Bourbon Sunrise

Nice way to start (or end?) your day...courtesy of the Evan Williams Cooking with Bourbon cookbook.

Bourbon Sunrise

(makes 1 cocktail)

2 oz. Bourbon
4 oz. Orange Juice
1/2 oz. Grenadine

Mix bourbon and oj in shaker and strain into old fashioned glass over ice. Float Grenadine over bar spoon on top of drink. Enjoy!

Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream

Ok so all my peeps know I got an ice cream maker for my birthday and I've been pretty much churn-crazy  for four months now.* Kahlua, mint choc chip, peppermint candy...salted caramel (oh. em. gee.) the list goes on! My latest experiment was bourbon vanilla: 

5 egg yolks
1/2 C. sugar
1 3/4 C. heavy whipping cream
1 C. milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1 vanilla bean
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. bourbon

Start out by whisking 1/4 C. of the sugar with the 5 egg yolks in a medium bowl. Set aside. Next make the base in a heavy non-reactive saucepan with the cream, milk, salt, 1/4 C. of the sugar, and the vanilla bean (split open with seeds scraped into the mixture). Heat over medium-high heat until just about to come to a rolling simmer. Take 1/2 C. of the hot cream mixture and sloooowly add it to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Repeat with another 1/2 C. of hot cream mixture. Once blended, gently add the egg mixture back into the saucepan, stirring constantly. Continue to cook over medium heat until the back of a spatula stays clear when you run your finger through the coating. Remove from heat. Strain through fine-mesh strainer into clean bowl. Put bowl in ice bath until cool to the touch; chill in refrigerator (covered) for 2 hrs or overnight. Right before putting mixture into ice cream maker, remove vanilla bean, and fold in vanilla extract. Churn according to machine directions, about 20-30 min. Just before the end of churning, add bourbon. Freeze & enjoy!

</om nom nom nom>

You of course don't have to use the bean if you're trying to save some dinero, but it really does make a difference in flavor. It should come as no surprise that I actually have some homemade bourbon caramel sauce to go on top. Too much? Eh. "it cooks out." So. Much. Yum.  Overwhelming!

*never bought this much heavy cream in my life. A little gross, now that i think about it....

Fire Block Grenache 2006

Tonight's bottle is Fire Block Grenache 2006 vintage from Clare Valley, Australia. It runs about $16.99 at Total Wine stores and boasts a well-earned 90 pts. from a 2010 International Wine Cellar review. Deliciously fruity, bright, and very polished, I found it highly enjoyable. Not terribly rich in tannins, it's not acerbic or overly intense, making it medium-bodied and quite versatile. Pastas, steak, hearty salads, it seems like a decent compliment for several different food pairings I would think. The berry flavors are remarkable and leave a refreshing finish. Would make a nice addition to a lively dinner party...or your solo box office adventure with your feet up, Cleopatra on Netflix, some goat cheese and Rykrisp. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Soda for Grown-ups

Image Source: DRY Soda

Dammit so on my list of things to blog about was DRY Soda...but uh...Saveur magazine kind of beat me to the punch. I tried the vanilla bean variety and really enjoyed just the hint of flavor, and somehow (yay!) it manages to not taste like club soda that someone put a couple of drops of extract in. There seems to be a delicate balance of flavor to soda ratio, as it doesn't taste overdone or too artificial either, which is impressive. Didn't know there was a juniper berry flavor! SOOO going to seek that out (and naturally put some of the other kind of juniper juice in it). $4.99 for a 4pk. in some of the local grocery stores. Pretty sure I've seen them at Whole Foods and Wegman's...

Happy Cup Coffee

     On the most recent expedition to Portland, OR, I was standing in line to get coffee at Stumptown and overheard the following: "Well, I guess it's over...they're in New York now you know. Was cool though." No I did not know this. Did I? Well yes I guess so. I did see that NYT article. And they are proudly served at some of the funky restaurants around town. (Gawd forbid you serve some generic house blend for breakfast! Egads.) My mind came to the very rude awakening of what all creativity junkies (because I'm pretty sure I'm not a full-fledged hipster yet) fear most: THEY ARE MAINSTREAM NOW. *Gasp* 

     Naturally this means we are to expect the inevitable mass marketing, price fluctuation (that experimental phase where the gouging stops to allow for mass retail but will still be high enough to make you feel like you're not buying Eight O'Clock Coffee or some shit), and the eventual fading in the distance of the indie roaster that never wanted to be the Omnipotent Evil Corporate Giant but still reveled in the celebrity status of it's founder Duane Sorenson. Yup. Over. Dammit. It was so good, too! But I digress...

...My point is that there seem to be several up-and-comer types on the PDX coffee scene...as evidenced on the shelves of the New Seasons grocery store, waiting to be the next Stumptown. One would appear to be Happy Cup Coffee, promoting a cause as well as a fine-roasted cup. Providing living wages for disabled persons, the company claims to empower "people with potential" in the local community, one mug at a time. This is in addition to their partnership with Kabum Inc., a fair-trade coffee wholesaler, that rather bluntly admits to being 

"born entirely of altruistic, humanitarian interests with one goal in mind: to make as much money as possible for the people of Uganda by allowing them to bypass typical middlemen and sell their coffee direct to buyers on the world market."

