Category Archives: H.O.A.G.Y. (Help Out A Gal/Guy Yeah?)

The Poison Apple: a bright red cinnamon-apple cocktail

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The Poison Apple

The Poison Apple

This week’s H.O.A.G.Y (Help Out A Gal/Guy, Yeah?) comes from my friend Sazerac –she’s from Baton Rouge, y’all—who texted me with this request:

 “I’ve decided to be Snow White for Halloween!  I want to make up a ‘poison appletini.’ Can you help me?!” 

Of course, gal!  We’ve got your adorable backside covered.  Sazerac also said it needed to be a simple cocktail, since folks would be mixing up their own at her party.

The result:  With a day or two of prep to start an infusion and freeze up some “poison apple” ice balls, the drinks only had three ingredients and they were both gorgeous and delicious, especially if you like your cocktails on the sweet-spicy side.  If you don’t have the time or equipment to freeze ice balls – which look supah cool, but I’m warning you they are a pain in the ass to remove from the trays, the red food coloring gets EVERYWHERE, and beware the red shits the next day—regular old ice cubes work just fine and the drink is still a beautiful clear red color.

24 hours + in advance:

  • Start your Cinnamon Vodka Infusion:  to a clean glass quart jar, add 25 cinncinnamon candyamon hard candies, and cover completely with not-expensive vodka (about 3 ½ cups).  Store in a cool place out of direct sunlight, and shake the jar a few times a day to dissolve the candies.  After one or two days, strain the vodka through a fine mesh strainer to remove any candy pieces that did not dissolve.  I poured the vodka into an oversized clear liquor bottle and labeled it with a cool sticker label for the party.  This will make about 20-25 cocktails.
  • Make the Poison Apple Ice balls:  I make these in my kitchen sink to trap spills.  Fill up the bottom half of your ice mold almostball ice trays all the way to the rim with water.  For a tray of 4, add about 12 drops of red food coloring and an optional 4-6 drops of cinnamon oil (available at most baking supply stores).  For cripes sake be careful with the cinnamon oil and food coloring: the former is super strong flavored, and the later will stain everyfuckingthing it touches.   Tightly secure the ice mold lid, tip it slightly to remove excess water, and move the ice mold to a flat spot in your freezer.  I put paper towels under the tray to collect the red staining water as the trays froze.
Snow White and Sexy Jesus (aka my gals Sazerac and Saketini) - Halloween 2013

Snow White and Sexy Jesus (aka my gals Sazerac and Saketini) – Halloween 2013

The Poison Apple

1 oz. red hot cinnamon-infused vodka

1 oz. Applejack (such as Laird’s)

1 oz. ginger beer (Sazerac likes using diet ginger ale)

Add all ingredients to a large wine glass or martini glass, stir gently to combine.  Add a couple of ice cubes or a poison apple ice ball.

Happy Halloween, y’all!

The Poison Apple

The Poison Apple

Simple Syrup in a FLASH!

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Mmmm - smells like fall in here. And booze.

Mmmm – smells like fall in here. And booze.

We’re taking a quick break from our tour of my tiny household and how I can get ‘er done in the midst of harvest, canning, etc.  Are y’all as crazy as I am this time of year?  Fortunately, The Macallan built some handy new shelves in the cellar for me – it’s a perfect temp year ’round for my various brewing, fermenting, and infusing projects.  Let’s just hope the cable guy doesn’t need to get to those wires behind my cider any time soon….

This week’s H.O.A.G.Y (Help Out a Gal/Guy, Yeah?) comes from a friend who needed to make simple syrup LIKE RIGHT NOW in preparation for a cocktail party, because the stuff she’d made a week earlier had already developed a Kombucha-like sugar mother alien thing and she was scared to use it.  I’d be scared, too.

So, here’s how you make simple syrup in under 30 minutes:

Four steps to FAST simple syrup

Four steps to FAST simple syrup

1 – into a pint Mason jar, fill half-way with sugar (your choice)

2 – fill with boiling water up to 1″ from the rim of the jar, stir to dissolve

3 – add ice cubes to the rim of the jar, gently stir to dissolve and cool

4 – place a lid on the jar and the jar in an ice-water bath

It will be ready in 15- 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

The Wasatch Mule: a pear-ginger white whiskey cocktail

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The Wasatch Mule

The Wasatch Mule

After posting my call for bourbon cocktail requests in honor of National Bourbon Heritage Month I learned quite a bit about y’all via your feedback. Mostly that:

1) your time, storage space and/or desire to mix up a bunch of esoteric syrups, shrubs, and bitters is limited;

2) y’all don’t like to purchase or wash any more cocktail equipment than necessary; and

3) you are curious (dare I say suspicious?) about how I manage to make this shit happen on a regular basis in my tiny kitchen with all of those kids and dogs underfoot.

