When it comes to bourbon, it’s never too early to start making plans. So even though we have to wait until September, mark your calendars for celebrating Bourbon Heritage Month in Paducah, Kentucky. Paducah, a river town with rich past, is a UNESCO Creative City. And when it comes to bourbon, that creativity is on display at several of the city’s restaurants.
Barrel and Bond is a bourbon-centric bar in Historic Downtown Paducah, recently named one of the Best Bars in Bourbon Country according to Bourbon Review. The new bourbon and cocktail bar features one of largest selections in the United States, boasting more than 1,400 Bourbons and American whiskeys. Expertly curated cocktails and charcuterie boards offer a perfectly paired introduction to Kentucky food and drink. Take the bourbon experience to the next level by attending a meeting of the Paducah Bourbon Society.
Freight House, a farm-to-table restaurant in Paducah, serves up traditional Southern flavors, paired with locally sourced meats and garden-fresh fare. Freight House Paducah features a full bar and with a staggering selection of bourbons, as well as a seasonal rotation of cocktails and craft beer. Named one of America’s Best Bourbon Bars by The Bourbon Review and Buffalo Trace.
This cocktail, which has been a year in the making, is inspired by the Kentucky Buck cocktail. FoxBriar takes this ginger beer-based cocktail and combines it with the ratios of a French 75 to create something new and special.
While you’re waiting, here are some recipes to make.
The following recipes are courtesy of the Freight House in Paducah.
Freight House Fried Chicken
marinade
1 pt buttermilk
1/4 c hot sauce
1 T granulated garlic
1 T granulated onion
1 T granulated salt
breader
4 c flour
2 T smoked paprika
2 T salt
1 T cayenne pepper
for the marinade
mix ingredients together, then add chicken to marinate. marinate for about 4 hours.
to fry chicken
mix all breader ingredients into a bowl.
remove chicken from marinade and shake of extra liquid. dredge pieces one by one, shaking excess. make sure to coat chicken well.
let rest at room temperature for 10 min while you heat your oil.
heat oil on stove top to 360 degrees.
slowly lower chicken into oil and fry for about 5-8 minutes (depending on thickness. longer if you have a chicken that has the bone in it) to reach a temp of 160-165f. breading will have a golden brown color.
season with salt.
Champagne Chess Pie
ingredients
1 9 in pie crust (rolled, crimped, and chilled in refrigerator)
2 1/4 c sugar
1/2 t kosher salt
1 1/3 T yellow corn meal
4 1/2 eggs beaten well
1 1/2 T champagne reduction (see below)
1/2 T white wine vinegar
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
6 oz melted butter
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 325 F. combine the sugar, salt, and cornmeal in a medium size bowl and mix. add your eggs, champagne, vinegar, and vanilla and whisk to combine. add the butter and whisk again. make sure everything is well mixed with no lumps. it should be kind of thick.
Pour the mixture into your pie crust.
Bake the pie for 55-60 minutes on the bottom rack of your oven. the pie should have golden brown crust and be pretty firm when done cooking. You only want a little jiggle when you give it a wiggle.
Let it cool for at least 4 hours before serving. it can be cooked the day before and kept in the fridge. bring to room temperature before serving.
For champagne reduction: reduce 1 bottle (25.4 oz) of champagne to 3/4 cup. will hold in the fridge for months.
Freight House Deviled Eggs
1 dozen eggs
hard boil, chill, and split eggs in half (we cut ’em horizontally). remove yolks and set aside.
ingredients
3 e yolks
2 T salt
1 t granulated onion
1/4 c caramelized onion should be dark
4 T red wine vinegar
1 c vegetable oil
1/4 c sour cream
instructions
add all ingredients but the veg oil and sour cream to food processor.
process for about 1 minute.
slowly add oil. taste for seasoning. the base will be highly seasoned.
add the egg yolk and process until smooth.
add the sour cream and pulse to incorporate.
pipe into egg whites. garnish with caramelized onions.
Loving bourbon doesn’t relegate you to neat pours for the rest of your life. In fact, one of the most fun ways to enjoy bourbon is in a delicious, balanced cocktail. But cocktails get a bad rap among bourbon enthusiasts. When picturing a typical bourbon drinker, you may think of older men in leather chairs with a glass of whiskey in hand with a cigar, but there’s more to bourbon than that. As a spirit, bourbon’s varied flavor profiles intrigue whiskey enthusiasts and cocktail drinkers alike.
Whiskey drinkers are uniquely poised to develop an appreciation for bourbon cocktails and to use them to grow the bourbon community. Let’s look at 5 myths about bourbon cocktails, and one truth you need to know to turn your understanding of the bourbon culture (and cocktails) on its head.
Myth #1: You have to drink bourbon neat to call yourself a bourbon drinker
I’ve heard it all before – a true bourbon drinker would never put a bourbon they loved in a cocktail. This is usually followed by a statement that if you can’t drink your bourbon neat you shouldn’t call yourself a bourbon drinker.
If someone identifies as a gin drinker or a vodka drinker, do you assume they only drink that spirit neat? No! You probably think they love martinis, gin and tonics, or cocktails with those spirits. Why is bourbon any different? One thing I know about bourbon culture from the mouths of people who make it, age it and bottle it is that bourbon culture is meant to be welcoming and inclusive. Every master distiller I’ve talked to has said something similar to “as long as you’re enjoying the bourbon, drink it any way you like.”
You do not have to sit in leather chairs in a dimly lit interior of a dusty bar filled with old men and hipster dudes with a glass of neat bourbon to call yourself a bourbon drinker.
As chair of Bourbon Women (https://www.bourbonwomen.org), an organization dedicated to bringing bourbon culture, education, and experiences to women throughout the US, I see us gathering women together over bourbon cocktails, food pairings, and fun events. This broadens the definition of a “bourbon drinker” to include anyone who loves bourbon, however they love it.
Bourbon culture has hospitality at its heart, and redefining the notion of a bourbon drinker to include bourbon cocktail lovers is critical.
Myth #2: Use your bad bourbon to make cocktails
I see this statement frequently in whiskey reviews: “I’ll save this for cocktails.” A professional whiskey reviewer is likely to be sensitive enough to taste those same off notes in a cocktail as in a neat pour. I know I can. Don’t save the “bad bourbon” for cocktails. Give it to someone who loves it.
Your daily drinker, your good bourbon, the bourbon that’s a go-to for sharing with friends and family is the perfect whiskey for cocktails. You’re intimately familiar with the aromas, the flavors, the finish, and the mouthfeel of that bourbon – you know what flavors taste good in combination with it.
Bourbon that you love is the only kind of bourbon you should be using for your cocktails. Your familiarity with its smell and taste will allow you to match it with great cocktail ingredients and remain aware of it even when added to a cocktail. You’ll also be able to pull out secondary notes from the bourbon as it melds with the other ingredients.
Don’t use your $50 or $60 bourbon to make your cocktails (unless you want to). Use value bourbons. Ones that you love, but don’t break the bank. And for a special occasion cocktail – to really dress up your Old Fashioned or Manhattan – break out the good stuff. Mix a cocktail withthe expensive whiskey every once in a while, and you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes.
Myth #3: Cocktails hide the flavor of bourbon
A great bourbon cocktail doesn’t hide the flavor of bourbon – it makes the bourbon shine. It pulls out specific flavors and notes and adds them to the experience of the drink. If you don’t believe me, make the same cocktail with vodka. Bourbon adds depth, complexity, and layers of flavor and aroma to a cocktail.
