Campari Cocktails: Negronis, Punches, and More

Most people think of Negroni when they hear Campari, a classic that you can't really go wrong with.

Negroni
1 oz gin
1 oz sweet vermouth
1 oz Campari

But any liqueur deserves more than one cocktail to be made from them, so various mixologists have played around with this red spirit.


Nicaraguan Negroni Punch
Created by mixologist Jon Gasparini of Rye on the Road


15 ounces Campari
10 ounces Flor de Cana 7 year
7.5 ounces Cinzano Rosso
10 ounces Grapefruit Juice
2.5 ounces Honey

Combine juice of ten lemons and 30 cloves in a tupperware container or cake mold and freeze. Combine all ingredients in a large punch bowl with flavored iced block.

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Since I didn't have Flor de Cana and it was New Year's day, I tried substituting Appleton rum. After trying the above recipe, we kind of decided that grapefruit + campari is just too bitter overall, so we topped it off with Sparkling Cider and more rum for good measure.

The Butchered Negroni Punch went something like this:
2.5 oz honey
7.5 oz sweet vermouth
10 oz grapefruit juice, fresh squeezed
15 oz Appleton Rum
7.5 oz Campari
7.5 oz Sparkling Cider (or to taste - some like it more bitter than others)


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They also sent over a Valentine-themed Campari cocktail that sounded good, I'll be trying to replicate this soon :)
(PS. Don't get confused by "Small Hand Grenadine" - it's not a typo, this is just grenadine made by Small Hands Food and is actually made of - gasp! - pomegranates as opposed to food coloring!)

Love Letter
Created by Adam Wilson of Beretta


1 oz Campari
1 oz Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
0.75 oz Cointreau
0.25 oz Maple Syrup (should be 1:1 with water)
0.25 oz Small Hand Grenadine
3 dashes of Peychaud's Bitters

Shake. Add Soda. Pour over ice in highball. Garnish with a lime zest.

Getting Into the Spirit: Infused SKYY Cocktails

When a PR email about the infused SKYY vodkas hit my mailbox, one cocktail recipe in particular caught my interest. That was the Mele Kalikimaka (Hawaii's way of pronouncing "Merry Christmas" and now also a song once recorded by Bing Crosby).


Mele Kalikimaka Martini

1.5 oz. SKYY Infusions Pineapple
3 oz. Eggnog
Splash of Coconut Cream or Coconut Milk
Nutmeg
Cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into martini glass. Top with sprinkling of nutmeg and cinnamon and garnish with a cinnamon stick.


I got samples of the SKYY Infusions Pineapple and Passionfruit and last weekend tried a "punch" using the passionfruit.

I'm bad at coming up with clever names, so here goes the

Passion-Quince Punch

1 part lime juice
2 parts agave syrup
3 parts Licor de Membrillo (quince liqueur that I obtained in Tijuana - I'll probably find a substitute you guys can actually work with sometime)
4 parts Passionfruit SKYY Infusions


The flavors from the fruit infusions come out strongly in this drink. A sweet but quite strong punch that I thought was perfect for my party guests who's not used to drinking but whom you want to get wasted anyway. Plus, it's easy to make when you're rushing to get your party started. (I've been told I always time things too tightly :P )

Recipe: Maine Lobster In Its Own Butter by Brian Redzikowski of BondSt

My latest visit to Bond St. was highlighted by the Maine lobster, served in its own butter with preserved lemon. The succulent lobster pieces were swimming in the buttery broth.

Since the dish turned out to be pretty easy to make, Executive chef Brian Redzikowski has graciously shared his recipe for this Maine Lobster dish!
The only thing to keep in mind is that it does take time to make preserved lemon (preserve for 6 months, see bottom of post).


Maine Lobster in Its Own Butter, with Preserved Lemon Julienne
- Brian Redzikowski, Bond St. Beverly Hills
Photo courtesy of Chef Brian Redzikowski

The Lobster:

1 Lobster

Blanch in boiling water for 10 seconds to kill.

