MxMo - Spice It Up!

I am exited to participate in a Mixology Monday - its been a while! And, this topic is right up my alley. I love a bit of spicy in my cocktail!! Thanks to Craig at Tiki Drinks & Indigo Firmaments for thinking of it. Here are a couple from The Liquid Muse repertoire...

The first is the Nolita Heat, which was featured as the first ever "official nonalcoholic cocktail of Tales of the Cocktail 2008" and the second drink, which comes from my eco-friendly cocktail class, was originally called it Spicy Grapefuit Margarita. Luckily, Ted Haigh (aka: Dr. Cocktail) gave it a far better name, as you'll see below...

NOLitA Heat
(The Liquid Muse Virgin Mixology, 2008)

1-2 jalapeno slices
1/2 ounce limejuice
1 ounce Prickly Pear syrup (or prickly pear puree)
2 ounces mango juice
Fre alcohol-removed Brut sparkling wine
1 skewered whole jalapeño or Thai chili

Muddle jalapeno slices and limejuice in a mixing glass. Add ice and mango juice, then shake vigorously. Strain into a champagne flute. Slowly pour in Prickly Pear syrup, allowing it to settle on the bottom of the glass. Top with Fre Brut, and garnish with a skewered jalapeño or Thai chili on the side of the glass.

Hot Rod Cadiallac
(The Liquid Muse Sustainable Sips, 2008)

1 1/2 ounces 4 Copas organic tequila
1 ounce lime juice
2 ounces freshly squeezed organic grapefruit juice
1 slice jalapeno
3/4 ounce 4 Copas agave nectar
course sea salt

Rim 1/3 of a martini glass with course sea salt. Muddle jalapeno, lime juice and agave nectar in the bottom of a mixing glass. Add grapefruit juice and tequila. Shake well and gently strain into glass.

Small Batch Bourbon: A Tale with a Moral for Impressionable Young Ladies

For this month's MxMo, hosted by Scofflaw's Den, I've decided to share a word of warning drawn from personal experience rather than post a recipe. Let it be known that I like bourbon, and have developed a healthy respect for it!

My first extended exposure to bourbon was at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival 2007. It was quite exciting to tour the distillery with Fred Noe, the 7th generation Master Distiller in the Jim Beam family and quintessential Good Ole Boy.

I also had the honor of touring the Maker’s Mark Master Distiller with David Pickerell (whom I believe has since left MM). I felt like a kid in a candy store cuz I even got to dip my very own signature bottle in red wax! I have to admit that meandering around the barrels with these guys was kind of like landing backstage passes at a rock concert - and having the lead singers show you their dressing room. Yeah, I was a groupie. And here are a few basics I learned:

In order for bourbon to be authentic, it must:

• Be made from at least 51% corn
• Be aged a minimum of 2 years
• Be aged only in new, charred, American white oak barrels

So, all cocky from my newfound knowledge, dipping skills and "buddies" in the bourbon biz, later that night I found myself in the “media room” at the hotel. There were tables set up, junk food in bowls and bottles of bourbon lined up for our enjoyment. One group was sitting around a table playing poker, and others were in little clusters talking shop. I’m more of a craps girl, myself, and limit my gambling to Vegas.

I poured myself a Bookers on the rocks (named for the late Frederick Booker Noe, another relative of Jim Beam) and sat down at a table where 3 guys were chatting amongst themselves. They said they were in radio and lived in Los Angeles. No wonder I was drawn to them - we are probably some of the only people in LA who actually still drink – diet be damned and rehab-free!

I asked what kind of radio show they did and one guy replied, “The kind that pisses of a lot of people.” Without missing a beat I joked, “Oh, like that Tom Leykis guy?” to which they busted up laughing and looked at me sideways.

“I am Tom Leykis,” said the larger of the three. “Yeah, right,” I laughed. “No, really, I am,” he said. And then I recognized his voice. Luckily they found my ignorance a mark of “I’m think I’m so important that I don’t know who you are” rather than pure cluelessness. (In LA, the former invokes more respect.)

Now, many a woman would like to harpoon ole Tom because on one of his talk shows, he encourages men to figure out ways to get laid without spending money on an expensive date first. Personally, I believe that a sister has to set her standards so guys like that can’t take advantage! Personal responsibility and all... His other show - and the reason he was at the Bourbon Festival - is called The Tasting Room with Tom Leykis and focuses on wine and spirits. We continued to share a few laughs, and I continued sipping on Booker’s.

Now, here’s the thing about drinking 125+ proof bourbon when you don't realize it… the stuff is so strong, you just kinda stop tasting it after the first one. I think it makes your tastebuds drunk before the rest of you.