A bourbon enthusiast might argue that they can’t taste the bourbon in a cocktail. But they’re accustomed to sipping bourbon neat, with no distractions to pull awareness away from the bourbon. In a cocktail, sweet, sour, and bitter elements play with the bourbon, making bourbon harder to detect overall, but pulling out and highlighting specific flavors that may be more muted in a neatpour. When put together thoughtfully, all those elements create a cocktail that’s a coherent, balanced flavor experience.
All bourbon cocktails change dramatically when a different bourbon is selected. Swapping out the specific bourbon in a cocktail to create a cocktail flight is an enormously fun exercise for bourbon lovers used to whiskey flights.
Myth# 4: Bourbon drinkers shouldn’t waste their time with cocktails.
Have you watched whiskey drinkers at an event? Before they take a sip of anything they note its aroma. There are times it’s so involuntary I’ll see them take a sniff of a glass of soda or water before they taste it. Bourbon enthusiasts love to parse out aromas in a pour – caramel, vanilla, oak, tobacco, citrus, dried fruit, etc. They love to talk mouthfeel and finish. Each of these sensations is critical in the evaluation of a cocktail.
Bourbon drinkers are the perfect people to create and evaluate cocktails. They are primed to evaluate the very things that make a cocktail stellar – flavor, balance, mouthfeel, and finish. They are often able to pull out very specific flavors from a drink – specific nuts, fruits, spices, and sugars. They are able to taste a cocktail that’s too thin, or overly textured. Or one that’s not balanced.
In short, whiskey drinkers can be as nuanced in evaluating cocktails as they are at bourbon. Cocktails are a flavor puzzle that challenges whiskey drinkers perfectly. They need to consider flavors and aromas of potential ingredients to create a cocktail that’s balanced, delicious, and intriguing to the drinker.
Myth #5: Cocktails take too much time for bourbon drinkers
We choose every day what we’ll spend time on. I have seen bourbon lovers spend 20 minutes perusing a bourbon list to create a flight, or even try a single pour. I have watched friends debate bottles for an event via messaging for an entire day. Part of the fun is taking the time to select the right one.
It’s Easy to Do
A cocktail can be made in a few minutes. Add bourbon, bitters, sugar, and ice to a glass and you can build an old fashioned in a minute. Add vermouth and bitters to bourbon and you have a Manhattan.
Part of the fun of creating a bourbon drink is choosing the whiskey to use. Bourbon fanatics and newbies alike love to find flavors, and adding cocktail ingredients to bourbon does the same thing.
While putting a great cocktail may seem intimidating, classic bourbon cocktails are easy and fast to make at home – even to batch for parties. Bourbon drinkers can use these fast cocktails to do something they love – get others to drink more bourbon. Nothing’s better than sharing a bourbon with a friend.
The Truth: Bourbon cocktails are the gateway to bourbon
Bourbon is better with friends. Bourbon cocktails are the way most people start their bourbon journey. Typically, a delicious and approachable cocktail draws a bourbon newbie in. Suddenly, they start to see what all the fuss is about. And over time they learn to love bourbon in a cocktail, on the rocks, and neat. Bottles accumulate on the home bar, bourbon books collect on the shelf, and swag piles up from bourbon events.
Learning to make great bourbon cocktails expands a bourbon lover’s palate and lets them grow their bourbon circle to include friends and family who have never had a positive, fun experience with bourbon. Knowing the basics of bourbon cocktails can start a lifelong passion with bourbon.
Bourbon hospitality should be generous and welcoming. And nothing’s more welcoming than a bourbon cocktail from a friend and future bourbon buddy.
About the Author
Heather Wibbels, an award-winning mixologist, chair of the Bourbon Women Board of Directors, photographer, and digital content creator, works with brands and companies to develop cocktails and deliver cocktail education for both the home mixologist and cocktail enthusiast, turning cocktail lovers into whiskey drinkers one drink at a time. She develops, writes, and photographs content for her own website as well: www.CocktailContessa.com.
The following recipes are courtesy of Heather Wibbels.
Cider Toddy
This cider-based toddy with a splash of maple syrup combines all the flavors of fall. Fresh pressed appe cider from a local orchard makes this toddy exceptional.
4-6 ounces apple cider
½ ounce maple syrup
½ ounce lemon juice
16 drops Old Forester’s smoked cinnamon bitters (or 2 dashes of your favorite fall-flavored aromatic bitters)
1 dash ginger bitters
1½ ounces bourbon or whiskey
Garnish: apple slice, cinnamon stick
Fill a mug with hot water and set it aside. Combine apple cider, maple syrup, lemon juice, and bitters in a small saucepan and heat until steaming but not simmering (or heat in a microwave-safe container in the microwave). Add bourbon and stir to combine. Discard the water in the mug and pour the toddy into it. Garnish.
Dark Quarter
If a Sazerac and a Manhattan had a love child, this would be their firstborn. Rich and complex, this cocktail dials up the spice with a licorice liqueur, a peppery rye whiskey, and amaro’s earthy coffee and chocolate notes. A touch of maple syrup sweetens and balances the cocktail and results in a thicker mouthfeel.
2 ounces rye whiskey (or high-rye bourbon)
¼ ounce barrel-aged maple syrup
¾ ounce Foro amaro
¼ ounce Herbsaint or absinthe
Garnish: star anise and candied ginger
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass and add ice. Stir for 30 seconds or until well chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish.
The Kentucky Smolder
Creating a great Old-Fashioned for serious whiskey drinkers requires finesse. You need to highlight the whiskey above everything else, balance it with great bitters, and make sure it contains a hint of intrigue to keep them interested. The smoked chili bitters add both smoke and heat from the capsaicin found in chili peppers. And through it all, the bourbon still shines. I created this high-proof Old-Fashioned for a Bourbon Women “He Sips, She Sips” event featuring a blind tasting of Heaven Hill bourbons and ryes.
2 ounces Old Forester Whiskey Row 1920, high-proof (110 or higher) bourbon, or Pikesville rye
½ ounce demerara sugar simple syrup
3 dashes Hella Bitters smoked chili bitters
Garnish: charred cinnamon stick
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir for about 20 seconds, then strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a charred cinnamon stick (be careful not to set your fingers on fire).
The King’s Julep
The King’s Julep
Here, the King refers to the King of Rock and Roll: Elvis Presley. This julep is an homage to those peanut butter and banana sandwiches Elvis used to make. It’s a great julep for someone who is new to bourbon and wants to try a wildly creative take on a classic.
1½ ounces bourbon
¾ ounce peanut butter whiskey
¾ ounce Giffard’s Banane du Brésil banana liqueur (substitute chocolate liqueur for Reese’s julep)
2 dashes Bittercube cherry bark vanilla bitters
Garnish: peanut butter and banana skewer and fresh mint sprig
In a mixing glass, add bourbon, peanut butter whiskey, banana liqueur, and bitters. Add ice. Stir until chilled, 10–15 seconds. Strain into a julep cup filled with crushed ice. Add a straw, mint sprig, and skewer of banana and peanut butter.
Al fresco dining is what warm weather is all about. Chicago’s great rooftop and outdoor places to dine. Al fresco is our rallying cry when the sun shines.
AIRE Rooftop, located atop the 24th floor of Hyatt Centric the Loop Chicago, welcomes guests to experience unmatched and uninterrupted panoramic views of Chicago this spring and summer. Known as one of the hottest rooftops in the city, AIRE serves as the perfect urban escape serving up craft cocktails, beer, wine, and small plates. AIRE offers a fun atmosphere to socialize with friends, host a cocktail reception, or just enjoy a drink against the breathtaking backdrop of the city.
