Drink Matron

Category: Recipes

  • The Controversial History of the Mai Tai

    Like any good cocktail, the Mai Tai begins with a good old fashioned controversy over who really invented it. The story of the Mai Tai begins in Oakland, California in 1944, when Victor Bergeron, also known as Trader Vic, claimed to have invented the cocktail at his restaurant.

    Trader Vic stakes his claim as Mai Tai Inventor

    According to the Trader Vic website, Bergeron was looking for a way to mix a bottle of his 17-year old Jamaican rum, J Wray Nephew. He wanted to mix it with something that would accentuate the flavor rather than over power it, so he mixed the rum with fresh lime, orange curacao and Rock Candy Syrup with a splash of French Orgeat and poured it over shaved ice.

    Naming the cocktail was easy, Vic said in a 1970 statement posted on the Trader Vic’s restaurant website.

    “I stuck in a branch of fresh mint and gave two of them to Ham and Carrie Guild, friends from Tahiti, who were there that night. Carrie took one sip and said, ‘Mai Tai – Roa Ae!’ In Tahitian this means ‘Out of This World – The Best.’ Well, that was that. I named the drink ‘Mai Tai.’”

    Don the Beachcomber says the Mai Tai is his

    However, although Vic claimed to have invented the drink, his rival, Don the Beachcomber, jumped on the bandwagon to claim that it was actually him who had invented the exotic cocktail. While Don had invented a similar drink, it was vastly different from Trader Vic’s in both ingredients and taste.

    Legacy of the Mai Tai

    For years after its invention, the Mai Tai enjoyed a large amount of popularity and was featured in Trader Vic’s restaurants as well as other Tiki themed restaurants. It was also famously shown in the Elvis Presley film “Blue Hawaii.”

    Today, the Mai Tai continues to maintain its popularity at Tiki-themed bars and restaurants. Variations on the drink have always been around, but most Mai Tai fans prefer to drink it as Trader Vic originally intended.

    Because of the popularity of the Mai Tai, the original rum used to make the drink was soon unavailable, and was replaced with other long-aged rums. Today, it is recommended that the drink be made with Jamaican rum aged either 8 or 15 years.

    Old style Mai Tai

    Ingredients:

    • 1 oz Fine Jamaican Rum (aged 15 or 8 years)
    • 1 oz Martinique Rum
    • 1/2 oz Orange Curacao
    • 1/2 oz Orgeat Syrup
    • Juice from one freshly squeezed Lime

    Add ingredients together in a shaker and shake vigorously. Pour in a cocktail glass over ice. Garnish with lime and sprig of mint, if available.

     

  • The Mojito: A Caribean cocktail with a centuries old history

    The mojito is a refreshing summer drink that is sure to cool even on the most sweltering of days. But what many do not know is that its history begins with pirates.Made famous in modern times due to Ernest Hemingway’s love for the drink, and seeing a new surge more recently due to the Bacardi Company’s new ready-to-make advertising campaign, the mojito has a surprisingly long history.

    Pirate Origins

    According to The Mojito Company, the story of the mojito begins in the mid 1580’s on pirate Francis Drake’s ship when his associate, Richard Drake, the crew “doctor” would use aguardiente, a predecessor of rum, with sugar, lime and mint as a medicinal cocktail. Many on the crew would enjoy the drink during their pillaging of the Cuban islands, and because of this, the cocktail became popular throughout the Caribbean world. Drake named the beverage El Draque, the dragon, after Sir Francis.

    In the 1800’s, when rum became popular, it replaced the aguardiente, and the mojito was born.

    Another story states that the mojito was invented by slaves working Cuban sugar cane fields in the 1800’s. This story shares similarities with the origin of the daiquiri; however, and many believe the stories have become confused over the years.

    Hemingway and the Mojito

    It is not surprising then, that a cocktail that originated in the Caribbean would become the ideal summer cool down. Ernest Hemingway adored the drink and was said to have enjoyed it at La Bodequita in Havana, Cuba. He is said to have written, “I drink my mojitos at la Bodequita and at La Floridita,” on the wall there.

    The Mojito

    Ingredients and hardware:

    • 10 – 12 mint fresh mint leaves
    • 2 Tablespoons simple syrup
    • 2 oz. light rum
    • 1 lime, sliced
    • Club Soda
    • Lime wedge and mint sprigs for garnish
    • Muddler

    In a highball glass, gently crush the mint leaves and the sliced lime with a muddler. Add syrup, and fill glass with ice. Add rum and top with club soda. Stir to mix. Garnish with lime wedge and a few sprigs of mint.