So, for the rest of this month at this here blog we’ll go through each of these concerns and talk it out. And drink some bad-ass cocktails. We’ll tackle the time/space issue this post.

Before I call y’all out as the laziest bunch of sorry cocktail geeks I’ve ever known, I’ll make some of excuses on your behalf. In fact, they’re excuses I use for myself, all the time. Rare ingredients and random specialty booze like that 12-year-old crusty Blue Curaçao bottle with only 3-4 oz. used up take up a lot of space, and if you live in a 1940’s Sugarhouse cottage like mine, that’s at a premium. We were lucky enough to buy a house that the previous owner had obviously fitted with some SERIOUS food storage/hoarding capabilities, which my boys promptly filled with Legos in various stages of completion. Also, most syrups and some shrubs experiments require refrigeration, and if you are an infrequent cocktail mixer this seems like a waste of space that could be used for cheap white wine, expensive beer, and your Costco-sized bag of lettuce. I get it, so I’m gonna go full disclosure on y’all so you don’t get all frustrated about the physical and emotional space you are in.

The booze: You know why bars have that huge shelf of hundreds of bottles behind them? Because a bar needs them to serve the whim of folks who wouldn’t ever use Fernet or Aperol (both of which are next to impossible to source for the home consumer in Utah) for in a cocktail at home, but like to order the most complicated cocktails ever made when they’re out. A good barkeep will also have a wide price and flavor range within a booze category, e.g. several kinds of gin, bourbon, etc. Unless you are having outrageous cocktail parties every weekend or write a booze blog you don’t need all that shit at your house. Figure out what you like, and just keep that on hand. If you don’t know what you like, go to a very good bar early on a not-very-busy night and talk to your bartender. They’ll be happy to help you find your groove – most mixologists love to share their knowledge and recipes. Only buy the random stuff when you have a big party and want to make a signature cocktail, then at the end of the night give a guest who loved it (and whom you love) the random bottle(s). You get your space back, and make a friend for life. Win-win.

The mixers: I started out making my own shrubs, syrups, and bitters because when I first moved to Utah years ago there wasn’t much of a cocktail scene here and these things were hard to come by for the average home consumer. Thanks to Amazon.com, Etsy, and great local small-batch producers all over the country, it’s getting easier every day to source great ingredients. For instance, here in Salt Lake, you can buy Sugarhouse Libations cocktail syrups at the Downtown Farmer’s Market on Saturdays, or order their delicious syrups online. No, they didn’t pay me to say this, I just like their stuff. And the packaging and recipes that come with the heavy sexy bottle are feckin’ killing it. Get some. Then make this with it:

The Wasatch Mule

This cocktail is a play on the Moscow Mule, which you’ve seen served in pretty metal cups. To make it Utah Wasatch Mountains style, I used High West Distillery Silver Oat Whiskey instead of vodka, and Sugarhouse Libations Pear-Ginger syrup, and mix up the whole thing in a pint Mason jar. Yes, you can make your own pear liqueur (which, yes, I do, and it’s the BOMB), but you can also find it at big liquor stores.

5-6 leaves mint, spanked
2 oz. Silver Whiskey (or moonshine)
1 oz. pear liqueur
4 oz. pear-ginger syrup
2 oz. club soda

Spank the mint between your palms, as if clapping. Throw it in the bottom of a pint Mason jar. Add the whiskey, pear liqueur, and pear-ginger syrup. Fill almost to the top with ice. Close up with the jar lid and shake like crazy. Uncap the jar and add club soda. Replace the lid and gently tilt to combine ingredients –don’t shake it or that shit will explode all over you! This can also be made in a traditional cocktail shaker (minus the club soda—again with the exploding) and poured into a mule cup or julep cup with a floater of club soda swizzled in.

Peach & Basil Bourbon Smash

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Peaches & Herb: A Peach-Basil Smash Cocktail

Peaches & Herb: A Peach-Basil Smash Cocktail

Another H.O.A.G.Y (Help Out a Gal/Guy, Yeah?) from a friend, “I’ve got a sh!tload of peaches.  What to do?”

Well, mix ’em with bourbon, of course!

