Cocktail Wednesdays: Bengal

The drink I selected this week was the Bengal cocktail. According to my source, it was from the 1937 U.K. Bartender's Guild manual. After making it, I found another source from 1897 with essentially the same recipe; however, one recipe I found was totally different, and other recipes used pineapple juice rather than pineapple syrup.

Bengal

2 oz Brandy
1 oz Pineapple syrup
1⁄2 oz Orange Liqueur
1⁄2 oz Maraschino Liqueur
6 ds Angostura bitters
1 Lemon peel (garnish)

Shake over ice, strain, and serve garnished with a lemon peel
(We had no lemons on hand, so no garnish)

The verdict: This is another one we like a lot. I felt that it was very Maraschino-forward, with the next most dominant taste being the bitters. I felt that I could barely taste the pineapple on the back of my tongue, but Scott didn't think he could taste it at all. On the other hand, he thought it tasted lemony. Some recipes called for less bitters, which makes me wonder if we could taste the pineapple better in that case. It was rater sweet, but not cloying, because the sweetness came from several different elements. Still, with the pineapple syrup, orange liqueur, and Maraschino all adding some degree of sweetness, it was too much.

I should mention that I made my own pineapple syrup. I used half of a pineapple to make pork and pineapple satay, and with the other half, I made a half-batch of the following:

Pineapple syrup

1 ripe pineapple, peeled and cut into chunks
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. water

To make pineapple syrup, cut up one whole, ripe pineapple into chunks and place into a large glass bowl. Add 1 cup of white sugar, stir to coat, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, make a 2:1 simple syrup with 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water and set aside. In a blender, add the pineapple and all the liquid that has formed in the bottom of the bowl. Pulse to combine and to break down the pineapple. Add the warm simple syrup to the blender, blend briefly to combine, and pour into a clean bottle through a strainer lined with cheesecloth, pressing on the solids to extract all the liquid. Preserve with a few ounces of vodka or white rum, and store in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1 liter of pineapple syrup

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Halloween Costume 2011 - Greecian Caryatid

The theme for our Halloween party this year was "B.C.", and I decided to go as a woman from ancient greece. I'm not entirely sure why, other than perhaps my affinity for architecture, but I particularly had in mind not a goddess, but a caryatid, like these on the Porch of the Erechtheion at the Acropolis in Athens.



I researched traditional greek clothing, and decided to wear a chiton, as pictured here:



I found information on Fashion-Era.com about how to correctly size, make and fasten a chiton.



Thanks to Take Back Halloween, I found out that a full size flat sheet would be about the size I needed, and I went looking for a sheet set in one of the colors that Fashion-Era.com mentioned as common in ancient greece. I picked green, and I decided to create the embellishment by sewing several ribbons near the edges. I used a greek key ribbon, and gold ribbons on either side. I tried to get something I could use later, so I ended up buying a queen set that would be able to go on our bed when I was done with it. I thought, "Another 8" or so isn't that much. I can just hide it in the fold at the waist." Actually, when it comes to clothing, the extra fabric was a lot. It was the difference between something that might have been easy to put on and something that took 1/2 hour of struggling and still didn't lay right. It's also one reason why I haven't taken another, better picture of my costume for this post. Maybe I'll do it after I wash it, though.

Anyway, I also made two brooches like this iron spectacle brooch from the Geometric period, c.8th - 7th Century BC, to pin it up with.



Last, I made a "golden" tiara sort of headpiece to replicate one of these styles seen on Fashion Era.



You can see in this (rather poor, sorry) photo that it was quite successful.



Here is how I made the tiara:

I started with thick white craft foam, and I cut an arc shape, fitting it to my head. Using a wood burner, I carved an egg-and-dart pattern into the foam, after experimenting with the scraps and drawing the pattern on in pencil first, using an oval template for consistency.



Once I had carved (or melted, I suppose) it to my satisfaction, next came the faux gold painting. I started with a base layer of black acrylic.



Next, I mixed a couple of browns for a mottled under-tone. Then, I dry-brushed the whole thing with gold modeling paint.



Finally, I picked out highlights with a little thicker application of the gold. I tied it with a little extra gold ribbon, and wrapped my hair up into a sort of bun or roll over the ribbon, as you see here:



Both the costure and the party were pretty successful, even though we didn't finish the basement in time and had to host the party at a friend' house.



