Not Derby Pie » drinks

Perfect Chai

rivka — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:22:38 +0000

The leaves are falling, yellow and burnt orange, into oddly balmy air. It’s not nearly as cold as “late November” suggests it should be. No scarf or hat for me – not even a real winter coat yet. Just a blazer, some low boots, and a hankering for the real chill to set in.

We spent thanksgiving in Michigan, where I was certain we’d have some seasonally appropriate weather. But folks, even Detroit was definitively mild. Aside from plenty of rain, the Michigan air barely even could be called brisk.

So yes, I’m impatient for real, honest fall. I’m sure I’ll laugh bitterly if I chance to reread this post in February, but for now, I’m ready for real fall. In the meantime, I’m cheating the seasons a bit: well ahead of the weather’s lazy schedule, I’ve busted out the tea leaves. Folks, I’m making chai.

(...)
Read the rest of Perfect Chai

The Negroni

rivka — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 14:30:10 +0000

I rarely post about drinks in this space. Truth is, until recently I hadn’t a clue how to mix a good drink. My bar was “stocked” with two bottles of Kahlua, a half-empty jug of Bailey’s, and the brandy and sherry I use in cooking. For a nice, hard drink, I went around the corner and plopped my derriere at a bar. So it was.

I’m pretty sure it was Jen, from Last Night’s Dinner, who, in a sort of roundabout way, kickstarted my newfound intrigue in liquor and the cool things you can do with it. (I sound a little bit like I just had my 21st birthday, I know.) It’s ironic, since Jen’s husband, Mike, is the real drink expert. He blogs at A Dash of Bitters and writes a drink column for Serious Eats Drinks. But it was Jen who got me started. Earlier this year, Jen posted a recipe on Food52 for linguine with sardines, tomato, and fennel. That dish became one of my addictions this past winter, and I made it probably once a week. It’s a beautiful recipe, in which long pasta meets melted fennel, bright tomato, briny sardines, toasted bread crumbs, and…dry vermouth.

Vermouth, I came to learn, is a fortified wine. There’s sweet vermouth and dry vermouth. I’ve come to think that in cooking, dry vermouth is to white wine what shallots are to onions: more complex, more buttery, more exciting. I still cook with plenty of white wine, but especially in savory dishes, I turn more and more to dry vermouth.

Then there’s sweet vermouth, which has about half as sweet as port and, again, fortified with various herbs and spices. I’ve used it in chicken dishes to impart a gentle sweetness with plenty of flavor. The stuff is really, really good.

In my urban kitchen, where we’re perpetually in negotiations about the necessity of every utensil or appliance, the vermouth functioned as a new toy. It was great in food, but I wondered about its potential in, of all places, the glass.

I started playing with vermouth-based cocktails, this and this. But I have both a terrible memory and a penchant for not following recipes so well, and when those two things combine, you’ve got yourself a terrible mixologist. So at the end of the day, I’ve come to favor a cocktail that’s as easy to memorize as it is to quaff: the Negroni.

(...)
Read the rest of The Negroni

Sour Cherry Liqueur

rivka — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:32:57 +0000

It’s officially sour cherry season! I got my first quart at the market today, and I simply can’t wait to turn them into this lovely aperitif. Originally posted last July, sour cherry liqueur is back!

Want to do something awesomely cool and really flippin’ easy along with me? Make sour cherry liqueur. It’s the height of sour cherry season, and markets are bursting with those tart little bubbles of juice. The season’s pretty short: I was thinking of hitting up a u-pick next week to get some sour cherries out in the countryside for cheap, but they said they’ll be gone by Sunday. So grab some now, like, now now, and put them to use in a way that’ll keep well into the fall.

My dear friend Dellie had D and me over for an early Thanksgiving dinner last November, and her mother served this liqueur as an aperitif. I was totally blown away: it was sweet, very sweet, but also tart and zingy. It tasted strongly and distinctly of sour cherries, and sipping it sent waves of summer nostalgia down my spine. I sauntered into the kitchen where I found the always-graceful Mrs. S pulling a whole turkey out of the oven to rest. What better time to bother someone for a recipe? She said to come knocking again when it was sour cherry season, and she’d give me the rundown. Unlike most other things, I didn’t forget this promise, and last week, I emailed Mrs. S begging her recipe. She graciously obliged, and her instructions were so thorough that I can easily share them with you. Granted, you won’t be tasting the fruits of your labor until the fall — but if you feel like preserving some of summer’s bounty in this unusual way, I can promise that your patience will be well-rewarded.

That's a knife jutting out of the pitcher -- I used it to stir the stuff, and I did fill it to the top after taking the pic.

(...)
Read the rest of Sour Cherry Liqueur

Tamarind Ginger Fizz

rivka — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:58:26 +0000

My beverages of choice? Water and wine. Every once in a while I can get into a good beer, and I’ll drink pretty much any cocktail mixed by the geniuses behind the bar at Restaurant Eve. But when I grab something to drink, it’s almost always either a tall glass of ice-cold water, or a spot of vino.

If I’m going to indulge in other liquid calories, I want something interesting, something that makes me go “hmm.” I want something refreshing and zippy. I definitely want some lime. And I want there to be something delicious around the rim.

Enter Tamarind Ginger Fizz, the most quaffable drink of spring (and summer…) and only the second drink to take up real estate on NDP. (Remember the first one? Boy was that fun.) It checks all the boxes on my drink checklist: intrigue (the tamarind), refreshing and zippy (lime, seltzer, and mint), and something delicious around the rim (an addictive blend of chili, sugar, and salt). Also, it’s beautiful. Isn’t it?

(...)
Read the rest of Tamarind Ginger Fizz