Wednesday, October 31, 2012
FRIGHTFUL HALLOWEEN LIBATIONS
DEADLY WINES
Chateau Du Vampire Wines Bordeaux Style Cabernet Blend (Vampire Vineyards – Paso Robles, California): blend of cabernet sauvignon (60%) with cabernet franc (30%), and 10% malbec to finish it off.
Vampire Cabernet Sauvignon (Vampire vineyards – Paso Robles, California): Vampire Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from several small-berry clones of this traditional Bordeaux varietal, grown in the Paso Robles region of California’s Central Coast.
Dracula Wines: Zinfandel and Syrah (originally the grapes for this wine were grown on the Transylvanian plateau, now they're made from California grapes).
Trueblood Napa Valley Syrah: This wine will "bruise your soul" with its palate crushing cherry, plum smoke and spice.
Ghost Block: 100% cabernet from Rock Cairn Vineyard in Oakville, next to Yountville's Pioneer Cemetery.
River of Skulls from Twisted Oak Winery in Calaveras County. Limited production vineyard mouvedre (red wine grape). Label has a bright red skull. English translation of calaveras is "skulls."
Ghostly White Chardonnay and Bone Dry Red Cabernet Sauvignon. Elk Creek Vineyards in Kentucky
Poizin from Armida Winery in Healdsburg is a 'wine to die for..". This Zinfandel sold in little wooden coffins
Big Red Monster Red wine made from Syrah, Zinfandel and Petite Syrah.
Other Wines: Witches Brew, Evil (upside down and backwards label), Sinister Hand, Toad Hollow Eye of the Toad, Zeller Schwarz Katz.
Want to give the personal touch to your Halloween wines? Add ghoulish labels or rebottle in cool jars with apothecary labels from Pottery Barn (or do them yourself). For a great article, go to Spooky Halloween Bottle & Glass Labels.
BLOODY COCKTAILS
Blood Bath
1 Part Tequila Silver
1 Part Strawberry Liqueur
Shake with ice, and strain into a shot glass.
Blodd Test
1 Part Tequila Reposado
1 Part Grenadine
Shake with ice and strain into shot glass
Blood Shot
1 part Iceberg Vodka
1 part peach schnapps
1 part Jagermeister
1 part cranberry juice
Chill all ingredients. Combine in a shaker with ice. Strain into a shot glass. shoot!
Bloody-Tini
2 oz VeeV Acai Spirit
1 oz acai juice
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
Top with fresh champagne
lime wedge for garnish
Combine VeeV, Acai juice and fresh lime with fresh ice in a cocktail shaker and shake.
Strain into a chilled martini glass and top with champagne.
Serve with a fresh lime wedge.
Blood and Sand
3/4 ounce Scotch
3/4 ounce cherry liqueur
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
3/4 ounce orange juice
1 thin strip orange zest
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the liquids. Strain into a martini glass, then garnish with the strip of zest. (recipe from Bank Cafe & Bar in Napa)
Corpse Reviver
1 ounce gin
1 ounce Lillet (blanc)
1 ounce triple sec
Juice of half a lemon
5 drops of absinthe
1 thin slice orange
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the liquids. Strain into a martini glass, then garnish with the orange slice.
(Recipe from Epic Roasthouse in San Francisco)
Vampire Blood Punch
4 cups cranberry raspberry juice (or cranberry juice cocktail)
2 cups natural pineapple juice (100% juice)
2 cups raspberry-flavored seltzer water
wormy ice cubes (optional)
Mix all of the ingredients together, and pour into a large, decorative punch bowl.
Serve the punch with wormy ice cubes if desired
Corzo Bite
1-1/2 parts Corzo Silver Tequila
1/2 parts Campari
1 part fresh blood orange juice
1/4 parts blood (aka home-made grenadine) **
2 parts Jarritos Tamarindo Soda
Build all ingredients into a highball glass filled with ice. Add the “blood” at the end.
Garnish: Blood orange wheel and strawberry syrup
** Home-made grenadine: Add equal parts white sugar and POM pomegranate juice together and dissolve sugar over high on stove-top
Midori Eye-Tini (from Rob Husted of Florida)
1-1⁄4 parts Midori Melon liqueur
3⁄4 parts SKYY Infusions Citrus
1⁄2 part Finest Call Agave Syrup
2 parts of Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale
2 parts Finest Call Sweet & Sour Mix
3 Orange Wedges
2 Fresh Ripped Basil Leaves
Strawberry Sundae Syrup
In a shaker glass combine Midori Melon liqueur, SKYY infusions Citrus, Finest Call Agave Syrup, 3 Orange Wedges and 2 Fresh Ripped Basil Leaves. Muddle ingredients together. Add ice and Finest Call Sweet & Sour Mix. Shake for 10 seconds. Add Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale and roll drink back and forth between your mixing tin and shaker glass. Strain into a chilled martini glass drizzled with Strawberry Sundae Syrup to give an effect of a bloodshot eye.
