Tastebuds: A Taste Catering Blog

Taste's Pomegranate Martini

I see pomegranate martini's in my future here in Palm Springs.... growing right outside my window. Convenient!".

Well, you may not have the Pomegranate tree right outside your window but at least I can give you my recipe for my favorite pomegranate martini.

  Muddle seeds from 1 pomegranate with 1 tspoon raw cane sugar

Add: 2 oz Charbay Rum, 1 oz Cointreau

Shake in cocktail shaker with Ice

Strain into Martini Glass

Add: Fresh Peeled Orange Zest
Serve
Enjoy!

Savoring & Imbibing End of Season Strawberries

Tequila Rosé

This is an elegant & delicate summer tequila refresher. It is both tangy & slightly smoky. The ripe strawberries pair beautifully with the robust tequila and are brought to life by the juice & zest of the Meyer Lemon. Cachaça can be substituted for a smokier version however; it is not for the faint of heart…

Enjoy!

Tequila Rosé, Yield 2 Drinks

• 5-6 Ripe Strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 1 Teaspoon Sugar
• 1 Meyer Lemon, cut into 8ths
• 4 Oz 100% Agave Tequila
• 2 Oz Cointreau
•  Salt for Rim of Glass (Optional)

In a cocktail shaker, muddle gently Strawberries, Sugar, Meyer Lemon, Tequila & Cointreau
Strain & press on solids to extract all flavors & return liquid to cocktail shaker.
Add Ice & Shake
Pour into Martini Glass & Serve

Summer Bramble

Finally Summer is upon us and we know this not only because the days are longer and the fog is thicker, at least here in the Bay Area, but because of the glorious sight of berries flooding the various Bay Area farmer’s markets…olallieberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and my very favorite Rubus fruticosus – otherwise know as the Common Blackberry.

With it’s intense flavor & aromatic bouquet it is not difficult to imagine  great culinary possibilities for this humble bramble bush fruit.  One such possibility is to create a divine summertime thirst quenching cocktail beverage: The Summer Bramble

Summer Bramble                       Yield 1 drink

2 OZ Charbay Vodka (Gin may also be used. I recommend our locally made Gin: Distillery No. 209)
3 OZ Fresh Home Made Lemonade
Shake in cocktail shaker
Pour into old-fashioned glass full w/ crushed ice
Pour 1 teaspoon only of Crème de Mure (Blackberry Liqueur) over the top or June Taylor’s Organic Blackberry & Lemon Verbena Syrup (available online from June Taylor or at the San Francisco Farmer’s Market).
Do Not Stir
Garnish with 1 blackberry

Enjoy!

Brilliant Taste Gimlet

When Chef Chris returned from the Farmer’s Market last Saturday with a bushel of Sweet Limes from Bernard Ranch he made a delicious sweet lime infused simple syrup & brought it to me.  Coincidentally I was planning a meal for some friends that night & loved the idea of doing a specialty cocktail. The flavor was as the fruit suggests: Sweet Lime.  I began to toy with the idea of making something with tequila but then dismissed it thinking that the strong flavors of agave would diminish the sweet lime…. gin came to mind.  I was sold.  Gin Gimlet.  Better yet, a gin, basil & sweet lime gimlet!  The result was nothing short of Brilliant. Descriptions that come to mind are bright, vivid, citrusy, exotic, zesty, unusual, delicious, vibrant…. try one!

 

Fresh Sweet Lime & Basil Gin Gimlet

Yield 2 Gimlets

Muddle in Cocktail Shaker:

• 2 Tablespoons Sweet Lime Syrup (see Chef Chris’ recipe below)
• 6 – 8 Basil Leaves – torn
• ½ Fresh Lime – Cut into small pieces

 

Add:

• 6 oz Distillery 209 Gin
• Ice

 

Shake & pour into 2 chilled 4oz martini glasses

Note: For a cleaner look this can be strained into the martini glasses but I quite like the flavor & look of the basil in the glass!

 

Sweet Lime Syrup Recipe

(makes 1 cup)

Zest of 4 sweet limes (juice limes as well and reserve juice for another use – juice freezes well in ice cube trays for future cocktails or children’s snacks!)

0.5 cup sugar

0.5 cup water

 Combine all in sauce pot and heat until sugar is dissolved.  Let zest steep in simple syrup for approximately 30 minutes, then strain through fine chinois.

 

Note: Sweet limes can be found from Bernard Ranch at the Saturday Ferry Plaza Market or from the nice Russian citrus growers who are at the Saturday Alemany Market and the Wednesday Civic Center market.

