NYBG’s Newly Expanded Farmers Market Opens for the Season, Offering Fresh and Nutritious Local Produce, Specialty Foods and Other Exciting New Features

Ahhhh - it's officially the first day of summer. Admit it, you've been waiting all year for this very moment.

If that wasn't enough to make you giddy with delight, today marks the return of the Farmers Market at The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG).

Offering a diverse array of fresh, locally grown vegetables and fruits, along with hand-crafted baked goods and specialty foods, The New York Botanical Garden’s Farmers Market opens for the season today, just inside the Mosholu Gate and across the street from the Botanical Garden station of the Metro-North commuter railroad.

With a newly expanded roster of vendors from the Hudson Valley and other parts of the tri-state metropolitan area, the NYBG Farmers Market will bring the flavors of the seasons to New Yorkers throughout the summer and into the fall every Wednesday, running until October 25, 2017. Hours are 9 a.m.–3 p.m.

The Garden’s market has been reimagined by Pascale Le Draoulec, who manages farmers markets in the Westchester communities of Hastings, Irvington, Chappaqua, and Bronxville.

Before running farmers markets, Pascale Le Draoulec was a newspaper reporter for 18 years. She spent most of her career writing about food, and from 2001 to 2007 she was the lead restaurant critic at New York’s Daily News, where she won a coveted James Beard award for her reviews.

A first-generation American of French heritage, she is the author of American Pie: Slices of Life and Pie from America’s Back Roads (Harper Collins, 2002), which chronicles her cross-country road trip in search not only of her American roots but also people who still make pie from scratch.

The market will include not only a regular weekly lineup of some of the area’s top produce vendors, bakers and specialty food purveyors—with more than twice as many merchants as in recent years—but also a rotating group of artisanal merchants, offering such treats as savory jams, piquant salsas, infused olive oils, caramels, and gourmet salts.

The market accepts cash, credit and debit cards, and EBT cards, providing visitors more ways to take advantage of the market’s amazing bounty.

Admission to the Garden grounds is free on Wednesdays, allowing visitors to explore many of the Garden’s offerings such as the ever-changing flowers and plant collections in the award-winning, sustainable Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, the 50-acre old-growth Thain Family Forest, the Native Plant Garden, the Perennial Garden, and the inspiring Home Gardening Center.




As an added convenience, visitors can shop at the Farmers Market first, then store their fresh produce with the Garden’s new complimentary Veggie Valet service as they enjoy the Garden’s many features. Purchases will be kept on ice until visitors pick them up before they leave.

Nice touch! Love the greenmarket concierge service.

This is an outstanding, well-curated list of food artisans and growers. This collection, gathered in one place, helps distinguish a valuable Farmers Market, offering unique and distinguished ingredients, and makes it a must-do weekly food gathering -- plus -- what's better than shopping in a garden?

The weekly vendors at the NYBG Farmers Market will be:

• Big Bang Coffee Roasters, Peekskill, N.Y.–Hot or iced coffee and coffee beans 
• DiRiso Rice Balls, Hastings, N.Y.–Arancini (Italian rice balls) stuffed with porcini mushrooms and other homemade Italian foods. Arancini Brothers' could be the very best anywhere - enjoy these treats! 
• Dr. Pickle, Paterson, N.J.–Pickled products, from standard cucumber pickles to peppers, olives, mushrooms, and much more 
• Honey Locust Farmhouse, Newburgh, N.Y.–Organic teas, various types of honey, and jams made with local Hudson Valley fruit 
• Meredith’s Bread, Kingston, N.Y.–Breads, rolls, cakes, cookies, pies, biscotti, challah bread, and quiches, including sugar-free and gluten-free baked goods 
• Pie Lady & Son, Nyack, N.Y.–Butter-crust fruit pies such as mixed berry, strawberry-rhubarb, and apple, sold whole in three sizes or by the slice 
• Red Barn Bakery, Irvington, N.Y.–Savory and sweet treats from a full-service bakery 
• Taliaferro Farms, New Paltz, N.Y.–Wide variety of produce (peppers, zucchini, kale, spinach, turnips, beets), fruits (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples, and melons) and many varieties of interesting, hard-to-find produce and herbs 
• True Food of Nyack, Nyack, N.Y.–Fresh, flavorful seasonal salads and burritos made with local organic chicken 
• Wave Hill Breads, Norwalk, Conn.–Artisanal breads and pastries made with organic whole grains milled at the bakery 