Suddenly and all-at-once, I realized I was shooting my mouth off a little too much and – although I had them laughing (at my own expense, of course) – I’d probably live to regret it. So, I excused myself and made my way down the hall and into my room. That’s about all I remember of that.

The next thing I know is that my phone was ringing. My fellow travelers were on the bus and waiting for me. I had slept through the wake up call!! Feeling like death warmed over, I ran the toothbrush across my teeth, stuck my hair in a ponytail, threw on some jeans and ran out to the bus.

I managed to sit by a window so I could inhale extra oxygen and prayed that we wouldn’t have to taste, smell or be near any bourbon for at least 2 1/2 hours. Which was a futile wish, of course. We were at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival!

Luckily, my liver bounced back relatively quickly and by lunch I was ready to try my hand at a myriad of BBQ and bourbon pairings. And, at the Bourbon Ball the next night, I sampled sips from a myriad of bourbons in the sampling room. I even indulged in Bookers once again, only this time it was mixed with juice and I proceeded with caution.

The moral of the story: When trying a new bourbon which one is not familiar, tread lightly. Drink a little water. And, read the bottle. Or you may just end up feeling like a Boozy Floosie rather the mildly elegant and occasionally sophisticated Muse you’d like to portray yourself to be…

Mixology Monday, November

Here I come careening in at the last possible moment to share a drink at the online cocktail party, otherwise known as Paul Clarke’s baby, the infamous MxMo! This month, Jay - Britain’s premiere imbiber at Oh Gosh! - is host. He has chosen none other than “gin” as the topic. “Pip, pip, cheerio!” I say to that.

While I enjoy a vodka cocktail from time to time, it has staged a sneaky little take-over, pushing gin out of the limelight for the last several years. (I blame it all on Sex in the City and their over-exposed favorite cocktail, and the inane multitude of variations of the Cosmo… but that's ranting from other posts.)

So, here we are with gin back at the forefront. I mean – geesh – have you noticed all the gins (and “gin light”) on the market lately? What do I mean by “gin light?” Well, let’s put it this way…

As with whiskey, some people (women in particular) get it in their heads that gin is “too strong,” “will give me a terrible hangover,” “is an old man’s drink.”

While the mainstays of solid, good old aromatic gin (like Bombay Sapphire, for example) are regularly enjoyed by the masculine and well-to-do, new products appeal to the gin-wary. G’Vine has more floral notes that juniper ones. Sonnema Herb refers to itself as a ‘vodka’ but it does have juniper notes. (Isn’t juniper what makes a ‘vodka’ a ‘gin,’ after all?) Damrak is angling to get Holland back in the gin game (gin began as genever, then became the drink we know when British soldiers brought it back to the home country, and later to India where the ‘gin and tonic’ was widely drunk … for “medicinal purposes” staving off Malaria.) Today, rebellious Blue Coat gin steals the British spirit Stateside.

A whole bevy of our favorite vodka drinks began with gin – from the martini (originally made with a 7:1 ratio of gin and vermouth) to the Snapper (predecessor to the Bloody Mary).

And, of course, throwing in a bit of feminine lore, lovers of the literati and the wild girls of the roaring 20’s must read Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin (recipe for bathtub gin in this post) These rebellious beauties (Zelda Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Edna Ferber) would drive any sane man to the bottle --- only it would already be empty because the gals would have finished it off hours before!

So, I suppose this is the time when I present a cocktail to share with the MxMo party crowd. Well, since I’m running late, and you’ve probably already drunk your fill, I will leave you with my version a morning-after waster-chaser:

The Liquid Muse Snapper (with a kick)

2 ounces tomato water*
1 1/2 ounces gin
dash salt, pepper, Angostura bitters
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1/4 ounce lemon juice
1/4 ounce lime juice
lemon wheel
sprig of fresh dill

Rim a Collins glass with ground chili powder. Fill with ice. Set aside. Shake tomato water, gin, salt, pepper, bitters and lemon & lime juices, with ice. Strain into tall glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel and sprig of dill. Enjoy with an aspirin and a big glass of water after a night out...

*Personally, I can’t stand thick tomato juice, so I prefer tomato water. Make it by freezing several tomatoes overnight, in a glass bowl. Thaw them the next morning in the same bowl and save the liquid that collects in it. Next, peel off the skin of each tomato, and squeeze it over the bowl, so its juice adds to the contents of the bowl. (Set the meat of the tomatoes aside to make pasta sauce.) Strain the liquid from the bowl, and voila – tomato water!

Mixology Monday - A Little Sustenance with the Sauce...

