The Jack Rose, part 2

"Stopped at the Crillon. George made me a couple of Jack
Roses. George's a great man. Know the secret of his success? Never
been daunted."

"You'll be daunted after about three more pernods."

--Bill Gorton and Jake Barnes, in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises

As December's cold sets in, I start thinking about Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises and, of course, it's many drink references. At my last reading of the book, I wrote about the Jack Rose cocktail. Now that I am thinking about it again, I have attempted a more user-friendly version with more readily-available ingredients. In fact, I specifically used what I had on hand tonight. It still relies on apple juice to give it extra depth. Here is my latest Jack Rose:

2 oz brandy
3 oz sweet and sour mix
1 oz apple juice
1 oz sloe gin (traditionally made--not cheap substitutes. If not available, use Cherry Brandy or homemade grenadine.)
1 lime wedge, squeezed

Combine ingredients and mix well (shake or roll 30 seconds). Strain and serve in an Old Fashioned glass. Enjoy.

Balsamic Butttercream Sauce

Here is my recipe for Balsamic Buttercream sauce:

Balsamic Vinegar (enough to fill pan 1/4 inch)
1 Tbsp butter
1 generous splash red wine
1 pinch dried marjoram
1 pinch salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar

Fill a medium saucepan with 1/4 inch good Balsamic Vinegar. Add butter, wine, marjoram, salt, and sugar. Cook on low heat until reduced by half. Strain and return to pan (off heat). Add an equal part cream (or half-and-half) to the reduced liquid along with 1 more Tbsp butter. Return to low heat. Bring just to a boil, stirring constantly, and then remove from heat.

French Tacos, or, Entre le coma......

Tonight we had an eye of round roast. Although perfect by itself, I wanted to try a different twist after dinner with some of the remnants. From this experiment has emerged a new favorite--French Tacos. Wow! They are amazing. These will be developed in the near future into a main course, I'm sure. We were out of Brie (my first choice), so I used cream cheese, which worked really well. I may try brie next time, but then again I may stick with cream cheese. We will see.

French Tacos

(ingredients per serving)

1 slice cooked eye of round roast (~1/4 inch thick)
1 Tbsp balsamic reduction
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp cream cheese (or brie)
1 small handful watercress
1 flour tortilla

Melt butter and coat one side of tortilla. Add salt and place this side down on a plate Cover other side with balsamic reduction and heat in microwave 20 seconds or 30-45 seconds on stovetop in an ungreased pan. Remove from heat. Place cream cheese in center of balsamic-covered side of tortilla and spread, mixing well with balsamic reduction. Dice or cube beef and place in a line in the center of tortilla. Roughly shred watercress by hand and place in a line on top of the beef. Add a little salt and close the tortilla. Transfer to a new plate, remembering to remove excess melted butter with a paper towel. Serve with a southern Cotes-du-Rhone or Spanish garnache-tempranillo blend. Enjoy....just don't blame me for the coma.

Balsamic Reduction

I remember my first encounter with a balsamic reduction. I was entertaining a client at dinner early in my career and ordered the restaurant's specialty--their version of Beef Wellington. I was spellbound by the sauce, which I later discovered was a simple balsamic reduction. Simple...this is the perfect word to describe the preparation of this sauce, but not the flavors. So many flavors marry in a balsamic reduction that it is hard to describe them all. Years later I am still amazed at how many flavors can come out of such a simple sauce. I say simple, but that is a little misleading. The complexity of the sauce comes out of the complexity of the vinegar, so make sure you use a quality vinegar. You will not be disappointed.

Balsamic Reduction

(Adjust portions to suit your needs. Recipe yields 1/3-1/2 amount of vinegar used.)

1/4 cup good balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp butter

Add ingredients to a wide pan. (Based on portions, choose a pan large enough so that liquid is 1/2-1 inch deep.) Bring to a boil on medium-high heat then reduce to medium-low. Reduce liquid by half. Serve.

(See, I told you it was easy.)

