I love Manhattan in the fall and I especially love this cocktail that pays tribute to Manhattan in the Fall. Flavors of ripe pear and amber spirits reminds the drinker of fall and New York in all it's glory this time of year.
Ingredients:
1 part Stirrings Pear Martini Mixer
1 1/2 parts Bulleit Bourbon 1/2 part sweet vermouth
Directions:
Shake vigorously in a cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass.
It's definitely the time of year for comfort food and although I don't consider myself the best cook in the world there is one thing I can cook - "Comfort Food!" Yum! I love this time of year just for the food.
What Iove about this recipe is that they vary the traditional cheddar/american cheese macaroni and cheese by using italian fontina cheese and the best is that they add a crisp topping by blending a day-old baguette to make homemade bread crumbs. It is both creamy and crunchy. Dee-lic-ious!!
Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
•3 tablespoons butter
•1⁄4 cup flour, all-purpose
•3 cups milk, skim
•1⁄3 pound cheese, italian fontina
•12 scrapings nutmeg, whole
•salt & pepper
•2⁄3 pound pasta, leftover cooked penne, tossed with a little olive oil
•3⁄4 cup bread crumbs, homemade fresh
•3 tablespoons cheese, Pecorino romano (Locatelli)
Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium pot melt the butter over low heat. Add the flour and cook over medium-low heat for four minutes. This butter-flour mixture is known as a roux.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in the microwave on full power for two minutes. Using a flat whisk, whisk the heated milk into the butter-flour mixture and increase the heat to medium, stirring often until it comes to a boil. This takes about ten minutes. While the sauce is coming to a boil, we shred the fontina cheese with our box grater, yielding about 1.5 cups.
When the sauce is boiling, lower the heat and boil for a few more minutes, stirring well. Add salt and pepper and the gratings of nutmeg. Remove it from the heat and stir in the fontina. When it is all melted, the sauce is added to the pasta and put into a 13 by 9 inch baking dish.
In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs with the Locatelli. This mixture is sprinkled on the pasta, more salt and pepper is added, and the dish is baked for about 20 minutes. You want the macaroni and cheese to be bubbling. If the top is not crispy enough put the baking dish under the broiler for a few minutes. When it is bubbling and browned remove the baking dish from the oven and let rest for a few minutes before cutting in and enjoying!
1. Eyeball Highball
14 medium radishes
7 pimiento-stuffed olives, halved crosswise
16 ounces gin or vodka
1 ounce vermouth
Directions
Trim stem and root ends of radish. Use a paring knife to scrape red skin from radish, leaving just enough to give a veiny appearance. With a small melon baller, cut a hole in radish, about 1/2 inch in diameter. Fit an olive half, cut-side facing out, into hole. Place radish in ice-cube tray. Repeat with remaining radishes. Fill tray with water; freeze.
Mix vodka or gin with vermouth; stir with ice. Divide eyeball ice cubes among four glasses. Strain martini; pour into glasses, and serve.
2. Black Widow
Cream de Cassis
Vodka
triple sec
fresh lemon juice
Pomegranate juice
licorice strings
From Talk of Tomatoes: “For two cocktails (or one cocktail shaker): 2 parts cassis, 3 parts vodka, 1 part triple sec, 1 part lemon juice, 1 part pomegranate. Sorry, even though I bought a little measuring glass for shots, I never seem to use it. I make cocktails with ratios. If I were over my skillet, each ‘part’ would translate to a ‘glugg’ of olive oil. Just think in fractions: for the Black Widow, your shaker is 8 parts. Go from there. Too much of this, too little of that: trust me, the spider really won’t care one way or another.”
Really, the key here is using the black liquorish strings as a garnish.
3. Jack-O-Lantern
Ingredients:
1 oz Hennessy VSOP Cognac
1.5 oz orange juice
.5 oz ginger ale
.5 oz Grand Marnier
orange wheel and lime twist for garnish
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Strain into a lowball glass over ice. Float an orange wheel topped with a lime twist on top.
4. Ghoul-Ade Punch Recipe
1 quart bottle sparkling apple cider
1 quart bottle cranberry juice cocktail
1 liter bottle ginger ale
2 cups pineapple juice
750ml of Vodka or Rum of choice
Ice cubes
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl or jar.