Offshore: The world’s largest rooftop deck as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records and one of Chicago’s most exciting hotspots located at Navy Pier boasts over 42,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space with unmatched views of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan. This year-round rooftop destination offers Chicagoans and travelers alike a full-service bar and world-class kitchen, along with cozy fire pits, an entertainment and gaming area, and multiple large gathering spaces for social and corporate events, weddings, and more.
Kennedy Rooftop: In search of the perfect Golden Hour views? Known for spectacular, unobstructed views of the Chicago skyline from the John Hancock to the Willis Tower, Kennedy Rooftop offers a vibrant ambiance, a delicious menu, and a unique variety of signature cocktails for all to enjoy atop the Hyatt Place Wicker Park. Space is first come first served.
Ocean Prime: Located on the iconic corner of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive, Ocean Prime offers al fresco dining on the outdoor patio just steps away from the city’s top attractions. The modern American restaurant and lounge from award-winning Cameron Mitchell Restaurants offers an impressive menu of seafood and steak, signature cocktails, and a Wine Spectator honored wine list coupled with truly exceptional hospitality.
Chicago Firehouse Restaurant: Formerly Engine Company 104 of the Chicago Fire Department, the landmark restaurant at 1401 South Michigan Avenue features both a lush backyard patio providing a quaint escape in the city as well as an outdoor veranda affording picturesque views of the South Loop skyline. The timeless house favorites, steaks, chops, and seafood, are complemented by distinctive, contemporary seasonal dishes for all to enjoy.
Carnivale: Chicago’s one-of-a-kind restaurant serving Latin-fusion cuisine invites guests to take advantage of patio season on the scenic outdoor terrace with refreshing libations and sensational signature dishes. The West Loop hotspot also offers seven unique private and semi-private spaces, perfect for celebratory events. For reservations and event inquiries, please visit www.carnivalechicago.com.
Lírica: Sweeping lakefront views and Iberian-Inspired fare create the perfect symphony at Lírica, located at 900 E. Grand Ave on Navy Pier. Featuring a 150-seat patio on Lake Michigan, the waterfront restaurant combines world-class views of Lake Michigan with rich and rustic flavors and a vibrant atmosphere.
Replay Lincoln Park: Chicago’s favorite arcade bar located at 2833 N. Sheffield pairs outdoor dining and imbibing with epic immersive experiences in addition to more than 65 free vintage arcade games available. Replay Lincoln Park features rotating pop-up events spanning 9,000 square feet of gaming areas including their outdoor patio. To learn more about upcoming pop-ups, please visit www.replaylincolnpark.com.
Dinner and Brunch lifestyle shoot on Odyssey Chicago River 2019
City Cruises Chicago: Set sail on City Cruises’ luxurious vessels including the Odyssey Lake Michigan, Spirit of Chicago, Chicago Elite, and the Odyssey Chicago River. Whatever the holiday or occasion, it’s better on a yacht. Guests can enjoy curated cocktails and cuisine during brunch and dinner cruises, all while taking in the unmatched views of Lake Michigan and the city skyline from the Chicago River.
Pacino’s: Sicily meets South Loop at this authentic Italian eatery located within Roosevelt Collection Shops at 1010 S. Delano Ct. Led by Executive Chef Michael Serratore, Pacino’s offers a wide range of classically-inspired antipasti, pizza, salads, seafood, fresh pasta, and more. Enjoy signature cocktails or a glass of vino at the full bar indoors or pull up a seat under the outdoor pergola for an amazing outdoor dining experience.
Water’s Edge: Serving up classic American fare nestled within 88 acres of forest preserve, Water’s Edge located within Hyatt Lodge Oak Brook invites guests to dine and unwind at the lakeside café or al fresco on the patio overlooking a private lake. Water’s Edge offers both savory and sweet breakfast dishes and fresh salads, wraps, and sandwiches for lunch. Patrons can also opt to book lakeside private parties on the serene patio which cater to up to 40 guests. For more information, please call 630.568.1234 or visit their website.
Oaken Bistro + Bar: Bringing together worldly flavors and responsible, local ingredients rooted in flavors both strong and bold, Oaken Bistro + Bar, 200 N. Field Dr., features both indoor and outdoor dining, with a sleek lounge, stunning bar, spacious dining rooms, and a patio complete with intimate fire pit seating. Open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and brunch service on weekends, the restaurant incorporates natural elements in everything from design and decor to menu offerings including a standout cocktail program complete with floral and herbal infusions.
A culinary educator as well as mother of four and author of three other bestselling cookbooks on kosher food, Kushner is one of the leaders in redefining kosher cuisine. The term kosher means fit and is used to describe any foods that comply with a strict set of dietary rules called kashrut. Not all Jewish people follow a kosher diet but for those that do, Kushner works at making the cuisine vibrant and tasty. She does this by emphasizing seasonal and fresh Mediterranean-style dishes.
Modern Table: Kosher Recipes for Everyday Gatherings
Kosher
As she noted in a previous cookbook, “if the title didn’t say kosher, nothing in this book would make you think it was kosher. This isn’t a kosher cookbook that happens to be great–think of it as a really awesome cookbook that just happens to be kosher.”
Kushner’s cooking background is complicated which contributes to the many ingredients and flavors found in the recipes she’s created. She was raised in Montreal and taught to cook by her mother who was from Morocco. She spent summers with family in Israel which added another level to her culinary influences. Overall, her cultural identity and heritage is Ashkenazi-Canadian.
Kim Kushner Cuisine
A graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan, Kushner worked at developing recipes for both Food & Wine and Chile Pepper magazines and has appeared on the Today Show and been featured in numerous newspapers and on TV. 17 years ago, she launched Kim Kushner Cuisine and now teaches cooking around the globe.
Modern Table: Kosher Recipes for Everyday Gatherings
Passover Meals
“When it comes to Passover cooking, I stick to bright and seasonal ingredients and keep it simple and modern,” she says about her approach to kosher holiday cooking. “Fresh, colorful salads, simply grilled fish and slow cooked meats using garlic, lemons and fresh herbs can take you a long way. “
Whether we celebrate Purim or Passover or not, incorporating some of Kushner’s recipes into our own cooking repertoire is a way of expanding another cuisine into our daily lives and an entrée into the flavors and traditions of a different cuisine and culture.
Kushner makes it easy to do just that. Each of the instructions for her dishes offers an introduction as well as tips in the cooking process making these easily accessible recipes even more so for home chefs.
Modern Table: Kosher Recipes for Everyday Gatherings
Recipes
Berry Frosé
Serves 4–6 people
2 cups assorted berries
1 (750-ml) bottle rosé wine
2 cups ice
Fresh mint or basil leaves, for garnish
Place the berries, rosé, and ice into a blender. Blend on high speed, until ice is slushy and ingredients are well incorporated. Transfer to chilled glasses and garnish with mint or basil.
Tips
Get Organized Chilling the glasses in the refrigerator or freezer for 30 minutes before serving keeps the frosé slushy and cool.
Optional Frosé can be served in chilled shot glasses as a fun party treat.
Substitutions Frosé can be made with white wine or Moscato.
Sliced Citrus with Pistachio Dust
What in God’s name is pistachio dust? Exactly as it sounds. Pistachios are chopped ultrafine until they transform into a bright green magical dust that adds incredible flavor to ordinary foods such as oranges and grapefruit. Sometimes the simplest desserts are the most loved.
