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Bonus Cocktail: The Gauguin

April 20, 2012

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Gauguin Coocktail

One of the big differences between wine and cocktails is that cocktails allow you to improvise, adapt and expand your repertoire quickly, based on the ingredients and tools you have on hand. With wine, you can be stuck with what you have, and only time or a new bottle will give you something new. With cocktails, a simple change of ingredient or technique and you have a different drink, preferably (hopefully) a good one. Also unlike wine, if you don’t like the cocktail, you can pour it out and try again (and it is not likely to have cost you a fortune).

This week’s bonus cocktail, The Gauguin, is an example of how buying a new ingredient for one drink suddenly gets you another good recipe. In this case we’ve used passion fruit syrup as an ingredient in last week’s exploration of tiki drinks. Passion fruit syrup has a pronounced sweet/tart flavor, and is a key ingredient in famous tropical drinks like the Zombie and the Hurricane (some versions). We have played with making Zombies, which is a challenge to do well (we suffer for our cocktails, really), so while we are working on the Zombie we started to look for other cocktails using passion fruit syrup.

Now we would like to tell you a story of how we discovered the Gauguin from an antique cocktail book, or how it was inspired by his works, or that this drink has been rescued from time by a master mixologist. But we can’t. Truth is, we went to cocktailDB (a great resource) and searched on drinks with passion fruit syrup. We found the Gauguin and made it because we had all the ingredients. But it turned out to be a great drink- nothing like a little good cocktail karma as we go into the weekend.

As for ingredients, the Gauguin is a simple drink of white rum, lime juice, lemon juice and passion fruit syrup. As you may have noticed, the Gauguin is basically a daiquiri variant, but the passion fruit and lemon add new dimensions to the drink. Even with a small amount of passion fruit syrup the Gauguin is a sweet drink, but it is well-balanced by the lemon and lime. The white rum adds a bit of heat, but the citrus and passion fruit are the major players. Even with the sweetness, the Gauguin ends up being a very refreshing drink, it would be an excellent choice in warm weather. Try one this weekend and share in our good cocktail karma.

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, Rum / Cachaca Tags: gauguin cocktail, gauguin cocktail recipe, passion fruit, passion fruit cocktail, passion fruit syrup
Weekly Cocktail #10: The Corpse Reviver No. 2

April 19, 2012

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Corpse Reviver No. 2

We are back from tiki-land! This week’s cocktail, the Corpse Reviver No. 2 is a very tasty drink, but also has some good cocktail history attached to it.

First, let’s get to the back-story. The Corpse Reviver No. 2 is first mentioned in the famous cocktail guide “The Savoy Cocktail Book“. The Savoy Cocktail Book is/was a 1930’s classic cocktail book from the Savoy London Hotel’s legendary bartender, Harry Craddock. It is worth buying as a cocktail recipe book and/or coffee table book. The book has hundreds of old-time cocktail recipes (some great, some happily lost in time), whimsical illustrations and the occasional witty remark from the author. And it is one of these witty remarks that make the Corpse Reviver No. 2 famous in cocktail circles.

After giving you the recipe for the Corpse Reviver No. 2 (equal parts gin, lemon juice, Lillet, Cointreau and a dash of absinthe), Craddock dryly notes “four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the corpse again”. A good line, and one that has been mentioned in just about every cocktail book since, including Gary Regan’s “Joy of Mixology” and one of our faves, Jim Meehan’s “PDT Cocktail Book“.

The problem is, that many readers may think the drink is only mentioned because of the (just slightly) silly name and witty comment, but in fact, the Corpse Reviver No.2 is a very, very good cocktail- and one worth making on a regular basis. You may also see this drink on the menu at many good cocktail bars, we suggest you give it a try. And if you happen to feel a bit bleary, this drink would certainly live up to its name, it is a bright, balanced and flavorful drink- with more depth than you might expect.

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, Gin Tags: cocchi americano, cocktail recipe, corpse reviver cocktail, Corpse Reviver No. 2, Corpse Reviver No. 2 recipe, lillet, PDT Cocktail Book, Savoy Cocktail Book

Roast Chicken, The Right Way

April 18, 2012

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Roasted chicken pieces garnished with lemon and fresh herbs

Let’s get right to it. The only way to make a truly perfect roast chicken is to cut it in pieces, and then cook those pieces until each one is done. There, I said it. Call me a heretic if you like, but everything else you have tried, from Thomas Keller to Cook’s Illustrated recipes, can’t undo the basic truth. Chicken has two distinct kinds of meat and has an irregular shape. It is not meant to be cooked whole- and there is NO GOOD REASON to do it, particularly when there is a better solution.

I have been working for a while on finding the perfect metaphor for foodies’ seemingly endless quest to make a perfect whole roast chicken (and yes, I am guilty too). I am thinking “El Dorado” (never found), “Moby Dick” (ends badly, “to the last, I grapple with thee…”), “Charge of the Light Brigade” (they all died), “square peg, round hole” (just hit it harder..I swear) and even “the horror” (nothing like some Heart of Darkness to lighen the atmosphere in the kitchen…;-).

The point is, I can think of nothing more futile and fruitless than trying to successfully roast a whole chicken, and yet almost all of us try to do it, over and over and over. Even the luminaries of cuisine insist that it can be done, and we all slavishly learn multiple trussing, flipping or butterflying techniques to reach whole roast chicken Nirvana. We even convince ourselves that we succeed- but we rarely do (c’mon, you know the breast was a little dry or the legs could have been cooked a bit more, it is OK to admit it). And even if we do “succeed”, you just went through hell to get there- and there is no guarantee you can do it again.

