Last Crumb

I finally completed the straining, bottling, and (most importantly) tasting of my homemade bitters this weekend and am generally pleased with the results. I began the process of making bitters at home back on July, then followed up with recipes a few weeks later. Now for a little more about the process and results.

I made two version of an aromatic bitters — one that included the addition of cherry bark and vanilla beans, and the other which was more or less traditional. I have to admit, I wasn’t wowed by the appearance or flavors of either right off the bat. Both liquids remain a bit cloudy, though I tried a variety of straining methods, including passing them through a Britta Filter (a trick Will found online). And since the flavor of spices in both was more prominent than in commercial bitters, I first wondered if they would be effective in cocktails.

I tried them first alone alongside the other aromatic bitters we have on our bar – Angostura, Peychaud’s, and Fee Brothers. Compared to the commercial versions, mine had a lighter color and a milder taste. I cut down on the amounts of water both recipes suggested, but I think next time I might forgo the added water altogether. Mine were also both drier than the commercial brands. The Cherry Vanilla Bitters was the driest by far and also had the most pronounced bitterness.

Of the commercial brands I tried, mine most resembled Angostura. Peychaud’s has a syrupy smell and taste similar to Campari, while Fee Brothers, though we liked it, had a very pronounced taste of cinnamon. Alone, I preferred the flavor of my straight aromatic House Bitters, but mixed into a Manhattan, the Cherry Vanilla Bitters shone, adding complexity and bite to the cocktail and rendering the Makers Mark we used as a test bourbon a little closer to a rye. The Cherry Vanilla Bitters were my hands down favorite in our test Manhattan, while Angostura and my homemade House Bitters shared second place. For drinking straight with soda water, Fee Brothers or the House Bitters top my list, while think I would prefer the Cherry Vanilla Bitters with ginger ale. I plan to experiment a bit more with both, testing them in rye cocktails as well as with other alcohols and mixers.

More on the methods:

For the recipes I used visit this post. For background and where to order ingredients, go here.

House Bitters (from Robert Hess)

1) This recipe doesn’t specify the amounts of water and sugar. I used about 1 cup water in step 2 of the recipe and then added slightly less than called for in step 8. Instead, I suggest using about 1.5-2 cups water in step two and adding it slowly to taste in step 4.

2) Omit the additional water in step 8, or add a little at a time, tasting carefully.

3) I used about 1/4 cup sugar (step 5) but you may want to add up to about 1/2 cup. When I carmelized the sugar and stirred it into the cool liquid, I had one of those “what did I get myself into” moments common to these kinds of home projects. Rest assured, the sugar, which immediately solidifies in the liquid and onto the spoon, will eventually dissolve.

Cherry Vanilla Bitters (from Jeff Hollinger and Rob Schwartz)

1) Use 1-1.5 cups water in step 3 and add little by little to taste.

2) This recipe doesn’t include sugar, but if you want it to resemble the commercial varieties, you may want to add 1/4-1/2 cup sugar. Carmelize as in the House Bitters recipe and stir into the spice infused water before adding it to the alcohol.

A few tips:

• Invest in a funnel if you don’t have one – some of the liquid invariable gets lost in the various transfers and strainings, and a funnel cuts down on the spillage and makes straining easier.
• Taste carefully as you add the sugar and water, you may want less than the recipes call for.
• I used wire mesh and cheesecloth to strain, followed by passing the liquid several times through a Britta filter. The cheesecloth is good for removing the solids and squeezing out any remaining liquid, but doesn’t remove the smaller particles that make the liquid cloudy. It might be worth trying a coffee filter or cheese/butter muslin if you can find it.
• To strain, line a funnel with a coffee filter or muslin, and lay cheesecloth over it. Wrap solids in cheesecloth and squeeze out any remaining liquid.

(Note – I reduced both recipes significantly and the amounts above are for the smaller batches I made. If you make a full size batch, revise accordingly.)

Posted by: Rose on September 30th, 2007 © Filed under: Cocktails & Spirits | 1 Comment »

Many people may not realize it, but the word pesto literally means: to pound or to crush, in Italian. It seems obvious when you think of similar sounding words like mortar and PESTLE, but for some reason, until recently, I never made the connection.

