Mmmm, it was a tasty Thanksgiving. I hosted Sean and Scott for the meal. A small group with good conversation, good libations, and good food.
I came home on Wednesday night with the intention of beginning or completing 3 dishes. Sadly, by the time I came home and unloaded the car I was too exhausted to do much. As a result most of the cooking was done yesterday morning. As is my habit I was up by 4am and got to cooking by 6:30. The boys arrived shortly after 1PM and I had plenty of time to get things mostly done.
Sean brought with him an assortment of lovely cheeses and crackers. Scott has intolerance's to cow dairy and wheat. Sean's cheeses were almost all goat's milk. I supplied to wheat free crackers. Scott brought some of his wonderful Indian-style falafels. I don't recall the original name of these tasty treats, but I enjoyed them last year as well. Scott also brought some tamarind chutney to enjoy on them.
After eating and toasting for an hour or so, I was having to get on with the rest of the meal. Everything was done except the main courses and the greens. I employed Scott's assistance to wrap up the greens while I threw together the final details for the boy's main course.
The dishes for this year:
- Cranberry sauce made with Grand Marnier and orange zest (traditional for us)
- Yams mashed with crystallized ginger and Maker's Mark
- Wild rice and porcini mushroom stuffing (actually served as a side dish and made with mostly porcinis, but also a few other dried mushrooms such as morels and shitakes)
- Greens sauteed with garlic and red pepper flakes (I used a combo of black Tuscan kale and Rainbow Swiss Chard which made for a lovely presentation)
- Baked black eyed peas (a vegan recipe that went over well last year...these are a bit spicy)
- Mushroom gravy made with red wine and the left over soaking liquid from the stuffing
For the boys the main course were Cornish Game Hens glazed with a combination of Tayberry sauce and balsamic vinegar. My main course was halibut baked with white wine, thyme, and lemon slices. Our dessert was Pears poached in a spiced burgundy and cranberry syrup topped with Coconut Bliss ice cream (vanilla and chocolate).
So, what changes? First, I dropped another veggie dish. I had thought I'd make green beans sauteed with some almond slices, but after looking at the dishes that were already prepared I decided that we had enough food and one green already. Next I dropped the planned corn bread. Scott is wheat intolerant, so I would have made a gluten free version, but again, looking at the meal I decided that we had enough. Even so, I'll probably make some corn bread over the weekend for myself. Also dropped were potatoes mashed with celeriac - to be revived over the weekend, I'm sure.
Finally, the mushroom gravy was entirely improvised. I had planned on being lazy and serving Tofurkey mushroom gravy. I even bought some and had it thawing in the refrigerator. However, when I pulled it out, I noticed that it was no longer "mushroom gravy", but rather "gravy with giblets". The giblets were made from wheat (probably a seitan) which Scott couldn't eat. I had the time, I had the wine, I had left over soaking liquid from the dried mushrooms for the stuffing. I also had some button mushrooms in the refrigerator. I sauteed up the button mushrooms in some butter until they began to release their juices. then added salt, black pepper, and dried thyme. To that I added 1 cup of soaking liquid and1 cup of Malbec. I cooked that down a little then added a tempered slurry with corn starch to thicken it up.
After the main courses came out of the oven, I left them rest for 10 minutes. During that time I turned the oven off and put the side dishes into the oven to warm (except for the cranberry sauce). It all pulled together nicely.
I was thankful for the dishes coming together so well, but more importantly I was thankful for the good company that I was privileged to share them with. Good times.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
New spirits
New special orders in the store this week:
Black Maple Hill Bourbon, Bacardi Ron Solera 1873, Feckin' Irish Whiskey, Corzo Reposado, and Corzo Anejo.
Recently in:
Kelt Tour de Monde VSOP Cognac, Four Roses Bourbon, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Cruzan Rum Cream, Caribou Crossing Single Barrel Canadian Whiskey, Ultimat Vodka, Don Julio 1942 Tequila, Haymen's Old Tom Gin, and Metaxa 7 star brandy.
Don't forget our Northwest Spirits:
Batch 206 Vodka and their Counter Gin, Dry Fly Gin and Vodka, Ebb + Flow vodka, Voyager Gin and their sister Pacifique Absinthe, Soft Tail Vodka and Grappa, It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere Block and Tackle White Dog Whiskey, Black Heron Spirits' Rayne Anjel Gin, Ink Vodka, and Desert Lightning White Dog Whiskey, Ransom Spirits' Ransom Gin, Small's Gin, and Whippersnapper Whiskey, Bend Distillery's Crater Lake Vodka and Cascade Mountain Gin, New Deal's Portland 88 and New Deal Vodkas, and Clear Creek's Pear Brandy, Apple Brandy, Marc, and Grappa of Pinot Noir.
