Category Archives: Cocktails

Vermouth Cassis and Provençale Caviar

Sometimes called “poor man’s caviar,” Provençale Caviar is neither poor nor vavia. A piquant blend of tuna, anchovies, and black olives, this concoction somewhat resembles sturgeon caviar in appearance; in taste it is reminiscent of the South of France favorite, Salad Nicoise. It is as elegant an appetizer as Vermouth Cassis is an apéritif.

10 anchovy fillets
2 cans (6-oz size) pitted black olives, drained
1 can (7-oz size) white tuna, packed in oil.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Rinse anchovy fillets lightly under running cold water to remove excess saltiness; pat dry on paper towels. Chope and combine with olives, tuna, olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice. Purée in blender or food processor. Serve with club crackers and bread sticks.

Yield: About 2 cups.

About Crème de Cassis

Crème de Cassis is a sweet apéritif liqueer made from black currants, often used to sweeten apéritif wines. A superbly easy dessert can be made just by pouring a few teaspoons of crème de cassis over raspberry sherbert. Call it Sorbet de Cassis.

Port Sangaree and Salmon Mousse Pâté with Cucumber Wafers

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1 an (16-oz size) salmon, drained or 2 cups cooked fresh salmon
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup clam juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
⅛ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon ground celery seed
½ cup heavy cream

Remove skin and bone from salmon and flaked with fork; set aside. Sprinkle gelatin on surface of white win and dissolve. Heat clam juice in small saucepan until simmering; add wine and gelatin and heat until gelatin has melted. Remove from heat; add flaked salmon, lemon juice, salt ,pepper, cayenne, and celery seed. Purée in blender or food processor or pass through food mill or sieve.

Cool to room temperature. Beat heavy cream until light peaks form. Gently fold into salmon mixture. Turn mixture into lightly oiled loaf pan, 8½” x 4½” x 2½”.
Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

Unmold on serving platter; serve with Cucumber Wafers
Yield: 4 cups pâté (12-16 slices).

CUCUMBER WAFERS

Select large, firm cucumber with dark green skins. Peel carefully. allowing slivers of peel to reaming for color. Run times of fork lengthwise down sides of cucumber to form ridges. Cut into ¼-inch slices and serve cold.

Grasshopper (Coffee-Brandy Crème Caramel)

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If you tried the Espresso Crème Brûlée and loved it, but can’t abide the astronomical number of calories contained in the smallest spoonful, try this coffee flavored crème caramel, similar in appearance to the Crème Brûlée but incorporating only a fraction of the calories.

Caramel:
¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoons water

Custard:
½ cup sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons fine brandy
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 cup strong black coffee

To make caramel, place 1/4 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons water in small saucepan and bring to boil. Keep boiling until syrup turns deep honey color: remove from heat and pour into 4-cup charlotte mold or individual custard cups. Roll mold or cups around to coat bottoms and sides with as much caramel as possible before caramel hardens. Cool and lightly oil inside of mold not coated in caramel.

Preheat oven to 325 F. Mix sugar, salt, milk, brandy, and vanilla in saucepan and bring to slow boil. Remove from heat and set aside. Beat eggs and egg yolks together. Add milk slowly, then add coffee, stirring thoroughly. Let stand 5 minutes. Skim off foam. Pour into prepared mold or custard cups. Place in baking dish and fill baking dish with boiling water ½ way up side of mold or cups. Bake 35-40 minutes or until center has set. Remove and chill. Unmold just before serving.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

Diplomat and Shad Roe Monogram

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In season, shad roe has always been one of the most popular dishes along Washington’s Embassy Row. Canned shad roe may be used for this recipe, making the dish available all year long, to be served hot or cold as the occasion and the weather suggest.

1 pair shad roe, fresh or canned
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup light cream
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1 dash hot sauce

Separate shad roe gently with fork, removing skin and filament (chop fine with sharp knife if using frozen roe): Set aside.

Heat butter in heavy-bottomed saucepan until foaming. Add flour and stir thoroughly until mixture forms paste. Stir in cream; blend over low heat until mix forms smooth paste. Remove from heat. Fold in egg yolks, one at a time; add shad roe, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Mix.

In separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into roe mixture. Lightly grease a 5-cup mold and dust with flour. Fill with roe mixture and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Place in large saucepan and add boiling water to saucepan to come halfway up sides of mold. Cover and place on low flame; steam 60 minutes. Remove from saucepan and unmold.

Serve with bacon curls and table water crackers
Yield: 3 ½ cups mold.

Gin and Tonic, Low-Calorie Deviled Eggs

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12 hard-cooked eggs
1 medium cucumber
6 radishes
4 tablespoons minced onion
¼ cup imitation mayonnaise
1 teaspoon dillweed
2 tablespoons chopped dill pickle

Peel hard-cooked eggs and slice in half lengthwise; remove yolks and set aside for later use (see note, below). Peel cucumber, split in half, scoop out seeds and discard; dice cumber flesh.

Trim radishes and dice. Mix cucumber, radishes, onion, imitation mayonnaise, dillweed, and chopped picked together; if desired, add hot sauce or curry powder for stronger flavor. Spoon mixture into cooked egg whites and serve.

Note: Egg yolks are not extraordinarily high in calories; the average egg contains only 80 calories, and most of the deviled egg recipes in this section contain only 50-60 calories per deviled egg half.

However, egg yolks are high in cholesterol, and using the yolkless recipe above eliminates cholesterol altogether and reduces the number of calories per deviled egg half to about 20.

Leftover yolks may be crumbled and added to casseroles and salads or sprinkled over soups or cooked green vegetables when calories and cholesterol are of little concern.

Creepy Tiki/ Mai Tai

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Creepy TIKI

You will need
1 oz. dark rum
1 oz. light rum
½ oz. orange curacao
½ oz. grenadine
1 oz. lemon juice
5 oz. pineapple juice

Mix all ingredients in a blender with cracked ice. Blend and pour into a 12-ounce pilsner glass. Garnish with an orchid, squeeze of lime and straws.

MAI TAI

You will need
1 oz. dark rum
1 oz. light rum
½ oz. orange curacao
½ oz. orgeant syrup
1 oz. lemon juice
½ teaspoon sugar
bacardi rum 151 proof

Muddle sugar and lemon juice in a mai tai glass and fill with cracked ice. Add orange curacao, orgeant syrup, ligh and dark rums and float the 151 bacardi rum. Garnish with a sprig of mint, a cherry, a pineapple chunk, squeeze of lime and straws.

Flips

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Applejack Flip

1 1/2 jiggers applejack
1/2 jigger apricot brandy
1 small egg or 2 tablespoons lightly beaten whole egg
2 teaspoons sugar
Nutmeg
Shake well with ice and strain into sour glass; dust with freshly grated nutmeg.

Strega Flip

1 jigger Strega
1/2 jigger brandy
1/2 jigger Grand Marnier
2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 small egg or 2 tablespoons lightly beaten whole egg
2 teaspoons sugar
Nutmeg
Shake well with ice and strain into sour glass; dust with freshly grated nutmeg.

Coffee Flip

1 jigger brandy
1/2 jigger Kahlúa
1 jigger port wine
1 small egg or 2 tablespoons lightly beaten whole egg
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon light cream
Nutmeg
Shake well with ice and strain into sour glass; dust with freshly grated nutmeg.

Hot Brandy Flip

1 jigger brandy
1 jigger blackberry brandy
1 small egg or 2 tablespoons lightly beaten whole egg
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Hot milk
Nutmeg
Shake all ingredients well except milk; pour into mug; fill with milk; dust with nutmeg.

Za Za and Cucumber Boats Provençale

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6 medium cucumbers
6-8 medium tomatoes
6 tablespoons butter
12 green onions, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped fresh basil leaves^*
1/4 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Select firm, garden-fresh cucumbers no longer than 6 inches. Peel and slice in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and some of meat with pointed spook to make deep hollow or “boat.” Arrange cucumber boats on serving platter, cover with foil, and refrigerate until needed.

Make stuffing: Peel and seed tomatoes, chope them coarsely, and drain at least 20 minutes in colander. heat butter in heavy skillet; add green onions and garlic and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes; add tomatoes, basil, parsley, salt and pepper; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until excess moisture has cooked off and mixture is rather thick. Spoon into cucumber boats. Serve warm with salad plates and forks; if using baby cucumbers, serve as finger food.

