20120316

The NUTTY IRISH MARTINI MOUSSE for St. Patrick's Day


THE NUTTY IRISH MARTINI MOUSSE!

This is what I'll be having for dessert with my corned beef and cabbage tomorrow!
It's a light and flavorful nut infused mousse with booze because no self respecting Irishwoman (or man) could possibly serve up a dessert without some alcohol in it!

Beannachtam na Femle Padraig
Happy St. Patrick's Day!


Uodated January2016.




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20120308

Wild Hibiscus Martini


Spring is coming, it's time for some Flower Martinis!

I was recently sent some lovely jars of hibiscus flowers packed in syrup from Wild Hibiscus for creating some new and unique cocktails.  Edible flowers are all the rage in the culinary world at the moment, though floral flavors are nothing new to the world of food or drink.  The Bible mentions dandelions as one of the "bitter herbs", the Romans used mallows, roses and violets often in their dishes, teas have been infused with flowers for thousands of years, and the Victorian era was big on fresh flowers in salads.

The resurgence of the popularity of flowers as food* has opened up a surge of creativity in the garnishing and flavoring of cocktails, bringing a whole new bouquet of bounty to happy hour.  In my Hibiscus Martini I have used the unique tartness of the flower to bring a subtle floral flavor to a citrus cocktail.  I also used the hibiscus syrup in place of simple syrup, bringing even more flavor and adding a burst of magenta color!


*Not all flowers species are edible and not all edible flowers are "food quality". Here's a great list of Edible Flowers from Epicurian.com and here's a good article from Chef's Blade on How to find and use edible flowers.

updated 8-2016

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20120303

CHOCOLATE FIG MARTINI

Updated November 2015

THE CHOCOLATE FIG MARTINI
in collaboration with Pollen Ranch

Recently I was enjoying a tweetchat at HGEATs sponsored by The Hungry Goddess and got hooked up with Pollen Ranch.  They sent me some of their products to play with for making martinis, which makes me happy because I love swag and I love making martinis with them!

Pollen Ranch sent me a bag of their Calming Spice Tea, a package of their FREAKIN' DELISH Shortbread Cookies (which may never make it to a martini!), A bar of their Fig Fennel & Almond Chocolate (which also came close to never making it into a martini) and a tin of their Spicy Fennel Sea Salt.


I just happened to have several bags of dried figs in my cupboard so I decided to go with the chocolate fig bar first and here is what I came up with:

THE CHOCOLATE FIG MARTINI
(You might need to plan ahead a bit for this one)

1 Oz. Fig Liqueur*
1/2 Oz. Dark Creme de Cacao
1/2 Oz. Heavy Cream
1/8+ Tsp. Pollen Ranch Spicy Fennel Sea Salt
1 Pollen Ranch Theo Fig Fennel & Almond Chocolate Bar
1/4 Cup. Dried Fig Pieces
Cocoa Powder

TO MAKE THE FIG LIQUEUR:
*First you must make the fig liqueur. Yes, you can buy Fig Liqueur and there are 3 that I'm aware of: Edmond Briottet Creme de Figue, Briottet Creme de Figue and Boukha Fig Liqueur, but if you can make if for less than upwards of $30 a bottle why wouldn't you? The easiest way to do this is to get 8 ounces of dried figs and infuse these into vodka. I added about 1/8 a cup of sugar to mine but dried figs are very sweet so it's not necessary. You can get the instructions for making vodka infusions at TheMartiniDiva.Com's Fun page article "How to Make Flavor Infused Vodka". You will need at least a week to infuse the fig liqueur.

TO MAKE THE CHOCOLATE FIG CANDY:
Next you are going to make a chocolate fig candy by melting the Pollen Ranch chocolate bar, dropping in the 1/4 cup (+/-) of dried fig pieces, then spooning the mixture into candy molds. This will be your garnish. I placed my chocolate onto the tines of a cocktail fork and used this to stir my martini occasionally, adding a little more a deep chocolate flavor.  I then had a nice little chocolate tidbit to pop in my mouth after I finished the martini!

TO MAKE THE MARTINI:
Prepare your martini glass by dipping first in some of the Creme de Cacao then into the cocoa powder and chill this in the freezer. Then pour the Fig Liqueur and the Dark Creme de Cacao over a cup of ice in a cocktail shaker, add the 1/4 Tsp of Pollen Ranch Spicy Fennel Sea Salt and shake until well chilled. Pour this almost to the top of a chilled martini glass then slowly drizzle the heavy cream over the top for a marbled effect. Sprinkle on a bit more of the Spicy Fennel Sea Salt and sit back and enjoy!





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20120302

Happy National Banana Cream Pie Day!


HAPPY NATIONAL BANANA CREAM PIE DAY!

What's Better Than a Banana Cream Pie in The Face?
A Banana Cream Pie in your Martini Glass!

 MY OTHER



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20120301

Happy National Pig Day - PUT SOME PIG IN A BOTTLE!



It's
NATIONAL PIG DAY!

Put Some PIG in a Bottle!


Oink, Oink!





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Happy National Peanut Butter Lover's Day!


Peanut Butter Lovers Rejoice for Today is the National Peanut Butter Lover's Day!

Yes, today you get to stick your finger in the peanut butter jar
AND you get to drink

What's the nicest thing about Peanut Butter Martinis? They don't stick to the roof of your mouth!

P.S.
You might also be interested in knowing that Van Gogh Vodka will be releasing their PB&J Vodka at the end of March - a peanut butter and (raspberry) jelly flavored spirit set to temp the peanut butter lover for happy hour!  I would love to get my hands on a bottle of this to see if they actually managed to capture the essence of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

Happy National Peanut Butter Lover's Day





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20120229

A Cocktail for Leap Day on Leap Year!

Once every four years we get an extra day.  I figure that means we should get an extra martini!

Here's my LEAP DAY MARTINI:


2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce Blue Curacao
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 lemon twist, for garnish

This is my Leap Day Version of the Leap Year Cocktail created by Harry Craddock, for the Leap Year celebrations at the Savoy Hotel, London, on February 29th,


Happy Leap Day!

Updated February 2016.

*According to Gary Regan in his book, "Joy of Mixology"

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