Month: October 2020

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan

Ladies Night Out would not be complete without this 1988 cocktail made popular as Carrie Bradshaw's favorite drink in Sex in the City.
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Servings 1 Cocktail

Equipment

  • Cocktail Shaker
  • Cocktail Strainer
  • Fine Mesh Strainer
  • Coupe Glass or Martini Glass

Ingredients
  

  • 2 oz Citron Vodka preferably Absolut
  • 1 oz Orange Liqueur preferably Cointreau
  • 1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
  • ½ oz Cranberry Juice

Instructions
 

  • Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until chilled.
  • Strain into a chilled coupe or martini glass.
  • No garnish.
Keyword cranberry, vodka
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Shannon FreiseLeave a comment

Belgian Oysters

Belgian Oysters

Smokey and delicious oyster appetizer.
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Course Appetizer
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • Oyster Knife
  • Metal Backing Pan
  • Shellfish Rack (optional)
  • Outdoor Grill

Ingredients
  

  • 1 dozen Fresh Oysters large
  • 2 tbsp Tart Berry Jam gooseberry, wild blueberry, boysenberry, blackberry, black currant, or red currant
  • 2 tbsp Fresh Ginger minced
  • 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
  • 2 tbsp Mirin, Sake or Cream of Sherry
  • 2 tbsp Seasoned Rice Vinegar
  • Kosher Salt required if you are not using a shellfish rack

Instructions
 

  • Set up your grill for direct grilling and preheat to high.
  • Shuck the oysters and loosen from the bottom shell. Try not to spill the juices! Set the oysters in a shellfish rack or in a metal baking pan filled with kosher salt so the oysters stand upright. Discard the top shell.
  • Place a small spoonful (between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoon) of berry jam in each oyster. Add a small spoonful of chopped ginger, followed by a few drops of soy sauce, mirin, and vinegar.
  • Place shellfish rack on the grill until the juices and sauce bubble and the oyster is cooked, 4 to 6 minutes.

Video

Keyword Oysters
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Shannon FreiseLeave a comment

Friday Night Cocktails: Vieux Carré

Vieux Carré Cocktail

This 1930's New Orleans' classic cocktail goes down smooth and easy.
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Servings 1 Cocktail

Equipment

  • Mixing Glass
  • Mixing Spoon
  • Cocktail Strainer
  • Old Fashioned Glass

Ingredients
  

  • ¾ oz Rye Whiskey
  • ¾ oz Cognac
  • ¾ oz Sweet Vermouth
  • 1 tsp Benedictine
  • 2 dash Angostrua Bitters
  • 2 dash Peychaud's Bitters
  • 1 Lemon Peel

Instructions
 

  • Fill mixing glass 1/4 of the way with ice.
  • Combine ingredients and stir until properly diluted and chilled.
  • Strain over a single ice cube in and Old Fashioned glass.
  • Garnish with lemon peel

Video

Keyword benedictine, cognac, rye whiskey, sweet vermouth
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Shannon FreiseLeave a comment

Easy Roast Duck Legs

Easy Roast Duck Legs

Duck Confit "Con-fee" is an old French technique for preserving duck legs in fat. Although most people no longer have to keep duck through the winter without refrigeration, the technique is still used a lot because it makes for delicious eating. A favorite method of preparing meat in pre-fridge France was to preserve it in its own fat. It's similar to maceration, but instead of infusing booze with fruit, you're infusing meat with fat and flavor. Harmful bacteria can't thrive in dense fat, so historically, confit didn't have to be chilled to stay fresh. That said, please refrigerate your duck confit because we no longer live in medieval France.
I first had duck confit in Paris one night with my son Maxwell after attending a party at Sacré-Cœur. Coming back starving we went into the little cafe next to our small hotel and they had it on the menu with frits. Once I tasted it, I was hooked!
This recipe is not as labor intensive as confit or does it take as much time to prepare. This recipe will give you get meltingly tender meat topped with cracker-crispy skin. It’s salty, meaty, easy to eat with a bonus of crisp. We all love crispy!
This recipe was developed by Hank Shaw. I've made no modifications to this recipe.
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Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 2 hrs 10 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine French
Servings 2
Calories 250 kcal

Equipment

  • Cutting Board
  • sharp knife
  • baking dish. I used a 9 x 5 inch
  • sarah wrap

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Duck leg/thighs try to get the largest you can find
  • 1 tbsp Duck fat or good olive oil
  • 1-2 tbsp Coarse Salt

Instructions
 

  • Pat the duck or goose legs dry with paper towels. If you have store-bought duck legs, prick the skin of the duck all over with a needle or the point of a sharp knife. (I usually score the skin in a cross-hatch style.) Do not pierce the meat itself. Piercing the skin gives the fat a place to seep out. Salt your duck legs well and set them aside, skin side up. Let them come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 90 minutes.
  • Put the legs in a small casserole. How small? You want the casserole to be just big enough to hold the legs. Now you need some fat. If the legs themselves are fatty, you will only need to pour a thin sheen of oil or melted duck fat on the bottom of the casserole, then place the duck legs close together, but not overlapping. If the legs are skinny, add enough fat to come about 1/4 inch up the sides of the dish.
  • Put the casserole in the oven and turn it to 300°F; if you have a digital oven, you could even go down to 285°F. Do not preheat the oven. Every duck has a different level of fat, so doneness is more an art than a science. But it will take at least 90 minutes, and probably two hours, and even 3 or 4 hours won't hurt them. After 90 minutes, check the duck: It should be partly submerged in melted fat and the skin should be getting crispy.
  • When the skin is starting to look crispy, turn the heat to 375°F. Check after 15 minutes. You’re looking for a light golden brown. Remove the casserole from the oven and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before eating. Save the accumulated fat for cooking vegetables, other meats or for keeping your skin shiny. I strain the fat through a paper towel, but you really only need to do this if you are saving the fat for several weeks or months; strained, it will keep for 6 months tightly covered in the fridge. Well wrapped, the duck meat itself will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

Nutrition

Cholesterol: 131mgCalories: 250kcalSaturated Fat: 3gProtein: 31g
Keyword Duck Confit
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mikeshannLeave a comment

Bee’s Knees – 1948

Bee’s Knees – “The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks” 1948

This cocktail will cure whatever ails you! David Embury's recipe in The Fine Art of Mixing Drink adds orange juice to the classic recipe.
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Servings 1 Cocktail

Equipment

  • Cocktail Shaker
  • Cocktail Strainer
  • Fine Mesh Strainer
  • Coupe Glass

Ingredients
  

  • 2 oz Dry Gin
  • ¾ oz Fresh Lemon Juice strained
  • ¼ oz Fresh Orange Juice strained
  • ¾ oz Honey Syrup 2 parts honey to 1 part water
  • 3 dash Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters
  • Garnish Orange Swath

Instructions
 

  • Fill coupe glass with ice and water to chill.
  • Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker.
  • Add ice and shake until the outside of the shaker is frosty, about 20 seconds
  • Double strain into coupe glass
  • Grate with orange swath

Video

Keyword gin, honey
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Shannon FreiseLeave a comment