Setting up at the farmers market on a rotating basis will be:

• Anna Maria’s Savory Jams, Cliffside Park, N.J.–Italian-style jams meant to pair with cheeses and yogurts, enhance the flavor of meats and poultry, and complete the presentation of cured meats and pâté 
• Arlotta Food Studio, Briarcliff Manor, NY - Infused organic olive oils such as garlic, lemon, red pepper, and blood orange; balsamic vinegars; and tapenades 
• Found Herbal, Chappaqua, N.Y.–Lotions, balms, salves, sunscreens, and more—all made with local herbs and flowers 
• Healing Home Foods, Pound Ridge, N.Y.–Gluten-free and vegan granola, crackers, and other delicious, healthy snacks 
• La Petite Occasion, Chappaqua, N.Y.–Caramels, toffees, and other handmade confections made with local, high-quality ingredients 
• Lucero Salsas, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.–Homemade salsas, pepito pestos, tortillas and tamales 
• Wild Sea Salt, Pomona, N.Y.–Gourmet salts infused with such local ingredients as dandelion, stinging nettle, cedar berry, and sumac. 

Happy Summer. Celebrate the season. Happy cooking and baking and drinking.

What to Drink While Viewing the Jeff Sessions Testimony? Start with an Alabama Slammer!

Washington has become a kind of running reality show or a series … It’s all too Game of Thrones.

While today’s testimony from the Attorney General Jeff Sessions, may not have the celebrity accorded to last week’s James Comey media event and it’s party-like halo that prompted me to write a pertinent post about Cofveve Cocktails - today is still a must-see TV day to watch or listen -- to the proceedings.

You can watch or listen today as Sessions testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee at 2:30 ET on all major media, including PBS.

Because Mr. Sessions hails from the Camellia state or the Yellowhammer state (so named for the state bird, a type of woodpecker), an Alabama Slammer seems most appropriate.

The Alabama Slammer’s history stems from the 1970s and was developed near the University of Alabama to celebrate the Crimson Tide.

The Alabama Slammer is a cocktail made with amaretto - this is key, Southern Comfort, sloe gin, and orange juice. It is served in a Collins glass. It is also sometimes known as a Southern Slammer. This is a sweet, fruity drink.

And Mr. Sessions is hoping he doesn’t end up in the slammer! See, you can have some fun with this…



Ingredients:

3/4 oz Sloe Gin, 3/4 oz Southern Comfort, 3/4 oz Amaretto, Orange juice

Method:

Pour Amaretto, sloe gin, and Southern Comfort into glass of ice. Fill with orange juice and stir.

Serve, on the rocks; poured over ice into a Tom Collins glass.

Garnish:

Maraschino Cherry, slice of Orange, or Lemon Wheel -- or all three!

You can substitute Jack Daniels for Southern Comfort and add in lime or lemon, and add Grenadine -- the main point is to make you see Red!
(In keeping with all the fury on both sides of the issue…. Ha!) 

How about watching the news with a new drink: The Recuser?!





This cocktail is from my upcoming book, Finishing Touches the Art of Garnishing the Cocktail - and it’s called the Mediterranean “Sunrise” in the book. But I thought it looks a bit like the Slammer. And besides, it’s delicious.

Ingredients:

1 jigger ouzo

1 jigger tequila

8-12 ounces orange (or other fruit juice)

A few dashes of peach bitters or grenadine

Method:

Pour the juice into a tall glass over ice, top with the liquor so they float like some drifting iridescent Aegean sea plankton, followed by the bitters.

Garnish:

With speared fruit wedges and a red swizzle licorice stick! The licorice flavor complements ouzo’s anise for a pretty and fun presentation. Place the licorice swizzle sticks in a red glass for a shot of color to boost the cocktail composition, adding red and white or blue and white striped cocktail napkins. Stretches the American-ness of the proceedings, don’t you think?

Try ouzo with Kahlua for a wicked take on a “Fireball.”

