, however, for something with a little more kick and a little more flavor. This is our preferred version of this cocktail, still low-alcohol so safe for Summer consumption without fear of a hangover, but no longer safe for the kiddies:

CHF* Pink Elephants on Parade

6 strawberries, hulled and washed (halves are okay if the berries are large)
6 melon balls (for more kick, soak them in a little Midori)
3 oz orange juice
3 oz pineapple juice
1.5 oz spiced rum
1 c ice

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Makes 1 tall cocktail or 2 shorter ones: make a friend.

The spiced rum in the Pink Elephant version (does anyone else remember that scene from Dumbo? my favorites were the plaid ones) smooths out the flavor, warms it up even for being a blended ice-drink and gives a pleasant aftertaste.

Safe Sipping!

*Cocktail Hour Favorite. There may be only so many ingredients in a drink but there’s many ways to mix them.

The Daiquiri

Sips

Why is the rum always gone?!?!

I did have that thought tonight as I realized I was almost out of white rum. But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself…

The little town I grew up in (Ponchatoula) may now be an antiques mecca but when I was small it was mostly known for it’s strawberries. And every April they would have (and still do) a Strawberry Festival that beats the pants off any of the community festivals they do around here. (No offense intended to my adopted home, but what do you expect from a place that’s an hour from New Orleans and in a state where it’s said they have a parade every time a pig’s born–they just know what they’re doing!)

Of course, the house drink at such a time (or anytime, for that matter) was a strawberry daiquiri, a smoothie-like concoction spiked with a good dose of rum. Granted, mine was the virgin variety, but this is what I think of when I hear daiquiri. Did you know that in Louisiana they have drive-through daiquiri parlours? It’s true! The leave the lid unpunctured so they can legally sell them to drivers, then you’re on the honor system til you get home (or to work, my cousin would routinely go on daiquiri runs for the doctor’s office she worked for).

So I was surprised to learn that the daiquiri did not start out as a spiked smoothie, but a shaken lime-rum concoction. Even though I learned this tidbit a couple years agon, I had never tried the original–until tonight.

Daiquiri

3 oz white rum
1 oz lime juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
crushed ice
lime wedge for garnish

Combine rum, lime juice and simple syrup in a shaker with ice, shake til a wee bit frothy and then strain into a glass 3/4 full of more crushed ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.

from Good Spirits, AJ Rathbun

Now, be prepared, folks, this is one TART drink. But after the bracing nature of the first sip, the rest goes down nice and easy.

Returning to the beginning of this post, I found out that I’d somehoe managed to nearly run out of white rum. How that happened I’ll never guess (especially since I’ve been drinking the spiced or coconut varieties of late), but I had just enough for the one drink. Wanting to make Todd one, as well, I figured I’d use the Appleton Special Jaimaican Rum from the cabinet (it’s a golden rum, for the record) for the second drink and he could have his pick.

Oh. Oh no. I’ve never had a truly BAD cocktail but this one was in contention. The golden rum just wasn’t the right spirit and it totally overpowered the lime juice. Just wrong, wrong, wrong. Stick to the white rum, folks, TRUST ME! Not wanting to waste the booze, though, I topped it off with 3 oz of pineapple juice and it actually was drinkable at that point. I don’t know what it was, but at least it didn’t make me shudder.

Have a good weekend, gang, and see you in 2 weeks when our blog features return to their normally sceduled content. Until then, safe sipping!