Sometimes one slips by

Here's the compelling story of an excellent wine we don't know about,  at least according to Dan Berger.  And yes,  he's someone to trust: secret wine

Smokehouse

What does a smokehouse have to do with beverage? I don't know, yet...
This was a test set-up--the finished smokehouse has a taller foundation and a latch for the firebox to replace the nylon strap. When I get a chance I'll do a more substantial post about the construction of the smokehouse.

Smokehouse action, but don't expect too much

Limoncello Factory

We fired-up the limoncello factory this morning.  Here are some photos.

Wednesday Wine

Elizabeth Spencer Pinot Blanc

I always like finding a crisp, refreshing white wine that is versatile--excellent as an aperitif, with seafood, or a bit of cheese and bread when dinner sounds too heavy. This pinot blanc fills the bill. Good acidity coupled with apple, melon and stonefruit makes for a compelling second sip. They only made 40 barrels. The price is reasonable--$12 wholesale/ $22 retail.

Elizabeth Spencer is distributed by The Henry Wine Group in Northern California

Jamaica-chipotle Infused Tequila

Jamaica-chipotle Infused Tequila

2 liters blanco tequila
2 cups jamaica flowers
2 large dried chipotle peppers
Pour 1 liter tequila into a large jar wide-mouth jar. Add the jamaica flowers and steep 3 hours. Add the chipotle peppers, steep an additional hour, or to taste. Strain through a fine mesh strainer. Add the second liter of tequila; bottle.

Notes: 

• This infusion doesn't taste good on its own--you need to make a drink with it.
• Chipotle pepper: our objective is to make an infusion that is flavorful, warm, but not spicy-hot. You might want something different. Make the effort to find dried chipotles, though you can experiment with whatever pepper you prefer. the modest heat, rich flavor and smokiness of the dried chipotle seemed perfect to us.
• Jamaica: freshness matters. Mostly we have used fresh, sticky jamaica from local Mexican markets. Once (only once), we bought jamaica from a trade supplier of herbs and spices. In addition to costing more than double what we pay at the local mercado, the flowers that arrived were dried out. I didn't think it would matter, but both the aroma and the color were significantly diminished, and the resultant infusion was inferior.

Recipe? It's just a guideline, right?

Spending a little time at Lark Creek Blue, I find they've allowed one of the drinks we created, Blood and Flowers, to drift from what it had been.
The drink has been very popular--it's got just the right balance of dangerous exoticism and understandable comfort. We infuse tequila with hibiscus flowers (jamaica) and chipotle peppers, then mix it with blood orange grenadine and fresh lime juice.
What tipped me off to the "drift" was the color of the drink. If there is one thing jamaica does well, it is provide color. The original Blood and Flowers was a stunning shade of magenta, opaque, intense--ready to stain anything you spilled it on. What I saw going out of the bar was pallid and wan--not the gutsy drink we built.
So what went wrong? As I started to ask around, everyone insisted they followed the recipe. And I believe they did, to a point. But recipes are collections of ingredients and methodology--what I came to understand is that the bar staff focused on the ingredients but neglected the methodology. Specifically, they used the right amount of jamaica, but steeped it for less than the 3 hours called for, and that made the drink completely different.
It's that collection of little details that make up the entire recipe, and often you can skimp a little, or adjust, but not all the time.

Blood and Flowers

Blood and Flowers

This drink has been very popular. It is beautiful--vibrant and deeply colored, a little exotic, but not too weird--just a hint of danger. It is also fast to pick up and uses inexpensive ingredients--an all around winner.

Blood and Flowers

1-1/2 ounces jamaica-chiptole infused blanco tequila

1/2 ounces blood orange grenadine

juice of half a lime

Method: 

Fill a highball glass with ice, set aside.

Measure jamaica-chiptole tequila, blood orange grenadine and lime juice into a shaker. 

Shake vigorously, strain into the iced highball glass.

Garnish with a candied orange peel. 

Blood Orange Grenadine

Blood Orange Grenadine

1 teaspoon allspice

2 star anise

4 ounces brandy

24 ounces of blood orange juice 

sugar

Smash spices and toast in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant, remove from heat. Add brandy (if you didn't remove the skillet from the heat, I hope the fireball didn't take off your eyebrows!). 

Add blood orange juice, stir in sugar to make a thick syrup. Continue to stir until all sugar "grit" is gone. Strain through a medium strainer.

