Author Topic: Have a Drink and check out my cookbook  (Read 106 times)

cookingonline

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 1
    • View Profile
Have a Drink and check out my cookbook
« on: June 03, 2019, 11:43:07 pm »
Hi I am Chef Dave. I am looking to share with everyone some of the first chapter of my cookbook Noble Savage Cooking, Food and Manners for a Corrupt Civilization.  The first chapter of my Nose to Tail journey is about Drinks and Snacks. Salut!

TRX Address:TCT36myayg6Cv7JdHTo1f47v2SPFpmCWqn


CHAPTER 1: Libations and Cracklins

The Significance of Proper Bartending

In good times people want to drink. In bad times people have to.
How many seconds does it take for the warm blanket of bliss to cover your body after the first sip of a properly crafted cocktail? It’s pure and natural bliss gives you a feeling of comfort and pleasure. It is a sense of being and belonging in your own world. It is the knowing that things are good. Hell, by the time the glass is nothing but a few naked ice cubes, things may very well be great. The first sip of the first drink is just that--a first impression. I would not advise anyone to risk such an important role in the psyche of not only himself but his guests to substandard bartending.
One cannot and should not underestimate the significance of knowing how to properly craft a real cocktail. Even in the world of the professional restaurant it is often an overlooked after thought to providing you an entertaining evening. What has the world come to when the “bartender” can make every blue, purple, green drink and red drink while juggling 4 bottles of Schnapps and setting his nose hair on fire? But you ask for a Side Car and get a look as blank as Kristen Stewart’s personality. I continually strive everyday to be a better person and to help people be upstanding stalwarts of their community. In the same ways that cuisine brings people together, so equally does drink.
Think of a good drink in the same way you would think of authentic Japanese food. Very few ingredients are used. Therefore, each ingredient must be of the highest level. Don’t buy any alcohol that comes in a plastic bottle. You will save yourself a world of headache, literally, by not drinking anything presented to you in such an abomination. The only thing they are putting in there to make “gin” is the ability to heighten your poor judgment.
Buy alcohol from the countries that it is supposed to come from. In the same way that you would never eat Etouffee in New Jersey, you should never buy Cognac from Cleveland.
Since there are so few things that make a fine cocktail, you must be precise at measurements. Say you have 2 ounces of brandy and 2 ounces of Cointreau in the recipe. You get sloppy and lazy by pouring 1 1/2 ounces of brandy and 2 1/2 ounces of Cointreau. You have just changed the taste of the libation by 25%! “I’m sorry Mr. Bridges, but we can’t pay you the money as promised by 25%”. Unacceptable.
Every type of glass has a size and a shape for a reason. My personal build is a bit robust with a slight taller than average height. I am built that way so that I can accommodate my appetite for life. A champagne glass is designed to concentrate the bubbles straight up to tickle your lip. A rocks glass should have a very heavy bottom in order to withstand the muddler and help keep it upright on the bar as you get a little free spirited. Specific glasses have been designed for specific drinks for 150 years. Instead of diluting your valuable time into trying to figure out why, just accept it and fall back on 150 years of research, tradition and accidents.
Ice should be of the large variety. It is a fact that larger cubes melt slower than the smaller ones. The idea is to chill your drink, not water it down. If you want to know the scientific molecular reasoning, send Harold McGee an email. I have seen some online stores where you could purchase ice trays that make larger ice cubes. You could also take a bread loaf pan and just freeze a large block to which you wield a fabulous ice pick. Very manly, very butch, chicks really dig that.
The techniques should not be taken for granted either. If is says “shake”, then shake. If it says “stir”, then stir. Assuming a lackadaisical approach to the techniques of crafting a cocktail will just lead to a very uninspiring result. It would be like butchering the motions of the Tango only to dip the girl in the end and think she is actually still going to desire you. Take each technique seriously. It will show your work in an honest and naked fashion in the end.
Everything that finds itself upon your palate is better fresh. You would never in your life take an asparagus out of the can and put it on your salad plate. If you would, then stop here and please just give my tome of knowledge to someone else. Bottled lemon juice is nasty. I know it says “Real” on the label. But if I squeeze a lemon and leave the juice on the counter, eventually it starts to bubble and fizz. I could leave that “Real” stuff on the counter as an heirloom to my grand children and it would taste and act in the same way as the day I let its filthy personality into my home. Use fresh ingredients and the summer sun will always shine your way.
Do things with Flair. For the love of God, when I say “Flair”, I’m not talking about the juggling bartender with the faux hawk and the shirt so tight I can tell you where he cut himself manscaping. I am talking about style. Take each action and make it with just a touch more drama. Pour the liquor into the glass from a few inches higher than normal. Shake the cocktail up high and over your shoulder as if you were Carmen Miranda at the CoCo Cabana. Drop the in the lemon peel with the flourish of the hands of David Copperfield. Be slightly dramatic. You’re here to have fun, so make it that way and your guests will follow suit.