Coming soon:
Woodinville Whiskey Company's Peabody Jones Vodka and Headlong White Dog Whiskey, Clear Creek's Cranberry Liqueur and Slivovitz, Yellow Chartreuse, Creme de Violette, French Creme de Cassis, and more...
Black Maple Hill Bourbon, Bacardi Ron Solera 1873, Feckin' Irish Whiskey, Corzo Reposado, and Corzo Anejo.
Recently in:
Kelt Tour de Monde VSOP Cognac, Four Roses Bourbon, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Cruzan Rum Cream, Caribou Crossing Single Barrel Canadian Whiskey, Ultimat Vodka, Don Julio 1942 Tequila, Haymen's Old Tom Gin, and Metaxa 7 star brandy.
Don't forget our Northwest Spirits:
Batch 206 Vodka and their Counter Gin, Dry Fly Gin and Vodka, Ebb + Flow vodka, Voyager Gin and their sister Pacifique Absinthe, Soft Tail Vodka and Grappa, It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere Block and Tackle White Dog Whiskey, Black Heron Spirits' Rayne Anjel Gin, Ink Vodka, and Desert Lightning White Dog Whiskey, Ransom Spirits' Ransom Gin, Small's Gin, and Whippersnapper Whiskey, Bend Distillery's Crater Lake Vodka and Cascade Mountain Gin, New Deal's Portland 88 and New Deal Vodkas, and Clear Creek's Pear Brandy, Apple Brandy, Marc, and Grappa of Pinot Noir.
Coming soon:
Woodinville Whiskey Company's Peabody Jones Vodka and Headlong White Dog Whiskey, Clear Creek's Cranberry Liqueur and Slivovitz, Yellow Chartreuse, Creme de Violette, French Creme de Cassis, and more...
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Northwest spirits
I realized that while sending an email to a couple of friends I was essentially writing a blog post. I copied and pasted it here with minor edits:
Man, even when I try to sleep in, I find out that I'm up at my regular time. :-) I went to bed later last night after closing the store, dropping a co-worker off at home, and staying up to speak with S a bit. I got out of bed this morning and the clock read about 5:19. When I came downstairs and started my computer it read 4:34. Maaaaaan, standard time already fucking with me!
Woodinville Whiskey Company - had fun bottling with those guys the other night. We got 499 bottles done in about an hour and a half. We would have done more, but they forgot to order more bottles from their supplier. Living and learning. Yesterday a customer came in and we spent some time speaking whiskey and other liquor. She was really into her whiskey and very knowledgeable. It turns out that she had been to Woodinville Whiskey Co. and done a tasting yesterday afternoon. They told her about me and suggested that she stop by. My store is close by to her home, yet she hadn't been by. She noticed the Dolin vermouth right off, before I approached her, and told me, "I knew this wasn't your average store when I saw the Dolin on the shelf". It's nice to see the relationship that I'm establishing with Woodinville Whiskey is reciprocal. The customer eventually bought a bottle of The Whippersnapper - a new whiskey from Oregon by Ransom spirits.
The Whippersnapper: retail $27.20/bottle. I've enjoyed the Ransom Gin from the same distiller. The gin is based on an old, pre-prohibition formula often referred to as an "Old Tom" style gin. That is that it's not as dry as the London dry gins and not as sweet as the Genever style gins. It exists somewhere in between, but closer to the London dry. It's also brown in color due to 2 - 6 months of barrel aging and has a fair amount of cardamom in it. The gin makes great, and I mean GREAT, old fashioned cocktails as well as playing nicely in the sandbox when making more modern ones.
As to it's whiskey cousin, The Whippersnapper, named thusly for the fact that it's a young whiskey. Ransom is barrel aging a Scotch-style of whiskey. But they were so happy with the results of some of the younger ones that they decided to do a bottling. Because of it's young age and impertinent nature, they named it The Whippersnapper. The whiskey is a blend of 21% barley based whiskey (the Scotch portion) and 79% corn neutral spirit. The barley comes from Oregon and is not peated as Scotch normally is. Even so, one can smell and taste a definite Scotch flavor due to it's inclusion. The corn neutral spirit (otherwise known as white dog, unaged bourbon, or moonshine) is hardly neutral in flavor. It adds a bit of sweet, honey-like flavor and scent to the whiskey. S and I tried some last night. We began with just a glass straight up. It was good and decidedly odd in that it was unlike anything else we had. The finish was not long and the body medium. It reminded me more of American and Canadian blends in the body aspect, but tasted unlike either. Definitely the corn spirit was existing alongside the barley and they weren't quite dancing down the aisle together towards bliss as much sharing each other's time. We then decided to put it on ice. That was a game changer. With the addition of a couple of cubes the corn spirit receded a great deal leaving behind the barley and it tasted like a nice, light, and smooth Scotch. We agreed that it would probably make quite an enjoyable drink either on the rocks or mixed with soda, much like a blended Scotch. I suspect we'll find some cocktails to try it out in as well. It's definitely a whiskey that likes to blend which will make it something to enjoy as an addition to the bar.