This one's for the pooch. I love my pets and every year we make just as big of a deal over their birthdays as we do for everyone else in the family. So, in honor of Puppy Dog's Birthday we are baking a cake. This is a particularly toothsome recipe, and it's all vegan, in case your pooch observes a vegetarian diet.
Ingredients:
For more recipes like this one for your bff be sure and pick-up a copy of Throw Me A Bone by Sally Sampson.
I just arrived in Hot-Lanta to visit my BFF and she made the best meatloaf ever; not only was it incredible but it was served in these perfect little mini meatloaves so after much arm twisting I convinced her to give me her recipe and she confessed that it came from the Deen Brothers (Paula Deen's sons) cookbook. So here it is. It really is the perfect fall party dish.
Servings: 4
Difficulty: Moderate
Cook Time: 30-60 min
Jamie's favorite meal in the world is his wife Brooke's meat loaf. Making meat loaf in muffin pans means everyone gets his or her own, which kids always love. Of course if you're a fan of meat loaf like Jamie is, it means you have to admit to eating two--or more--at a time.
We glaze the tops with a mixture of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard for extra flavor, but for kids, you can also serve ketchup alongside or as "frosting" on top after it comes out of the oven.
Recipe and introduction from The Deen Bros. Take it Easy; Ballantine Books 2009.
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup plain unseasoned bread crumbs
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons milk
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the cups of a 12-cup muffin pan.
In a large bowl, combine the beef, bread crumbs, eggs, milk, garlic, onion, salt, thyme, and pepper. Divide the meat mixture among the 12 muffin cups, pressing the meat firmly into the pan.
Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the meat is almost cooked through—the "loaves" will be firm when pressed lightly in the center, but not set.
While the meat loaves are baking, whisk together the ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. After baking for 20 to 25 minutes, remove the pan from the oven. Brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze, using it all up, and return the pan to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes more, or until the glaze has thickened and the meat is completely cooked through, 30 to 35 minutes total. Run an offset spatula or butter knife around the edges of the muffin cups and pop out the meat loaves. Serve hot.
Halloween is getting closer and last night I started writing out my Halloween checklist. I am definitely going to make a big batch of Stirrings Blood Orange Punch - it's spooktacular! You can also try a Stirring's Blood Orange Martini or a Blood Orange Bellini by combining the mixer with vodka and sparkling respectively.
Ingredients:
Steps:
Drinks writer David Wondrich once described the cocktail as "America's first culinary tradition." This well-served tradition originated in the eighteenth century, when freedom of assembly was practiced in the most homespun of places, the local tavern.
Back in Colonial times, most taverns served toddies—warm drinks flavored with sugar and spices. In 1767 artificial carbonation was achieved, marking the first point in which innovation influenced what was served in saloons. Soon fizzy water was served with whiskey, the beginnings of mixology.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century, early refrigeration emerged and bartenders began serving cold cocktails. The availability of ice proved to be a milestone in cocktail culture. Ice made for cold, mixed, slightly diluted drinks—the modern cocktail as we know it.
In fact, the word cocktail first entered print in 1803 in the pages of Farmer's Cabinet, an early American newspaper. Although the origins of the word cocktail are debated, its birthday is celebrated on May 13, the date when an editor at another newspaper, The Balance and Columbian Repository, defined it as "a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters."
The word cocktail was part of the American vernacular by the mid-1800s. Spirits, which were easier to transport and less perishable than beer, became the drink of choice for pioneers in frontier saloons. However, not all these saloons lived up to their cowboy lore. Booms in industry saw the emergence of extravagant hotels and bars throughout the country in the second half on the 1800s. Yet change was in the midst for these establishments.
Prohibition sent cocktail culture into the underground and it wasn't until after WWII that spirited drinks began to resurface. The postwar years saw the rising popularity of vodka, the most common spirit used by mixologists today.
These days, the Internet has had a far-reaching effect on cocktail culture. The availability, and easy sharing, of drink recipes allows bartenders in taverns throughout the world to share information globally.
This article comes from www.thebar.com. Check them out for some great cocktail recipes.
