AFTER THE EQUINOX

It's fall.

It's the end of September and my supply of fresh local ingredients is beginning to diminish. Even though fall just began I'm realizing that there are only few weeks left to take advantage of the late season fruit.

We're often given pears from a family tree but it didn't flower this year. I picked these pears up at the farmer's market. They were a small, sweet variety of yellow Bartlett. Perfect for eating out of hand really, but by using them up in this drink, we'll have an excuse to get more this afternoon.

We've talked about flavour matching in past and here again we have an example of two flavours that are totally in love. Pear and anise, or any licorice flavour will taste great together. Anise, fennel, star anise and licorice root are all distinctly different plants that happen to have similar flavouring. Here I used anise seeds but fennel seed would do just as well.

I tossed the pears in honey, the anise seeds and a pinch of salt and pepper before roasting them. Do yourself a huge favor and use some parchment paper over your pan. You'll want to keep all of the caramelized sugar and juices from the roasting and it would also be a pain to clean.

After the Equinox

1 1/2 oz gin 
1/2 oz absinthe
1/2 oz Lillet 
3/4 oz reserved pear juices or honey 
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2  roasted pear (1/4 cup chopped)












Method
Combine all ingredients in a shaker, stir before adding ice if using pure honey. Fill 3/4 with ice, shake very vigorously for 20 seconds. Double strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with fresh pear slices or lemon zest.

Remember that you can substitute for ingredients you don't have. Dry vermouth (white) will work in this recipe too in place of the Lillet. I do recommend purchasing a bottle as you begin to round out your home bar. It is very useful for tying flavours together.

However, you will probably want the absinthe for this. You could use a licorice liqueur if you had one but you'll have to remove the honey to adjust for the sweetness. I won't be a fair substitute, just one that could be tried.

This recipe might serve as inspiration to add a bottle of absinthe to your collection. If you're just getting stared in home bar tending absinthe can be an intimidating ingredient but it comes up frequently in recipes. You might not be ready to make or drink something like a Sazerac, but having a bottle of absinthe on hand can help in taking the next step towards some of the scarier recipes you've maybe been afraid to try in the past. Make this the first one, you'll be glad you did!

Have you tried making a drink with absinthe yet? Tell us all about it in the comments below.

OLGA'S INFERNO

I'm a lucky gal, this has been a pretty good season for produce gifts.

This week a huge bunch of mint, with the roots intact, was delivered to my door. It's already been planted. My garden is grateful, so am I.

And, my beautiful neighbor joined a canning co-op. Each participant canned a different item. There is a big party where you get to try all of the goodies, and then you get to take home one of each. So fun. She told me she really joined (and took on a ton of work) because a talented friend was bringing jars of a garlic eggplant spread she loves, and she wanted a jar of her own. I have to admire spirit like that!

She was contributing a hot chili chutney, so she found a local supplier and purchased a case of fiery peppers. She did not need a whole case.

As a result, I received a half case of long red chilis. They were a beautiful, deep red with most of the heat at the front, tapering off fairly quick. I haven't had their Scoville units tested but they're hot, maybe a 7.5 out of 10.

I can't let a gift go to waste, but these peppers go a long way and I have a huge amount. I have whittled down the pile by starting with a few items that would be useful for a cocktail. It was hard to narrow the possibilities, but I decided to make a vinegar style hot sauce and a spicy shrub (more on that later). Making those gave me two bi-products which I also really liked, a refrigerator pickle and an antipasto.

Something about being around the chilis has got me fired up and I think we need to make a really bold recipe to go with them. It's the end of summer and I think it's only fitting that we have a Tiki drink before it's gone. I'm also getting down to the last of the local melons. I'm not bracing for winter yet but I am a little sad to see them go. Here, they refresh against the heat of the hot sauce.