J sent me a link to a Huffington Post article on fall whiskey releases. Oddly enough, it was just a couple of days after I had special ordered The Whippersnapper in for the store. It's good to go back and read what the author from Huffington Post wrote about this whiskey:
I hope Ransom has more of the barley spirit continuing aging in the barrel. It'll be good to see if they can turn out a hardier Scotch style whiskey. Oregon already boasts a Scotch style Whiskey, McCarthy's Whiskey from Clear Creek Distillery. Clear Creek's product is made from barley that is grown and peated in Scotland. The barley is then imported to Portland were it is taken to the McMenamin's facility (known mostly as a brew pub) to be distilled. The resulting whiskey is then put into barrels and aged at Clear Creek's facility for 8 years. The whiskey in every way is competitive with the finest Scotch. Fantastic stuff and at $50/bottle, a real steal. It's been called the finest American whiskey by F. Paul Pacult. However, it's extremely limited in it's release and Clear Creek has no plans to expand it's production (which will only drive up it's price eventually). I hope Ransom has plans to expand the market and fulfill the craving.
One of the interesting things that these new American whiskey distillers are doing is they are aging in smaller barrels. The smaller barrels allows for more contact with the surface area of the whiskey. This extra contact pays dividends in the aging of the whiskey. Smaller barrels allows for a "faster aging" process. The wood in the barrel breathes more of the whiskey in and out faster, giving up it's flavor more readily. In just 2 years these small batch distillers yield a product that rewards as much as a big barrel that has been aged several more years. Of course, that keeps this small for these craft distillers and more barrels means more needed room and more labor intensive as the barrels need to be turned periodically and a closer eye maintained on all of them. The former distiller from Maker's Mark, Dave Pickerell, has been preaching this method and offering his consulting services throughout the country, including at Woodinville Whiskey Distillers. Pickerell has pioneered this method with his own whiskey, The Whistlepig. It's a straight rye whiskey, aged 10 years. It's a craft product with only 1000 cases available this year. It's supposed to be fantastic and I've got some on order for the store - hopefully it will come.
Also in the store this week were 3 spirits produced by Black Heron Spirits. Black Heron's logo was one that I recognized immediately. I looked it up and confirmed that the liquor is produced by a distillery founded by Joel Tefft. Joel was an early founder of the fine wine industry in Washington state. Apparently, Joel is getting up there in age and thinks that the hustle and bustle required for promoting wine in Washington has become too much for him. So, he sold his winery a year ago and began taking classes in distillation. He built his distillery in West Richland, Washington. This week my store got in Rayne Angel Gin, Ink Vodka, and Desert Lightning corn whiskey. The surprising big seller this week was the Desert Lightning. Frankly, I think that the packaging looks a bit gimmicky and cheap, but it's selling. Buyers are excited about it and clearly the design of the bottle is more appealing that I expected. Good for Joel and good for the Washington spirits community as having such a well known name dive in can only help with the promotion.
Fun times being a liquor enthusiast in these days of craft distilling. Lots of good things happening. It's the natural evolution of the cocktail revival in America. We had a post prohibition period where cheaply made, lower quality booze was the norm. People just accepted what was churned out in an industrial manner. It was usually pretty harsh and barely recognizable as the type of liquor it was labeled as (Scotch, whiskey, vodka, gin). But, it was cheap and widely available. Then came World War II and, as with the wine world, people came back from Europe with a new appreciation of better quality and a wider variety of liquor. Scotch whiskey made great strides in American markets in the 50s and 60s and sparked renewed interest in America's whiskey, bourbon. We also saw brands such as Stolichnaya, Absolut, and Campari make headway during this time. Then there was a leveling off and cocktails actually seemed to fall out of favor. Sales rose, but not at the same levels as the 50s and 60s. In the 90s cocktail culture really began a second coming, a revival. Prohibitionists from MADD and other organizations were seen for what they were and people began going back to discovering cocktails both new and classic. In the 2000 we began to see more people at home and in bars playing with making their own concoctions and infusions. Again, classic cocktails saw interest rise including updating those cocktails. With this we saw more interest in a wider variety of imported liquor. And now we live in the age of the revival of small craft distillers. By my count we're in the 4th wave of the liquor revolution in America. This bodes well for those cocktail makers as the new distillations are bound to inspire new mixes. They'll feed on each other much to my delight.