Separate claws from the body. Blanch large claw for 4 minutes 10 seconds. Blanch small claw for 3 minutes 10 seconds. Blanch tail still attached to body for 1 minute, 10 seconds.
Shock all. Remove and dry all meat from shells.

Gently melt butter in a bowl. Be sure it does not separate. Dip all lobster into butter and reserve.

For the Sauce

600g lobster scrap cut into 3 cm cubes

300g sake

300g white wine

50g celery sliced

1 garlic clove

1 sprig thyme

600g water

100g carrot

50g onion

Bring all to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. infuse for ten. Strain through a coffee filter. Reserve 100g for recipe.

To finish:

Place buttered lobster pieces into a cold pan covered. Gently warm until cooked through. Heat up reserved lobster stock. Whisk in 10g heavy cream and 30g butter. Blend together.

For garnish:

Squash, Carrot and leeks: cut small/dice.

Meyer Lemon:

10 meyer lemons

300g Salt

100g Sugar

Combine and let sit for 6 months

Use only the skin

Julienne the skin only.

Place lobster into a bowl. Top with vegetables and meyer lemon julienne. Top with frothed sauce.

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Visit Bond St. Restaurant at 9360 Wilshire Blvd. (310) 601-2255.

Read my BondSt Review.

On Video: Make Jalapeno Chocolate Mousse with Chef Ludo!

Before I start blogging about LA Mag's The Food Event that happened yesterday, I thought I'd give you guys a sneak preview.

Besides plenty of food and wine, we also had the pleasure of watching celebrity chefs giving cooking demonstrations, including Chef Ludo Lefebvre (remember how many of your bloggers loved Ludobites?)

Well, I know you all would want to see this, so here you go: Chef Ludo showing you how to make his spicy jalapeno chocolate mousse, "good for Valentine's", and talking about French girls. Oh and sorry about the cuts, my arm got tired.
Enjoy.

Recipe: Steamed Mussels in Curry Broth (CulinaryCollege/Andrew Kirschner/Wilshire)

Los Angeles Magazine teams up with Snyder Diamond to hold Culinary College, a cooking class series featuring established Los Angeles chefs. The second class in the series featured chef Andrew Kirschner from the Wilshire Restaurant in Santa Monica (event review to come).

In the Snyder Diamond showroom, chef Kirschner shows us how to whip up his well-loved steamed mussels dish.

Steamed Black Mussels in Red Curry Coconut Broth
- Chef Andrew Kirschner. Wilshire Restaurant, Santa Monica, CA.

















Serves 4

3lbs -- Black Mussels- Cleaned
1.5 cup - Coconut Milk
2 T -- Thai Red Curry Paste
1 T -- Paprika
2 T -- Lime Juice
2 T -- Lemon Juice
2 T -- Soy Sauce
2 T -- Mirin
1 cup - Dry Sherry Wine
2 T -- Honey
1 T -- Lemongrass, minced
1 T -- Ginger, minced
1 T -- Garlic, minced
1 T -- Kaffir Lime Leaf, minced
1 T -- Coriander, whole
1 t -- Cumin, ground
6 sprigs - Thai basil, chopped
2 T -- Fish sauce

Place all ingredients except mussels into a heavy sauce pot and simmer over low heat for 1/2 hour. Remove from heat, strain, cool and reserve.

Preparing mussels: place mussels in sauce pot with above mixture, cover pot and cook on high flame until mussels are steamed and just opened.
Serve with grilled sourdough bread.



The next Culinary College class will be held on August 19 and feature chef Jason Travi (of Fraiche and Riva). Cost is $50 pp. Please call Estrellita Dacanay at Los Angeles magazine 323-801-0034 to purchase.

MxMo: Ginger Sangria (My first MxMo!)

For some reason I told Rumdood I'll join in on the Mixology Monday. I don't know why ...