Need a drink to celebrate bailing out the boat? Then there’s the Dark & Stormy made with dark rum and ginger beer - I very much like the Gosling’s brand of ginger beer.


And because all this hubbub is supposed to be about Russian spying or interference, after all, you can always soothe your anxieties with the classic cocktails: White or Black Russian (I’m calling this one, Glasnost). They are easy to make, quite luxurious and offer a lot of comfort. Interestingly, the White Russian made its way West in the 1930s with the proliferation of vodka’s appeal; the Black “Glasnost” sibling didn’t follow until 1949. Can’t go wrong with either drink.

White Russian

Ingredients:

2/3 oz (2 parts) Coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua or --

1 2/3 oz (5 parts) Vodka - I suggest Royal Elite, or LIV , Tito's or Belvedere. I sampled the handcrafted 1857 Vodka last week at the Greenmarket - bought a bottle, too. But it doesn’t taste good… has a kind of cosmetic aftertaste that took over a martini - disrupting a prime feature of vodka - meaning it plays well with other flavors. Try the recommended vodkas - you won’t be disappointed.

1 oz (3 parts) Fresh cream or milk

Method:

Pour coffee liqueur and vodka into an Old Fashioned glass filled with ice. Pour the mix and float fresh cream -- or milk - on top and stir slowly. You can do this layering using the back of a spoon over the drink and slowly pouring the cream over the “sled” of the spoon.

Garnish:

What could be better than whipped cream? Well, topping the froth with fresh, shaved chocolate! Or a toasted marshmallow!








Black Russian or Glasnost

Ingredients:

⅔ ounces or 2 parts Coffee liqueur - Kahlua or… 1 ⅔ (5 parts) vodka (see above recommendations)

Method:

Mix the ingredients into an old-fashioned glass, poured over ice cubes

Pour the ingredients into an old fashioned glass filled with ice cubes. Stir gently.

You can also add a splash of cola - to make it a kind of

Garnish:

Maraschino Cherry skewered on a diamond hat pin or similar-looking Shashka Sabre!

Cheers! 

RETRO Collection by Toni Sabatino for Baden Haus Debuts

RETRO Collection - Gotham City

Designers make dreams come true for their clients.

With the newly-launched RETRO Collection by Toni Sabatino Baden Haus - it is a kind of Italian two-cheek kiss.

See, it’s a dream come true for Toni - the interior design goddess - and a dream come true for Baden Haus’ clients and customers. And if I add in Baden Haus the company - well, that’s a lot more smooching.

Seriously, it was not a surprise to learn that it was amore at first sight between Toni and Baden Haus - (Baden Haus is based in Italy - therefore all the Italian nods to style and culture. Con affetto...)

I see the artistic relationship here as a bit of Carlo and Sophia; the Medicis and Michelangelo…

Fast forward to the finished product and one can almost see the mottoes suspended or floating above the Toni Sabatino designs whispering “classic, sensual sophistication, and enduring glamour.” I heard a show guest remarked, “This must’ve been designed by a woman.” Indeed. RETRO has all the right sensuality and smarts of the best divas.

This innovative collection is surely an expression of both brand’s guiding principles if there ever was one.

Viewing the premiere of the RETRO Collection at the recent International Contemporary Furniture Fair - ICFF show, I learned from Baden Haus Design Director, Marco Oddi, how the relationship first came about and the resulting collaboration.

(Full disclosure - designer Toni has become a solid Homegrown friend. I first met Toni through my first book: The Hamptons and Long Island Homegrown Cookbook - she contacted me to purchase some autographed copies so that she could add a special finishing touches to her kitchen design customers. See how thoughtful and detail-oriented she is? After more than a few of these Homegrown requests, I remarked to my husband, “Toni must be extremely successful - because she’s now buying the books by the case! Well, Toni is indeed successful, and our shared love of design, food and drink, cooking and gardens - soon led to a friendship.)

Marco and Roberto Osimi, Baden Haus officially met Toni at a Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) event in Las Vegas a year or so ago. Their shared design aesthetics melded much as their ready communication connections. “It was so easy to talk to Toni,” said Oddi.

The professional design respect is mutual.