Now if we can just dispose of daylight savings time.
Man, even when I try to sleep in, I find out that I'm up at my regular time. :-) I went to bed later last night after closing the store, dropping a co-worker off at home, and staying up to speak with S a bit. I got out of bed this morning and the clock read about 5:19. When I came downstairs and started my computer it read 4:34. Maaaaaan, standard time already fucking with me!
Woodinville Whiskey Company - had fun bottling with those guys the other night. We got 499 bottles done in about an hour and a half. We would have done more, but they forgot to order more bottles from their supplier. Living and learning. Yesterday a customer came in and we spent some time speaking whiskey and other liquor. She was really into her whiskey and very knowledgeable. It turns out that she had been to Woodinville Whiskey Co. and done a tasting yesterday afternoon. They told her about me and suggested that she stop by. My store is close by to her home, yet she hadn't been by. She noticed the Dolin vermouth right off, before I approached her, and told me, "I knew this wasn't your average store when I saw the Dolin on the shelf". It's nice to see the relationship that I'm establishing with Woodinville Whiskey is reciprocal. The customer eventually bought a bottle of The Whippersnapper - a new whiskey from Oregon by Ransom spirits.
The Whippersnapper: retail $27.20/bottle. I've enjoyed the Ransom Gin from the same distiller. The gin is based on an old, pre-prohibition formula often referred to as an "Old Tom" style gin. That is that it's not as dry as the London dry gins and not as sweet as the Genever style gins. It exists somewhere in between, but closer to the London dry. It's also brown in color due to 2 - 6 months of barrel aging and has a fair amount of cardamom in it. The gin makes great, and I mean GREAT, old fashioned cocktails as well as playing nicely in the sandbox when making more modern ones.
As to it's whiskey cousin, The Whippersnapper, named thusly for the fact that it's a young whiskey. Ransom is barrel aging a Scotch-style of whiskey. But they were so happy with the results of some of the younger ones that they decided to do a bottling. Because of it's young age and impertinent nature, they named it The Whippersnapper. The whiskey is a blend of 21% barley based whiskey (the Scotch portion) and 79% corn neutral spirit. The barley comes from Oregon and is not peated as Scotch normally is. Even so, one can smell and taste a definite Scotch flavor due to it's inclusion. The corn neutral spirit (otherwise known as white dog, unaged bourbon, or moonshine) is hardly neutral in flavor. It adds a bit of sweet, honey-like flavor and scent to the whiskey. S and I tried some last night. We began with just a glass straight up. It was good and decidedly odd in that it was unlike anything else we had. The finish was not long and the body medium. It reminded me more of American and Canadian blends in the body aspect, but tasted unlike either. Definitely the corn spirit was existing alongside the barley and they weren't quite dancing down the aisle together towards bliss as much sharing each other's time. We then decided to put it on ice. That was a game changer. With the addition of a couple of cubes the corn spirit receded a great deal leaving behind the barley and it tasted like a nice, light, and smooth Scotch. We agreed that it would probably make quite an enjoyable drink either on the rocks or mixed with soda, much like a blended Scotch. I suspect we'll find some cocktails to try it out in as well. It's definitely a whiskey that likes to blend which will make it something to enjoy as an addition to the bar.
J sent me a link to a Huffington Post article on fall whiskey releases. Oddly enough, it was just a couple of days after I had special ordered The Whippersnapper in for the store. It's good to go back and read what the author from Huffington Post wrote about this whiskey:
Already available is a weird and wonderful new concoction from Ransom Spirits, the Oregon-based distiller which brought us the mind-blowingly brilliant Old Tom gin last year. This year's baby, WhipperSnapper Oregon Whiskey, is... well, what is it, anyway? Is it a bourbon? A Scotch? Sort of and sort of. The two main components of WhipperSnapper are malted barley (the same stuff they make Scotch from, although this barley is from Oregon) and un-aged or "white dog" Kentucky corn whiskey (from whence comes bourbon). The resulting alchemy, about an 80/20 ratio of corn to barley, is then aged in barrels that have housed French pinot noir and American whiskey, as well as new unused barrels. The aging process is relatively short -- generally less than two years, hence the "WhipperSnapper" name -- and then various barrels are selected and combined for each bottle.