Serves 6
1/4 cup shelled and unsalted roasted pistachios, finely ground
6–8 assorted citrus fruits (oranges, clementines, tangerines, grapefruit, or pomelos)
Using a sharp knife, slice off the top and bottom of the citrus fruit, just far enough to expose the flesh. Place the fruit, cut-side down, so that it is sturdy on your cutting board. Cut away the peel and as much of the white pith as possible by following the citrus’s shape. Turn the fruit on its side and slice into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Repeat with the remaining citrus.
Arrange the citrus on a large platter, slighting overlapped. Sprinkle 1–2 tablespoons of pistachio dust over the citrus slices. Serve immediately.
Tips
Make It Ahead The citrus fruit can be sliced in advance, covered, and stored for up to 3 hours in the refrigerator. Sprinkle the pistachio dust just before serving.
Storage Pistachio dust can be stored in a small glass jar in your pantry or freezer for up to 3 months.
Garlic-Confit Chicken with Lemon and Thyme
“Confit” comes from the French word confire, meaning “to preserve.” Slow-cooking garlic in oil creates a rich yet mellow flavor. For this recipe, you’ll need to first prepare the garlic confit with lemon and thyme, and then add the chicken to cook in the confit.
Garlic confit can be used as a condiment, so I always keep a jar of it in my refrigerator. Once you have the garlic confit on hand, you can have a delicious meal on the table in a fraction of the time.
Ready in 1 hour and 50 minutes
Serves 4–6
20 cloves garlic, peeled
1 lemon, very thinly sliced and pips removed
5–6 sprigs thyme
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 (3-lb) whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces, skin on and bone in, trimmed of excess skin and fat
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoon honey
Preheat oven to 325ºF.
Combine garlic, lemon, and thyme into a baking dish that is large enough to hold the chicken. Pour in olive oil and bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes, until garlic has softened. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly. Increase the oven temperature to 375ºF.
Generously season chicken with salt and pepper. Using your hands, rub vinegar and honey over the chicken.
Using a wooden spoon, move the garlic mixture to the sides of the baking dish to create a space in the center. Add the chicken to the center of the dish and spoon the garlic mixture on top of the chicken.
Cover with an ovenproof lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes. Uncover the dish and bake for another 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Discard thyme and serve.
Tips
Get Organized To save time, use store-bought peeled garlic.
Substitutions You can experiment with different herbs.
Omissions Garlic confit can be prepared with or without the lemon and thyme.
Make It Ahead Garlic confit with lemon and thyme can be prepared, cooled, and stored in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Before use, bring the confit to room temperature to liquify the oil.
Make It Ahead Garlic-Confit Chicken with Lemon and Thyme can be assembled, marinated, and stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before cooking.
Reheat Garlic-Confit Chicken with Lemon and Thyme can be reheated, uncovered, in a 350ºF oven for about 10 minutes.
Mashed Potatoes with Onion Crème
Some of the best mashed potatoes are loaded with butter and heavy cream, but you can make an equally delicious dairy-free version that won’t compromise flavor. The star of this show is the caramelized onion. Laced in mashed potatoes, the puréed “onion crème” imparts an intense creaminess and a pronounced depth of flavor.
Ready in 40 minutes
Serves 6
2 tablespoons light olive oil
3 yellow onions, thinly sliced
8 Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, and quartered
1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra to taste
2–3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the light olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and reduce heat to medium. Sauté for 10–15 minutes, until softened and caramelized. Set aside to cool.
Transfer onions to a food processor or blender and purée for 1–2 minutes, until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
Place potatoes and salt in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 15–20 minutes, until they can be easily pierced with a fork. Drain.
Return potatoes to the saucepan and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. This is called “pan-drying.” Stir in the onion crème, then mash the potatoes and onions together. Season generously with salt and pepper and mix.
Drizzle the extra-virgin olive oil over the mashed potatoes and serve immediately.
Tips
Get Organized “Pan-drying” is a cooking technique where boiled potatoes are cooked in a dry pot for a few minutes to remove moisture and “dry out” the potatoes.
Make It Ahead Onions can be sautéed and puréed in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Make It Ahead Potatoes are best mashed just after cooking and can be mashed 2 hours in advance of serving.
Reheat mashed potatoes in a saucepan over medium heat for 5–10 minutes. You may need to drizzle a little extra-virgin olive oil for added creaminess.
Chewy and Nutty Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ready in 20–25 minutes
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 cup finely chopped pecans
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Pinch of kosher salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine nuts, sugar, egg, vanilla, and salt and mix well. Stir in the chocolate.
Using a small ice-cream scooper, scoop small mounds of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheets, evenly spacing them two inches apart. Bake for 15–20 minutes until lightly golden. Set aside to cool completely. The cookies will harden as they cool.
Didn’t receive an invitation to dinner at Lady Granville’s nor to Lady Danbury’s party? They must be lost in the mail. And no, you didn’t enjoy the bonbons at the Grand Buffet. That’s because no one asked you to attend. How infuriating not to be able to taste all those luscious foods while mixing with dukes and lords at fancy parties like on Bridgerton, the award winning costume series on Netflix series.
Unfortunately I have some bad news for you. Odds are almost 100% you’ll never get an invitation to any of the grand homes in Grosvenor Square like those you see on Bridgerton. Without an invitation, there goes you chance of snagging a duke or a duchess, but as for the food, well you can still dine like the characters on the show.
The cookbook’s release is perfectly timed as the show’s second season is starting and trailers for the series already show this year’s brooding handsome hero and the lovely young ladies whose mothers have told them to make sure they snag a lord or higher. That’s because Bridgerton is set in 1813 during England’s Regency period when marrying up was the equivalent of a woman earning a college degree today.
Taylor created and adapted recipes that could have graced the tables of the Bridgertons and other families in the series. And that’s surprising given Taylor is the type of guy who’s spent a lot of time fishing and hunting with the Inuit of Baffin Island, foraging for food in the Hudson Valley, immersing himself in cultures that rely on ancestral knowledge for survival, and hanging out in the Sahara and the Atacama deserts and the jungles of Central America and West Africa. His previous book,Grill Fire:100+ Recipes & Techniques for Mastering the Flame shows, among other things, how to turn your backyard grill into a Brazilian churrascaria and the way to make your own chicken wing racks. He is, he says, “a wilderness- survival-outdoor-chef and barbecue guy.”
“I never expected that the editors would choose my proposal,” Taylor told me on the phone as I assume, he was on his way to fish with the Inuit, not to a high tea.
“I was a hundred percent certain that there were a large number of Bridgerton fans who had already published several books with Simon and Schuster and one of them would write the book,” he continues.
But obviously it worked out differently. Was that a mistake on Simon & Schuster’s part?
Not at all. Choosing Taylor actually makes a lot of sense. How he lives, is in ways, reflective of life during the Regency. He’s been asked to join the Explorer’s Club because of his extensive travels with their focus on the indigenous people and he loves delving into exploration and research. Indeed, inspired by trips to New Orleans, he won Esquire magazine competition’s “The Next Great Burger” for his meat patty creation using such ingredients as caramelized pears, a saffron aioli, and deep fried beignet bun. He also appeared on “Chopped” and the Food Network and was a judge on “Beat Bobby Flay.”
2022 may sounds like a different world than London during the Regency which was from 1811 to 1820. But Taylor sees the similarities.