Homemade pesto sauce was almost a weekly tradition for me and my sister growing up. Both my stepfather and my stepmother each had their own unique and delicious methods for preparing the sauce, but unfortunately both methods involved the use of a food processor. Neither of them realized how much better their sauce could have been had they made it the traditional way: with a mortar and pestle. I should give them the benefit of the doubt though, as they were both hard working people with more to think about than gourmet food preparation, and the ones largely responsible for developing my lust for good food. Perhaps they did realize it would have tasted better the old fashioned way, but gave in to the allure of modern convenience and efficiency in a world of conflicting priorities. I won’t judge them negatively for their choice, but I will insist that something was lost in their process(ing). I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is, but having tried both now, I’ve concluded that pestled pesto just tastes better. It’s sweeter, more aromatic, colorful, and flavorful.

Many of the finest distilleries in the United States made a comparable mistake while re-outfitting their whisky stills shortly after the repeal of Prohibition. With new capital, new technology, and the desire to make things bigger, better, and longer lasting, they started using stainless steel to build their stills instead of the traditional copper. A copper still typically has a life expectancy of only around ten years, depending on production levels, whereas a stainless steel still lasts indefinitely. A description of the result, is best made by Jim Murray, author of Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible. When asked what whisky would taste like without copper used in the distillation process.

“That’s an easy one,” he said. “As often as not, diabolical. The less copper you get, the less sweetness and honey tends to be around. Often you pick up a cabbage water aroma—at its worst, it takes me back to the old days when my mum used to boil hankies. Copper adds a sparkle to the nose; stainless steel stills offer something often flat and lifeless.”

It took years of research and large sums of money to discover why copper was so necessary in the distilling process. Turns out that one of the major reasons is that it acts as a catalyst, extracting sulfur and other nasties from the passing vapors. Much is still unknown about copper’s benefits, and perhaps will be left a mystery for many more years to come.

The moral of this whisky tangent, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, is that in most areas of life, it’s best to adhere to the time honored methods our ancestors developed over thousands of years. They work!

Here we go again… you’re probably thinking, another article by Will or Rose on how to spend an entire day in the kitchen making something that could be bought pre-made, or should only take a few minutes using modern technology. Let me assure you, that the following method only takes about 5 minutes more than the food processor method. I personally find the grinding process to be a labor of love, and I think my wife Mary can taste the difference.

Traditional Ligurian Pesto

Ingredients:

• Leaves from 2 bunches fresh basil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted, plus crushed pine nuts for garni sh
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese, grated, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

Method:

1. Combine basil, toasted pine nuts, garlic, and salt in your mort ar.
2. Grind with pestle in a pounding and/or rotating motion until a paste is formed, about 5 minutes.
3. Add cheese; grind until combined.
4. Briskly stir pesto with a wooden spoon while drizzling in the olive oil.
5. Drizzle pesto with more oil until desired consistency is reached.
6. Let rest while cooking your pasta.
7. Stir pesto into drained pasta while still hot.
8. Garnish with extra cheese and crushed pine nuts.
9. Try throwing a handful of chopped tomatoes on top (my mom ’s touch)
10. Enjoy!

    

Posted by: Will on September 27th, 2007 © Filed under: Condiments, Food for Thought, Main Dishes | 6 Comments »

A few days ago I made a trip over to my favorite (big kids) candy store- Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, which doesn’t just have one of the finest wine selections in California, but also one of the finest liquor selections. I don’t know whether it’s their self service tasting bar, their extensive underground caves (bring your jacket), or their amazing supply of hard to find spirits that gets my heart racing and empties my wallet every time I visit, but this time was no exception.

I was trying to locate some Peychaud’s bitters when I met Forrest, the store’s own liquor guru. We got to talking, and the conversation quickly settled on his homemade Pimento Dram endeavors. It was while he was describing the trials he went through to locate Jamaican allspice berries that I knew I had met my new go-to man for obscure and forgotten spirits. He informed me, with an excited look of approval seeking anticipation on his face, that something very rare and special had just come in, and that I might like to take a look. I took the bait, not wanting to disappoint him, and he ran off to fetch the bottle. When he returned, grinning ear to ear, holding a dark green bottle with the care you might see in a new father, he pronounced, “Batavia-Arrack”.