NOte The Provençale sauce is also excellent on pasta (spaghetti, vermicelli, etc.).
Yield: 12 servings.

^*Fresh basil leaves- either the large-leafed American variety or the small-leafed Italian variety – are essential to the success of this recipe; if unavailable, stuff cucumber boats with Caponata (card 27) or select another hors d’oeuvre recipe from this Collection.

Volcano Cocktail and Russian Salad

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RUSSIAN SALAD

This is a glamorous, molded salad ideal for serving on cocktail plates as an hours d’oeuvre [sic] or, in the summer, as a light supper for 4 or 6.

1 quart borscht
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup mayonnaise
4 carrots, diced
1/2 pound cooking string beans, diced
12 cooked asparagus tips, chopped
1 cup diced, cooked potatoes
1 cup cooked baby peas
1 cup diced, cooked tongue
1 cup canned or cooked chopped mushrooms
2 cups chopped shrimp
10 anchovy fillets
Capers
Gherkins
Smoked salmon strips (optional)

Strain borscht, placing beets in large mixing bowl and measuring out 1 cup borscht liquid. Reserve remaining liquid for other use. Dissolve on package gelatin in borscht liquid over low flame until melted. Stir in mayonnaise. Refrigerate, but do not let gel. Combine carrots, string beans, asparagus tips, potatoes, peas, tongue, mushrooms, and shrimp, and mix well. Blend in mayonnaise-gelatin mixture and chill until mixture begins to thicken. Place mixture in deep, round bowl or in salad mold; cover with plastic wrap and chill 4 hours or overnight. Just before seeing remove plastic wrap and place large, round plate on top of bowl; invert to unmold salad.

To serve: Rinse anchovy fillets with water and pat dry with paper towels; arrange fillets lengthwise over salad mound; intersperce with thin strips smoked salmon, if desired. Sprinkle with capers; arrange gherkins around salad mound.

If desired, glaze mount with lemon- or lime-flavored gelatin and garnish with cherry tomato or cauliflowerette placed on top of mound.

Fish House Punch (Striped Bass with Spinach Stuffing)

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4 quarts water
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
3 Tablespoons salt
3 carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 pounds spinach
1/2 pound mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 whole striped bass, 7-8 pounds (or salmon, if bass is out of season)

Combine water, vinegar, salt, carrots, onion, celery, bay leaves, and parsley in Dutch oven; bring to boil and simmer 20 minutes.

Carefully wash and devein spinach and cut into julienne (thin strips); sauté spinach and mushrooms in butter until mushrooms are tender. Rinse bass lightly with cold water; stuff with spinach-mushroom mixture; wrap in double thickness cheesecloth and tie tightly at both ends.

Place bass in large fish poacher or roasting pan; pour broth over fish, covering fish by at least 2 inches. Bring to boil and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Let fish rest in broth; cool and chill.

Unwrap bass from cheesecloth; peel off skin and place on serving platter. Serve with Green Mayonnaise (card 234); if desired, glaze with red madrilène (card 62)^*.

Yield: 10-12 servings
(Pictured – Salmon with Spinach Stuffing)

^*2 cans (10-oz size) tomato madrilène. If canned tomato madrilène is not available, make your own: Dissolve 2 packages unflavored gelatin in 1 cup water; heat 3 cups chicken broth in saucepan; stir in 4 tablespoons tomato paste; bring to low boil. Stir in gelatin. Flavor to taste with salt and hot sauce; cool and chill until jelled.

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Category Archives: Cocktails

Vermouth Cassis and Provençale Caviar

Port Sangaree and Salmon Mousse Pâté with Cucumber Wafers

Grasshopper (Coffee-Brandy Crème Caramel)

Diplomat and Shad Roe Monogram

Gin and Tonic, Low-Calorie Deviled Eggs

Creepy Tiki/ Mai Tai

Flips

Za Za and Cucumber Boats Provençale

Volcano Cocktail and Russian Salad

Fish House Punch (Striped Bass with Spinach Stuffing)

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