“The Regency was a time when many of the ships that traveled for English companies were bringing back exotic ingredients and people were completely fascinated by the foods and spices they brought back with them,” he says, noting that he likes to cook wild and crazy stuff as well and stages large dinners in the Hudson Valley region after successful foraging trips. “It’s so me. The food of that time is like what I do—curing and pickling, collaborating with people who fish and hunt and cook with fire and who try new things.”
Taylor didn’t want his cookbook to be a half-hearted spin-off. That was one of several goals he had when writing—to riff off the foods eaten on the show, ensure the ingredients were readily available and the recipes easy to make. He also wanted to approach the project with a sense of humor. Take his inclusion of lavender as an ingredient.
“Not only is lavender a beautiful plant that was used for table decorations, but it was also used during the Regency as a perfume and a medicine because it was thought to help with romance and love,” he writes about the lavender drink he created. “Both men and women used considerable amounts of perfume, as bathing was not a major part of their hygienic practice.”
Rumor-Stirring Blueberry Lavender Fizz
SERVES 1
1 teaspoon dried lavender flowers
1 tablespoon blueberry jam
1⁄2 ounce lemon juice
1⁄2 ounce lime juice
1⁄2 ounce heavy cream
1 large egg white, pasteurized
8–12 ounces cooled sparkling water
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Muddle lavender in a cocktail shaker.
Add remaining ingredients except sparkling water and lemon zest. Shake vigorously until texture changes to a foam, about 10 seconds.
Fill cocktail shaker with ice. Shake 15 seconds or until cocktail is well chilled.
Strain into a Collins glass. Top with sparkling water and garnish with lemon zest.
Lady Featherington’s Society Sponge Cake
For the macerated berries:
1 pound fresh berries, sliced, (dry after rinsing)
1/4 cup Moscato or other sweet wine
2 tablespoons granulated sugar or amber honey
For the sponge cake:
8 cold large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola or other neutral oil
1/3 cup pulp-free orange juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup fresh berries
1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar
Place all the ingredients for the macerated berries in a large bowl and stir gently, cover and refrigerate 24 hours or until the berries are softened. Next line to make sponge cake Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an 8 inch springform pan with parchment paper.
Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk eggs and large bowl until stiff peaks form, about 10 minutes. Turn mixer speed to low and slowly add oil and juice.
On lowest speed, mix in flour and baking powder until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer immediately to a wire cooling rack, releasing from pan to cool upside down for about one hour.
Flip over so the rounded part is on top and cut into two equal rounds. Spoon macerated berries evenly over one cake round and top with the second cake round. Top with fresh berries and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Tucked away on a side road running parallel to Lake Michigan, the Gordon Beach Inn is nestled in a copse of woods. Entering, it’s the type of place with a screen door that rattles as it closes, the floors are shined to a dark rich gloss and the large stone fireplace dominates the large room in the center of the building. To the right are the series of rooms for overnight guests. And to the left is The Grove, the inn’s restaurant, a long room and doorways leading to the small cozy bar area and two enclosed porches overlooking the gardens. A defining feature is Jo Hormuth’s botanical themed and local Native American pattered hand-stenciled designs decorating walls, ceilings, and corridors.
History
A classic beach resort for the last century, the inn was a built for a purpose beyond just summer fun. The 1920s was a time in American history not only for bootleggers and bathtub gin but also when a second wave of popularity for the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in positions of power. And Indiana, just a border away from Michigan, had the largest Klan population in the U.S. with a peak of 250,000 around the mid-1920s. That was when Edward Jackson, a well-known Klan sympathizer, was elected to serve as Indiana’s 32nd governor. To make it worse, over half of those elected to the Indiana General Assembly that year were members of the Klan. In Valparaiso, the Klan attempted to buy what had been the Valparaiso Male and Female College that opened in 1859 and now was struggling financially. It was to become “Ku Klux Kollege.” The deal was almost done but then the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod stepped in to stop the Klan. Purchasing the college, they changed the name to Valparaiso University.
The Klan was an equal opportunity hater, besides African-Americans, they hated Catholics, Italians, Eastern Europeans, Hispanics, Italians, and Jews. Anti-Semitism was a big deal which was why Louis Gordon, a Jewish physician decided to build a resort in Union Pier for Jewish guests. Purchasing land near Lake Michigan that had been an apple orchard, the building construction began in 1925 with completion in 1929.
Later it would be bought by a Chicago alderman who catered to African American guests before being purchased by Devereux Bowly who also owned the Lakeside Inn, another venerable old-style resort. After Bowly’s death, both resorts passed to his sister Judy and her son Zach.
Latin American Roots
For a long time, Timothy’s Restaurant was located at the Gordon Beach Inn and then it stood empty for a while. But always adaptable to change, the Gordon Beach Inn now is home to The Grove, a restaurant that emphasizes its Latin flair, reflecting the heritage of Executive Chef Eduardo Pesantez’s Latin American roots. Born in Ecuador and raised in Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador, known for its sophisticated European style culinary style. It’s located in the Andes Mountains in southern Ecuador where his family owns a large farm in and so Pesantez has long know how to cook using local and seasonal foods.
Some 35 years ago, Pesantez moved to New York to attend the Culinary Institute of America and then worked at several high-end New York restaurants as well as the executive chef at Pepsi Co. He is also the owner of Cravings, a catering company that he runs from the kitchen of The Grove. Joining Pesantez at The Grove is his wife, Maira Pinargote, who lived in Manabí Province located on Ecuador’s Pacific Coast. The foods differ. Where the more mountainous region where Pesantez grew up is more meat oriented, Pinargote, whose father owns a large seafood company, dined to a large variety of fresh fish and seafood.
Flavors of the Sea and the Mountains
Both come into play in the international dishes found on the menu and in their specials. Pesantez serves a variety of paellas. Their Signature Paella is a mixture of seafoods, the House Paella is meats—chicken, chorizo sausage, pork shoulder and jicama and the third is all vegetables. Other South American meals on the menu include Bistec al Caballo (Steak on Horseback), a black angus ribeye steak with a Spanish tomato onion sauce, fried plantains, rice, and beans and Enconcado de Camarones, sautéed shrimp in a creamy coconut sauce with rice and beans.
Beyond such Latin American fare like Chicken Mole, Pesantez also goes international with Moroccan Lamb and Mushroom Truffle Ravioli and American for those who like hamburgers, smoked brisket, and grilled chicken breasts.
“I think people are surprised when they first taste Latin American foods,” says Pesantez. “Many expect it to be spicy hot but it’s more about flavors and seasonings—some different from what we eat here in America and if also can be about cooking techniques as well. And it’s very different from region to region in Ecuador. The foods they eat in the mountainous areas differ from those along the coast or the plains.”
The Grove’s Signature Paella
4 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled and then loosely measured
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion finely chopped
1/2 red Bell pepper, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 ounces mild dried chorizo sausage, sliced into thin halfmoons
3 cups short grain rice, such as Spanish Bomba rice or Italian Arborio
14-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen green peas
1 pound large (21-24 per pound) shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails left on
1 pound mussels, rinsed and scrubbed
1 pound littleneck clams, rinsed and scrubbed
1/4 cup chopped parsley, for garnish
Preheat the grill: Heat a gas grill to medium high heat (375° F) degrees or light a charcoal grill and let it burn until the charcoal is covered with gray ash.
Steep the saffron: In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the stock to a boil. Add the sand from saffron and salt. Turn off the heat and let the saffron steep for at least 15 minutes. Taste and add more salt, if needed.