Yum, yum, yum!!! Ohmigod...Do these Devil's food marshmallow filled cupcakes look heavenly or what?!?! Diet, shmiet - thank goodness it's fall and I don't need to be in a bathing suit anytime soon. These delicious cupcakes are perfect for your Halloween party. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
Makes 16 cupcakes
Ingredients
3/4 cup (3/8 lb.) butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow cream
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (holy yum)
Preparation
1. In a bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
2. In another bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Stir in half the flour mixture into butter mixture. Stir in milk just until blended. Add remaining flour mixture and stir just until incorporated. Spoon batter equally into 16 muffin cups (1/3-cup capacity; cups should be almost full) lined with paper baking cups.
3. Bake in a 350º regular or convection oven until tops spring back when lightly pressed in the center or a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pans on racks for 5 minutes; remove cupcakes from pans and set on racks to cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
4. With a small, sharp knife, cut a cylinder about 3/4 inch wide and 1 inch deep from the center of the top of each cupcake. Trim off and discard about 1/2 inch from bottom of each cylinder. With a knife, hollow out a small cavity inside each cupcake.
5. Spoon marshmallow cream into pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Twist end of bag tightly to secure. Place tip in cavity of one cupcake; without moving tip, squeeze filling into cavity, to 1/4 inch from top. Repeat to fill remaining cupcakes. Insert cake cylinders into holes.
6. Spoon chocolate cream cheese frosting into another pastry bag, fitted with a 3/4-inch star tip, and pipe onto tops of cupcakes, or spread on cupcakes with knife.
How about a round of Harvest Moon Cocktails?!?!
To make these delicious and festive drinks:
Combine 1/4 cup apricot brandy with 1/2 cup each of sweet-and-sour prepared mix and seltzer water, and 4 teaspoons of pomegranate juice. Dampen the rims of 2 martini glasses with a lemon wedge and dip them into colored cocktail sugar. Place the first three ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker, mix vigorously, and pour into the prepared glasses. Pour 2 teaspoons of pomegranate juice into each glass; do not stir. Serves 2.
The Harvest is upon us!! Winemakers have already begun harvesting their grapes but no matter what the harvest forecast I think it's time to get in the spirit ourselves and throw a Wine Tasting Party in honor of this year's harvest. Here are some quick pointers on how to throw a kick-ass wine tasting party.
Since there are so many wines to choose from start by choosing a theme and by theme I mean type of wine. Choose a particular country or region like “California Pinot Noirs” or if you want to keep it simple you can just have a “White Wine” or “Red Wine” party. Have each of your guests bring one bottle of wine priced between $10 and $50. Put each bottle in a simple bag and number each bag. Figure on about one bottle per 10 people—this assuming you’re going to only pour about an ounce or so per wine. When I say “tasting party”, I’m thinking that everyone will have a small taste of each wine, contemplate it, and discuss it with each other. Next pass out the score cards to each guest. Have each guests score the wines and after you have tasted all the wines, collect the score cards and add up all the points and whichever wine has the most points is the winning wine of the evening. Give out a prize to the person who brought the winning wine.
A few extra thoughts. Serve UNSALTED crackers (I like Carr’s Water Crackers, as opposed to Saltines), an array of cheeses, and maybe a simple veggie plate. You don’t need to go crazy with the food. Keep the finger foods simple, not too spicy or salty, so that the main focus is on comparing the wines. At the same time, you’ll want to pick certain foods and try them with several different wines, to see what goes with what. After all, that’s the whole point of a wine tasting!
Get everyone to talk about what they’re smelling, tasting, and feeling. Be sure to ask questions like, "does this wine smell spicy or fruity”. Continue with questions like, “what food would you pair this with?” Before you know it (and definitely after a few wines), everyone will be discussing all kinds of things they smell and taste in the wine. Or, everyone will get hammered and start complaining about their spouses/significant other. Either way, it should be a fun time.
Keep water on hand for drinking and rinsing—both the glasses and the palate. Encourage people to drink water - keeping hydrated is important and also helps in preventing hangovers. Your guests will thank you in the morning.
Don't forget to keep the phone numbers of your local taxis on hand just in case some of your guests can't drive home. You definitely want to make sure everyone gets home safely.