Olga's Inferno
1 C watermelon, cubed & frozen
2 oz fresh pineapple juice
1 1/2 oz Russian Vodka
1/2 oz light rum
1/4 oz fresh lime juice
1 tsp Honey Hot Sauce*
3-4 drops Peychaud's bitters


Method
Add all ingredients to a blender, mix on medium until just smooth. Pour into your favourite Tiki mug, garnish elaborately 






I think it's important to remember to experiment. This drink has quite a few ingredients in it and it's very well balanced. That being said, not every ingredient is around all of the time. Try this without the bitters, or maybe try using Angostura bitters if that's what you have on hand. It might not be exactly the same but you might like it even more. The best way to practice substitutions in any recipe is one equivalent ingredient at a time. Swap a spirit for another spirit, swap a sweet juice with another sweet juice etc.. 


Honey Hot Sauce
12 whole chilis, 5-6inches ea.
1 medium onion
1 large clove garlic
1 C water
1 C rice vinegar
1/2 C honey
2 tsp salt

Method
In a food processor pulse chilis, onion and garlic. On low speed add water. In a heavy bottom sauce pan, over medium heat, add chili mixture, vinegar, honey and salt. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, simmer until reduced by half, approx, 1 hr. stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, let stand to cool and strain. Keeping liquid in a mason jar in the fridge.

I reserved the chili mixture and poured 1/2 C olive oil over top in a mason jar. This will last a few days in the fridge.

I had/have so many chilis, this isn't over. Let me know what your favorite hot products are in the comments below.

WINTER IS COMING

The abundance of summer fruit continues and I can't let opportunities to use farm fresh fruit go to waste. In no time it'll be freezing cold where I live and I'll be looking at twelve varieties of pumpkin and everything else will have to be imported.

Nature decides for me when it's time to write seventeen pink, fruity drink recipes in a row and when instead, I'll have to think of twenty uses for dried grapefruit peel. The winter will offer time to deeply examine the cultural impact of the ratio of Chartreuse to Barsmiths in the downtown core and how it affects your ability to find a leather apron on sale. (I'll be working on that one for an upcoming issue of Mustaches Lately)


So, while the season calls for it, here are some more snaps of our day at Thames River Melons in the pick your own patch. The raspberries and blueberries were outstanding.

They don't have an organic designation but they are using responsible farming practices, alternate plantings and there were most definitely birds and bugs, which are a good sign. It means the food you're about to consume is desirable to other creatures. Food that has been harshly treated or genetically altered (GMO's) will not appeal to bugs and birds and is a sign that you should probably avoid it as well, but everyone has to decide for themselves. One of the reasons I feel it's so important to get out to a farm in your area is so that you can see for yourself how your food is being treated and be your own judge. There are giant industrial farms with an Organic designation but the food sits on a truck wrapped in plastic for a week before it ever gets to you.

Or, there is a farm like this one that is near by, cares for the land and food but does not meet the requirements for Organic labeling. Again, these choices are about balance, being a consumer of both of those as well as some conventional produce is probably a more realistic scenario for most people.

COME ON!

After spending the day picking berries with  a two year old in an idyllic, pastoral setting you can also be the person who uses those berries to make a firm drink. In an effort to help you find that balance, we'll make a raspberry and a blueberry syrup so your kids (or you) can enjoy it in an ice cream float and you (but not your kids) can have it drizzled over a local, whiskey fix.


Raspberry Float
1 C vanilla ice cream, plus additional 3 tbsp for garnish
2 oz raspberry syrup (recipe below)
4-5 oz soda water
Cherry or raspberries for garnish

Method
In a soda glass or highball, add half of the ice cream and half of the syrup, repeat. Top with additional ice cream and cherry, serve with a straw and a spoon

Whisky Fix
2 oz Whisky (Forty Creek Copper Pot Reserve)
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
2 barspoons blueberry syrup

Method
Fill a wine glass 2/3 with crushed ice, pour in whiskey and lemon, add more crushed ice, top with syrup and fresh fruit





Tender Fruit Syrup
1 C sugar
1C water
1 pint fresh raspberries OR blueberries OR other soft seasonal fruit
pinch salt

Method
In a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium heat bring sugar and water to the boil. Gently add fruit and salt. Reduce heat to low simmer for 15 mins. Remove from heat. Let stand until cool. Strain over fine mesh and/or cheesecloth. Keep in airtight container in fridge for 1 week.