Assemble the ingredients by the grill: On a table next to the grill set the skillet with the sofrito, the rice, tomatoes, stock, salt, peas, shrimp, mussels, and clams.
Begin cooking the paella: Set the skillet with the sofrito on the grill. Add the rice, and cook, stirring often, for 45 minutes or until the rice is coated with oil and lightly toasted. Stir in the stock, tomatoes, and peas. Taste for seasoning and add more if you like. Spread the rice evenly over the bottom of the pan. Close the grill cover in simmer rice without stirring for 15 minutes or until the rice absorbs most of the stock
Cook the sofrito base: In a 12-to-14 inch stainless steel skillet or cast iron pan, heat the oil over medium heat on top of the stove. Add the onion and red pepper and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Stir in the garlic. Sauté the shrimp and chorizo and then add to the pan with the rice along with the rest of the seafood. If the paella looks dry, add more water. Cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes and the clam and mussel shells have opened.
Serve immediately with slices of thick bread.
Smoked Brisket garlic powder
1 brisket, 5 to 6 pounds
2 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoon onion powder
½ tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Gently rub garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper on all sides of the brisket
If using a smoker, place meat in smoker and, with a mixture of such hardwoods as cherry and hickory mixed in with the coals, set temperature for 205-220° F degrees. Place brisket on rack and cook for six to seven hours or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 190 degrees. Remove from her and let rest.
If cooking brisket in the oven:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Make a dry rub by combining garlic and onion powders, salt, and black pepper. Season the raw brisket on both sides with the rub. Place in a roasting pan and roast, uncovered, for 1 hour.
Add beef stock and enough water to yield about 1/2 inch of liquid in the roasting pan. Lower oven to 300 degrees F, cover pan tightly and continue cooking for 3 hours, or until fork-tender.
Trim the fat and slice meat thinly across the grain. Top with juice from the pan.
Sautéed Sweet Plantains
(Tajaditas Dulces de Plantano)
¼ cup peanut oil for frying
2 tablespoons butter
3 medium ripe yellow plantains, peeled and cut in 1-inch-thick slices
3 tablespoons brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
Heat peanut oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the butter begins to sizzle. Gently toss plantain slices with brown sugar, then place into hot oil. Fry until the plantains begin to turn golden brown, then turn over, and continue frying until they have caramelized, about 2 minutes per side.
Drain plantains on a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt before serving.
I love receiving Dorie Greenspan’s newsletter every week and thought I’d share the link so you can subscribe as well as try out her recipe for this week. The great thing about Dorie–well, really there are many things that are great about Dorie including her wonderful cookbooks including the latest Baking with Dorie is that she includes extensive notes for each recipe to help make it as perfect in your kitchen as it is in hers–though I have to believe that anything the comes out of Dorie’s kitchen has to be much more sublime than what I do. But still if I can even get close, I’d delighted and so are my guests.
Now let’s read what Dorie had to say this week:
Hello! Hello!
I find myself thinking of my family more as the news from Ukraine keeps getting worse. I want to hold my little family closer, hug them tighter and feed them more. There’s no proof that cookies are a cure, but there’s no proof that they aren’t, so I choose to believe in the power of baking and sharing. And the sweetness of it.
Since I made the Goose Feet Cookies (you can find the recipe here, in last week’s newsletter), I’ve been cooking and baking recipes from Russia and Ukraine. Someone commented that the people of Ukraine don’t need me to bake cookies, they need help. And of course, that’s true. I am continuing to donate to organizations that provide vital help, but I am also continuing to bake and to share what I bake because it helps people I love. This week, I pulled two cookbooks off my shelf and made something from each.
Cookbooks
Black Sea: Dispatches and Recipes Through Darkness and Light by Caroline Eden, is about six places on the Black Sea, including Odessa, where my father-in-law was born. I read about the cafés of Odessa, about the richness of its literary history and the bustle of life, and I made a soup that brought back a flood of memories. I’ll tell you about it in a coming post.
And I reread Darra Goldstein’s Beyond the North Wind and baked Sasha’s Grated Apple Cake from it. Darra is a professor emerita of Russian at Williams College and a cookbook author I’ve admired for years. Still, as I set out the ingredients to make this cake, I wasn’t at all sure it would work and I had barely an inkling of what it might be like.
NO BATTER? REALLY?
All of the liquid in this recipe comes from grated apples and the bit of lemon juice you use to keep the apples from darkening. There are no eggs, no milk and no reason to think that by mixing together flour, farina (yep, Cream of Wheat cereal), sugar, baking powder, salt and some spice, you’ll end up with “cake”. But you do! You sprinkle this dry mixture between layers of apple, dot the top with tiny pieces of cold butter, bake for an hour and then marvel at the transformational magic of heat.
Is it cake as we usually think of cake? Not really. You don’t have thick fluffy layers of sponge, but you do have a very moist cake with the full flavor of spiced apples and a texture that’s reminiscent of great pie. Just as the farmer’s cheese dough for the Goose Feet Cookies reminded me of the bow ties my aunt made decades ago, this recipe made me think of my Russian Grandmother’s apple cake, a recipe I tried to recreate in Baking From My Home to Yours.
My mother had told me that my grandmother made the cake with the same dough that she used for her cookies. I remember her cookies as being a bit crisp and I remember her cake as being a bit soft. Of course, I was very young and memory plays tricks on us through the years. But tasting this recipe, I had an instant in which I thought I’d unlocked the secret to my grandmother’s cake: Perhaps she grated the apples! The texture of this cake and the softness of the fruit filling seemed so like the cake of my childhood.
After Mary Dodd tested the recipe, she told me that it reminded her of simple recipes that her great-grandmother made. She called the cake “humble but perfect” and said she would be making it often. Just as I will.
You don’t need fragments of memory to love this cake. It may just make memories of its own. Please let me know. I love to hear your stories.
Bake for yourself. Bake for the people you love. I’ll see you on the other side of the weekend.
XOXO Dorie
Sasha’s Grated Apple Cake
Serves 8
Notes:
Pan size: The recipe calls for an 8-inch springform pan, a pan that’s not very common. So while I used an 8-inch springform for my cake, Mary Dodd used an 8-inch cake pan for hers. Both worked perfectly. Don’t be tempted to use a 9-inch pan – there isn’t enough batter for it.
The butter: You’ll need about 7 tablespoons of butter to dot the top of the cake, but it’s good to have another tablespoon at the ready. Check the cake after it’s baked for about 30 minutes – if you see a few dry spots, cover them with more bits of butter.
Farina: You’ll find farina – the best-known brand is called Cream of Wheat – in the hot cereal aisle of your supermarket. It’s an old-fashioned breakfast cereal – it’s like porridge when it’s boiled – and there isn’t a substitute for it here.
The spice: Cardamom is what Darra calls for. If your cardamom is fresh (I know, it’s supposed to be, but if you’re like me, you might sometimes forget to replace older spices), then 1/2 teaspoon will provide robust flavor and fragrance. I love it, but it may be too much for you. Or cardamom might not be your spice of choice. Pick the spice you love and decide how much of it you’d like.
The dried fruit: Darra suggests dried apple rings. I don’t usually have those, so I used dried cranberries. Mary used golden raisins. Really, any dried fruit that you like and that you think will go with apples, will be fine here. Just remember to snip (or chop) the fruit into small pieces and to make sure that the fruit is soft. I “plump” the fruit by putting it in a bowl of very hot (or boiling) water for a couple of minutes, then draining and patting it dry.