You Won't Leave This Party Hungry!

Wow! What an awesome response to MixMo! This is the first time I’ve hosted one, and I have to admit that it was a little daunting to come up with a theme. So, I went with my heart (or maybe it was my stomach…) and chose a topic which increasingly intrigues me…

Cocktail and food pairings are a creative way to individualize each person’s dining experience. For example, four dinner companions may order four very different meals – in fact, so different that one bottle of wine wouldn’t work for every meal. I’m sure you’ll all be impressed with the many mout-watering suggestions below. Pull up a chair, tie a napkin around your neck, grab a glass and hold on tight! It’s MixMo!

I always like to begin a dinner party with a little bubbly. The “pop” of a champagne cork always sets the mood! I recently created a cocktail for the launch of Napa’s Domaine Carneros Brut Rosé. (I'll be getting a professional photo of this cocktail but haven’t yet, so I “borrowed” this pic from Starchefs, as it looks a teesy bit, kinda sorta similar.)

Cocktail: Bouquet of Rosé

1/2 ounce Scence Rose Nectar
4 ounces Domaine Carneros Brut Rosé
spritz of rose water
Sprig of fresh lavender

Spritz a chilled champagne bowl* (or martini glass) with rose water. Pour in rose nectar and Domaine Carneros Brut Rosé.

Aromatic Garnish: Lay a sprig of fresh lavender across the top of the glass.
*Because aromatics are an essential ingredient in this cocktail, a wide-mouthed glass is preferable.

Pairing: The LA launch party began at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and it was served with wonderful little lobster canapés, oysters and mini truffle risottos.

Drumroll Please... Here are everyone's submissions for a tasty meal from around the globe (including an encore performance). Cheers! Skol! Prost! Salud! (and Bon Apetit!)

Before Dinner:

Whet your appetite with a favorite bar snack! Darcy O’Neil brings a little science to the Art of Drink pairing, featuring his Light Green Fizz with Pretzels.

Hors D’oeuvres:

Anna at Morsels and Musings sent in this super cool round up of cocktail pairings with canapes at bars around Sydney, Australia. The pear-influenced martini with tuna ceviche sounds bloody fantastic, mate!

Soup:

Craig (aka: Dr. Bamboo) managed to send over a little “food porn.” I mean, am I really alone in getting all hot-and-bothered over Celery & Stilton Soup? Sexy it up even more with a martini: shaken, not stirred…

Salad:

A big, whopping to Happy Birthday to Jeffrey Morgenthaler who took time out of his celebration to send in his MixMo pairing. Such skill! Such dedication. You may be getting on in age, Jeffrey, but at least ya ain’t losin’ your touch, old buddy.

Fish:

I love salmon – and never had it wrapped in Parma ham… but now that I’ve read Jay Hepburn’s pairing, I can’t wait to try it with this “Martini Variation.” Oh gosh! A Jolly good idea, I dare say!

Blaire ‘Trader Tiki’ Reynolds sends us this exotic poisson cru and a tiki cocktail. (It gave me fantasies of running off to the South Pacific.)

Paul Clarke, Granddaddy of the MixMo, out did himself, as usual, with this salmon kedgeree and cocktail pairing (using one of the new ginger liqueurs, too)… Nobody chronicles the joy of cocktails like Cocktail Chronicles.

How about a little Absinthe? That's what Jamie Boudreau has used in the Dutchess cocktail paired with prawns over at Spirits and Cocktails.

Pasta:

Bar Mix Master, Brad Ellis represents The Big Easy in this month’s MixMo by pairing a twist on a Manhattan with Pastalaya. Wondering what the heck that is? Find out here.

Meat-n-More:

In Cocktail Land, we know Shawn by his drink blog, Rejiggered. Well, this Clarke Kent-like 'lawyer-by-day-blogger-by-night ' has now added a food blog to his repertoire. Get the low down on his MixMo drink at the usual spot, and the recipe for the intoxicating sauce (as in for the steak, not the glass) at The Biased Cut.

Deb Ward tempts and teases those of us who are hungry in L.A. with her food blog: Let’s Order / Dinner at Six. I extend a sunny So-Cal welcome to this first-time MixMo “purist.”

Anita & Cameron at Married With Dinner share more than a blissful life together. They also both have a passion for all that’s meaty, slathered and shaken.

He got me at: “Jalapeño short ribs, marinated in pomegranate molasses and bourbon, and mac and cheese.” Then, he paired it with whiskey. And, there is so much more! Feast on course after course of pairings with Michael Dietsch at A Dash of Bitters.