Not long after, Toni found herself being whisked to Italy. But this was no Roman Holiday. It was a working session - while also a kind of first date, if you will.

See, while Toni got straight to the sketching and design phase of creating -- all of which you can see in the oversized RETRO brochure.

photo courtesy of Baden Haus 

Toni was also conducting a kind of mental check list with her new-found partners.

Did they work with her standards of high quality materials? Check.

Did the company treat its employees with respect and provide a good, healthy working environment? Check and check.

Toni learned how Baden Haus’ quality mission was evident in all phases of their production process. After all, Baden Haus, located in Centobuchi in the Le Marche region of Italy, has been making luxury Italian furniture designed for the bathroom or home spa since 1979.


Piazza in Centobuchi, Italy

In fact, Baden Haus is the largest independent Italian manufacturer of bathroom furniture. A kind of crowning achievement for a brand that prides itself on using only quality materials to produce products “that combine aesthetics and functionality.”





photo courtesy of Baden Haus

When I asked if they had to alter their legacy production process in order to make the RETRO Collection, Oddi explained the company’s factory team needed to add a few more steps to accommodate Toni’s design specs - especially the inside utility of the vanity cabinet and drawers -- features that Toni felt strongly about in terms of the user experience. The sleek one-touch sliding Blum drawer runners is one such example. “Beauty and product organization informed the drawer dynamic. Modularity and the option for “wall hanging or floor mount” are down to earth considerations that are built into the design - not an afterthought left to installers…

photo courtesy of Baden Haus



Gotham City -

photo courtesy Baden Haus

More details on the show floor: I love that Toni filled the frame with a photo of her son, Ricky. How sweet… Tells volumes about Toni’s passions and love that weave their way into her designs and dedication.

photo: Leeann Lavin

When I asked Toni how she came about this design process and how it might differ from her custom work for her clients, she readily responded that here she needed to consider what would appeal to a vast, global audience, versus that one client or couple.

Undaunted by the task, and rather than conduct some sterile research to determine what was trending or forecast to be hot looks, Toni relied on her years of experience. Take into consideration she’s been designing and working with makers and artisans for more than 30 years.

In fact, she embraced the opportunity to create swoon-worthy furniture that would reflect her accumulated design aesthetic - and trusted that market-making metier: Women’s Intuition. Her confidence and style makes RETRO an exalted addition that you just know you will want to live with…

The RETRO Collection consists of four distinct lines or as I refer to them: “conversations.”

These designs surely speak to you - especially when you learn the narratives and personalities behind the design process.

• Gotham City
• Gold Lame
• Paisley Tie
• Matte 

If you’re like me - the artful interior and exterior design elements you bring to your home offer enduring “conversations” between you and the beauty of the piece.

Not to mention with your house guests and family.

And I daresay - if you’re so lucky (and surely you will after selecting RETRO for your home) there will be the attendant magazine media and tour guests who visit your home to admire the designs.

Like us, after all our hard work and designing and thoughtful compilations - to be recognized by a leading magazine and our local historical society -- and then to be featured as a showhouse!

I have my eye on the RETRO Collection for a renovation of our Gotham jewel of an apartment. Stay tuned.

Already, Toni confirmed she’s sped’c out her RETRO designs to a number of her own clients -- to massive delight, no doubt.

So, back to the dreaming stage. Toni began with periods, places, and art that have long been her muses -- that would lend their “practicality and personality” to achieve a certain timeless RETRO frisson.

Gotham City

photo courtesy of Baden Haus

Gotham - aka New York City -- with its pulsating drama of iconic skyscrapers. She cites the Art Deco beauty of the Chrysler building, (my favorite), where you can almost hear Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” crescendoing in the background while gazing at these pieces - yet Toni swears it was the 80’s “Steam Punk” orchestration that inspired Gotham City’s moody industrial look. See how nuanced the art spectrum can be?



photo courtesy of Baden Haus

Gold Lame

photo courtesy of Baden Haus

Ok, this could be my favorite! Toni attributes this look to her “love of glamour and fashion of ‘Old Hollywood’. The golden shimmering glass brings that ‘golden age’ feel to the bath,” says the designer.




photo courtesy of Baden Haus




photo courtesy of Baden Haus

photo courtesy of Baden Haus


Paisley Tie



Photo courtesy of Baden Haus

Wait, this could be my favorite! I’ve often said, “I’m crazy for paisley!” so imagine what a design delight it was to view these sumptuous runway-worthy looks.