    Recipe variations

    Like many summer cocktails, people experiment in order to get exactly what they’re looking for. In the case of the mojito, many different flavors can be added to the original recipe to spark new taste sensations. In order to add more flavor, one can either add the desired fruit (raspberry, mango, strawberry, etc) to the lime and mint during the muddling process. One can also replace the lime with these fruits if desired.

    Another way to get more flavor is to use flavored rums. Rum flavors range from raspberry to watermelon to orange.

    No matter how you enjoy your mojito, remember, drink responsibly. Always have a designated driver and remember to know your limits!

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  • Cooking With Jack Daniel’s

    Throughout my life, I’ve eaten at several restaurants that served one or more items made with Jack Daniel’s:  Jack Daniel’s Cake, Jack Daniel’s Ice Cream, Jack Daniel’s Barbecue, etc.  Where did this idea for using Jack Daniel’s in everything come from?  Most of the time, things like this can’t be traced back to a definitive source, but in this case it can: Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House.  You see, when he was alive, Jack Daniel used to take his midday meal at the boarding house every day, and his famous whiskey started making its way into the the food.

    One hundred years later, the boarding house is still in operation and being run by none other than Lynne Tolley, the great grand-niece of Jack Daniel and chief taster at the distillery.  So the recipes remain unchanged and word has spread around the country:  Jack Daniel’s is not just for drinking anymore.

    Skillet Steaks with Lynchburg Pan Sauce

    • 2 Porterhouse or T-bone steaks, about 1 ½ to 2 inches thick
    • Vegetable oil
    • Salt and pepper
    • 2 tablespoons butter
    • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
    • ¼ cup Jack Daniel’s® Tennessee Whiskey

    Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat until very hot, about 10 minutes. Generously rub steaks with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook steaks one at a time. Sear steak on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook an additional 5 minutes for medium-rare; 6 minutes for medium. Remove the steak from the skillet and keep warm.

    Repeat with the second steak and keep warm. Melt the butter in the skillet; stir in the Worcestershire sauce and Jack Daniel’s®. Bring to a boil and cook about 2 minutes. Slice steaks, if desired. Pour sauce over steaks and serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

    Jack Black Bean Dip

    • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
    • 1 medium onion, chopped
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 2 cans (about 15 ounces each) black beans, drained
    • ¼ cup Jack Daniel’s® Tennessee Whiskey
    • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
    • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
    • Hot pepper sauce, to taste

    Suggested Toppings: sour cream, chopped avocado, chopped tomato, sliced green onions, jalapeño peppers, chopped cilantro.

    Heat oil in a large saucepan. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook over medium heat until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in beans, Jack Daniel’s®, and cumin. Cook until bubbly and heated through. Mash beans lightly with a wooden spoon or a fork. Stir in lemon juice and hot pepper sauce. Serve warm or at room temperature in a serving dish topped with your choice of the suggested toppings. Makes about 2 ½ cups.

    Try making cheesy Mini Corncakes to serve with this dip. Use the recipe for Cast-Iron Cornbread (above) and stir in a cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese. Simply drop spoonfuls of the batter on a hot greased griddle and cook just like regular little pancakes. Add a little more milk or water if the batter seems too thick. Mini Corncakes are also wonderful with pulled pork barbecue. Top the barbecue bites with a dollop of Clear Vinegar Slaw (see recipe below).

    Miss Mary’s Fudge Pie

    • ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
    • 1 ½ cups sugar
    • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
    • 2 eggs, beaten
    • ½ cup evaporated milk
    • 1 tablespoon Jack Daniel’s® Tennessee Whiskey
    • 1 (9-inch) graham cracker pie crust
    • Sweetened whipped cream

    Heat oven to 350°F. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar and cocoa powder. Stir in eggs, evaporated milk, and Jack Daniel’s®. Pour into the prepared pie crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until set. Cool completely. Serve slices with a dollop of whipped cream sweetened with sugar and a little Jack Daniel’s®.

    Sprinkle cream with a dusting of cocoa powder. Makes 8 servings.

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  • Lynchburg Lemonade

    When I think of Jack Daniel’s, the first cocktail that comes to mind is the Lynchburg Lemonade.  It’s one of those cocktails that is so entrenched in a particular spirit, that you can’t help but think about it when that spirit is mentioned (like the margarita with tequila).