INGREDIENTS
7 to 8 tablespoons (100 to 113 grams; 3 1/2 to 4 ounces) very cold unsalted butter (see above)
3/4 cup (102 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (90 grams) fine farina or Cream of Wheat, not instant (see above)
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, cinnamon, ginger or the spice of your choice; less to taste (see above)
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 pounds (680 grams), 3 to 5 (depending on size), tart apples, such as Granny Smiths, halved and cored, but not peeled
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup (100 to 125 grams) moist, plump dried apple rings, finely chopped, dried cranberries or raisins (see above)
DIRECTIONS
Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 400 degrees F. You need either an 8-inch springform or cake pan (see above). If you’re using a springform, butter the pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (just to catch any drips). If you’re using a cake pan, butter the pan, line the bottom with parchment and butter the parchment. (Mary had parchment with little handles – if you have those kinds of parchment rounds that’s nice, but the cake is very fragile, so pulling it up by the handles is iffy business. It’s better to invert it – see below.)
Cut 7 tablespoons of the butter into tiny pieces and keep them in the refrigerator while you put the cake together. Keep another tablespoon at the ready in the fridge (see above).
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, farina, sugar, baking powder, cardamom (or other spice) and salt. Set aside.
Coarsely grate the apples. You can do this in a food processor with the grating attachment or use the large holes on a box or other grater. (I used the processor and had a few chunks of apples left on the top and in the bowl – I picked those out and ate them!) Transfer the apples to a bowl. Stir in the lemon juice to mix well, then stir in the dried apples (or whatever dried fruit you’re using).
Evenly sprinkle one-third of the flour mixture over the bottom of the pan. Top with half of the apples, then cover with half of the remaining flour mixture. Spoon on the remaining apples. If you’ve got a little liquid from the apples in the bowl, add it – if you’ve got a lot (unlikely, but …), just add a spoonful or two of it. Cover with the last of the flour mixture.
Scatter the bits of butter evenly over the top, being careful to cover the entire surface.
Place the cake in the oven, then immediately lower the temperature to 350 degrees F.
Bake for 30 minutes and then take a peek at the cake. If you notice some dry spots, cut the reserved butter into bits and pop them on top of the dry patches. Continue to bake the cake for 30 minutes more – the total baking time is 1 hour – or until golden. Transfer the pan to a rack (it won’t get very dark) and let the cake cool for about 20 minutes. If you’ve made the cake in a springform, run a table knife between the pan and the cake, then remove the outer ring of the pan. If you’ve made the cake in a regular cake pan, place a piece of parchment on a cooling rack or cutting board and have a serving plate or another rack or board covered with paper at hand. Run a table knife between the pan and the cake, unmold the cake onto the covered rack or board, peel away the round of parchment and then gently invert the cake onto your plate or the other parchment-covered rack or board. The cake is ready to serve when it is slightly warm or reaches room temperature.
Storing: Darra says that the cake is best the day it is made and she’s right – it’s delicious then. But if you have cake leftover, cover and refrigerate it – it’s very good cold the next day.
Ashley Craft is living the life. The Disney life that is. Craft, who grew up in Anaheim just 15 minutes from Disneyland, was so close to the park that she fell asleep listening to the fireworks at night and knew the park layout so well she didn’t need a map.
“We’d always get passes and we’d go about once or twice a week so that was my life,” says Craft, author of The Unofficial Disney Parks Drink Recipe Book: From LeFou’s Brew to the Jedi Mind Trick, 100+ Magical Disney-Inspired Drinks, the follow up to her first cookbook, The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook, both released by Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
But all things Disney didn’t end when she grew up. During college Craft interned at Disney World in Florida two separate times including a stint as a concierge.
She was hooked.
“I couldn’t get Disney out of my life and so I started blogging about Disney just to have it in my life,” says Craft, who now lives in Kansas City far away from Disneyland and Disney World with her husband a radiology physicist and three children as well as a cat and a dog.
But even impediments as living in Kansas City doesn’t stop her deep dive into all things Disney. For those who don’t know, there are numerous Disney focused blogs and Craft not only has her own, http://www.ashleycrafted, but also follows many others as well as makes frequent trips to keep up with the world of Disney parks.
All Things Disney
“I try to keep a pulse on the parks and be in tune with what’s going on today,” she says, noting she is working on other books. “I go to the parks, usually with a rough outline of foods that I am looking for. I don’t want people to be reading about stuff they heard a while ago but what they saw on Instagram yesterday.”
All her recipes are her own creation, developed after tasting the drinks in the park and then trying to replicate them at home through lots of trial and error.
“Everything in the book is from my own kitchen and my own mind, these are not recipes from Disney,” she says, noting that none of the recipes in her book were sanctioned by Disney. This truly is an “unofficial” book.
“I’m not culinary trained” says Craft. “I’m just a home cook with a lot of practice and I’m trying to get as close as I can to the taste of the food, the look of the food as well as keep within a budget and being sure that people can make it with ease. Those are my four pillars of developing these recipes. If I realize that a dirnk has some complicated ingredient or uses some complicated machinery, I don’t try to recreate it. It’s more important to me that people can make it, that’s how my cookbooks evolved.”
Creating the Cookbook
Her book contains 130 recipes culled from divided into libation categories including Coffees and Teas where you’ll find out how to make Frozen Cappuccino from Joffrey’s and Teddy’s Tea from Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar: Fruity Drinks and Slushies such as the Goofy Glacier from Goofy’s Candy Company. There are also Mocktails and Cocktails including the Sparkling No-Jito from the Tambu Lounge and Dessert Drinks such as Peanut Butter and Jelly Milkshake from 50’s Prime Time Café and the Dole Whip Float from Aloha Isle.
The only one drawback for Craft when it comes to creating recipes for alcohol-based drinks is that she doesn’t consume alcohol. But like her recipe development, it’s all about taste and honesty to what she’s trying to accomplish and that is drinks that help capture the magic of visiting the parks, even for those who can’t be there.
Craft has advice for those first using her book.
“If you’ve been to Disney before, start with a drink you have had there and then branch out,” she says.
As for her own life, she couldn’t be happier. The original run for her first book was 5000.
“They bumped it up to 20,000, and sold out the first day,” she says, noting that she was shocked by those sales numbers. “Now it’s sold about quarter a million of copies. I’m literally living my dream life, I’m so lucky. I eat Disney, drink Disney, go there often for research.”
The following recipes are reproduced courtesy of The Unofficial Disney Parks Drink Recipe Book by Ashley Craft.
Jedi Mind Trick
Oga’s Cantina, Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
“The grapefruity drink was named after the mystical protectors and practitioners of the Force, whose one great desire was to balance the powers of the galaxy,” writes Craft in her introduction to this recipe.
To Make Jedi Mind Trick:
2 ounces grapefruit-rose vodka
1 1⁄2 ounces Falernum (see recipe below)
1 ounce white grape juice
1⁄2 ounce blue curacao
1⁄4 ounce lime juice
1⁄8 teaspoon grapefruit bitters
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Seal and shake, then strain over crushed ice in a large martini glass.
To Make Falernum:
1 cinnamon stick
2 Tablespoons whole cloves
2 Tablespoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons minced ginger
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
In a small saucepan over medium heat, toast cinnamon stick, cloves, and allspice until aromatic, about 5 minutes. Place in a blender and blend until ground.
In same saucepan over medium-high heat, combine blended spices, nutmeg, lime juice, ginger, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat, strain into a small sealable container, discarding solids, and allow to cool about 1 hour. Once cooled, squeeze through a cheesecloth into a separate medium sealable container.
