There are a lot or cocktail recipes that call for a maraschino cherry or two. They mostly make the drink pretty, and I guess if you get used to them, they even taste OK - I usually manage to eat them. Just don't try to fool yourself that they actually taste like cherries. In fact, as early as 1911, a New York Times editorial described a maraschino cherry as "a tasteless, indigestible thing, originally to be sure, a fruit of the cherry tree, but toughened and reduced to the semblance of a formless, gummy lump by long imprisonment in a bottle filled with so-called maraschino." Almost a hundred years later after the turn of the century, another Times item described them as "the culinary equivalent of an embalmed corpse", and that might be a fitting description given what they contain. The cherries shown in the picture above are pretty decent as maraschino cherries go, but they contain all kinds of things that I have reservations about eating: corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup, Red #40 dye, and several types of chemical preservatives.
Lately, I have been seeing quite a number of articles about alternatives that taste better, and any number of recipes about making your own cocktail cherries. Chief among the commercial recommendations is Luxardo Gourmet Maraschino Cherries which you can buy through Amazon.com for about $18. When I saw some fresh cherries at the grocery store today, though, I decided I would try to make some of my own. Aft looking at a bunch of recipes I found on the internet, I decided to use ideas from a number of different versions, and canned my own recipe using sweet bing cherries, Luxardo Cherry Liquor , Brandy, lemon juice, and turbinado sugar. Two pounds of cherries yielded 6 half-pint jars.
They need to sit for a few days, so I can't tell you yet how they turned out. I suspect they will be a little too sweet, but far better than standard maraschino cherries. Next time, I'll try to find some sour cherries, possibly frozen, or I'll use Trader Joe's Morello Cherries, which were recommended in a couple of recipes I saw.
If this batch turns out good, though, I'll publish a recipe in a couple of weeks.
To the best of my recollection,
I had my first Sazerac after my Mom and Dad returned from one of their regular visits to New Orleans. When they went, they liked to enjoy the Commander's Palace in the Garden District, which on their recommendation became one of my favorite restaurants anywhere. Commander's food is excellent (and my mouth is watering as I write this), but it is the way they treat you that sets them apart. It is a place where it still feels right to wear a jacket at dinner, and where they make you feel important even though you are not. A place where you want to be with your family on special occasions, and where you take important business associates.
When my folks went to Commander's, they enjoyed a Sazerac cocktail. One time when they were there, the bartender shared his Sazerac recipe - written on a napkin (I think in 1982, but the writing is not real clear) - and my Dad brought it back and made it for me the next time I visited. It was wonderful.
The Sazerac is one of the old traditional cocktails of New Orleans. I couldn't even come close to describing its history in the way that Chuck Taggart does in his Gumbo Pages web site, and I recommend it highly for everything New Orleans. You should definitely read his Sazerac history as you enjoy the cocktail for the first time.
Not many bars and restaurants know how to make a Sazerac, or even what one is. But I sometimes ask for, and am rewarded with one when I go to good restaurants. I have not found one yet, though, that makes this simple drink as well as you can at home.
Some recipes call for Bourbon (as does the Commander's recipe given to my Dad) and others for Rye whiskey, and some call for using both Angostura and Peychaud's bitters, but the traditional version uses only Peychaud's. In our experiments, Kathy and I have decided that the traditional Rye whiskey and Peychaud's only is the way to go.
The traditional New Orleans Rye is Old Overholt, but most reviewers think that Sazerac brand and Rittenhouse are probably a bit better. My biggest surprise, though, is that the Jim Beam (ri)1, the overpriced Rye that I had spoken poorly of of when I talked about Manhattans in an earlier post, is really good in a Sazerac. I think we might have to keep some around just to dedicate for that use.
As I have been writing this (and enjoying the Sazerac shown in the picture), I have also been thinking about how much I would like to have a nice meal at Commander's, ending up with the Whiskey Bread Pudding Souffle. Anybody want to make a weekend trip to New Orleans?
There are a few summer garden necessities that are just better when you grow them yourself. And there are also some that are almost impossible to find in Kerrville, Texas, so we are attempting to grow them at home. It is not real practical to grow a real garden like our friends in Maine do - we would have to station an armed guard to keep the deer, antelope, and giant red-eyed Texas jackrabbits out, so we plant them in a few pots on the patio, where our yard beasts rarely go.
The plants in the picture above include the following:
- Spearmint and peppermint for middle eastern food and mojitos (and there is already enough mint to make those mojitos).
- Basil for Italian and Thai food.
- Parsley for potato salad and just about everything else except Thai food.
- Cilantro for Mexican and Thai.
- Tomatoes for Gazpacho and fresh tomato sandwiches.
- Lemon Grass for Thai.
- Kaffir Lime tree for leaves to use in Thai food.
I think it may soon be time for some Tom Kha Gai, a Thai Chicken and Lemongrass Soup with coconut milk, lime leaves, and straw mushrooms, one of Kathy's favorites. (Or maybe a mojito.)
