Recipes

Booze and Vinyl

Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun, Music, Recipes / By

Remember back in the day when a new album would come out and we’d gather at a friends house to listen to the whole thing?  Both sides.

Booze and Vinyl:  A Spirited Guide To Great Music & Mixed Drinks is a beautiful book by Andre Darlington & Tanaya Darlington that helps us recapture the magic of music and friends paired with mixed drinks.  They’ve selected some excellent LP’s in rock, chill, dance, and seduce categories and suggested a couple of appropriate drink recipes with each.  

For example, Queen – A Night At The Opera is pared with a Coronation Cocktail for Side A and a Bohemian Cocktail for Side B.  The book advises that “Before You Drop The Needle”, invite guest to wear their most heinous sweaters and bring casseroles.  And be sure to queue up the video of Queen at Live Aid 1985, one of the greatest live performances of all time.

Coronation Cocktail

  • 1 1/2 oz amontillado sherry
  • 1 1/2 oz dry vermouth
  • 1/4 oz Maraschino liqueur
  • 2 dashes orange bitters
  • Lemon twist for garnish

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  

Bohemian Cocktail

  • 1 1/2 oz London dry gin
  • 1 oz St-Germain liqueur
  • 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
  • 1 oz fresh pink grapefruit juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Then toast to Freddie Mercury!

– Jet Cannon

June Bug

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What a great name for a drink! Mix whatever drink you want and just call it a June Bug. Most folks won’t know the difference.

If you want a real green June Bug recipe, mixthatdrink.com offers this:

Recipe

  • 1 ounce Midori
  • 3/4 ounce Malibu coconut rum
  • 3/4 ounce banana liqueur
  • 1 ounce sour mix
  • 1 ounce pineapple juice

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in all the ingredients, and shake until chilled. Strain the mixture into a collins glass over ice.

Point us to the pool!

  • Jet Cannon

The English garden

Food and Drink, Recipes / By

We occasionally can imagine ourselves as Lord Grantham at Downton Abbey.  Especially the servants bringing us cocktails.  No so much all the hassles and drama.  So we’re looking forward to the new Downton Abbey movie coming out.  

Anyway, Parade magazine just featured some summer cocktails including The English Garden.  That recipe is by Fiona, Countess of Carnarvan, who oversees Highclere Castle with her husband The Earl of Carnarvon.  She writes books about gardening and cooking and running 300 room castles.  But this recipe is from the BBC!  (BBCgoodfood.com)

  • 5 mint leaves, bruised
  • 30ml gin
  • 2 tsp elderflower cordial (use more or less, depending on how sweet you like it)
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • large handful of ice
  • cloudy apple juice, for topping up
  • 1 long strip of cucumber, peeled using a vegetable peeler
  • STEP 1 Mix the mint leaves, gin, elderflower cordial and lemon juice together in the bottom of a tall glass using a long-handled spoon.
  • STEP 2 Add a large handful of ice, then top up with the apple juice. Stir well, then drop in the strip of cucumber before serving.

Step 3.  Get out the lawn chair and signal to the servants!

Cheers!

– Jet Cannon

Bees Knees

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We recently sampled a Queen Next Door cocktail at South City Kitchen in Atlanta. The gin, honey and lemon drink is essentially better known as a Bees Knees. The experience was also a good reminder that adding a little egg white to the shaker delivers a nice frothy foam on top to jazz up your presentation. Make honey simple syrup by adding water to the honey and stirring that up before adding to the shaker. Shake all ingredients warm before adding ice. Save some lemon slice for garnish. That’s a tip kids. Write it down.

  • 2 oz gin
  • 1 oz lemon juice
  • 1 oz honey simple syrup

Adjust to your preferences. Cheers!

  • Jet Cannon

Sunshine When You Need It most

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Winter for many of us is dark and cold and wet. Which wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t so windy.

So how about a little sunshine to brighten a wintery day? Two words. Mango Mojito!

While transporting you to the tropics, it’s also a superfood packed with fiber, vitamins and antioxidants. Need we say more?!