No one would disagree that I couldn’t write anything as witty as Oscar Wilde - a paisley aficionado -- and so I quote here from the RETRO catalog introduction to Paisly: “One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art.” Well, I might add: One could display a work of RETRO art! Maybe I am as witty as Mr. Wilde! See how RETRO inspires…

Seriously, I wish Paisley Tie was available when we redid our country house -- I did one of the bathrooms as all tailored luxe - I even called it, “The Bespoke Suit Bathroom.” Next time…

photo courtesy of Baden Haus

Toni wrote: The history of of this iconic pattern that has spanned centuries is quite colorful and I love it for its sophisticated arty, bohemianism.”


photo courtesy of Baden Haus



photo courtesy of Baden Haus

Matte

photo courtesy of Baden Haus

This RETRO conversation whispers Purity. A Balanchine Diamond in Jewels…

The black is all very dramatic and mysterious -- it seems to whisper dark secrets...

Toni reveals: “Timeless grace, simplicity and elegance. The panels have the look of wainscoting to create the mood of old world charm and tradition.

photo courtesy of Baden Haus

Who says things aren’t just so black and white in this world?

photo courtesy of Baden Haus

photo courtesy of Baden Haus

Toni is still floating on rainbows following the premiere. “I’m thrilled and overjoyed at this opportunity,” said the designer when I asked her how this felt to see her name on the boxes and in the catalog. Difficult to put into words…

photo: Leeann Lavin


photo: Leeann Lavin

As part of my post-show follow up reviews, I posed a series of detailed questions to Marco Oddi, Design Director at Baden Haus.

Here is an edited Q & A from our series of email exchanges.

Q. Can you tell me what your goals are for the line?

A. The RETRO Collection is fast becoming "Baden Haus's business card" for the North American market. We embraced the idea of presenting ourselves to the American and Canadian kitchen and bath enthusiasts - professional and consumer - with a very special project, and surely Toni's RETRO Collection can be considered a beautiful example of a special European and American collaboration or bond.

Q. Have you worked with a guest designer previously?

A. This was our first-ever project officially working together, or alongside a designer. In few previous Collections we have received advice (or input) from some Italian designers but we're just talking about small little conversations.

In the case of the RETRO Collection, we've met few times with Toni, in Italy and in the US, we have had long conversations. Furthermore, our internal Design Department has been in contact with Toni on a daily basis for many months. We wanted to make sure that every single little aspect had been reviewed and that no detail had been neglected.

Q. Do you have plans to do more of this kind of line in the future - meaning working with a stable of designers to continue the success working with a guest designer?

A. Yes. This RETRO Collection experience that we are living now is surely something we want to do again. We hope to create something with a strong, design-orientated personality who is very stimulating - and it's our idea and are planning to come out with something else later on.

Q. Is this Retro line available globally?

A. Absolutely! The RETRO Collection has already been displayed in several showrooms across the globe. Our clients have appreciated very much the effort that Baden Haus has made with this project. The feedback is confirming that the company is really taking the company to a different level.
Retro Collection is available in the all 32 Countries where today we distribute our Baden Haus brand.

Q. How long does a line remain available?

A. Normally four to five years but really it depends on the style, the distribution, and other, varied aspects or elements.
With regard to RETRO, it seems it’s more a "Timeless Collection" as Toni likes to describe it; so who knows, RETRO might be available on the market for longer than that!

How to get your RETRO

One can purchase the RETRO Collection pieces all together for a complete ensemble -- or you can purchase separately; building the look in a modular way. Toni designed the pieces to layer and personalize - not unlike selecting from your wardrobe to create a glamorous, memorable ensemble.

This thoughtful detail gives the designer and consumer the added value of customizing their ultimate home design.

The vanity cabinets are available in basic white or black - and the insets for the tops and drawers come in the four jewel-like Collection “conversations.”