To tell you the truth, I’d never heard of Pimento Dram nor Batavia-Arrack until that day, but I’m always game for new things, and this guy impressed me with his passion and knowledge of all things booze. According to Forrest, for the first time in many many years, Batavia-Arrack, a rare and exotic spirit imported from the island of Java Indonesia via a blending plant in Amsterdam and a bottling plant in Austria, has been reintroduced to the U.S. market thanks to the fine folks over at Haus Alpenz. The product is painstakingly distilled, so it goes, from a mixture of sugar cane and fermented Java red rice using pot stills and ancient Chinese methods to produce a distinctive high proof spirit reminiscent of a spicy, smoky cachaca. “It’s an ingredient indispensable”, Forrest informed me, “to the adventurous mixologist trying to recreate such things as Swedish Punsch from scratch”.

Well, you may laugh, but I was sold on it. I forked over a hefty $31 bucks for the bottle (available online from Hi-Time Cellars here), and left the store with a strange bottle of hootch and a photocopied list of some drinks to be made with it.

I chose to make the Swedish Punsch recipe from the list because it’s the most common use of Batavia-Arrack, and it went something like this:

Swedish Punsch:

Produces enough for two small cocktail glasses

• 2 oz Batavia-Arrack
• 1/2 oz Rum
• 3/4 oz Fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz Simple syrup (2:1 sugar and water)*
• 3 oz Water
• Ground cardamom or nutmeg
• Lemon twist

Method:

1. Combine Batavia-Arrack, rum, lemon juice, simple syrup, water, and spices in a shaker.
2. Stir until well chilled.
3. Strain into a vintage (small) cocktail glass.
4. Add the twist of lemon.
5. Enjoy.

Notes:

1. Try preparing this recipe hot instead of chilled (pre-19th century style).
2. Try it over ice in a rocks glass.
3. Try using it in other cocktails.
4. Try replacing the spices and simple syrup with the spiced (not so simple) syrup recipe bellow:

Spiced (not so simple) Syrup:

• 2 cups Demerara sugar
• 1 cup water
• 6 whole cloves
• 8 cardomom pods broken open and lightly crushed
• 3 sections of a star anise broken open
• 1 small cinnamon stick broken up
• just a little grated nutmeg (less than 1/16th of a tsp.)
• a little ground ginger
• 1/16th tsp. ground cardamon
• 1/2 vanilla bean split open

Method:

1. Combine everything in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a low boil stirring constantly for two minutes.
3. Shut off heat, and cover for two hours.
4. Add an ounce of vodka to help preserve.
5. Strain through a sieve.
6. Store in a cool dark place for later use.

Posted by: Will on September 20th, 2007 © Filed under: Cocktails & Spirits | 7 Comments »

Having no special connections in the spirits industry, I’ve been waiting patiently to get my bottle of Lucid absinthe for several months. The first true absinthe to reach the U.S. market since the drink was banned nearly 100 years ago, Lucid has caused quite a stir in the spirits world. But so far it’s only distributed in New York and New Jersey. And according to the friendly folks at John Walker Co., who I went and pestered recently, it won’t be available for another month or more. They did let slip, however, that St. George Spirits is about to release an absinthe of their own – did I hear that right?! Reason to check back next month, but not good enough right now.

After a little sleuthing online, I discovered that Drink Up NY not only carried Lucid, but it was $5 off, and they offer free shipping on all orders of $50 or more. Done. My bottle was delivered to the office yesterday, and Andy and I cracked it open for a tasting last night.

I haven’t tried any of the absinthes available on the international market, but for what it’s worth, I was impressed by the crispness, balance, and complexity of Lucid’s flavors. Though it is not as thick or rich looking as some of the varieties I’ve seen pictured online, it has a pleasant, silky mouthfeel and an excellent aftertaste. Even as other quality absinthes arrive on the market, the accessibly and reasonable price of Lucid will probably make it my default absinthe for cocktails.

How to Drink Absinthe

Absinthe should be prepared very slowly. Though you can omit the sugar, and even the water, this is the most traditional method and brings out the flavors beautifully.

1. Pour 1-1.5 ounces absinthe into a glass. Rest an absinthe spoon – or a common kitchen fork :) – on the rim of the glass and place a sugar cube on top.

2. Very slowly, drip ice cold water over the sugar cube until it dissolves. You may need to continue adding water until you’ve reached a ratio somewhere between 3:1 and 5:1 of water to absinthe.

3. As the sugar dissolves and the water drips into the absinthe, observe the liquid as it begins to grow cloudy. Eventually the whole drink will be opaque.