Ok ok. Got it. So for $8.95 I get altruism for two causes, one local, one international, when buying a non-pound (don't get me started) of whole bean coffee. Do I need this? Not sure. Of course it's good to get self actualization through ethical consumer choices, but that's not why I would buy it again. Not to be insensitive here, but frankly Happy Cup tastes good. The Sip-A-Ragua blend was light, refreshing, and leaves a slightly sweet floral aftertaste. I wanted more right away. In the end, isn't that what matters? Would people buy that (let me just pick on them) Eight O'Clock Coffee crap in vast quantities if they knew that it was making inroads against the spread of AIDS in Africa? Doubtful. It's still crap. 

At the risk of having veered too far into the commentary realm, let me be clear, Portland is a coffee roaster's Mecca. The options for a fine brew are plentiful, both the DIY kind and the indie coffeehouse kind. You can't really make a bad choice. It's great! It's market capitalism at its finest, and nobody loves supporting the little guys (local and non) like PDX does. It's one of the few solid tactics that makes me - and hipsters all over -  happy cup people every time. :)

Grandma Jo's Athol Brose

Today's entry comes from a dear guest-blogger friend...as pasted from her email (thanks Lisa!!!):

Have to share a recipe we tried that Mom found in a stack of Grandma's recipes...OMG so delicious we wanted to lick our cups!!!

So here's Grandma Jo's Athol Brose (will knock you on your ass but it tastes like honey butter)
a.k.a. the Scottish X-mas Drink

1 C. of honey (Says heather honey, I used Trader Joe's. Whatever.)
Put on stove in pan and heat until runny but not boiling - hot to touch
Add 2 C. whipping cream slowly and stir
Heat to just before boiling. Take off stove and add 2 C. Scotch whiskey (but I cheated and used bourbon - I think the honey/milky taste is the queen so I'd use any bourbon, scotch, whiskey, but wouldn't spend extra for top shelf)
Stir. Serve immediately.

[end pasted text]

Admission: I waited to post this until after I had a chance to try it. OMG is right! Make it. Be warm. Be happy. Bless the Scottish People.

10 Crazy Things People Use To Make Booze

From @MacCocktail via Twitter...

Ok okay so some surprises on this list of 10 Crazy Things People Use To Make Booze...some notsomuch (potatoes? really? is anyone surprised by this??? Since vodka is the most common spirit/liquor out there...ummm...whatever.). Piqued my interest anyway so I had to read it.

For the lazy clickers here's the short version:

1. Carrots (what?)
2. Maple Sap (ok.)
3. Sour Apples (yum. cider.)
4. Moldy Fruit & Ketchup (GAK - w.t.f.)
5. Milk (really?)
6. Cactus (duh)
7. Potatoes (duhhhhhhh)
8. Rice (meh)
9. Beets (meh)
10. Honey (+ bourbon = yum)

Trademark Drink & Eat

Logo courtesy of Trademark Drink & Eat

New Year's Day was quite a happy encounter at Trademark Drink and Eat in Alexandria, VA. Parking wasn't too hard near the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, inspiration for the gastro pub's namesake, located in the lobby of the Westin Hotel. A glass of champagne was waiting for me (!!!) and I completely fell for the inviting decor and atmosphere of the place. Far from pub-feel, and yet not so swank as to feel exclusive or club-ish; very accessible. Likely packed on the weekends, we happened to be one of four parties in the entire establishment that night, so the staff was extra attentive. Not sure how that might change on busier nights if at all. Can't really speak to the entree menu as I didn't go beyond the (great) cheese plate and chopped salad, but it showed safe options with local fresh ingredients and staples like seafood and mac & cheese. Did I mention the bacon candy? Yeeeah...#awesome.

DC foodie nerds will love that the drinks are mixed by Chris Bassett, who worked for/with Todd Thrasher of PX and Restaurant Eve fame...pretty much ensuring that whatever you get off the cocktail menu is not going to be too syrupy or synthetic. I was feeling Bond-girl-esque and tried the vesper and must say it was as classy, simple, and stiff as I had hoped for. Looking forward to trying out the Trademark Old Fashioned...just what you expect except with a twist: Bittermen's grapefruit bitters, brown sugar, and grapefruit peel. Sadly though, this gem was not discovered on the menu in time before designated driving became a necessary evil. Next time! 

(Note to self:   do more thorough menu scrubbing BEFORE ordering.)

O.N.E. Coconut Water

Nostalgia:  my first international trip (not counting Canada) was Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There were emperor palm trees, lush green mountains protecting the city, and looooong stretches of seaside Portuguese stone walkways  peppered with people out and about, doing beach-y things. A couple of trained monkeys picked pockets on the street! It was so tropical, exotic, and lovely all-around. Among the many fine dining experiences during that trip, I most remember a little shack on the beach in Florianopolis with a shriveled old man taking a machete to fresh green coconuts and serving them raw with a straw poked in the top to drink the water fresh (not the milk!). It was sour, unexpectedly mineral-tasting and full of chunky fiber bits from the coconut seed, but strangely refreshing. My hosts insisted it was the best cure for a hangover, too, which I duly noted for later application.

As it turns out there are quite a few health benefits to coconut water, and on a whim I picked up some O.N.E. Coconut Water (reg. $1.29 / 8.5 fl.oz. carton, sometimes on sale for $1 each) recently. Instantly reminded of the coconut shack on the beach in Rio, I couldn't help but make the same sour face I did the first time I tried it. The second sip was better, and I resolved to research it a little more. Out of the many varieties on the market, I could only find about three of them in the local stores...but better than nothing. The drink seemed a bit stronger than caffeine in keeping me alert (although this may be due to a strong coffee addiction dulling the effects of caffeine for me), and it works great as a sports recovery drink.

So as you're working on that  New Year's resolution to get back into the gym, consider stopping to pick some up to feed the machine!