    Created by Tony Mason in 1980, you can certainly tell that the Lynchburg Lemonade was developed in the deep South.  It’s a refreshing drink that would quench your thirst and cool you down on the hottest of summer afternoons.  When drinking it, you can almost envision yourself sitting on a porch swing on a lazy Sunday, with nothing but the buzzing of bugs to otherwise occupy your mind.

    The whiskey permeates the entire drink, lending itself to every aspect, but with the subtlest of tones.  You can smell the Jack, but not quite.  You can taste, the Jack, but not quite.  All the flavors in this cocktail blend perfectly to balance the harshness of each flavor into a crisp, sweet drink.

    Lynchburg Lemonade Recipe

    • 1 part Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7
    • 1 part triple sec
    • 1 part sour mix
    • 4 parts lemon-lime soda

    Build ingredients in a Collins glass full of ice.  Garnish with a cherry.

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  • The Vodka Drink Gallery

    We enjoyed putting together some fun vodka drinks this week. Of course, there were the traditional drinks, screwdriver, vodka martini (which, I was thrilled to learn is actually called a Kangaroo), Lemon Drop, and Bloody Mary, but we played around with some of the recipes and found ourselves enjoying some super tasty concoctions.

    Fizz Driver

    Okay, this one is a no brainer. We just added about an ounce of club soda to the top of a screwdriver. Simple, and, in case you’re drinking cheap vodka, it will cut that bitter taste. Do I really need to write the recipe?

    Even better, for some extra flavor, add about a half ounce of grenadine for flavor. I recommend the real stuff (made with pomegranate) but anything you’ve got will definitely work.

    Branded with a Screwdriver

    Here’s a fun one. We made chocolate covered cherries with brandy over Christmas and had some cherry flavored brandy left over. We were lucky enough to find that the combination of a screwdriver with the brandy was absolutely delicious.

    Ingredients:

    • 2 oz Vodka
    • 2 oz Cherry Brandy
    • Orange juice

    In a tall glass, pour the vodka and orange juice over ice. Add the brandy on the top. Garnish with a cherry.

    Dirty Martini (Dirty Kangaroo)

    Okay, yes, this is still traditional, but yum yum yum. I love Dirty Martinis more than I can really express. But then, I’ve loved olives since I was a kid, so it makes sense that this would rank at the top of my drink list.

    Ingredients:

    • 2 oz Vodka
    • 1.5 oz Olive Juice
    • Fumes of Dry Vermouth

    In a martini glass, put a small drop of vermouth and swirl it around the glass. Tip the glass over to get rid of any excess vermouth.

    In a shaker, combine the vodka and lime juice, and shake softly. Pour into the martini glass. Garnish with 3 olives.

    Lemon Drop

    There are plenty of recipes for the lemon drop, and even this one isn’t the one I used to serve. But, it’s a lot tastier and makes a lot more sense than many that I’ve seen in the past.

    Ingredients:

    • 1.5 oz Vodka
    • .5 oz fresh lemon juice
    • Sugar

    Rim a martini glass with sugar. Combine the vodka and lemon juice in a shaker with ice and shake. Strain into the glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

    Bloody Mary

    Nobody makes a Bloody the same, and Adrian and I are no different. Try our versions, or make up your own. That’s the beauty of the Bloody – no two are the same.

    Matron’s Bloody Mary

    Ingredients:

    • 3 oz Vodka
    • 3 oz Tomato juice
    • 10 dashes of Celery salt
    • 7 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
    • 1 shake of Tabasco
    • 1 oz of Pickle juice

    Fill a pint glass with ice and shake in Worcestershire, celery salt and Tabasco. Add vodka, pickle juice and tomato juice. Pour mix into another pint glass and back again. Repeat. Garnish with a pickle and 2 olives.

    Adrian’s Bloody Mary

    Ingredients:

    • 3 oz Vodka
    • 8 oz Tomato Juice
    • 1 Dash of Celery Salt
    • 4-6 shakes of Worcestershire
    • 3-4 shakes of Pepper
    • 1/2 tsp Horseradish
    • Celery Stalk Garnish

    Fill a pint a glass with ice. Pour in the vodka and tomato juice and then add spices. Stir together with celery stalk.

    So that’s what we’ve been drinking with vodka this week! There’s plenty more that we wanted to try, but life got in the way. But forget about us! What have you been drinking? What are your favorite vodka cocktails?

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  • In the Kitchen: Limoncello

    Limoncello is an Italian digestif liqueur originating in the southern coastal Amalfi region of Italy. Usually served ice cold in chilled ceramic cups or shot glasses, this liqueur is great as a refreshing after dinner drink, or just for fun.