Make a Peach and Bourbon Smash cocktail, perhaps we’ll call it Peaches & Herb? (Get it? #weareold) Celebrate the end of the week -or just getting through 4th grade homework- with this refreshing seasonal cocktail.

In a cocktail shaker muddle together:

1/2 very ripe peach

4-5 basil leaves

2 tsp honey or agave syrup

Add:

1.5 oz bourbon

0.5 oz Lillet Blanc

and a bunch o’ ice

Shake like crazy & strain into a pretty glass.  Garnish with a peach wedge and sprig of basil.

TGIF!

Jalapeño-Cucumber Gimlet

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Paraphrasing my ole’ buddy Cole Porter, It’s Too Damn HOT!

Jalapeño-Cucumber Gimlet

Jalapeño-Cucumber Gimlet

I was chatting with a gal in the produce section of Trader Joe’s the other day, and we were talking about Persian (cocktail) cucumbers – namely about how delicious they are and how nice it is not to have to peel them.  But, it’s also widely know that those temperamental bastards won’t last more than a couple of days in your fridge before they get moldy spots and you’re throwing them into the compost bin.

Sure, they are delightful in salads (especially with a little feta and some melon or tomatoes this time of year).  If you think they are getting borderline funky, you can slow down the decay trajectory by making a quick refrigerator pickle:  slice or sliver your cukes, then add some chopped scallions and about 2 teaspoons vinegar—I like rice wine vinegar or white balsamic—per cucumber ratio; toss to combine and refrigerate.  Add a bit of red or black pepper before serving and a pinch of sea salt.

I also like pulling out a couple to make cocktails, a few of which I’ve talked about here before.

You’ve probably seen the studies quoted that hot foods actually make you feel cooler and have natural antimicrobial qualities.  Hence, spicy food preferences in cultures living in warmer climates.  Right now, Utah’s about as hot as I can take it—and this from a gal who lived in muggy Memphis and the ‘dry’ heat of Arizona for years.  I made this spicy-cool version of a gimlet to at least give me a modicum of gracious respite last night.  It’s cool and bracing at the same time.  I like using vodka instead of gin for this gimlet recipe; it makes the jalapeño taste cleaner and brighter in contrast.  It’s fabulous with half of the martini glass rim coated in a fragrant smoked sea salt.

Jalapeño-Cucumber Gimlet

1 Persian (small cocktail) cucumber, sliced

½ jalapeño, seeded

2 oz. vodka

1 Tbs. agave nectar

Juice of 1 lime

Smoked sea salt

 

Throw the cucumber and jalapeño in a cocktail shaker and muddle the bejesus out of them with a pestle or wooden spoon.   Meanwhile, rub ½ of the rim of a martini glass with half of a cut lime, then dip in smoked sea salt (I used a Durango smoked salt for this, but it’s also great with a black Salish smoked salt).  Add the vodka, agave, and lime juice to the shaker with a few cubes of ice.  Shake like crazy.  Add a few cubes of fresh ice to your pretty cocktail glass, then strain your cocktail over the rocks.  Garnish with cucumber and jalapeño.

For the rest of September, I’ll be featuring Bourbon cocktails and recipes for National Bourbon Heritage Month!  Email, Facebook (“A Bourbon Gal”), or Instagram (abourbongal) me your requests for the next bourbon-based H.O.A.G.Y. (Help Out a Gal/Guy, Yeah?)  You can also find abourbongal on Twitter, but I suck at it.  #sorrykinda

Mint Chocolate Julep Ice Cream

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The last time I posted homemade ice cream photos on Instagram, my dear high school friend Boulevardier (she’s a Louisville gal, through and through!) wrote “@abourbongal – I’m challenging you to create a mint julep ice cream!”
Done and done, girlfriend! Here’s this week’s H.O.A.G.Y (Help Out A Gal/Guy, Yeah?).
This is another ice cream recipe I developed using the Ben & Jerry’s home ice cream prep method. It is SO refreshing and light. Well, the flavors are light anyway. There are about a million yummy fat grams in it. And the bourbon, and sugar. And the chocolate… Mmmmm

Mint Chocolate Julep Ice Cream. So refreshing!

Mint Chocolate Julep Ice Cream. So refreshing!

Mint Chocolate Julep Ice Cream

2 large very fresh eggs
¾ cup sugar
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
1 ½ tsp. peppermint extract
2 Tbs. bourbon
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (or yummy with small chunks or shaved dark chocolate)
Mint sprigs for garnish

Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes); whisk in the sugar a little at a time and continue blending until completely combined (about 1 minute more). With the mixer on low speed, pour in the cream and half-and-half, increase speed to medium and pour in the peppermint extract and bourbon; whisk for another minute.