Taste O' Buddha

Inspired by the most wonderful Hand of Buddha citrus I think I have ever seen at the at San Francisco’s Farmer’s Market last week combined with a penchant for Hangar One’s Buddha’s Hand Citron Vodka our pastry chef Yigit Pura & I decided to go to work on a cocktail to satiate our appetite & infatuation with this most beautiful & sexy fruit.              

This is what we came up with….

 

TASTE O' BUDDHA - yield 2 martini drinks

• 3 OZ Hangar One Buddha’s Hand Citron vodka
• 1 OZ Hamada Farm’s Hand of Buddha Simple Syrup*   (recipe below)
• 1 OZ Monin Passion Fruit Syrup
• 1 tsp Fresh Ginger extract**   (recipe below)
• Juice of 1 Lime
• Hand of Buddha peel for Garnish

METHOD

• Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with Ice
• Shake well
• Serve in Chilled Martini Glass & Garnish with Hand of Buddha peel for garnish

 

*Hamada Farm’s *Hand of Buddha  Simple Syrup - yields 1/2 cup

• 2 Hamada Farm’s Buddha Hands
• 3 Quarts Water
• 4 Cups of Sugar

METHOD

Zest the outside peel from one of the Buddha Hands into the water, and bring to a boil with the sugar.  In the meanwhile, slice the other Buddha Hand into thin medallions and place into the syrup, which should be at a low simmer.  Cook until the Buddha hand is translucent.  Let cool over night.  The next day you will have a very aromatic syrup.  Also the medallions will be beautifully candied, so you can use them in your desserts or as a garnish in cocktails

**Fresh Ginger Extract

Using a box or microplane grater, grate a ½ inch (1 oz approx) of Fresh Ginger onto cheesecloth or kitchen towel. Moving quickly squeeze grated ginger through cloth. This should provide at least 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger extract.

The Perfect Manhattan and the Secrets Thereof….

There are many recipe’s and theories on the best manhattan. I believe the secret is a perfect ratio of all ingredients which in and of themselves are exquisite. This is my favorite:

 

2 oz Makers Mark Bourbon

1 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth

3 Generous dashes of Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters

3 of June Taylor’s Cherries macerated in Kirsch

 

Shake with Ice and served in chilled martini glass with Cherry garnish

The Perfect Cocktail Glass

I knew I was hooked the first time my father-in-law served me an ice cold gin & tonic in a beautiful green and gold highball glass.  It was the summer of 1974 and my husband and I were honeymooning in northern Minnesota at his family's summer cottage.  The cocktail seemed very elegant to me and tasted so much better served in the perfect glass.  The next day my search for special glassware began, a hobby that, much to my husband's dismay, continues to this day.  I'm not obsessive about it...well not much anyway but whenever I'm in an antique store, at a flea market or browsing an estate sale, glassware is never far from my mind.  Now, with the new hit series "Mad Men" and a general interest in all things "mid-century", my collection of cocktail glasses are very timely!  I found the glassware featured in Mags' post, "Tangerine Old Fashion", at the Alameda Point Antique and Collectibles Fair which takes place the first Sunday of every month on the old Alameda Point Navel Air Station.  I highly recommend checking out the Fair and perhaps you will find something to feed your obsession, er I mean...hobby.

Tangerine Old Fashioned

This is one of my favorite Holiday twists on a classic cocktail.  In it I combine seasonal fruit with other excellent ingredients to provide a beautiful amber cocktail which is neither too sweet nor too tart.

Tangerine Old Fashioned

Yield 4 drinks (10oz Rocks Glasses)

 

1 large Tangelo Tangerine (divide into quarters with skin on & then cut each quarter in to 2 – 3 pieces )

8 Brown Sugar Cubes

8 OZ of Makers Mark Bourbon

4 OZ Rosso Sweet Vermouth

June Taylor’s Cherries in Kirsch

Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters - Optional

 

Method:

Set out glasses with 2 Brown Sugar Cubes ea.

Add a dash or two of Orange Bitters (if the tangerines seem bitter or it’s a first crop I omit the bitters as usually the skin is sufficiently bitter)

Add the quarter portion of Tangerine to each glass

Gently muddle the sugar, tangerine & bitters if included, releasing the tangerine oil from the skin & also releasing the tangerine juice

Fill up each glass with crushed ice

Pour 2oz of Makers Mark bourbon in each glass followed by 1 oz ea. of Sweet Vermouth… by adding the sweet vermouth purists might disagree that this drink should no longer be called an ‘Old Fashioned’ but in reality that ship sailed when I brewed up the ‘tangerine’ element!

At this point patiently stir the drink making sure to reach down to the bottom of the glass and swirl the fruit elements encouraging the muddled ingredients around the glass

Place one of June Taylor’s Cherries on top and serve!

 

Enjoy!