(Scott went as the K-T Extinction Event -- otherwise known as the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs.)

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Cocktail Wednesdays: The Manhattan

Tonight, we chose to have Manhattans, since we had bought a bottle of rye whiskey, and were trying it for the first time. On Friday, before our annual Halloween party (well, it's only my second year being involved, but it's Scott's seventh), we went to the store and stocked up on alcohol for the party and were lucky enough to be able to get a couple of bottles just for Wednesday night as well. Since I hadn't really been thinking a lot about it and I didn't know if we'd even be getting rye, I didn't look up recommendations before we headed out. We just took the recommendation of the folks at Merchant's, which we trust since they are quite knowledgeable and have the best selection in the area. The Russell's Reserve Rye that we came home with turned out to be a good choice.

Russell's Reserve Rye is named after Jimmy Russell, master distiller at Wild Turkey, and is produced by the same company, the Austin, Nichols division of Pernod Ricard. It is a six-year-old small batch production. Trying the rye itself, it is definitely not sweet like a bourbon, which we have used in the past in Manhattans. It's spicy and smooth, with a bit of a bite and a hint of leather.

The Manhattan

2.5 oz Rye
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
1 Maraschino cherry

Add rye, vermouth and bitters to a mixing glass. Stir over ice and strain into a rocks glass. Add a few more cubes of ice to the glass and garnish with the cherry.

The verdict: The Manhattan is not a new drink to us, but we both think this is one of the best Manhattans we have ever had. We used the Maraschino cherries we made, and I can taste the hint of Maraschino in the cocktail. In our experience, including the bitters in a Manhattan makes a huge difference from what is often served at many bars. If you have never had a Manhattan, it's a wonderful drink for fall. The sweet vermouth adds a warmth and spiciness to the flavor, and I think that the sweet aspect is balanced nicely by the rye.

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Cocktail Wednesdays: El Presidente

This week's cocktail is El Presidente. This drink was a Cuban staple during Prohibition in America, when Cuba was a destination for forlorn drink lovers. Some sources say that it was offered by the president of Cuba to Calvin Coolidge in Havana, and he declined. It's more likely that it was named for a president of Cuba, probably Gerardo Machado, who ruled Cuba from 1925 to 1933.

El Presidente

1 1/2 oz Añejo rum
3/4 oz Dry vermouth
3/4 oz Orange liqueur
1/2 tsp Grenadine
Orange peel (as garnish)

Stir with cracked ice, strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with an orange peel.

Añejo (aged) rum is aged in oak casks. Though there aren't really any legal requirements for this type of rum, but it has generally spent at least a few years in a barrel. This rum has a more full bodied flavor. This was our first time trying it.

The verdict: Both Scott and I felt that this drink reminded us of something that we couldn't quite pin down. I agree with The Cocktail Chronicles that the Añejo rum lends a butteryness to the drink. Scott and I both felt that the orange liqueur was the primary flavor in the drink, and this is really my criticism of it. I am interested in trying a variation advocated by Rundood which contains only 1/4 oz orange liqueur, or perhaps Esquire's version, which uses 1/2 oz. I foresee that either of these would be more balanced. The Cocktail Database recipe uses smaller quantities of both orange liqueur and vermouth, but I already felt that the vermouth wasn't really present. On the other hand, I definitely tasted the grenadine, lending not only sweetness, but also the flavor of dark red fruit.

One of the reasons that I chose this drink was that it contains grenadine, so I was glad that I could taste the grenadine in it. I was also glad that the grenadine was a pleasant addition, not overwhelming, as in the Marvel Cocktail. The reason for this is that earlier this week, I made grenadine from scratch, and I wanted to try it out. In my pursuit of a better quality of cocktail, and given that I had used up all of the grenadine we already had, when I hit on a recipe over at 12 Bottle Bar, making up a batch seemed like a good idea.



Grenadine

2 cups Pure Pomegranate Juice (POM or other brand)
4 cups Sugar
1/4 tsp Orange Flower Water
1/4 tsp Rose Water

1. Heat the juice over a very low flame and mix in the sugar in batches until it is completely dissolved and the syrup is clear.
2. Remove 3/4 of syrup from the stove, and heat the remaining 1/4 over a medium flame until it is reduced by 1/4. When this is done, add the rest of the syrup back to the pot.
3. Add approximately 1/4 tsp each of orange flower water and rose water — just enough to accent the syrup without becoming prominent notes.