"Pick a recipe with ginger in it, write a blog post on it."

Sounds easy enough, and I've been wanting to try making a ginger sangria. So I went to TJ and got some fruits. Suddenly I find myself with a pot of sangria in the kitchen and sipping a glass before 6 PM on a Monday. How dangerous ...
Ginger Sangria

1 bottle dry white wine
1 oz Tuaca
1 tbsp Honey
2 Navel oranges, sliced
1 Peach, sliced and diced
1 Red Apple, sliced and diced
1 fresh ginger (abt 3 oz), peeled. Slice and dice 3/4 of the ginger, and grate the rest.

Throw everything in a pot, let soak for at least 2 hours. Easy schmeazy. Oh yeah, and chill.

Add a dash of Angostura bitters to your glass if desired.

Recipes: Salmon w/ Grapefruit Sauce

I rarely cook, because I'm lazy. And because I hate cleaning up.
But since I was bored this past holiday season, I picked up this recipe from foodnetwork.com and tried it (with a lil modifications):



Roasted Salmon with Shallot Grapefruit Sauce
Copyright, 2007, Ellie Krieger, All rights reserved

4 skinless salmon fillets, 5 to 6 ounces each
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
2 ruby red grapefruits
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 1/2 teaspoons honey
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons thinly sliced basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the salmon with 1/4 teaspoon salt, place in a baking dish and roast until cooked through, about 18 minutes.

While the salmon is cooking prepare the sauce. Cut 1 of the grapefruits into sections by cutting off the top and bottom of the fruit, then standing it on 1 end, cut down the skin to remove the pith and peel. Then, with a paring knife, remove each segment of fruit from its casing and cut the segments in half. Set the segment pieces aside. Juice the other grapefruit and set the juice aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the shallot and saute until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the ginger, grapefruit juice, honey, and cayenne pepper and bring to simmer. Cook until sauce is reduced by about half about, 10 minutes. Add lemon juice and season with salt, to taste. Right before serving, toss the grapefruit pieces and basil into the sauce. Put the salmon onto a serving dish. Spoon sauce over the salmon and serve.



My modifications: Instead of shallot, I used loads of garlic instead ;)
And I stuffed the salmon with some grapefruit slices prior to putting it in the oven. I thought it might make it juicier.

Yummmmyyyy. Great combo, healthy, refreshing. I'll definitely try it again.

Recipe Collection

Chicken Pot Pie with Duck-Butter Dough (Evan Kleiman)

Chicken Tamales in Green Sauce (Mama Hot Tamales, Los Angeles)

Crab Ravigote and California Avocado Napoleon - Chef Darrin Finkel (Jazz Kitchen, Anaheim)

Duck Rillette - Chef Joe Vasiloff (Cafe Pinot, Los Angeles)

Maine Lobster in Its Own Butter - Chef Brian Redzikowski (BondSt Restaurant, Beverly Hills)

Okonomiyaki - Yoko Issasi (Japanese Foodstory)

Scallops Arabesque (with Eggplant Puree & Ras El Hanout) - Chef John Sedlar (Rivera Restaurant, downtown LA)


Sautéed Day Boat Scallops/ Risotto, midnight moon, English peas - Chef Neal Fraser (Grace, BLD)

Slow Roasted Salmon with Green Rice - Chef Suzanne Goin (Lucques)

Steamed Black Mussels in Red Curry Coconut Broth - Chef Andrew Kirschner (Wilshire Restaurant, Santa Monica)

Red Beet Risotto - Chef Ray Garcia (FIG Restaurant, Santa Monica)


DESSERTS
Chocolate Torte with Caramel Lime Sauce - Chef John Sedlar (Rivera Restaurant, downtown LA)
Chocolate Pot de Creme - Chef Ray Garcia (FIG Restaurant, Santa Monica)
Rustic Chocolate Truffles - Valerie Gordon (Valerie Confections)