4. Stir a few times with the spoon and enjoy.

Notes: For a charming demonstration on preparing absinthe, take a look at this video clip. For more on the legality of absinthe, here’s a good article from the Washington Post.

Posted by: Rose on September 18th, 2007 © Filed under: Cocktails & Spirits | 8 Comments »

I have a beautiful, unexpected day off today, and am spending it in the kitchen, drying, preserving, mixing dough, thinking. Invariably it happens – someone close or far, a friend, a relative, a colleague, visits this blog and asks the same question. Why make bitters, or butter, or vermouth, or ketchup from scratch? Usually, the answer seems so clear to me, I needn’t even consider before answering. But last night I wondered aloud if it wasn’t just a little petty maybe, or a little silly, a grown up way, maybe, to play with my food.

No, Andy (my beloved, my better, more humane and just self) said, it’s a search for authenticity, for the authentic experience. Indeed. We are so far divorced from the way our food is made or grown, we often have trouble recognizing the real thing.

What, for instance, would real grenadine taste like? We have the “false” version on our bar (ingredients: high fructose corn syrup, water, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate, red 40, blue 1.), but I’ve been thinking of making some from scratch, out of real pomegranates. How about mayonnaise, granola?

I’m reading And Then, You Act, a collection of essays about making art, and more specifically, theater, in an unpredictable world. In her introduction, Anne Bogart suggest that as Americans in the 21st century we are the objects of “constant flattery and manufactured desire.” “I believe,” she says, “that the only possible resistance to a culture of banality is quality.” I believe that to be true of art, but I feel the same way about food. In many ways, quality and authenticity are synonymous. Eat, Michael Pollan suggests, food that your great, great grandmother would recognize as food. So today I peeled and sliced pears, cut apples into rounds.

Dried fruit is so easy, it hardly deserves a recipe. If you don’t have a food dehydrator, you can dry fruit successfully in the oven, but it will take a bit longer.

Dried Pears or Apples

• 4-5 lbs ripe apples or pears, peeled if desired
• 1-2 cups lemon juice (optional) or
• 1 cup honey (optional)

1. Cut fruit into uniform slices or rounds, about 1/8 – 1/4 inch.

2. If desired, treat with lemon juice (to help preservation), or honey (to sweeten). Place fruit on drying rack or cookie sheet with room enough between slices to allow for air circulation.

• To treat with lemon juice, mix 1 part lemon juice to 1 part water in a large bowl and place fruit into it. Allow to soak 10 minutes, drain well and place on drying rack or cookie sheet.
• To treat with honey, mix 1 cup honey with 1 1/2 cups warm water and stir to dissolve. Add fruit and soak 3-5 minutes. Drain well and place on drying rack or cookie sheet.

3. Set dehydrator to 135 degrees or oven to the lowest possible setting (or 140 degrees) and set racks inside. If using an oven, leave the door open slightly and, if possible, point a fan in to increase air circulation.

4. Dry for 6-12 hours depending on temperature and humidity, checking frequently when fruit is close to being ready. To test for doneness, cut several piece in half. There should be no visible moisture and fruit should not stick to itself when pressed together. The dried fruit should have about 20% moisture content.

5. Allow to cool and pack tightly into clean, dry, well sealed containers. Store in a cool dry place. Fruit will keep for up to one year.

~
Apple-Pear Sauce

Making apple or apple-pear sauce is just as easy as drying fruit. The sweetness of ripe pears works perfectly with tart, ripe apples. I used a variety of both – McIntosh, Granny Smith, and Cox’s Orange Pippin apples, and Bosc and Comice pears.

• About 20 medium apples, or a combination of apples and pears, cored, quartered, and peeled if desired
• 2-3 cups water
• 1 tbs honey
• 1 tsp almond extract

1. Place fruit in a large, heavy pot with about an inch of water and simmer, stirring regularly, until soft. Crush any remaining chunks against the side of the pot.

2. Stir in the honey and almond extract. The sauce will probably be sweet enough without the honey, but I like to add it for the flavor. Orange and vanilla extracts are also excellent, as is cinnamon.

3. Pour into sterile jars and process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner. Or transfer to a glass container and store 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.

Yields about 5 pints.

Posted by: Rose on September 13th, 2007 © Filed under: Food for Thought, Preserves | 2 Comments »