Meatless:

Gwen is our online Goddess who oversees the sun, moon and stars when it comes to pairing cocktails with astrology at Intoxicating Zodiac. In this post, she worked a little tofu into MixMo. (You can also learn how to ward off those pesky deer...)

Got No Freakin' Idea What This is But I'm Sure It's Good:

I am honored to present the first MixMo entry in a language other than English! Christian, from Bavaria, Germany, sent us this drink pairing featuring “wodka” and some other stuff, measured in centiliters, no less.

Dessert:

Let’s top this all off with an elegant dessert from Dominik MJ, the Opinionated Alchemist. Here’s a hint: there’s a gin-hibiscus infusion and lemon… well, just check it out for yourselves!

You’ll want to get Sloshed with Marleigh Riggins’ Cookie Martini (to go with a Chocolate Dipped Harvest Biscotti, no less!)

Drop off to sleep tonight with a big, fat smile and dream of a million fuzzy little sheep after Cynthia Closkey’s Hot Toddy and Oatmeal cookie. It makes me long for snow in North Hollywood, just so I can snuggle by a fire with this cozy pairing.

Midnight Snack:

Former Smirnoff Mixologist, Cameron Bogue, is blogging his bike tour through Latin America - on a motorcycle - at MotoTails. Don’t hate him because he’s living the beautiful life. Just eat and drink vicariously through his MixMo entry. (Just try not to cry when you finish reading about his adventures, and you’re still sitting in that cubicle…)

But Wait... There's More!

Erik at Egullet was kind enough to send over a whole slew of pairings their readers sent in. Don’t touch that dial. These are awesome!

eGullet member bostonapothecary mused over food and cocktail pairings, remembering a fairly successful combination of Carolina pulled pork sandwiches and Mojitos.

Peter the eater recalled an odd device which allowed him to carbonate any alcoholic beverages. One of his favorites was carbonated port wine served with blue cheese.

Natter suggested pairing rich foods with high acid cocktails.

Katie Loeb (aka KatieLoeb) detailed a recent dinner where she paired cocktails with each course.

Erik Ellestad (aka eje) took a predictable route, pairing the vermouth and sherry based Bamboo with cheese and nuts.

Andy Arrington (aka thirtyoneknots) has had some luck pairing a cucumber, lemon, and gin combination he calls "Scottish Cool" with a sashimi trio.

Mixology Monday - Coming Monday, October 15!

Get in on the Action...

I am excited to host October's MixMo. For those who don't know, Mixology Monday is the brainchild of our pal, Paul Clarke at Cocktail Chronicles. We cocktail bloggers / bartenders / Mixologists / cocktail enthusiasts across the internet have a little "cocktail party" of sorts. One blogs hosts each month, and chooses a theme.

Everyone who wants to be involved posts an appropriate drink on their own blog, then emails the host, who compiles a list, with links. The host then posts MixMo in its entirety on their blog for the world to read about all of the wild and wonderful cocktails everyone has presented.

With the holidays coming up, I thought it would be fun to focus on food pairings. Over the last year, or so, I've become a big fan of cocktail pairings... here are a few of the latest reasons why:

While in London, a few weeks ago, I had the honor of experiencing mind-blowing savory cocktails made by Bombay Sapphire's Europe-based Mixologist, Jamie Walker. After touring an immense gourmet herb garden on the grounds of Manoir aux Quat'Saisons (a Relais & Chateaux property in Oxford, England), Jamie gave us a cocktail demonstration featuring ingredients like beets, fresh herbs and morel mushrooms. Incredible. And, these "gourmet cocktails" pair incredibly well with world class food. (The restaurant at has two michelin stars, I might add... more on that to come in a future post.)

I've also recently enjoyed a glamorous dinner at a Hollywood mansion atop a hill, hosted by Jose Cuervo to show off their Platino (platinum) tequila. It was very eye-opening for me to try the variety of cocktails, made with tequila, that went nicely with passed canapes, Chilean seabass and dulce de leche flan. The drinks paired particularly well with the bird's eye view of Los Angeles stretching for miles below us. (more on that coming soon, too...)

I also tried bourbon cocktails paired with barbeque (talk about a perfect pairing!) at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, a couple of weeks ago. Yum! (I've written a bit about that here and there's more to come.)

All of this to give you an idea that cocktails and food go well together. Whether you choose gin, tequila, vodka, whiskey or something else, don't be afraid to get creative.

I'm hoping that this MixMo will entice some of our food blogger friends to get in on the action, too!

I suggest that you present a cocktail - name, ingredients and photo - and also give an idea of what kind of food (or a specific dish) it pairs well with.

Cheers - and Bon Apetit!