Lillet Refresher with Salmon Cracklins         
Serves 4 on the way to a concert in the park

There are times when you may want to give the appearance of being slightly more sophisticated than you actually may be. Nothing does that better than ordering something French that nobody has hardly ever heard of. Step up to the bar and let the romanticism of France roll off your tongue, “Lillet Blanc”. Lillet Blanc is a wonderful L’aperitif with hints of orange and honey. This refresher will keep you cool and satiated. Looking all the while, that you are indeed the sum of all your parts.

Lillet Refresher;
1 Bottle Lillet Blanc
1 liter Ginger Ale
1 orange cut into slices for garnish as well as flavor

Use a traditional rocks glass and over fill it with large ice cubes. Fill the glass half way with the Lillet Blanc, it’s your choice to which half of the glass you want to fill. Fill the remaining vacant half of the glass with the Ginger Ale. Squeeze one slice of orange and drop into the drink. Stir the drink one time with your finger. Repeat 3 more times or do all 4 glasses at once like any normal person.

Salmon Cracklins;
Salmon Skin from one side of fresh salmon
Corn Starch for dusting
Coarse Sea Salt
Fennel Pollen

Pre-heat your deep fat fryer to 350 degrees. Cut the skin of the salmon into 1-inch strips. Lightly toss the skin in some cornstarch and shake off any excess cornstarch. Place the skin into the fryer one strip at a time and fry in batches of 10 -12 strips. Fry each batch until the skin is lightly brown and the skin in the fryer has refrained from popping at you any more. Remove the skin from the fryer and place on a paper towel to absorb any of the excess oil. While the skin is still hot sprinkle with the salt and fennel pollen.

****Creoles believe that when you cut a cucumber, you must cut the stem end first, and then rub it against the spot it was just cut from. This is said to take the bitterness or the fever from a cucumber.




Molasses Whiskey Smash with Pork Gratons         
Serves 4 during a day of wagering on horses

One fine evening I was truly being entertained at the bar of the Renaissance Hotel in New Orleans by Chris McMillian, a true master of the craft. Every single cocktail Chris makes is absolute perfection. However, perfection does take time. So if you’re in a rush to escape your immediate mental surroundings, don’t go see Chris. But if you are curious to see just how true bartending is preformed at the highest level, before some 21 year old bottle juggling circus act ruins it for the next generation, find Chris. Order this drink and pay attention as he wields the bar shaker while simultaneously weaving the most beautiful poem on Bourbon you have ever heard.

Molasses Whiskey Smash;
2 Lemons (cut into halves, then cut each half into quarters)
8 sprigs of Fresh Mint
4 ounce Molasses
1 Bottle Fine Kentucky Bourbon such as Makers Mark

Place 3 of the quartered lemon pieces into a Boston Shaker glass with 1 sprig of mint and 1 ounce of molasses. Muddle the ingredients in the glass. Place a few large cubes of ice into the shaker glass and pour in a shot or so of Bourbon. Shake the glass a good 15 times and strain into a rocks glass that is over flowing with ice. Garnish your beverage with a piece of lemon and one sprig of mint.