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

The LED mirrors are a kind of fairytale magic - with anti-fogging, BlueTooth speakers and magnifying mirror. All with a sweep of dramatic shaped design to complement the vanity styles. No more hunting for a swanky mirror to hold the look together. (Heretofore there’s been an overabundance of square and round and ok, oval…) But now the mirror elegance can claim some true design CV of its own.

How sexy is this? And the mirror too!



photo Leeann Lavin

Prices range from approximately $1,600 to $6,900. With final investments determined by style, size, and the number of elements (vanity cabinet, mirror, sink, floating storage cupboard, and surface-top style selected for a final version.

All the elements in the RETRO Collection will be shipped from a local U.S. distributor location in the Garden State.

What’s better than designing a line of extraordinary collection of bath vanities with a major Italian manufacturer dedicated to quality and premiering at a distinctive New York Furniture show?

Sharing the exhilarating achievement and happiness with friends and family.



Designer Toni Sabatino (R) and daughter Elise. photo: Leeann Lavin




Elise, Designer & Mother - Toni -- with soon to be mother, Amanda & son Ricky

Now that’s a collection!

Ultimate Cocktail Recipes & Food Pairings to Mark James Comey's Senate Testimony Media Viewing: Covfefe Cocktails!

No matter one’s politics - there’s no denying that today’s drama surrounding the the former director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey Testimony is a media event rivaling anything a former media star might have dreamed up. This is like a reality show - or a spy novel in the John le Carré tradition.

Adding to the serious gravitas this investigation deserves - there is an undeniable American entertainment spectacle that has blossomed around this surreal state of affairs of late.

I’ve read of D.C. bars that are offering special cocktails made with Russian vodka - and free cocktails every time the president tweets about the proceedings. Oh what a holy series of Lemony Snickets... Here’s a quote for you from just such a take on the Absurdity of the Human Experience:

“They didn’t understand it, but like so many unfortunate events in life, just because you don’t understand doesn’t mean it isn’t so.” or “The best way to keep a secret is to tell it to everyone you know, but pretend you are kidding.”

Kidding aside - I’m offering up a series of cocktails today - to help you embrace and remember this auspicious day in American history. We’ll get through this. Stay calm - and carry on. Wait - who says that?!

I’ll start with a few cocktails here - and update as the day unfolds. Covfefe Cocktail Cheers!

Heart of Gold

I chose this cocktail from my soon to be released cocktail book: Finishing Touches: The Art of Garnishing the Cocktail.

The gold glitter seems fitting for such a sparkly kind of media star event we’re witnessing. The pretzels can help keep you nourished! And the gold jewelry pin gilds the gold “star” quality of the garnish. Plus, if things get dodgy - that pin can come can come to a defense - or employed as a rapier!




Ingredients

2 jiggers Goldschlager - German Cinnamon Schnapps Liqueur

3-4 jiggers cold Ginger Beer - homemade or hand-crafted artisanal, such as Reed’s: sparkling, filtered water sweetened by a blend of cane sugar, pineapple juice, honey, fresh ginger root, lemon & lime juices and spices.

The cinnamon of the schnapps harmonizes with the spices in the ginger beer.

2-3 dashes Cherry Bitters - Fee Brothers

Method

Put ice cubes in goblet

Mix all ingredients in cocktail shaker

Remove ice from goblet. Pour strained cocktail into iced goblet glass.

Garnish with crystallized ginger - highlights ginger beer/ginger root ingredients (or maraschino or orange rind studded with cloves) clipped on with gold jewelry pins.

Can also pour cocktail into old-fashioned glasses with ice and garnish

Posh Pretzels & Piglets

Serve with classic cocktail party, German hot dog-inspired favorites: pigs in a blanket, artisanal pretzels and hearty mustard.

Galaxy Negroni Sbagliato

Keeping with the sparkly theme this morning, this negroni recipe includes edible silver glitter! I tasted this at the Negroni Week kickoff at Monday’s rooftop event and it is spectacularly delicious and refreshing. Imbibing during the testimony can bring a smile - albeit a tight one - but the sparkling water adds to a sense of celebration. After all, we live in a democracy where all this can take place.

