Many times I put together an elaborate meal and realize, minutes before the guests arrive, that I have nothing to serve as an aperitif. Making a special drink circumvents the problem of having to have a whole bar so that you can offer your guests the drink of their choice. It also eliminates the need for what is my usual solution to the problem, Champagne. Here I’ve also included sweet drinks such as eggnog and hot chocolate for the holidays and for kids.
You really can put virtually any fruit puree in a mimosa, but mango and passion fruit are especially good. Use an inexpensive sparkling wine, not champagne—the subtlety would be lost.
Makes six cocktails
⅓ cup sugar
⅓ cup water
1 cup unsweetened mango puree
1 bottle (750ml) sparkling wine, such as Prosecco
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Let cool and refrigerate. Combine with the mango puree. Stir the mixture thoroughly and pour it into six 6-ounce champagne tulips (flutes are too small) or white wine glasses. Pour in the sparkling wine and serve.
Variations:
Try this same technique with other purees, such as passion fruit or berries.
Traditional margaritas are made with 1 part tequila, 1 part triple sec (which contributes sweetness), and 1 part lime juice. By substituting unsweetened passion fruit puree for the lime juice, you can come up with a magnificent and unusual cocktail. Don’t try to make these with fresh passion fruit, you’ll need too many. Instead use one of the passion fruit purees on the market—the best ones are imported from France. Try to find frozen passion fruit puree instead of the kind that comes in liquid form in jars, which has been pasteurized and excessively sweetened; the frozen has a much fresher and brighter flavor. The recipe calls for 4 fluid ounces of triple sec, which makes a fairly sweet cocktail; use less if you are so inclined.
Makes 4 cocktails
4 fluid ounces tequila
4 fluid ounces triple sec
4 fluid ounces unsweetened passion fruit puree
Ice
Combine the tequila, triple sec, and passion fruit puree in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Pour out, straining out the ice, into chilled martini glasses.
The flavor of a Manhattan is the result of the interplay between the flavors of bourbon, Tennessee whisky, or rye (rye is really the most classic) with red vermouth. There are two factors that will determine success or failure (at least relative failure)—the quality and temperature of the whisky. I rarely if ever suggest name brands, but Makers’ Mark makes a consistently very tasty product and it’s available most places. If you’re buying another brand of whisky, be sure that it says “straight” somewhere on the bottle. Avoid blended whiskies, which contain a large percentage of neutral-tasting alcohol.
Makes 4 cocktails
8 fluid ounces American straight whisky such as Makers’ Mark, well chilled in the refrigerator
2 fluid ounces red vermouth, will chilled as above
Dash of angostura bitters
Ice
4 maraschino cherries
Chill 4 small martini glasses in the freezer. Combine all the other ingredients except the cherries in a cocktail shaker or pitcher and stir to combine. Pour into the glasses and garnish with a cherry.
James Bond made us fussy about stirring or shaking (I forget which he insisted on), but truth be told, Bond or no Bond, it makes no difference. The point of both operations is to chill the gin. The secret to the perfect martini and to other strong drinks such as Manhattans is to avoid having the ice melt and dilute the liquor, which results in a watery drink. Here’s the secret: Keep the booze in the refrigerator. In that way, it melts little ice and stays undiluted during shaking or stirring.
Makes 4 cocktails
8 fluid ounces gin or vodka, chilled in the refrigerator
1 drop to 1 tablespoon dry vermouth (Noilly Prat is best)
Ice
4 green olives
Combine the gin, vermouth, and ice in a cocktail shaker and shake or stir for about 30 seconds. (Since the liquor is chilled, less time is needed.) Strain into chilled glasses. Serve with olives.
There’s nothing original about Bellinis, first created in Harry’s Bar (the one in Venice). But the principle is worth exploring since it involves combining fruit puree with Prosecco, or some other inexpensive sparkling wine. (Never use Champagne, its nuances will be lost.) The hardest part of making a Bellini is finding the requisite white peach or other fruit puree. It’s important that the puree never has been pasteurized, which distorts its flavor. Look online for frozen raw purees. The best ones come from France. Here I give suggestions for other fruit Bellinis.
Makes 6 cocktails
1 bottle (750ml) Prosecco
6 fluid ounces white peach, regular peach, apricot, plum, or other stone fruit puree
Pour the Prosecco into six chilled champagne flutes. Spoon in and gently stir the puree; if you’re not gentle, the drinks will be flat. Serve at once.
I got the idea for this recipe from the delicious limeade they serve at New York’s Gramercy Tavern. This isn’t actually their recipe, but it makes a limeade that’s just as good. The principle that makes it so good is that it’s sweetened with sugar syrup infused with lime zest instead of regular granulated sugar. In any case, it’s superb on a summer’s afternoon. This recipe is quite strong and sour—feel free to thin it with a little cold water or sweeten it with a little more sugar.
Makes 4 servings
17 limes
¾ cup sugar
3 cups water
Ice
Scrub the limes with hot water and detergent (this eliminates wax) and rinse thoroughly. Take the zests off of four of the limes, avoiding the pith as best you can.
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the zests, simmer for 15 minutes, and let cool. Strain.
Squeeze 16 limes and combine the juice with the syrup. Cut the remaining lime into wedges. Serve with plenty of ice. Garnish with lime wedges.
Many of us avoid homemade eggnog because it contains raw eggs, but in this version, the egg yolks are cooked. If you’re using brandy to flavor the eggnog, be sure to use authentic Cognac. Bottles marked just “brandy” rarely have any flavor. If you’re using bourbon, be sure it’s marked “straight bourbon whiskey” and not “blended bourbon whiskey.” Straight whiskey has not been diluted with neutral spirits and has a more forthright flavor. The best rum for eggnog comes from Martinique. I guarantee this eggnog will be the best you or any of your guests will have ever tasted.
Makes 8 servings
2 cups milk
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup plus ⅓ cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1½ cups heavy cream
1 to 2 cups bourbon, Cognac, or dark rum
Nutmeg, to serve
Bring the milk to a simmer with the vanilla. If you are using a vanilla bean, scrape out the little seeds and return these to the milk.
Whisk together the ¼ cup sugar and the egg yolks in a mixing bowl until the yolks turn pale.
Pour half the milk into the egg yolks and whisk thoroughly to combine. Return this mixture to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is silky and thickens slightly, from almost immediately to 3 minutes. Be sure to reach into the corners so the eggs don’t hide out and curdle. Don’t stop stirring for a second and don’t let it boil or it will curdle. Remove it from the heat and continue to stir for about 3 minutes to prevent the eggs from setting.
Let cool to room temperature (or over ice if you’re in a hurry), stirring from time to time to keep a crust from forming. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ice cold.
Beat the cream to medium peaks with the remaining ⅓ cup sugar—the cream will adhere but droop from a whisk—and fold it into the custard. Stir in the alcohol. Serve, grating nutmeg over each serving—but go easy, it’s strong.
Most people nowadays make hot chocolate out of a mix—with results that are less than satisfying. But making hot chocolate with unsweetened cocoa powder is a bit of a pain because if you don’t do it just right, the cocoa forms lumps. In this version, bittersweet chocolate is melted in milk. This hot chocolate is quite rich, and if you chill it, it turns into a delightful pudding.
Makes 4 servings
4 cups milk
¾ pound bittersweet chocolate, broken into chunks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Marshmallows (optional)
In a saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer and remove from the heat. Add the chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Add the vanilla. Bring to the barest simmer over high heat (monitor it closely or it will overflow).
Divide among mugs. Dollop with the whipped cream and top with the marshallows.