Pork Gratons;
1lb piece of Pork Belly with the skin still attached
Creole Seasoning

Pre-heat your deep fryer to 225 degrees. Cut the pork belly into 1 1/2 inch cubes. Fry the pork for 15-20 minutes until the pork is browned nicely. Remove the gratons from the fryer and lay on a paper towel and let cool for a good 20 minutes. Raise the heat of your fryer to a blistering 400 degrees. Place the pork back into the fryer and fry until you see the skin blister and get yummy, crunchy crackly. Remove from the fryer onto a paper towel and liberally sprinkle the Creole Seasoning over the pork gratons.
OR, if the great gastronomic deity has laid his hand on your soul and you find yourself living in his land of South Louisiana. Just go to the nearest gas station and buy a bag already cooked for 8 bucks.


****Pork Gratons will stay good for days. I often keep them in a paper bag in my car for days just eating a little here or there whenever I get cut off.




            The Zenith of Man’s Pleasure



“Then comes the zenith of man’s pleasure.
Then comes the julep ­­– the mint julep.
Who has not tasted one has lived in vain.
The honey of Hymettus brought no such solace to the soul;
the nectar of the gods is tame beside it.
It is the very dream of drinks,
the vision of sweet quaffings.

The Bourbon and the mint are lovers.
In the same land they live,
on the same food are they fostered.
The mint dips its infant leaf
into the same stream
that makes the Bourbon what it is.
The corn grows in the level lands
through which small streams meander.
By the brook-side the mint grows.
As the little wavelets pass,
they glide up to kiss the feet of the growing mint,
and the mint bends to salute them.
Gracious and kind it is,
living only for the sake of others.
Like a woman’s heart
it gives its sweetest aroma when bruised.
Among the first to greet the spring, it comes.
Beside the gurgling brooks that make music in the fields,
it lives and thrives.
When the bluegrass begins to shoot its gentle sprays to sun,
mint comes, and its sweetest soul drinks at the crystal brook.
It is virgin then.
But soon it must be married to old Bourbon.
His great heart, his warmth of temperament,
and that affinity which no one understands,
demands the wedding.

How shall it be?

Take from the cold spring some water,
pure as angels are;
mix it with sugar till it seems like oil.
Then take a glass
and crush your mint within it with a spoon
– crush it around the borders of the glass
and leave no place untouched.

Then throw the mint away
– it is a sacrifice.
Fill with **** ice the glass;
pour in the quantity of Bourbon which you want.
It trickles slowly through the ice.
Let it have time to cool,
then pour your sugared water over it.
No spoon is needed;
no stirring allowed
– just let it stand a moment.
Then around the brim place sprigs of mint,
so that the one who drinks may find taste and odor at one draft.

“Then when it is made, sip it slowly.
August suns are shining,
the breath of the south wind is upon you.
It is fragrant, cold and sweet – it is seductive.
No maiden’s kiss is tenderer or more refreshing,
no maiden’s touch could be more passionate.
Sip it and dream – you cannot dream amiss.
Sip it and dream – it is a dream itself.
No other land can give so sweet solace for your cares;
no other liquor soothes you in melancholy days

Sip it and say there is no solace for the soul,
no tonic for the body like old Bourbon whiskey.”




                           Anonymous Journalist
                           Lexington Times
                           19th Century



Hendricks Martini and Fried Pickles            
Serves 4 Southerners in New York or 8 New Yorkers in the South

I really wasn’t a gin drinker until I tried Hendricks. It has a lovely breath of cucumber that makes the gin feel as posh as touching a woman’s smooth leg. While I personally may be not confident enough in my manhood to order a drink that comes in the same vessel that I have seen so many Cosmos and Appletinis. However, don’t let my mental defects distract you from what is surely a celebration of life in liquid.