You may have figured out from my previous posts that Cuban food is among my favorites, and this Arroz Amarillo con Pollo is near the top of my list. It is a meal that everyone likes - very flavorful, but not spicy, and safe to serve to everyone except your strictest vegetarian friends. Every Cuban restaurant in Tampa makes this dish, but none are any better than this version which is an authentic Spanish recipe used at the famous Las Novedades restaurant in the Cuban Ybor City neighborhood from 1890 until the restaurant closed in the 1970's.
When you make Chicken and Yellow Rice, I would suggest using only the dark pieces of chicken, which will not dry out as easily as chicken breasts, and which will have a lot more flavor.
Also - very important- spring for a good quality saffron. It is expensive, but you don't need much. Do not use any kind of saffron powder, and absolutely do not add turmeric to make the rice more yellow like some recipes call for. If you use good saffron, it will almost certainly be yellow enough, and it will definitely have a very fine flavor. (Saffron can be pretty choosy, though, about who it turns yellow for.)
Serve this with a red sangria, but choose a recipe that is not so sweet as the Sangria Mexicana I gave you with the recent Shrimp Ceviche post. A good one to try would be my sister Alice's Sangria that she shared with Kathy and me a few years ago.
Last weekend I posted my cocktail of the week, and also had bonus cocktail Saturday, so this week I decided to have "no booze Sunday" instead. Sweet Tea is probably more important than any alcoholic drink right now, though - it's time for barbecued meat, and while you can have barbecued meat without booze1, it is just not right to have it without Sweet Tea.
The problem, however, is that there is way too much bad Sweet Tea in this world - over-brewed and bitter, weak, stale, too sweet, or not sweet enough. One solution is to brew your tea using a method shared by the founder of Sweet Leaf Tea Company a while back in Texas Monthly magazine.
To make a half-gallon pitcher, boil 1 quart of water that has been filtered to remove any chlorine or other impurities. Take it off the heat and dump in 1/2 ounce of high-quality loose leaf black tea (that will be something like 3 tablespoons, but use a decent kitchen scale if you have one), which will give you a lot better flavor than what you can get from the stuff they put in tea bags. Give it a little stir and steep for exactly 4 1/2 minutes - any longer will make it bitter.
While you are waiting, fill a half-gallon pitcher with ice and pour a rounded half-cup of white sugar over it. When the timer you are using goes off (use a timer, because if you don't you will get distracted and forget when 4 1/2 minutes is up), strain the tea through a wire mesh sieve into the pitcher. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, cover the pitcher and refrigerate until cool.
A couple more thoughts. If you like mint, it would be good to add a few sprigs to the ice and sugar before adding the hot tea. Also, if you are not having barbecue, and you don't need a sugar high, you might just want to omit the sugar - this method makes a wonderful pitcher of unsweetened tea.
In this picture, you will see that the tea in the pitcher is a little cloudy. That's OK - the tea experts say that can happen with good quality tea, and it doesn't hurt a thing.
Serve over ice with a nice wedge of lemon. Then enjoy with some 5-hour slow-smoked spare ribs, or those Bourbon-Brined Pork Chops.
1This does not include beer, which is also necessary with barbecue.
Sitting on the back porch on a pretty, quiet spring day - a little breeze stirring the wildflowers and the wind chimes, and hummingbirds buzzing around while they visit the nearby feeders. Perfect time for this Ceviche de Camaron, either as an appetizer or a light afternoon meal.
Thanks to my brother John for suggesting this one. It's a really easy recipe, and it is perfect for those of you that don't like the idea of "cooking" raw seafood using only the juice of limes. For this recipe, the shrimps are actually steamed until perfectly done. Be careful with the amount of ketchup you use - I cut the amount in half because I didn't want sweet shrimp. I think it would probably be good substituting chipotle ketchup if you have it, but if you do, be careful about how much hot sauce you use.
Serve this with tortilla chips and a the Sangria Mexicana shown in this picture, or, if you prefer, a less-sweet sangria, the Summer Margarita I wrote about earlier, or a good Mexican beer.
This is what Lynchburg Lemonade is all about. Chillin' out after a hard day of working in the garden. So good you drank it all and now are waiting for your hosts to give you a refill....
I was going to wait a bit longer before posting this recipe, but Lisa and Joe's work day and cookout with Bourbon Brined Porkchops prompted this to be "Cocktail of the Week Bonus Saturday". Enjoy!
This cocktail is designed for Jack Daniels, but bourbon does great as well. Just don't spoil any really good bourbon making this drink.
There are a lot or cocktail recipes that call for a maraschino cherry or two. They mostly make the drink pretty, and I guess if you get used to them, they even taste OK - I usually manage to eat them. Just don't try to fool yourself that they actually taste like cherries. In fact, as early as 1911, a New York Times editorial described a maraschino cherry as "a tasteless, indigestible thing, originally to be sure, a fruit of the cherry tree, but toughened and reduced to the semblance of a formless, gummy lump by long imprisonment in a bottle filled with so-called maraschino." Almost a hundred years later after the turn of the century, another Times item described them as "the culinary equivalent of an embalmed corpse", and that might be a fitting description given what they contain. The cherries shown in the picture above are pretty decent as maraschino cherries go, but they contain all kinds of things that I have reservations about eating: corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup, Red #40 dye, and several types of chemical preservatives.