The chive blossoms are from the garden.

How do I know cooking whole chickens is a futile endeavor? Let’s start with known, accepted facts: white and dark meat require different temperatures for doneness, whole chickens have an irregular shape and density, plus they have a big hole in the middle. All basics of cooking proteins suggest that these factors are not a winning formula for uniform doneness- we want uniform pieces that cook at similar temperatures and times. If we can’t have that, we should cook the pieces separately and to their desired doneness. We employ this logic for every other kind of meat, especially when roasting, but somehow we didn’t get the message with chicken. Continue reading →
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Dinner, Musings Tags: best chicken ever, best chicken recipe, buttermilk chicken recipe, buttermilk roasted chicken, perfect chicken, perfect roast chicken, perfect roast chicken recipe, roast chicken recipe, roasted chicken pieces
Coconut Rice

April 16, 2012

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Coconut rice with toasted coconut and lime garnish

Well, our trip to Hawaii not only yielded some good tiki drinks, we found a really great side dish- coconut rice. You may be familiar with coconut rice, as it is often served with Thai and Indian dishes, but it is a side that can (and we think should) be made as a regular side-dish at home. Coconut rice simply combines jasmine rice, coconut milk, water, oil, salt and some shredded coconut. Coconut rice, as you would expect, is a bit sweet but it is by no means cloying. The sweetness actually creates a nice match with main dishes that are a bit spicy, sour and/or acidic- so the coconut rice turns out to be a very versatile dish. So if you are making curry, fish or shellfish, a spicy stir-fry or even a roast chicken , the coconut rice will be a great side, and certainly a nice break from potatoes. (And most kids love the sweet rice).

Coconut rice is also easy to make and you can find most of the ingredients in any supermarket. To make the rice, simply oil a medium pot then, over medium-high heat, add the remaining ingredients and bring to a slow boil. Stir regularly for the first few minutes to avoid sticking. We also use extra shredded coconut to toast for garnish- but this is optional. Once you reach a boil, add a lid to the pot and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until most of the coconut milk is gone. Then remove the pot from the heat, but keep the lid on for 10 minutes. After 10 minutres check the rice for seasoning (add salt of needed), garnish with toasted coconut and/or a lime wedge (if you like) and serve.

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Lunch / Salads / Sides Tags: coconut recipe, coconut rice, coconut rice recipe, jasmine rice, rice recipe, vegetarian

Our Tiki Creation: The “Rickey-Tiki-Tavi”

April 15, 2012

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Our tiki creation: The Rickey-Tiki-Tavi

This will be our last tiki post for a little while, I think I need a Martini…;-)

It has been raining quite a bit on our tropical vacation, so our “kitchen and bar muscles” are getting a workout. We have been cooking very tasty fresh fish almost every night. This has been great, but searing Ahi and oven roasting Mahi-Mahi and Ono are pretty simple procedures, so not too many posts from this direction (Carolyn made a great coconut rice, that recipe soon). But we have worked on tiki drinks, and after some trial and error, we created our own: the Rickey-Tiki-Tavi.

The Rickey-Tiki-Tavi combines the basics of a Rickey (gin and lime) with the basics if a tiki drink (rum and pineapple). As we have mentioned in earlier posts, the point of a tiki drink is to add layers of flavors that add up to more than the sum of their parts. While different ages and varieties of rum usually fulfill this role, we decided to try a modern (read: not too much juniper) dry gin like Hendricks to add a new range of flavors. And after some experiments, we got a drink we really, really like.

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Rum / Cachaca, Tiki Drinks Tags: gin and lime, new tiki drink, putney tiki drink, rickey-tiki-tavi, tiki drink, tiki gin drink
Tiki Cocktails: The Sumatra Kula

April 12, 2012

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Oh yes, we had to buy the tiki mug. But more on that below, let’s get to the drink first.

The Sumatra Kula is a tiki drink from Don The Beachcomber, who along with “Trader Vic” Bergeron led the tiki craze in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. If I can summarize, Don was the Socal guy, Vic was the Norcal guy. Both liked rum and created lots of tiki drinks. Vic had the Mai Tai, Don had the Zombie. Both created chains of bar / restaurants in very un-tropical places- most, but not all, are gone now. But tiki is coming back and many of Don and Vics’s drinks are coming back as well, and we think that is great news.

As for the Sumatra Kula, this is supposedly one of Don the Beachcomber’s first tiki creations from the 1930’s. And as it was early in his career, the recipe is still very simple. But this is a tasty drink and has the added bonus of using ingredients that are easily available. The Sumatra Kula combines lime, orange, grapefruit, honey syrup, light rum and crushed ice. The honey syrup is a 1-to-1 mixture of honey and water, heat until the honey dissolves, thus making it easier to mix in drinks. And in this drink the honey is the key, surprise ingredient. It is sweet, but clearly not sugar, and brings that mystery to the drink. The other thing you will notice is the use of just light rum, as tiki drinks evolved multiple types of rum were used for extra complexity. As it is, the light rum lets the fruit juice shine- so this is a nice refreshing tiki drink.

Oh, and it comes with a "hat", too...

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, Rum / Cachaca, Tiki Drinks Tags: bali-hai restaurant, don the beachcomber, jeff beachbum berry, sumatra kula cocktail, tiki drink, tiki drinks