On The Boulevard

If you saw this Wednesday's NYT article on the Bouulevardier cocktail, you may have been intrigued to try one.  If you haven't seen it, you should check it out here: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/dining/the-boulevardier-is-back-on-the-menu.html?_r=0

This cocktail is a variation on various whiskey-based cocktails which are part of my standard drinking menu.  The Manhattan is the most basic, then it spins out to variations like the Compass Rose or the Vieux Carre.

I tinkered with the Boulevardier a little, and this is one totally bomb-ass result:

The Brookline Boulevardier

Chill a cocktail glass with crushed ice.

In a mixing glass, over ice, combine:

1 oz Dad's Hat Cask Strength Single Barrel Rye

1 oz Jim Beam Signature Craft 12yr Bourbon

1/2 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth

1/2 oz Aperol

2 dashes No. 11 Orange Bitters

Stir until well-chilled, at least 30 seconds. Empty your cocktail glass of crushed ice. Strain the cocktail into the glass over a slice of blood orange for garnish.

Substitute ingredients as necessary or get over to my place and I'll mix you one.

Chilled Perfection

Despite my previous railing against difficult to source ingredients and twee cocktails in general, I have found what may be the perfect expression of the martini known as the Vesper.  For the Bond fans, my apologies for swapping brands, but Gordon's Gin isn't what it once was.  This is my current recipe, and it's kicking off my weekend quite well. 

Chill a martini glass with crushed ice and a small pour of absinthe. 

In a shaker, combine with ice:

1 oz Aviator Gin

1 oz Dogfish Head Jin

1 oz Kettle One Vodka

1 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth

2 shakes Angostura Orange Bitters

Shake vigorously until well-chilled. Empty your glass of ice and absinthe. Strain the cocktail into the seasoned glass. Ba-boom! Chilled perfection.

Reading. You know, like, books?

I miss bookstores.

I know there are still bookstores around, but it's harder and harder to find one to actually spend time and browse in.  When I find one, I make a point out of going in and I almost always buy SOMETHING, even if it's something small.  The independents that are still struggling along deserve help to stay afloat, because at this point, they're the true believers.  So I pay my tithe every time I enter.

Like I say, often it's something small.  When in Manhattan, I try to get to the Strand just because it's the Strand.  They don't need my help to stay afloat, really, but I like buying books in actual stores, browsing and succumbing to impulse.  Two weeks ago, I bought a copy of Catcher in the Rye.  Why?  Well, I managed to skate the entire way through school, college, and grad school without it ever being on a reading list and I never got around to it.

I always suspected that it was something you had to read at a particular time in your life for it to hold real meaning, and now I'm halfway through, with my suspicions pretty much confirmed.  Still, I'm enjoying the book because it has a sense of place for me.  Amazon can put a smile on the box, but I won't ever think "hey, I got that when I was in NYC meeting with potential film investors."

Don't get me wrong, Amazon works.  I use them.  But I still like the real thing: a store stocked with knowledge and opinions inked on paper, staffed by an eclectic bunch of devotees.

Bitter Progress

After two weeks steeping, the first batch of homemade bitters is coming along nicely, I think.

Craft Cocktails

What you see in these jars represents a promise long unfulfilled.  Back in the hazy days of having twin toddlers and many housebound hours with them, I used to have serious slices of time to get up to some strange stuff in the kitchen.  One summer, I went through a jag of making fresh ice cream periodically and was experimenting with tons of different toppings.  I happened across a recipe to make homemade maraschino cherries.

Now, cherries are, hands down, my favorite fruit, with their explosion of meaty sweetness and dark red juice.  They're really good for you and they taste like summer to me.  I aslo love maraschino cherries in all their many varieties (even the toxic-looking nail-polish red ones). So, when I saw the recipe it seemed like a no-brainer and I made an extensively large batch of fresh maraschino cherries.  It was like the food of the gods, that's how good they tasted.  Drenching fresh vanilla ice cream with those cherries and their juice was one of the best things I ever ate.  And then, you know, summer was over.  Cherries were out of season.  By the next year, the kids were busier over the summer and I didn't have quite as much "leisure time."  The year after that, we got a pool membership so I didn't have as many long afternoons needing to entertain my kids and myself with kitchen projects.  For years, the recipe was lost and every summer I'd think, I really should make some maraschino cherries again, if only I could find that recipe -- with sort of an elegiac tone.

The years passed and the kids required less herding from me and my "leisure time" was starting to increase again.  Two years ago,when rooting in the attic for something totally different, I rediscovered the maraschino recipe and that lingering impulse started anew.  But Cherries were gone for the summer.  Then, I embarked on my Manhattan Project: a scientific approach to coming up with the perfect recipe for the classic cocktail based on different combinations of ingredients.  Since the traditional garnish is a maraschino cherry, it got me to thinking about the recipe again.  On a late fall trip through the Target, on the bottom shelf of a sale rack, I came across a set of canning equipment on deep discount and I thought, wow, maybe I really should make those Cherries, and preserve them for the winter.  I bought the canning stuff, but again cherries were gone. The canning stuff sat unused in the basement.

I did, however, continue to drink Manhattans, and start creating my own cocktail combinations, often with a cherry as garnish.  As my quest for creative ingredients continued, I came back to the idea of those damn cherries and I thought, this summer, I'm gonna do it.  And I did.

I'm waiting to pop the first jar and see if my efforts help me along in my quest for the perfect Manhattan.  Friends who are craft cocktail obsessives, hit me up if you want a jar to try.  I'll throw in a couple of my own drink recipes for fun.  Because anything worth doing is worth obsessing over from the ground up.