    The most distinctive thing about limoncello is its bright yellow coloring. The coloring is based on the infusion of the outer zest (peels) from lemons and grain alcohol, Everclear, Italian grappa or vodka. While it is bottled and sold commercially, making your own limoncello can be a very simple process.

    While there are many limoncello recipes, we’ve decided to use Food Network’s Chef Giada De Laurentiis recipe. It will take less than one week to complete the process, compared to some more traditional recipes that take up to two months.

    The ingredients for Limoncello are simple: zests from 10 lemons, a 750mL bottle of vodka, and simple syrup.

    Peel the lemons and remove all the excess pith from the inside. Removing the pith is important, as it will keep the limoncello from getting a bitter taste.

    After the zests are ready, place them in a pitcher and pour in the vodka. Cover and let the mixture soak at room temperature for four days.

    After four days, prepare the simple syrup and combine it with the vodka mixture. Let it set overnight, then strain the mixture through a mesh strainer and discard the peels. Bottle the limoncello and chill for a minimum of four hours before serving.

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  • Found on the Internet – Cocktail Shortcuts: Gourmet Mixers

    What you mix your booze with is just as important as what booze you’re using.

    http://liquor.com/liquor/articles/cocktail-shortcuts-gourmet-mixers/

  • Warm winter cocktails

    It’s December, which not only means Christmas time, but also even colder temperatures, heavier jackets, first snows and first snow storms.

    While the first snow may leave you slipping and sliding all over the road until you’re used to winter driving again, the snow storm allows you to shut yourself in, away from the chances of ending up in the ditch sideways waiting for a tow truck. On these days, it’s nice to curl around the fire, TV, or up with a big book and enjoy a nice hot winter cocktail.

    Some hot winter cocktails are easy to make, and some take a little time, but all will warm your bones on a blistery winter day.

    Spiked Coffee or Hot Chocolate

    Hot chocolate and coffee alone are great for warming up, but get even better with a little Irish cream. Use as much or as little as you want, but once you’ve had any, don’t go out to use the snowblower.

    Irish Coffee

    Ingredients:

    • 1 1/2 oz. Irish whiskey
    • 1 tsp Brown sugar
    • 6-8 oz. Coffee
    • Heavy Cream

    Combine whiskey, sugar and coffee in a mug and stir until dissolved. Float cold cream gently on top. Do not mix.

    Hot Buttered Rum

    Ingredients:

    • 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
    • 4 tsp Butter or margarine, softened
    • Dash Ground Cinnamon
    • Dash Ground Nutmeg
    • 1 1/2 cup Warm Water
    • 1/2 cup Rum
    • Lemon Slices (optional)

    In a two-cup measure, stir together the brown sugar, butter or margarine, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in the warm water. Serve immediately in mugs.

    Tom & Jerry

    Ingredients for batter:

    • 12 eggs, separated
    • 1 pound sugar (if you’d like it sweeter, add more)
    • 2 ounces aged rum
    • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
    • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
    • 1/2 tsp ground allspice

    Ingredients for Serving:

    • Brandy
    • Aged rum
    • Hot milk
    • Boiling water

    Beat the egg yolks well, then gradually whisk in the sugar. Add the rum and spices. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the yolk mixture until well mixed. Keep batter refrigerated until serving.

    For each drink, put 2 ounces of batter into a mug. Add 1 oz each of brandy and aged rum, and fill with equal parts hot milk and boiling water. Top with grated nutmeg. If using a small coffee cup or classic Tom & Jerry mug, you can cut the serving size in half. Serve with a spoon.

    Just a note: While this recipe is for making your own Tom & Jerry mix, in case you have no time or no urge to make it, frozen batter can be found in bakeries or the dairy coolers at grocery stores, in liquor stores or on the internet.

    Hot Toddy

    Ingredients

    • 1 oz brandy, whiskey or rum
    • 1 Tbsp honey
    • 1/4 lemon
    • 1 cup hot water
    • 1 tea bag

    Coat the bottom of a mug with honey.  Add your chosen liquor and the lemon juice. Separately, heat water in a tea kettle and add the tea bag to make hot tea. Pour the tea into the mug and stir.

    Bourbon Furnace

    Ingredients:

    • 6 oz. hot apple cider
    • 1 1/2 oz. bourbon
    • 3 whole cloves
    • 1 stick of cinnamon

    Combine cider and bourbon in a mug. Garnish with cloves and cinnamon.

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