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer’s instructions.

After the ice cream stiffens (about 2 minutes before it is done), add the chocolate, then continue freezing until the ice cream is ready.

Garnish each serving with a little sprig of mint.

A Very Patriotic Gimlet

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My high school buddy Cuba Libre posted on Facebook today

“Anyone know any noteworthy red, white, and blue gin cocktails?”
Sounds like another H.O.A.G.Y. (Help Out a Gal/Guy, Yeah?) to me!
Cucmber-Honeydew Gin Gimlet. Plymouth Gin didn't pay me to use their booze. I just think it's really tasty.

Cucmber-Honeydew Gin Gimlet. Plymouth Gin didn’t pay me to use their booze. I just think it’s really tasty.

Here’s a slightly sweeter and lighter (alcohol-wise) version of a classic cucumber gimlet.  Add a skewer of fresh cherries–beautiful and in season right now!– a honeydew ball, and a couple of blueberries and your cocktail is officially All-American.

Enjoy your 4th, and stay safe, y’all.
Cucumber-Honeydew Gin Gimlet
In a cocktail shaker muddle:
1/2 (about 1/2 cup) small sliced cocktail cucumber (or the same amount of a regular cucumber, peeled).  Really crush the hell out of it.
Add 1 oz. strained honeydew melon puree,
1 oz. fresh-squeezed lime juice,
1/2 tsp. agave syrup,
2 oz. gin,
and a handful of ice.
Shake like crazy, and strain into an elegant glass.  Add your red-white (well, pale green)-and blue garnish.

Basil & Goat Cheese Salad

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Fresh basil and goat cheese salad with heirloom tomatoes

Fresh basil and goat cheese salad with heirloom tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes and basil pretty much scream “summer is here!”  My girlfriend Saketini calls this easy salad packed with bold bright flavors a “rock star hostess” dish.  It is sturdy enough to travel well, delicious at room temperature, and super easy to assemble.  Plus, let’s face it:  it looks freaking gorgeous.  Last weekend I brought this salad to a casual pizza dinner at Lemon Drop & IPA’s house.  We all ended up dragging our pizza crusts through the juicy cheesy goodness on our plates to sop up every last bit.

Basil & Goat Cheese Salad (about 6 servings)

4 medium heirloom tomatoes, cored and sliced into wedges (about 2 cups)

2 Tbs. very good olive oil

2 tsp. pomegranate balsamic vinegar

Kosher salt & very coarsely ground (or cracked) black pepper to taste

1 large bunch whole fresh basil leaves (about 2 cups loosely packed or 4 oz.)

5 oz. log goat cheese, crumbled into big chunks

Mix together tomatoes, oil, vinegar, salt & pepper in a non-reactive bowl; let sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour to meld flavors.  Rinse and pat dry the basil leaves, and spread in an even layer on a serving platter or salad bowl.  Just before serving, crumble goat cheese over the basil and top with the tomatoes and all of the juicy goodness.

If you are traveling with this salad, place the tomato mixture and goat geese in separate containers and add to basil just before serving.

Tequila Trifecta: Grilled Pineapple-Jalapeño Margaritas

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Frozen grilled pineapple-jalepeno margarita

Frozen grilled pineapple- jalapeno margarita

My girlfriend Big Bold Cab texted me, “My girlfriends want me to make pineapple margaritas this weekend?!”  Oh, BBC, you know this is the perfect second H.O.A.G.Y (Help Out A Gal/Guy, Yeah?) for A Bourbon Gal.  We’ve got your back!

Grilled Pineapple.  It’s fantastic stuff – wonderful on teriyaki chicken burgers, served with pound cake and ice cream, or on grilled Hawaiian pizza (shh, don’t tell The Macallan; he thinks fruit on pizza portends the end of days).  But I always have a few spears left over, hanging around in my fridge wilting sadly, waiting for a greater purpose.  Something larger than chicken salad; greater than yogurt smoothies.

And, my friends, I have found grilled pineapple’s true and righteous calling: Tequila Infusion.

I’m probably not inventing the wheel on this one.  In fact, we’ve seen pineapple infused tequila, and jalapeño-infused tequila featured on foodie boozy sites for years.  So maybe a grilled pineapple-jalapeño infusion isn’t original, but there’s only so much time I’m going to spend on Google this afternoon trying to figure out if this is brand-new information, folks, so here’s what I’ve been using and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Grilled Pineapple-Jalepeno Infused Tequila. Sweet spice in a jar, my friends.