I actually reduced the syrup only by about 1/4 rather than the 1/2 called for by the original recipe because it was so thick it was probably at ribbon stage in candy making, so I stopped. Also, the orignial recipe called for 6 drops of each type of water, but because my bottles were open mouthed, so I estimated that 1/4 tsp was an approximate equivalent.

After making the grenadine, I really understood why it is used as a sweetening agent. It is basically a rich syrup made with juice instead of water. I chose to use R.W. Knudson juice from the natural foods section of my supermarket because it was the only one that was simply pomegranate juice without other additives (though, admittedly, I couldn't find POM there). I picked up the rose water and the orange blossom water at my local Arabic market. (I say my local market because it's really the only one I have been to. There are many in the area.) Each of these small bottles of intense flavor were less than $1.50. The grenadine turned out very well, much better flavor than Roses brand, and also much darker and much thicker. I put it in an empty Bushmills Irish Whiskey bottle, because I had it on hand. It was a fitting container, and the color is a beautiful deep red like the seed of a pomegranate when the light shines through it. I look forward to trying it in more drinks, and to trying the rose water and orange flower water, as well.

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Flooding: Update 8

Now that we've gotten back to working on the basement rater than Dragon*Con costumes, we've made a considerable amount of progress that I want to share with you.



Scott has framed out the new opening to the storage room. We are relocating the door, and the new space will have a pair of bifold doors that will allow us to get things in and out easily. In the hallway where the door used to be, we will be adding a wall and closing off part of the hallway as a linen closet.



Meanwhile, I have taped and mudded the new drywall.



I also primed the whole space, including the gyp board ceiling. Although the ceiling was already white, there were many cracks and nicks that I had to repair, so I just primed the whole thing. Additionally, I'm pretty sure it was never painted originally, and there was even overspray on the soffit above the fireplace from when they painted the brick.



Here, you can see the samples I brought home in the process of narrowing down the paint color selection. We chose the scheme on the left. It's a bit dark, but not terribly so, and I think that the ultimate result will be similar in feel to this inspiration photo:


Image on Frog Hill Designs, found via Pinterest.

Here's another inspiration photo showing a bit of the two-tone effect:

Image from amazing bespoke cabinetry company Plain English Designs.

At least for now, you can see a number of things I was thinking about color-wise on a Pinterest board I created for the purpose.



Today, I painted the first coat of the lighter color over almost all of the finished walls. You can see it starting to come together.

What I don't understand is how working for much longer and getting much more painting done was nowhere near as exhausting as yesterday's ceiling painting. Holding things over my head is just not my strong suit.

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Cocktail Wednesdays: The Buster Brown

Yesterday, spent the afternoon and early evening priming the ceiling in the basement (not to mention a few walls before that), and by the time Scott got home, I was ready to collapse. I didn't have the energy to cook the meal I had thawed ingredients for, and I hadn't picked a cocktail either. Scott sweetly took care of everything, but not a cocktail. Tonight, on the other hand, I felt up to trying something. I picked something with lemon, since Scott wasn't having a cocktail with me; he just had a glass of whiskey. This Cocktail Wednesday Thursday's drink of choice was the Buster Brown.

I can only assume that the Buster Brown is named after the cartoon character, but I can't confirm that, and there are also other candidates in a blues singer and a baseball player. It is a twist on the whiskey sour. The Buster Brown has 25-50% less lemon juice, and it adds the aspect of orange bitters.

The Buster Brown:

1 1/2 oz Bourbon
1/2 oz Lemon juice
1/2 oz Simple syrup
2 ds Orange bitters

Combine all ingredients and shake over ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the lemon twist.

The recipe I used came from a new favorite resource of mine, Kindred Cocktails. I found this website through a comment on my misguided first attempt at the Colony Cocktail. Not that we've tried a second attempt yet, but we do know what real maraschino is now! At any rate, the reason I find it useful is that you can not only search and filter recipes by ingredient or recipe name, but you can also create a "Cocktail Book" of recipes you like or want to try, and you can rate drinks. You can create categories within your cocktail book, and you can print a menu with recipes. Some other Buster Brown recipes I found while trying to find something on the history of the drink have less syrup or less lemon juice. The recipe on the Cocktail Database uses sugar rater than simple syrup, and the recipe on Vintage Recipes uses gum syrup. Personally, I'm a bit curious as to what the results would be it I substitute syrop de citron, ad if this is something I could try routinely for Scott to bring down the acid level in drinks with lemon. Then again, he might be able to handle the reduced quantity of lemon in this drink.