There are numerous recipes online with tips on how to make your own mango puree. This recipe will get you started but remember there is always room for creativity and personal preference.

Mango Mojito

  • 6 oz white rum
  • 12 fresh lime wedges
  • 3 oz club soda
  • 1 1/2 oz triple sec
  • 4 oz mango puree
  • fresh mint leaves

Set aside 4 limes and squeeze the juice out of the rest into a pitcher. Add the mint leaves and muddle a bit. Add ice and remaining ingredients. Serve in tall or pint glass and garnish with lime wedges. Apply sunscreen to body to complete the tropical effect.

  • Jet Cannon

Photo: Islandoasis.com

Holiday Manhattan In Manhattan

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Or wherever you are, it’s that time of year. Costco shared a recipe for a Holiday Manhattan to promote their Kirkland Tennessee Whiskey. While we don’t doubt their hooch is pretty good we’re using good ol’ Jack Daniel’s No. 7  Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey.

  • 5 dashes of bitters [for a festive flair, try using chocolate or cocoa bitters (neither of which we have)]

  • 1/2 oz cranberry juice

  • 1/2 oz cherry syrup (we like the syrup from a jar of Luxardo Marischino Cherries)

  • s2 oz Tennessee Whiskey

  • 1/2 oz sweet vermouth

They say stir with ice and strain. We prefer to shake in shaker with ice and pour into a chilled martini glass. Your choice.

Happy Holidays!

  • Jet Cannon

alcohol, whiskey, jack daniels-2250175.jpg

“Tots” Rock

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Our good friend Captain Tony never sets out to sea (inland waters) aboard his “ship” (Boston Whaler) without a supply of Pusser’s Navy Rum.  Why?  It (was) a time-honored sailors’ tradition.  Per Pusser’s web site, “Rum became an important drink for the British Royal Navy. From the 16th Century until July 31st, 1970, British sailors were given daily rations of a mixed rum called Navy Rum. These became referred to as “tots.”

Daily life aboard these ships was brutal. Not only did they have to deal with the stress of operating a ship in the middle of the ocean, where one mistake could mean death, but they also fought enemy ships “eyeball-to-eyeball.”

These sailors used to have multiple “daily tots” each day to help keep up morale. The practice was eventually halted in the 1970s when modern officers grew concerned with drunkenness and on-deck fighting. 

Here’s some good news: fans of history and rum can still order Pusser’s Original Navy Rum. It follows the same historical recipe used for hundreds of years.” 

Yo ho ho.

Pusser’s Painkiller Ingredients

  • 2-ounces (60 ml) Pusser’s Rum
  • 4-ounces (120 ml) pineapple juice
  • 1-ounce (30 ml) orange juice
  • 1-ounce (30 ml) cream of coconut
  • Freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

  • Add liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously.
  • Pour into a big glass or goblet filled with ice. Grate fresh nutmeg on top.
  • Garnish with an orange slice and cherry.
  • Be careful–this is a smooth and sneaky drink. Enjoy!

– Jet Cannon

Run Silent, run Deep

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For classic movie night, we pulled up Run Silent, Run Deep with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster.  What to serve with the movie was partially answered when Mrs. Gable offered the two men “gin” on a silver platter in the front yard in the middle of the day.  A bit of that is in the trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKM7CzLytxc

To tart up that straight gin we looked for a Submarine cocktail online.  Sure enough.  A gin based cocktail.

Submarine

Ingredients

Add ice and ingredients to a shaker and serve in a cocktail glass.

But what is Dubonnet?  “For over 170 years, Dubonnet Rouge Grand Aperitif de France has been celebrated around the world as an authority on the aperitif tradition. Crafted from a proprietary blend of red wine, herbs and spices.”  There was no Dubonnet on the shelf so we used just a splash Compari which is Italian but similar.

After the movie, we queued up Iron Maiden’s Run Silent Run Deep with its dark but somewhat realistic chorus.  Submarine warfare in WWII was not a particularly happy place.