Grilled Pineapple-Jalepeno Infused Tequila. Sweet spice in a jar, my friends.

Grilled Pineapple-Jalapeño (GPJ) Infused Tequila (Method):

To a lidded clean 1 quart glass jar add

3-4 spears grilled pineapple

1 grilled jalapeño, seeds removed

3 cups tequila (no need to use your best stuff, here)

Refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 1 week.  Remove jalapeño when the heat is at a level you like or it will keep getting stronger.   This infusion is great for sipping on the rocks with a splash of ginger ale, or in either of the following margarita recipes.

Grilled Pineapple-Jalapeño Margarita, rocks (makes 1)

Grilled Pineapple-Jalepeno Margarita with Hawaiian Alaea sea salt rim.

Grilled Pineapple-Jalapeno Margarita with Hawaiian Alaea sea salt rim.

Rub the rim of a margarita or martini glass with a lime wedgeCoat the rim with crushed pink Hawaiian Alaea sea salt; fill glass with ice

To a cocktail shaker add:

The juice of 2 fresh limes

1.5 oz. GPJ tequila

0.5 oz. Cointreau

0.5 oz. agave nectar

Shake well to combine, and pour over ice.  Add a wedge of lime and a chunk of grilled pineapple for garnish.

Frozen Pineapple-Jalapeño Margarita (makes 2 extra-large cocktails, or 4 Utah-regulated pours)

I’m usually not a fan of margarita in its slushy form, but this is a fantastic exception.  Be careful, the tequila-soaked pineapple packs an alcoholic punch!  I’m not sure how much it adds to the proof, but it will knock you on your ass faster than you can say “who’s the designated driver?”

To a blender add:

2 cups ice

Juice of 5 fresh limes

1 ½ spears tequila-soaked grilled pineapple

3 oz. GPJ tequila

1 oz. Cointreau

1.5 oz. agave nectar

If you like things spicy, also throw in a couple of slices of your tequila-soaked grilled jalapeño here, too.  Insanely yum.

Blend until ice is uniformly crushed and all ingredients are frothy.  Pour into margarita or martini glasses, and garnish with pineapple and lime.

Our first H.O.A.G.Y (Help Out a Gal/Guy, Yeah?): Cucumber Gimlet

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Of course we take requests here at A Bourbon Gal!

My girlfriend Dirty Martini wrote me, “I can’t make a decent cucumber gimlet. Help!”

Cucumber Gimlet

Cucumber Gimlet

Now, first of all, my gal Dirty Martini has MAD cocktail skillz, so I’m sure her gimlet is pretty tasty, but she is always looking for a more-perfect beverage. And if you’re going to spring for some Very Good Gin (which she does, like Hendrick’s) you want it to be awesome.

Back in the day—meaning Prohibition, gin’s sparkly heyday—a gimlet was usually made with equal parts gin and sweetened lime juice. Another popular gin cocktail, the Gin Rickey, used almost equal parts gin, club soda, and lime juice. Post-WWII, gimlet recipes using lime juice with vodka and either powdered sugar or simple syrup often replaced gin-based cocktails.

Nowadays, if you order a gimlet at a bar you will get a multitude of options: gin or (usually) vodka, lime or another citrus (lemon, grapefruit), and any number of vegetal, herbaceous, and/or fruity additions. A harbinger of the summer party season, super-refreshing cucumber gimlets usually contain vodka, cucumber juice or purée, lime, and sweetener (sugar or syrup). With some pretty cucumber pinwheels in a tall narrow pitcher, cucumber gimlets are lovely made in bulk for quick and easy serving at your next garden party.

Cucumber Gimlet (makes one)

I like using those tiny thin-skinned “cocktail” cucumbers now available in most produce sections. Just a gentle wash and you are good to go: no peeling off the tough bitter skin or scraping out seeds needed. I also like how agave nectar distributes evenly through the cocktail with a nice finish.

1 “cocktail” cucumber, thinly sliced (reserve 2-3 thin slices for garnish), muddled furiously in the bottom of your cocktail shaker (really- juice the hell out of it)

1 tsp. fresh-squeezed lime juice (about ¼ lime)

½ tsp. agave nectar

2 oz. gin

4-5 cubes ice

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Shake until very cold and frothy. Strain into a martini glass containing 2-3 cubes fresh ice. Garnish with thin cucumber slices.