The verdict: Personally, I find this much nicer than a typical Whiskey Sour. The orange bitters add a surprising amount of orange flavor for such a small quantity, and it balances fairly equally with the lemon. The bitters add depth to the drink as well, in a way that orange juice would not. Perhaps it could use more whiskey and/or less simple syrup, but I did like it.

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Cocktail Wednesdays: The Sensation

This week's cocktail is a bit of the last gasp of summer, as it is a crisp, cool drink. The drink is called Sensation, and it's a cocktail that includes some ingredients from the Mojito and some from the Last Word.

Sensation

6 leaves Mint
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur
1 1/2 oz Gin
2/3 oz Lime juice

In a mixing glass, muddle the mint with a few ice cubes and the maraschino until the mint is broken to very small pieces. Add more ice and the gin and juice, shake until cold. Strain into sugar rimmed cocktail glass.

The verdict: We both enjoyed this drink a lot, though not quite as much as last time's Fancy Free or The Last Word. The Sensation is crisp from the mint, and the gin balances nicely with the marachino in these proportions, as opposed to the dominance of the marachino in other drinks we've tried. Scott found it to be too tart, but I did forget the sugar rim, so that may be the culprit. I may have to give it another try, just to see, or reduce to 1/4 oz of lime juice. I decided to serve it with a sprig of mint, but I really preferred the look of the simple cocktail with just the tiny floating mint pieces.

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Food History

We didn't have a cocktail this week, since Scott was feeling sick. Instead, I thought I would share with you what I was watching last night.



Appetite City is a fabulous TV series on New York City local TV. It's about the history of food in New York, and to a certain extent, America as a whole. I have been finding it rather fascinating. You can watch full episodes online.

I was turned on to this show by historical gastronomist, Sarah Lohman. I've been following her blog, Four Pounds Flour, for a while now. She researches historic food and tries old recipes, posting the results on her site. She both converts old recipes for the modern kitchen and demonstrates hearth cooking at a historic site. She also cooks during a segment of the Appetite City show. You can watch her try pickled oysters or the original baked Alaska. You can read about her adventures from cooking bear meat to trying recipes from the very beginning of the vegan movement.

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Flooding: Update 7

Our progress in the basement was delayed when we started working on costumes for Dragon*Con, such as what we did with the fiberglass.

In the main area of the basement, we have trimmed all of the drywall at approximately chair-rail height (33"). On Saturday, we finally got the chance to pick up drywall, thanks to Scott's dad. We cut each 8' sheet into thirds (32") and installed it below the remaining existing drywall. We will cover the gaps with chair-rail and baseboard molding. We decided to use greenboard, which is water and mold resistant (and paperless wasn't available in the retail store) just in case something happens again, if it isn't there long, we might be able to just scrub it down. Worst case, we remove the chair rail, rip it out, and replace it easily easily.



We installed one long wall of drywall on Saturday, which I have taped and mudded since.



Sunday, we took a break and went to Detroit Fanfare and got some crazy deals on comics. I then headed to the Detroit Zymology Guild to can tomatoes (and drink Bloody Marys made from the fresh tomato juice). After that I got to have dinner with Gerite, fabulous blogger of New Blog for Better Sewing fame, at Toasted Oak.

More work to do this weekend.

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Cocktail Wednesdays: Fancy Free

This week's cocktail was The Fancy Free. I found it thanks to tooling around on Kindred Cocktails looking for drinks that involve orange bitters. I found Kindred Cocktails thanks to a new comment on my Colony Cocktail post, from back when we didn't know the difference between Marachino cherries and real Marachino liqueur. We still have to retry the Colony Cocktail, but we've had to throw out the grapefruit juice we had, and I'm trying to use things we have first. The Fancy Free was a great candidate for a new drink we could make without buying anything.

Fancy Free

2 oz Bourbon
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur
1 ds Angostura bitters
1 ds Orange bitters

Stir with ice and strain into cocktail glass

The verdict: Both Scott and our guest who tried it liked it so much that they thought they would order it out at a bar. I call that success. The Marachino took center stage for me, but it still combined really nicely with the other elements.

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