Hendricks Martini;
1 bottle Hendricks Gin
1 bottle Dry Vermouth
Handful of your favorite green olives

Take a Martini Glass and fill it with ice. Fill your cocktail shaker with ice. Start pouring the Hendricks into the shaker and count to 6. Place the top onto the shaker and shake vigorously 50 solid times. Fell free to do the shaking into the air and over your shoulder for a huge show that your friends will never forget. Make sure the top of the shaker is fastened securely or you will be creating a memory that will be tough to ever overcome. Dump the ice out of your glass and pour a ½-ounce of dry vermouth into your glass. Swirl the Vermouth around the glass and dump it out. Place a few olives into the glass and pour the gin into the glass. Only if you have shaken the gin a vigorous 50 times will the magic layer of ice appear on top of the martini. Repeat 3 more times for your guests and 1 more time for yourself.

Fried Pickles;
Dill pickles sliced in any sort of fashion
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
1 egg
1 cup milk

Pre-heat a deep fryer to 350 degrees. Place the flour into bowl and season with the salt. In a separate bowl, marry the egg and the milk until it is one smooth mixture. Take 10 or so slices of pickle and dredge into the flour. Then place the dredged pickles into the egg wash. Remove the pickles from the egg wash and dredge again in the flour. Place the pickles into the fryer and fry until lightly golden. Carefully take the pickles out of the fryer and lay onto a paper towel. Place onto a dish and serve with the martinis. Be very mindful to let the pickles cool a bit unless someone you are serving has previously made your ears burn.

“Never trust a man that wears a bow tie or drinks out of a straw.”       Me



Sazerac with Candied Cracklins               
Serves 4 close friends amongst a little gossip

I cannot begin to explain the gastronomic ledge I have thrust myself onto by attempting to publish a recipe for the Sazerac. It is akin to any passionate discussion on BBQ or Gumbo or the Presidency. No matter what you say, somebody is going to get their panties all tied up in a wad. In the darkness, I have included the “options” below and you can find the light on your own.
One thing is for certain: Do not use Bourbon EVER. That would just be a sure sign of poor breeding.

Sazerac;
Sugar Cubes
Peychaud bitters
Angostura bitters
1 bottle Rye Whiskey
1 Bottle of Absinthe or Herbsaint
4 strips of Lemon peel

Fill a rocks glass with ice and set aside. Place the sugar cube with just enough water to moisten it into another rocks glass and crush the sugar. Add 4 dashes of Peychauds, 1 DROP of Angostura and 2 ounces of Rye whiskey into the glass with the crushed sugar.   Place a few cubes of ice into the glass with the Whiskey and stir 4 or 5 times to chill. Remove and discard the ice from the first glass. Pour 1/2 ounce of Absinthe or Herbsaint into the chilled glass, turning to perfume the entire inside of the glass. Relieve the glass of the excess Absinthe or Herbsaint. Strain the whiskey into the perfumed glass. Take a piece of your lemon peel and rub the outer portion of the peel over the rim of the glass. Then twist the peel over the top of the drink allowing the oils of the lemon to mist the face of the Sazerac. Don’t commit the sin of dropping the peel into the drink. Serve.

Candied Cracklins;
Pork rind pellets or 1 commercial bag of fried spicy pork rinds
Creole seasoning
Steens cane syrup

Heat your deep fryer to 360 degrees. Sprinkle some of those magical pork rind pellets into the fryer and fry until all are puffed and crispy. Make sure you stir the pellets well and they are completely puffed. An uncooked or even partially cooked pork rind is a certain recipe for a smile tainted with a chipped tooth. Remove the puffed pork rinds from the fryer onto a paper towel and liberally season the rinds with your favorite Creole seasoning. Place a large skillet on top the stove over medium heat. Pour enough cane syrup into the pan to cover the bottom by 1/2 inch. Bring to a simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes. Remove the pan from the stove and stir in one layer of pork rinds. Coat the rinds with the syrup. Place the rinds on some wax paper or a non-stick pan to cool. Once cool, serve with the Sazeracs.


****Cleaning a pan that used to hold caramel is difficult to clean to say the least. Fill the pan with water and bring it to a boil. The stuck cane syrup pieces will come right off in a snap.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Like Like x 1 View List

Bookcoin2028

  • Administrator
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 5
  • Location: USA
    • View Profile
    • Book(ART)