Created by Naren Young, Dante (NYC)

1 oz. Campari

1 oz. Cinzano 1757

Cinzano Prosecco to top

Pour Campari and Cinzano 1757 over ice in a collins glass that has been sprayed with a chamomile tincture. Add 3 dashes of chamomile tincture and a pinch of edible silver glitter. Top with Prosecco.



Photo courtesy Campari



Bloody Beef Stew: 

Tom Sebazco, Bartender/Entrepreneur, Fitzgerald’s Pub, NYC

Every morning event can be enhanced with a Bloody Mary -- or a Bull Shot.


Photo courtesy of Tom Sebazco

Ingredients

2 ounce vodka, recommend a potato vodka: LiV, an artisan distilled craft vodka from Long Island, or for today: Russian vodka!

2 ounce tomato juice, preferably fresh-made from locally-grown tomatoes, cooked for 30 minutes, cool - seeds removed via food mill and blended.

Lemon juice (1/4 lemon)

Worcestershire sauce (dash)

Tabasco sauce (splash)

Salt (1/4 teaspoon or to taste)

Fresh cracked pepper (¼ teaspoon or to taste)

Method

Mix all ingredients in cocktail shaker, shake hard, pour over ice in 16 ounce pilsner glass - without curves.

Garnish

Salt rim on a pint/pilsner glass.

Float 1 ounce sirloin Au Jus on top of drink

Skewer cocktail pick with cooked sirloin beef chip; add on the same pick or additional cocktail pick: cut cubes of celery, baby carrots, pearl onion, baby potato and a lemon twist

Food Pairing & Cocktail Composition

Serve the muscular Bloody Beef Stew with potato latkes, Greek yogurt or sour cream, topped with caviar dollop along with a side serving topping of chunky, homemade applesauce & quince & apple or pear preserves with dried figs.

Serve mini or petite potatoes filled with creme fraiche and caviar.

Potato latkes can be secured from a local gourmet food store, a prepared mix or made from any number of recipes.

Make the serving-sized mini potatoes by boiling the potatoes until semi soft - approximately 8-10 minutes. Scoop out the centers. (Use in other recipes).

Using a pastry bag/pouch to fill the petite potatoes with piped creme fraiche. 

Top with dollop of caviar.

Serve the latkes and petite potatoes hot or cold, on silver trays. There is a plethora of faux silver party platters of all sizes available at local party store sources to add a touch of elegance to most every composition.

Bull Shot




Ingredients

(for one drink)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
Tomato balsamic sea salt from Keith Luce NoFo Kitchen - or local sea salt

Fresh, ground black pepper

2 dash Black Walnut Bitters

1/4 cup vodka
3/4 cup chilled double-rich, double-strength beef broth or beef bouillon

Method

Mix all ingredients together - shake. Pour over flavored ice cubes and serve in an old fashion glass. Bull Shots can be served hot in glass mugs, too.

Ice cubes - to make the seasoned ice cubes, puree celery, fennel, add Sazon - or spice of choice - with a few drops fresh lemon juice and seasoned salt - I used tomato salt. Freeze in cube trays.

Garnish

Lemon or lime wedge on edge of glass, with celery and fennel tops from the ice recipe.

2 pinch Sazon - Annatto Sazon dusted on top of drink

Food Pairing with Bullshot Brunch

Hard boiled eggs with a swoosh of Thai chili aioli.

Dust with Sazon spice powder -- Sazon is a mix of garlic, cumin, and has a slightly peppery with hint of nutty nutmeg taste.
Annatto and its “color of fire” was once used to control fevers, dysentery and kidney disease - so ideal for what ails you the morning after - or as a wake up drink.

From the Cabot Creamery cookbook - the valentine-red peppers stuffed with eggs and cheese heart Cabot “is a cooperative of 1,200 dairy farm families located throughout New York and New England. It’s

Add a mint julep / love cup filled with fresh crudite: carrots, celery, peppers.

Melba toast points or blue corn chips offer a crunchy, somewhat salty, balance.




Cocktail Composition

The Bullshot and its decorative ice cubes make a handsome display, along with the colorful food pairings. Add some eye-catching straws and cocktail stirrers and napkins, plated with a variety of colorful peppers.