Guinness Bloody Mary - Foodie Friday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Happy New Year! My greeting comes with special wishes for your health and happiness in 2010. I thought it might be fun to start the new year with a new drink, so I've bumped my scheduled post to share this one with you before the holiday officially ends. None of you will need a drink to cure "the hair of the dog", but in case you know someone who does, or are entertaining this weekend, you might find this twist on a Bloody Mary interesting. Years ago, it was believed that the best antidote for rabies was a drink brewed with the hair of the the dog that caused the rabies. Certain drinks, like the Bloody Mary, are believed by some to cure the symptoms of a hangover. While there is no medical proof to support that claim, the hypothesis is tested on a regular basis by revelers. The drink was first served in Chicago at the Bucket of Blood Club. Fernand Petiot, while working at Harry's New York Bar in Paris, France, was asked to create a drink like that served at the Bucket of Blood by a waitress called Bloody Mary. Hence, the name. Interestingly, the Guinness Bloody Mary also has its roots in Chicago. I had the drink at a brunch in Austin and was able to find a prototype for the recipe on the Tabasco Foodservice website. If you are looking for a new brunch drink, this one might be perfect for you. It really is delicious, but be forewarned - it does pack a punch. Here's the recipe.

Guinness Bloody Mary...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
4 cups tomato juice
Juice of 2 limes
4 shots good vodka
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon celery salt
Tabasco sauce to taste
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Coarse salt for coating rims of mugs
1 (12-oz.) bottle Draught Guinness
Optional: Limes or olives for garnish

Directions:
1) Combine tomato juice, lime juice, vodka, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, Tabasco sauce, and salt and pepper in a large iced filled pitcher.
2) Dampen the rims of 4 mugs with water and dip them in a bowl of coarse salt. Fill each mug with an equal portion of tomato juice mixture. Float 3 ounces of Guinness on top of each mug. Serve immediately. Garnish with lime slices or olives if desired. Yield: 4 drinks.


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Designs By Gollum - Foodie Friday

Irish Moonshine - Homemade Irish Cream Liqueur

When Irish eyes are smiling there's usually a reason. Could it be Bailey's Irish Cream? The liqueur has been available since 1974 when Gilbey's, an Irish distillery, discovered how to emulsify whiskey and heavy cream. The liqueur is uniquely Irish and is a balanced measure of Ireland's agricultural and distilling heritage. However important that may be, it's the amazing taste that has made the liqueur famous. If you're a devotee of Bailey's Irish Cream, perhaps in Irish coffee or straight-up over ice, today's recipe will have you smiling, too. It's easy, fast and inexpensive to prepare and it's great for a party. It also makes a nice hostess gift. Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. A recipe for a dairy free Irish cream can be found here. Sláinte.

Irish Cream Liqueur

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups whiskey (i.e. Jameson's Irish whiskey)
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
2 teaspoons instant coffee
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
1) Place all ingredients in a blender jar. Pulse to combine.
2) Pour into a serving container and refrigerate until ready to use.
3) Serve over ice in a glass. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 weeks. Yield: 5 cups.

Hot Buttered Rum Punch and Wassail

If Lil - my darling Lily - were here, she'd walk you through the finer points of wassailing and you'd belly up to the bar, completely charmed, before the night was through. Lily was director of nursing at a teaching hospital in Chicago; she was also instrumental in establishing hospice centers throughout the city. Lily belonged to a community I've come to call the gatekeepers - a special group of people whose training and disposition place them with those about to take the first or last breaths of their lives. It's holy work - they are the faces we see at the beginning and end of life's journey.

Lily was my friend and neighbor and, for a period of time, a gatekeeper for my almost 3 pound baby daughter. She walked and talked me through sleepless nights and miles of worry, but our story had a happy ending - one that was atypical for preemies born all those years ago. Then came another baby girl - this one delivered by 747. She was frightened, malnourished and in braces; one of the first people she'd let hold her was Lil. She never got to see the beautiful and accomplished women "her" babies became. Her pride would measure mine and I must tell you these young women still take my breath away. I can't believe they're mine.

Lily knew how to make Christmas merry. She loved caroling (wassailing) and she wasn't above having a nip now and then. She was very familiar with the tradition of wassailing. As she explained it, wassailers went from door to door, singing and drinking to the health of their neighbors. In pre-Christian times villagers traveled through fields and orchards in the middle of winter, singing and shouting to drive away any spirits that might prevent or slow the growth of future crops. As part of this, they poured wine and cider on the ground to encourage fertility in the crops. Lily thought this was a terrible waste of spirits. During the Victorian era this evolved into the idea of Christmas caroling. Carolers would return home after a night of singing and warm themselves by the fire with a pot of spiced wassail or hot buttered rum. I suspect they slept well. Today's recipes are for a hot buttered rum concentrate that will quench the thirst of the entire neighborhood; the other is for wassail - an elixer for those who are really, really cold or really, really thirsty. They are both very good. I hope you'll give them a try this holiday season. Slainte Mhath, a Mhari!

Hot Buttered Rum Concentrate

Ingredients:
1 pound golden brown sugar
1 pound confectioners' sugar
1/2 pound softened, unsalted butter
1 quart French vanilla ice cream
Pick your poison - rum, Irish whiskey etc.
Grated nutmeg for garnish

Directions:
1) Place brown sugar, confectioners' sugar, butter and ice cream in bowl of an electric stand mixer. Mix, using paddle attachment, to combine. Freeze.
2) When ready to serve, place 1 to 2 tablespoons of frozen mixture into a mug. Add a jigger of rum or whiskey and fill mug with boiling water. Sprinkle top with nutmeg. Yield: 24 to 32 servings.

Lily's Wassail Bowl

Ingredients:
4 small oranges, unpeeled
Whole cloves
3 (12-ounce each) bottles ale
3 cups dark rum
2/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Stud oranges, at 1/2-inch intervals, with cloves. Place in a shallow pan and bake, uncovered for 30 minutes.
3) Place ale, rum, sugar and ginger in a 5 to 6-quart saucepan. Bring just to boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
4) Place hot oranges in a punch bowl. Slowly cover with hot liquid. Ladle into cups. Serve hot. Yield: 15 servings.

Lily's Scottish Toast

The toast is Slainte Mhath! (pronounced Slanjey-va, meaning "Good Health"). The response is Slainte Mhor! (pronounced Slanjey-voe, meaning "Great Health").