The end result is something akin to an incredibly vibrant young Scotch, while you also get the sweet and unrefined vibe of the white dog. At 84 proof, it goes down dangerously smooth neat or on the rocks. I suppose you could mix it with soda, but it's so damn good on its own that you needn't bother. Because it's not peaty, WhipperSnapper would make a great gateway drug for those timid souls who are scared off by the pungent aroma and powerful flavor of Islay single-malts. But it still makes for a damn fine libation even if you like the "hard stuff" like Lagavulin or Laphroaig.
I hope Ransom has more of the barley spirit continuing aging in the barrel. It'll be good to see if they can turn out a hardier Scotch style whiskey. Oregon already boasts a Scotch style Whiskey, McCarthy's Whiskey from Clear Creek Distillery. Clear Creek's product is made from barley that is grown and peated in Scotland. The barley is then imported to Portland were it is taken to the McMenamin's facility (known mostly as a brew pub) to be distilled. The resulting whiskey is then put into barrels and aged at Clear Creek's facility for 8 years. The whiskey in every way is competitive with the finest Scotch. Fantastic stuff and at $50/bottle, a real steal. It's been called the finest American whiskey by F. Paul Pacult. However, it's extremely limited in it's release and Clear Creek has no plans to expand it's production (which will only drive up it's price eventually). I hope Ransom has plans to expand the market and fulfill the craving.
One of the interesting things that these new American whiskey distillers are doing is they are aging in smaller barrels. The smaller barrels allows for more contact with the surface area of the whiskey. This extra contact pays dividends in the aging of the whiskey. Smaller barrels allows for a "faster aging" process. The wood in the barrel breathes more of the whiskey in and out faster, giving up it's flavor more readily. In just 2 years these small batch distillers yield a product that rewards as much as a big barrel that has been aged several more years. Of course, that keeps this small for these craft distillers and more barrels means more needed room and more labor intensive as the barrels need to be turned periodically and a closer eye maintained on all of them. The former distiller from Maker's Mark, Dave Pickerell, has been preaching this method and offering his consulting services throughout the country, including at Woodinville Whiskey Distillers. Pickerell has pioneered this method with his own whiskey, The Whistlepig. It's a straight rye whiskey, aged 10 years. It's a craft product with only 1000 cases available this year. It's supposed to be fantastic and I've got some on order for the store - hopefully it will come.
Also in the store this week were 3 spirits produced by Black Heron Spirits. Black Heron's logo was one that I recognized immediately. I looked it up and confirmed that the liquor is produced by a distillery founded by Joel Tefft. Joel was an early founder of the fine wine industry in Washington state. Apparently, Joel is getting up there in age and thinks that the hustle and bustle required for promoting wine in Washington has become too much for him. So, he sold his winery a year ago and began taking classes in distillation. He built his distillery in West Richland, Washington. This week my store got in Rayne Angel Gin, Ink Vodka, and Desert Lightning corn whiskey. The surprising big seller this week was the Desert Lightning. Frankly, I think that the packaging looks a bit gimmicky and cheap, but it's selling. Buyers are excited about it and clearly the design of the bottle is more appealing that I expected. Good for Joel and good for the Washington spirits community as having such a well known name dive in can only help with the promotion.
Fun times being a liquor enthusiast in these days of craft distilling. Lots of good things happening. It's the natural evolution of the cocktail revival in America. We had a post prohibition period where cheaply made, lower quality booze was the norm. People just accepted what was churned out in an industrial manner. It was usually pretty harsh and barely recognizable as the type of liquor it was labeled as (Scotch, whiskey, vodka, gin). But, it was cheap and widely available. Then came World War II and, as with the wine world, people came back from Europe with a new appreciation of better quality and a wider variety of liquor. Scotch whiskey made great strides in American markets in the 50s and 60s and sparked renewed interest in America's whiskey, bourbon. We also saw brands such as Stolichnaya, Absolut, and Campari make headway during this time. Then there was a leveling off and cocktails actually seemed to fall out of favor. Sales rose, but not at the same levels as the 50s and 60s. In the 90s cocktail culture really began a second coming, a revival. Prohibitionists from MADD and other organizations were seen for what they were and people began going back to discovering cocktails both new and classic. In the 2000 we began to see more people at home and in bars playing with making their own concoctions and infusions. Again, classic cocktails saw interest rise including updating those cocktails. With this we saw more interest in a wider variety of imported liquor. And now we live in the age of the revival of small craft distillers. By my count we're in the 4th wave of the liquor revolution in America. This bodes well for those cocktail makers as the new distillations are bound to inspire new mixes. They'll feed on each other much to my delight.
Now if we can just dispose of daylight savings time.
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