The Accidental Zima

Anyone remember Zima? While much maligned by many in its prime, in hindsight I contend that Zima was a revolutionary beverage. Now...put aside your preconceived notions based on your view of it at the time. It was cool to hate the 'un-beer' of the early 90's, but clear your mind and consider Zima from a different perspective. Zima was the 'Jolt Cola' of alcohol. I consider Jolt to be the first energy drink. With its classic slogan, 'All the sugar and twice the caffeine,' Jolt presaged the advent of Red Bull, Monster, and the host of other drinks capitalizing on their increased caffeine when compared with Coke and other mainline soft drinks. Similarly, Zima truly tried to be 'Zomething Different'. In a world dominated by beer, wine coolers, and the wretched toxins that passed for late-80's wines, Zima stood out as a truly unique beverage. It was, in essence, a cocktail in a bottle--an attempt to break free from stereotypes and emerge as a new type of beverage. Much like Jolt, it found only a niche market. Had it been presented today, it might have fared better. A few years ago while touring the Coors plant outside Denver, I asked about Zima, only to learn that it was still in decline. After scrapping the original flavor and trying others, Coors was still fighting a losing battle against the unpopular image Zima received in its early years.

You may ask what sparked these thoughts about Zima...

I have been experimenting with 1980's retro wine cocktails. While attempting to create a 'wine cooler' (the cocktail ancestor of the ubiquitous bottled drink), I realized I was out of the traditional source of carbonation, ginger ale. The closest substitute I had on hand was Fresca, which I always stock as a diet alternative to Squirt for palomas (If you don't know, I would explain...but that's another blog entry). I mixed the following:

6 oz Fresca (grapefruit soda)
4 oz white wine (light and unoaked)
1/4 oz homemade grenadine
ice

Much to my surprise, not only did I have a nice, refreshing wine cocktail...I also detected a taste I had not experienced in years. Oddly enough, the grapefruity citrus of the Fresca, the smooth tart of the homemade grenadine, and the fruit and alcohol of the wine combined to make a taste that reflected what was good about Zima. This drink, however, was fresh and delicately sweet, not artificial and cloying. If any of you have and secret good memories of Zima (you know who you are!), give this cocktail a try.

The Jack Rose

"Brett did not turn up, so about a quarter to six I went down to the bar and had a Jack Rose with George the barman."

Jake Barnes, in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises

I am always fascinated by Hemingway's drink references. They speak to me of a time long past. Although I recognize many of his favorites, the Jack Rose caught me by surprise. Being from Tennessee and living in today's world, I automatically assume Jack Daniel's when I see the word "Jack" in a cocktail, but I instinctively knew that this must not be the case. Although its origins are unknown, many assume the "Jack" in the title refers to Applejack, an American apple brandy or apple brandy blend. I have found American Applejack to be far more similar to American whiskey in flavor than to Calvados, the French apple brandy. The Jack Rose is traditionally a "sour," meaning a combination of spirits, citrus, and a sweetening agent (eg. Margarita or Sidecar). In addition to these ingredients I like to add what I think is one of the most under-appreciated cocktail ingredients--apple juice. (One of my favorite drinks is simply apple juice and brandy with a generous splash of amaretto.) After numerous experiments, here is my Jack Rose:

3 oz apple juice
2 oz Applejack
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz homemade grenadine
Add ice and roll between 2 glasses for 15-20 seconds. Serve in an Old Fashioned glass with straw. Yum. I think Jake Barnes would be proud.

Homemade Grenadine

Prepare yourselves for a shock...........

Grenadine isn't grenadine.

Okay, perhaps I should explain. Grenadine is supposed to be pomegranate syrup; however, what passes for commercial grenadine today is often simply high-fructose corn syrup with food coloring and flavors added. Yuck! That is why cocktails with this 'grenadine' often fall flat and don't reach their potential. If you Google 'homemade grenadine recipe' you will get a lot of hits to experiment with. After several tries, here is my version:

2 cups real pomegranate juice
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup sugar
juice from 1/4 lime

Mix all ingredients in a pan. Bring to a boil and then simmer 30 min. Remove from heat and cool. Chill.

Yes, it is that simple. Adjust the sugar to your liking if this is not sweet enough. I think I will add a little more next time. This is MUCH more flavorful than the stuff I had been buying and does not have that 'artificial' taste. Enjoy.