Runing silent, runing deep, we are your final prayer

Warriors in secret sleep, a merchantman’s nightmare

A silent death lies awaiting, for all of you below

Running silent, running deep, sink into your silent sleep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruo14UvQiOg

Check out the movie and/or the cocktail and don’t be surprised if “dive, dive, dive” gets stuck in your head.

– Jet Cannon

Gentleman’s Manhattan

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Having a fondness for Nashville and therefore nearby Lynchburg, Gentleman Jack, introduced in 1988, is always on our radar and on our shelf.  Tennessee whiskey is mellowed by using charcoal filters.  Gentleman Jack is “double mellowed”.  

“Gentleman Jack undergoes a second charcoal mellowing to achieve exceptional smoothness. Its balanced flavor is perfect for celebrating life’s extraordinary occasions, plus all the moments along the way. “

We like the sound of a Gentleman’s Manhattan.  We’re looking forward to ordering one at a reputable watering hole and hoping no one asks where the gentleman is.  

To make one at home, Jack’s website calls out adding a couple dashes of bitters to 1/2 ounce of dry vermouth, a 1/2 ounce of sweet vermouth, and to 1 1/2 ounces of Gentleman Jack.  Dry and sweet vermouth. Interesting, and it works.

But don’t forget the “dark cherries”.  So another shout-out here to John Selby for turning us on to Luxardo Cherries via his “World’s Best Old Fashioned” recipe.  These cherries and their juice taste like you want your cough syrup to taste like but it never does.  Cough syrup starts out good but then goes off the tracks.  The cherries, on the other hand, are delicious!  An episode of the munchies and the whole jar could quickly disappear.  We’re still waiting for that case of complimentary cherries to arrive by FedEx but since they haven’t… take our un-influenced word for it.  Luxardo takes a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned up to 11. Gentlemen, start your Manhattans!

– Jet Cannon 

Caffeine, Food and Drink, Recipes, Travel / By

Roving Correspondent Mazerati Mike recently stopped by the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco for their famous Irish coffee.  Here is their story.

“The historic venture started on the night of November the 10th in 1952. Jack Koeppler, then-owner of the Buena Vista, challenged international travel writer Stanton Delaplane to help re-create a highly touted “Irish Coffee” served at Shannon Airport in Ireland. Intrigued, Stan Accepted Jack’s invitation, and the pair began to experiment immediately.

Throughout the night the two of them stirred and sipped judiciously and eventually acknowledged two recurring problems. The taste was “not quite right,” and the cream would not float. Stan’s hopes sank like the cream, but Jack was undaunted. The restaurateur pursued the elusive elixir with religious fervor, even making a pilgrimage overseas to Shannon Airport.

Upon Jack’s return, the experimentation continued. Finally, the perfect-tasting Irish whiskey was selected. Then the problem of the bottom-bent cream was taken to San Francisco’s mayor, a prominent dairy owner. It was discovered that when the cream was aged for 48 hours and frothed to a precise consistency, it would float as delicately as a swan on the surface of Jack’s and Stan’s special nectar.

Success was theirs! With the recipe now mastered, a sparkling clear, six-ounce, heat-treated goblet was chosen as a suitable chalice.

Soon the fame of the Buena Vista’s Irish Coffee spread throughout the land. Today, it’s still the same delicious mixture, and it’s still the same clamorous, cosmopolitan Buena Vista. Both…delightful experiences.”

Website onbetterliving.com notes that since 1952, The Buena Vista has sold millions of glasses of their delicious original Irish Coffees over the years. On a busy day, they can sell over 2000 glasses and they report that they sell more Irish whiskey than anywhere else in the world.

Not making a trip to San Fran but want to up your Irish Coffee game?