Add almond extract to mixture. Store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.
“The combination of raspberry and pineapple in this smoothie is a delightful surprise,” writes Craft. “Both are known for their tartness, and blending them together with coconut flavors creates a super-refreshing beverage. Imagine you are sitting next to the incredible Disney’s BoardWalk Inn roller coaster water slide while sipping this drink.”
1⁄2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
8 ounces nonalcoholic pina colada mix
2 ounces pineapple juice
3 cups crushed ice
2 pineapple wedges
Mash raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once mixture just begins to boil, remove from heat. Strain into a small sealable container, discarding solids, and chill 1 hour.
In a blender, combine pina colada mix, pineapple juice, and ice. Blend until slushy. Split between two 16-ounce drinking glasses or plastic cups. Divide raspberry puree evenly between glasses, pouring on top of the pina colada slush. Gently blend with a spoon, while keeping visible swirls, and serve garnished with pineapple wedges.
Dole Whip Float
Aloha Isle, Magic Kingdom
“The debate rages on: Dole Whip cup, or Dole Whip Float?” asks Craft. “The only difference is the addition of liquid pineapple juice to the float. Some find this refreshing and an added bonus on a hot day. Others think the juice makes the Dole Whip too sweet, too acidic, or too watered down. Give both a try and see which camp you are going to pitch your tent in.”
For Dole Whip
1 cup water
1.5 cups granulated sugar
2 cups chilled pineapple juice
1 Tablespoon lime juice
To make Dole Whip: In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine water and sugar. Microwave 1 minute, stir, then microwave 1 more minute and stir to create a syrup. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours up to overnight.
Pour pineapple juice into a medium bowl and add 1⁄2 cup chilled syrup. Refrigerate remaining syrup up to 2 weeks. Add lime juice and stir. Pour into an ice cream machine. Follow manufacturer’s instructions and run about 20 minutes or until creamy.
Scoop mixture into a medium sealable container and chill in freezer about 30 minutes or until slightly firm.
To make Float: Pour pineapple juice into a float glass and top with piped Dole Whip. Serve immediately.
Even if you can’t make it down for Mardi Gras this year, there’s no reason to miss out on the fun. Here are our options for celebrating the holiday in person or from home. So start planning so you don’t miss out on the fun.
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is THE birthplace of Mardi Gras in the United States, with the American celebration dating back to 1703. In this city, where MoonPies are the most coveted parade “throw” and beads hang from trees year-round, Mardi Gras is truly a way of life.
Planned Events:
A full listing of planned events can be found at Mobile.org. All events are subject to change.
A tradition that started in 2021 is continuing to roll into the 2022 Carnival season. The Mobile Porch Parade is a socially distanced way for Mobilians to join in the fun by decorating their homes and registering to be on the official parade map. Everyone is invited to follow the “parade routes” – by way of foot, car or bike – at their leisure.
Celebrate at Home
To help get you in the spirit of the season, Toomey’s Mardi Gras features one of the largest inventories of Mardi Gras supplies anywhere in the world. Headquartered in a 70,000-square-foot facility is overflowing with beads, costumes, masks, and decorations. And that’s just the start. They even have MoonPies.
Local women-owned business ellenJAY offers a seasonal Mardi Gras Combo Box, Inside are four beautifully decorated mask sugar cookies, four chocolate chip sammies with vanilla buttercream and Mardi Gras sprinkles, and four cinnamon teacakes. The 12-count combo box is $59.95.
A full listing of planned events can be found at gulfshores.com
. All events are subject to change.
Don’t miss the Orange Beach Mardi Gras Parade. Organized each year by the City of Orange Beach, this year’s parade is scheduled for Saturday, February 26.
They all love a parade. That’s why the city of Gulf Shores offers both land and sea parades on Mardi Gras With the oldest parading order in Baldwin County, the Gulf Shores Mardi Gras Parade will take place at 10 a.m. on March 1. Later that day, the Mardi Gras Boat Parade, organized by Lucy Buffett’s LuLu’s, sets sail.
Celebrate at Home
Possibly the most famous of all Mardi Gras dishes is gumbo, and we’ve got a great recipe to share. Excerpted from Lucy Buffet’s “Gumbo Love” recipe book, Summer Seafood Gumbo. Ignore the name, this gumbo is good year round.
Coastal Louisiana
Coastal Louisiana epitomes the Cajun French expression “Laissez les bon temps roulez,” or as we would say “Let the good times roll.” Historically, New Year’s celebrations overlap the Carnival season kickoff starting on the Epiphany (January 6) and continuing on through Mardi Gras beginning this year on Tuesday, March 1.
Planned Events:
A full listing of planned events can be found on each destination’s website. All events are subject to change.
Lafourche Parish is recovering from the impact of Hurricane Ida last summer, but Mardi Gras is giving residents of Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou some reasons to celebrate. Here’s a complete list of the festivities scheduled for this year.
Located a short 40 minutes from the French Quarter, St. Tammany Parish is home to such quirky and unforgettable Mardi Gras parades as the Carnival in Covington Parade on March 1.
In Southwest Louisiana, the famed Iowa Chicken Run, an event that winds its way through the small town of Iowa to collect ingredients for a celebratory gumbo, is scheduled for March 1.
Celebrate at Home:
Order King Cake! There are almost too many delicious options to choose from, so we’re listing some of our favorite places from which to mail-order these delicious and highly evolved cinnamon pastries: Cajun Pecan House in Cut Off, Randazzo’s Camellia City Bakery in Slidell, Haydel’s Bakery in Jefferson Parish, and Delicious Donuts & Bakery in Lake Charles.
Host your own personal Crawfish Boil. A staple in the region’s dining scene, Deanie’s Seafood
offers shipping on a variety of seafood items, including Louisiana crawfish tails. The team in Jefferson Parish even put together a one-pager on how to cook crawfish.
Aspiring junior chefs can up their cooking skills this summer by enrolling in Sur La Table’s Summer Series, an assortment of cooking classes available online and in-person, designed for kids and teens. The four and five day series include Bake Shop, Open Your Own Restaurant, and Cooking Adventure and are taught by Sur La Table’s exceptionally well-trained and experience. The small-sized classes ensure that young chefs have plenty of active participation.
The complete kids and teens schedule is available online now here for June-August 2022 and enrollment is now open. Online classes start at just $29 per class and in-person classes start at $249.00 for a 5-Day series. Young cooks can explore menus full of exciting discoveries, from how to prepare favorite dishes to new twists on classic dessert. Classes are about two to two-one-half hours each. Class size is limited to 16.
Use surprise ingredients to craft your own recipe.
Teens’ 5-Day Summer Series: The Academy of Cuisine
Day 1: All About the Apps
Vietnamese Fresh Rolls with Dipping Sauce
Caprese Bruschetta
Mexican Street Corn Dip
Day 2: Savory Starches
Pad Thai
Gnocchi with Fresh Tomato Sauce
No-Knead Bread with Homemade Butter
Day 3: Power Up with Protein
Chicken Parm with Homemade Pasta
Carne Asada Tacos with Homemade Tortillas
Veggie Fried Rice
Day 4: Living the Sweet Life
Fruit Galette
Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream
Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce
Day 5: Make Your Own Menu
Create recipes using surprise ingredients!
Please note, Sur La Table is taking serious COVID-19 protocols for in-person events for the safety of their guests and masks are required at all times in stores. In-person classes are offered in all store locations.