*If you want this to last a little longer you could consider a pinch of citric acid but be careful a little goes a long way.

**This is my most common method for making syrups with tender fruit. It's important that the fruit be gently simmered. The juices will run from the fruit without it breaking down into tiny pieces. This is a must for clear syrup.

***yes, you can switch the syrups in these recipes. The formulas are interchangeable but the results will be two totally different flavour combinations

MXMO PINEAPPLE

Have you ever seen that commercial for Kashi where the dude is eating a whole pineapple right in the field, using the stem as a built in handle? Dreamy stuff.

Wouldn't you love to tour a pineapple farm? 

My affection for all tropical fruit could probably be improved by eating it straight from the source. A strong bias for the stone and tender fruits of the golden horseshoe is in part a function of living there. I've had the good fortune to taste these fruits at their best, having picked and eaten them fresh in the orchards and fields 

Inspiration seems easy to find when you're working with the highest quality ingredients. 

The challenge being when you're not...

My best of the bunch but still sad pineapple needed some help, and since raspberries are in season here I decided to marry the two. A little, local pick me up for our long traveled friend. 

ONTARIOAHU

2 oz El Dorado 5yr

1 oz raspberry pineapple puree*

1 oz pineapple juice (fresh if you can)

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

2 drops Angostura bitters

Method

In a shaker add all ingredients, fill 3/4 with ice. Shake very vigorously for 1 min. strain into an old fashioned glass filled with cracked ice, garnish with fresh raspberries, mint and pineapple leaves.

*raspberry pineapple puree, in a blender or food processor add 1/4 C fresh raspberries and 1/4 C fresh pineapple, blend until smooth, strain through fine mesh or cheesecloth. If you are using off season and/or imported fruit it may be necessary to add 1 tbsp honey to this mixture.

What's the best local fruit where you live? Are you using it in your cocktails?

Thank you to Mixology Monday and Bartending Notes for this weeks challenging inspiration.

http://bartendingnotes.wordpress.com/
Read about the other entries here.

  

DIY Strawberry Cordial

Dear California,

We thank you for your efforts in supplying us, year round with clam shells filled with strawberry shaped fruit. 
While lacking somewhat (all together) in flavour, they do look lovely. 
We regret to inform you that due to an overwhelmingly abundant supply of sweet, summer flavour, in our local berries, we will not be requiring your services during the months of June and July. 

However, despite the insane toll on the environment, we'll be sure to contact you in the fall when our supply has dried up again.

Sorry,

Ontario


Even if you're not in Ontario, hopefully there are some equally amazing strawberries to be found in your town. You might be wondering what this has to do with cocktails? In the spirit of the Garden to Glass movement, it's time to take advantage of the season and start stocking ingredients for your home bar...

Clearly, my jar from last year, was around just long enough...

Strawberry Cordial
3 C strawberries (hulled & quartered)
2 C Vodka 40% or above
1 1/2 C sugar
3/4 C water
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Method
In a large glass bowl crush strawberries and sugar, let stand for 2-3 hrs. Pour contents into 1 L mason jar, add remaining ingredients. Close lid tightly and refrigerate or cold cellar for 48 hrs, turning occasionally.
Strain through fine mesh or cheesecloth, reserving only the liquid. Place in clean jar, let stand in refrigerator or cold cellar for 1 week to 1 month, strain again.
This will keep almost indefinitely if stored in a cool dark place.

Have you ever made your own cordial or liqueurs?  Do you live somewhere that can only get imported berries? Let me know!