  • Warm a 6-oz. heatproof glass with hot water then pour it out
  • Fill  a glass three-quarters full (about ⅔ cup) with coffee.  Buena Vista uses Peerless available on Amazon. Add two sugar cubes; stir until they dissolve
  • Stir in an 1 1/2 oz (or maybe two) of Tullamore D.E.W whiskey; top with whipped heavy cream by gently pouring over a spoon

For more, see their website http://www.thebuenavista.com/home/irishcoffee.html

– Jet Cannon for Maserati Mike

2020 Tokyo Olympics Silver Medal Sake Martini

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Olympic Silver Medals are totally underrated.  Second-best in the world at anything is pretty darn great.  Here’s a second best cocktail that celebrates the Tokyo Olympics.

  • 3 oz vodka
  • 1 oz sake

We’re replacing dry Vermouth with sake so make it to your own clean/dirty preferences.  Mix in an ice-filled shaker, pour into a martini glass and garnish with a peeled cucumber slice.

For what is worth from an Olympic athlete health standpoint, sake is high in amino acids, naturally gluten-free, and consists of simple ingredients.  Except that we’ve offset any benefit with the vodka.  Details. 

Cheers!

–  Jet Cannon  

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Ernest Hemingway Daiquiri

 

National Daiquiri Day was July 19.  July 21 is Legal Drinking Age Day and also Ernest Hemingway’s birthday.  Per a brief history of the Hemingway Daiquiri in Wine Enthusiast magazine, the recipe below was probably an attempt to make a cocktail a little friendlier than what was likely Hemingway’s actual favorite.  That would have consisted of 4 ounces of rum and a splash of lime juice.  So instead we have the following:

Hemingway Daiquiri Ingredients

  • 2 ounces white rum
  • ¾ ounce lime juice
  • ½ ounce Maraschino liqueur
  • ½ ounce ruby red grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed, if possible)
  • Lime wedge (for garnish)

Legal Drinking Age Day not only celebrates our first legal drink but also reminds young and old to respect alcohol and drinking responsibly.  That would not favor Hemingway’s purported favorite.  

Daiquiri Photo by Matthew Dimas

Hemingway Photo courtesy of literariness.org

The Grape Ape

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Awhile back, Seattle Times food writer Bethany Jean Clement crafted some cocktails from what was in her cupboard because going to the store during the height of Covid was a daunting undertaking. One of the recipes stood out to me because it used grape juice. Purple grape juice.  Something I’ve never had in a cocktail, for sure.  Also, she says one can use vodka or gin.  Really, gin?  I like gin. But with grape juice?  Anyway, I never got around to trying it at the time but I kept her recipe. A quick trip to the store.  Masks no longer required but I’m wearing one so no one recognizes me while I’m buying only a bottle of grape juice. Here’s the recipe:

1 part grape juice

1 part tonic or bubbly water

“Glug” of vodka or gin

Lime wedge

Combine in a tall glass with lots of ice then squeeze the lime over the top then drop it in. Using gin?  Add a sprig of rosemary.

What do I think?  I tried with gin first.  That’s as far as I got.  Delicious!  I did the tall glass then made another shaker-full for a martini glass.  So I’m done experimenting and I’ll make it again.  Very refreshing, colorful summertime, or anytime, drink.  

Prefer vodka? Vodka goes with anything so if you like grape juice, you’re golden. 

– Jet Cannon

Photo courtesy of Pinterest.com

Whole Fruit Margarita

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Perusing the Vitamix blender recipe book, we found this Margarita recipe that uses whole limes, lemons and oranges, rather than just the squeezed juice.  Peeled, of course.  But the blender chops it all up and you end up with a small-party-suitable quantity.  You can buy dedicated (and pricey) margarita blenders but a regular good quality blender will do.

Ingredients

1/4 cup water 

6 oz tequila

2 oz orange liqueur like triple sec or Grand Marnier

1 medium orange peeled and halved

1 lime peeled and halved

1 lemon peeled and halved

6 tablespoons of sugar

6 cups of ice cubes

Blend on high for about 45 seconds and serve in salt or sugar-rimmed Margarita glasses with a slice of lime for garnish.

– Jet Cannon

Photo courtesy of bigoven.com