Garnish: Chilled red seedless grape at bottom of glass (to look like an eyeball) and bruised basil leaf floated on top of cocktail for aroma.
Black Martini
The Black Martini replaces vermouth with either blackberry brandy or black raspberry liqueur.
3 1/2 oz gin or vodka1/2 oz blackberry brandy or black raspberry liqueur
lemon twist or black olive for garnish or gold flakes
Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice.
Shake vigorously.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist or black olive or sprinkle in gold flakes.
Czechmate: The Spy Who Played Jazz: Bill Moody
Join Bill Moody, author and musician, in celebration of his latest mystery Czechmate: The Spy Who Played Jazz. Bill will be joined on stage by pianist Dick Fregulia and bassist Steve Webber for a live jazz session to accompany the reading. Czechmate is the latest installment of Moody's popular Evan Horne mystery series. Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA. Saturday, November 3, 5:30 p.m.
I asked Bill to write a few words about Czechmate: The Spy Who Played Jazz.
BILL MOODY:
In 1968, I found myself not only at the Prague Jazz Festival, playing with a Czech band, but also embroiled in a political hot spot when the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia. Based on this experience, I decided to try my hand at a spy thriller, combining the jazz festival with the invasion.
Czechmate: The Spy Who Played Jazz was born, but it was difficult to find it a home. I finally connected with a small publisher in 1986, but before it was released, the facility burned to the ground. By the time the insurance investigation was completed, the Berlin Wall had come down, so cold war spy novels were a hard sell.
I never gave up and kept trying over the years, finally finding another publisher now that Czechmate could be labeled historical espionage. The book is also a lesson in persistence. It only took 26 years.
I'll be talking about the book and my experience on November 3 at Book Passage in Corte Madera that will include a set with my trio. Hope to see you there.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Candy Corn Truffles: National Candy Corn Day
The National Confectioners Association estimates that 20 million pounds (9,000 tons) of candy corn are sold annually. The top branded retailer of candy corn, Brach's, sells enough candy corn each year to circle the earth 4.25 times if the kernels were laid end to end. Too much information?
Candy corn was created in the 1880s by the Philadelphia based Wunderlee Candy Company and, by 1900, was being produced by the Goelitz Candy Company (now Jelly Belly), which has continuously produced it for more than a century. Candy corn is shaped like a kernel of corn, a design that made it popular with farmers when it first came out, but it was the fact that it had three colors - a really innovative idea at the time - that made it popular.
Originally, candy corn was made of sugar, corn syrup, fondant and marshmallow, among other things, and the hot mixture was poured into cornstarch molds, where it set up. The recipe changed slightly over time and there are probably a few variations in recipes between candy companies, but the use of a mixture of sugar, corn syrup, gelatin and vanilla (as well as honey, in some brands) is the standard.
Candy makers use a process called corn starch molding. Corn starch is used to fill a tray, creating candy corn shaped indentations. Candy corns are built from the top to the bottom in three waves of color. First, the indentation is partially filled with white syrup. Next, when the white is partially set, they add the the orange syrup. The creation is then finished up by adding the yellow syrup and then cooled. The candy starts fusing together while it cools. After cooling the candies, the trays are dumped out, the corn starch is sifted away, and the candy corn is ready.
I posted a Chocolate Candy Corn Brownie recipe the other day. Jumped the gun on the Holiday! You'll want to make that scrumptious recipe if you have time, but if not, try this simple recipe below is from Sunset Magazine for Chocolate Candy Corn Truffles. I've adapted this recipe a bit, but not much. Perfect for Halloween!
CHOCOLATE CANDY CORN TRUFFLES
Ingredients
18 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
1/4 cup Scottish or dark orange marmalade
1/4 cup unsweetened DARK cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
64 candy corns (about 3 oz.)
Directions
Line 8- by 8-inch baking pan with 12- by 17-inch sheet of waxed or parchment paper.
In large heatproof bowl set over saucepan of hot water, use heatproof spatula or wooden spoon to stir together chocolate, cream, Grand Marnier, and marmalade until chocolate is melted. Scrape chocolate mixture into prepared pan, smoothing top.
Chill until firm, at least 2 1/2 hours or (covered with plastic wrap) up to 1 week.
Put cocoa powder in shallow bowl. Remove chocolate mixture from pan. With long, sharp knife, cut chocolate mixture into 64 squares, each about 3/4 in. wide. Roll squares in cocoa powder to coat; place 1 square in each paper cup.
Gently press candy corn into top of each truffle.
Store between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
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