Notes:

• Don't add the brandy to the hot pan, it is exciting, but dangerous.
• There's no hard and fast quantity of sugar, but a volume equivalent to the blood orange juice should be close. The grenadine should be thick--like maple syrup. It should not be gritty, and it is not cooked. Cooking blood orange juice (and many other fruit juices) significantly changes their flavor. To my taste, they are diminished and simpler, lacking in the bright fresh notes common to freshly squeezed juice.

Candied Orange Peel

Candied Orange Peel is an excellent drink garnish--though it takes more time to create than almost anything else we make for the bar.
 We garnish Blood and Flowers and El Presidente with it.

Candied Orange Peel

4 oranges

boiling water

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

Peel oranges with vegetable peeler

Blanch twice in boiling water

Combine sugar and water over medium heat, bring to a slow boil. Add blanched orange peel. Cook 45-75 minutes, until syrup thickens, and syrup reaches 234 degrees or attains the "soft ball" stage.

Drain peels, reserving orange syrup for another use.

Toss peels in sugar, pressing flat as necessary.

Notes: 

• We like peels taken as one strip, from pole to pole, of the orange. They are less likely to curl when cooked, and make a better garnish.
• Don't skimp on blanching the peels, or they'll be bitter.
• It takes practice to cook the orange peels to the right stage They shouldn't discolor, but need to be cooked long enough that when cooled, they are crispy. A candy thermometer or practice are your best bets. 
• We add the orange syrup to a fruit compote served at brunch--don't throw it out, it is very flavorful.

Wednesday Wine Notes

Random (interesting) wine links:

• Virginia makes good wines
• Can chain restaurants have great beverage programs?
• The rundown on vermouth--good resource
• Or just make your own here or here
• The future is already here--2014 harvest report

First you steal an immersion circulator...

I took the plunge and built an immersion circulator 
a couple of years ago. It was a fun project, neither too difficult nor expensive.

There are also inexpensive machines aimed at consumers which should easily handle drink related chores. The future looks bright too.

Truth be told, I haven't used mine a whole lot, but I can imagine a number of ways it might help make some cool drink ingredients.

Here are a couple of links to get you thinking:

• Old Fashioned
• Mulled Wine
• Eggnog
• How about Popcorn Infused Buttered Rum...

Thanks to Seattle Food Geek, for the circulator instructions.

Cost, Price and the Visa Card

When I mention a price or cost of an item without additional information,  I'll be referring to the retail cost,  what I actually paid. If I quote a wholesale price I will note it.  I'll try to remember to provide the source,  especially if the item is difficult to find. 

Since some items are sold in my restaurants I may walk you through cost calculations,  pricing decision-making,  stuff like that.  You'll see that some of what we sell doesn't cost much. Hopefully you'll understand that the big equation - - when at the end of the month we tally all of the expenses and set them aside the revenue - - still earns us less than ten cents on the dollar. 

There is no magic Visa Card that funds losses.  In other words,  the rare item we can sell at a high profit margin is offset by many that we cannot,  hopefully the overall result allows us to stay open and do it all again.

Oleo Saccharum

In our restaurants we juice a lot of lemons. Which led me think I could best Jeffrey Morgenthaler's self-described "lazy" Oleo Saccharum method, if not in quality, at least in lazy-ness. Morgenthaler, you see, peels lemons, but I just collect the left-over peels after the lemons have been juiced. These hollowed-out lemon halves are mixed in a big bowl with sugar, them vacuum sealed in bags. We date them and label them (don't want to confuse them with salted, preserved lemons) and store them in the refrigerator. By the time we're ready to use the Oleo Saccharum, the lemon oils and whatever juice remains have dissolved the sugar. The exact ratio of lemon to sugar is a matter of feel, but equal amounts by weight would be a good starting point.

By the way, buy Jeffrey Morgenthaler's book, it is excellent, and represents years of learning and hard work, yours for the taking, with just a few hours of reading. Talk about a time saver....

Limoncello Hack

For this first post, I share a recipe developed at Lark Creek Blue (with apologies to Jeffery Morgenthaler)  for quick-and-dirty Limoncello. Aficionados of the classic Italian lemon liqueur might wince, but I like this version, it is quick, easy, inexpensive and makes an excellent ingredient in cocktails, punches and sangria.

Limoncello

Makes 50 Ounces

Ingredients:
24 ounces of Oleo Saccharum
1 liter vodka

Method:
Strain the Oleo Saccharum through a fine mesh strainer or double layer of cheesecloth to remove any seeds, bits of fruit or undissolved sugar. Stir together with the vodka. Bottle, chill, enjoy.