Category: Cocktail


Mar
2016

History Happy Hour 1764 – The Leland Palmer

categories: Cocktail, Gin, Grapefruit, History Happy Hour, Lemon

It’s baaaaacckkkk!

And what a way to bring it back, even if I do say so myself.  Today we a celebrating the 1764 birth of a British Lord, with a drink inspired by our favourite filicidal maniac!

Leland Palmer1Charles Grey, born 13 March 1764 was the Second Earl Grey and the Prime Minister of Britain from 1830 to 1834.  And yes, he is THE Earl Grey that gave the tea it’s name.

 

Earl Grey Tea, which is traditionally black tea flavoured with bergamot, is reputed to have been made for the Earl by a Chinese Mandarin to offset the taste of the dodgy water at the Earl’s ancestral home.

And today we are celebrating the Earl with my version of a drink named after Leland Palmer, which in turn is a twist on the Arnold Palmer.  I know, it’s like going down a rabbit hole isn’t it?

For those of you not of a certain age, Leland Palmer is a character from the tv show Twin Peaks.  He is the father of Laura Palmer and ****spoiler alert***** (if you can still have spoilers on something that is 25 years old) later revealed to have killed her whilst under the possession of an evil entity called Bob.

The Leland Palmer cocktail is the creation of Daniel Boelte who was inspired to make it after being hungover at his girlfriend’s house and watching an episode of Twin Peaks.  The original Leland Palmer uses jasmine tea, whilst, in honour of the day, I used Earl Grey Tea –  as well as being Charles Grey’s Birthday, it’s also my wedding anniversary.  So I guess I can switch up my cocktails however I want.

 

So, did my twist on the Leland Palmer result in unleashing a Bob of cocktail?  I am totally, utterly may be slightly biased but I think not.  This was delightful!

Leland Palmer 3

The bergamot in the Earl Grey combined beautifully with the fresh citrus and the limoncello.  The herby notes of the tea also works really well with the botanicals in the gin.

The bitterness in the grapefruit and the tea is balanced by the sweetness of the honey and the limoncello with the lemon adding some zing.

Leland Palmer 4

This is totally gorgeous.  Everything balances beautifully and you can add as much or little soda as you like depending on your needs.  We drank them quite long (ie with lots of soda) over a summer afternoon and it was perfection however I can also envisage drinking it with just a splash of soda in winter in colder months.

Leland Palmer 2Happy Birthday Charles Grey, Happy wedding anniversary to me and the fussiest eater in the world, thank you Daniel Boelte for the original recipe and to Leland Palmer for inspiring you to make a drink.

Here’s the recipe!

Have a wonderful week!

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Mar
2016

The Salty Gin Hound

categories: Cocktail, Gin, Grapefruit, Lemon, Sweet Vermouth

As you may already know, in our family we have a scent hound, Lulu and a half greyhound, Oscar.

Oscar Lulu 2

And now we have a third.  Welcome the Salty Gin Hound!

Salty Gin Hound

Mmmmm….the 6 week no alcohol challenge is over.  Welcome  back booze!   Possibly.  To be honest, I think having that break has changed the way I feel about alcohol and certainly the way that I want to re-engage back with it.  Oh, and we went to the dog beach, so whilst I prattle on about my six weeks of ahem “no” boozing whilst I sip my Salty Gin Hound, how about I show you some photos of our day at the beach?Dog Beach 280220162

The challenge was a lot easier to do than I thought it would be – I did take Valentine’s Day weekend off and I had the wine I spoke about last week which were both good breaks.  The February Fast website says that quitting alcohol can help you to increase focus, sleep better and lose weight. I  experienced all of that albeit not nearly as much weight loss as I would have liked  – primarily due to a dodgy foot that has limited my ability to go to the gym.

Dog Beach 280220163I felt really good not drinking – fitter, healthier, more focussed.  Having said that, I think it also made me a bit more moody.  I think feeling more in control of myself made me less tolerant towards people around me acting like dicks – whether they were drinking or not.  I feel it also made me a bit more introspective – which, you know,  it’s not like I wasn’t already halfway there to start off with!

I also really started to think a lot more about events from my past and try to resolve a few unanswered questions.  For instance, I spent way too many hours thinking about my first boyfriend, the one I spoke about in the Valentine’s Day post – why did he dump me?  How has that impacted the rest of my life and the choices I have made since then?  Etc, etc.  Ad nauseam.   It’s not like I came to any life changing (or even just any) conclusions about any of the things I was navel gazing about.  Except maybe that I’m ok with not knowing and I am totally ok with the way things have turned out.

Dog Beach 5Another thing I noticed after the sneaky vinos with my friend Aiden was how much alcohol can depress me.  Not in a way that makes me sad or maudling but just sucks my energy and motivation.  That evening I was like a zombie.  I had no energy or drive to do anything except veg out in front of the tv.  Not that I am averse to vegging out in front of the tv but I guess I want to do that when I choose to not because I can’t be arsed to so anything else.

Dog Beach 6

Another benefit was that we returned to one of our favourite  restaurants.  It is an Indian/Pakistani restaurant which, last year decided to become an alcohol free zone.  I  like to have a glass of wine when I go out for a meal; I think it helps to add to the ambience and the enjoyment of the meal, so we had not been there for some time.  Not drinking was the perfect opportunity to head back there for some of the best tandoori in Melbourne.

Dog Beach 7One of the tough points for me was cooking. Particularly on the weekend, if  I need to add some wine to a sauce or something, I will generally pour a glass for me.  Then we would have a glass or two with our meal.  Not pouring that “glass for the cook” was really hard the first few times!

Socially was also hard. Going out for meals or even to people’s houses for a meal. There was one evening we went to my mum’s and everyone else had a glass of wine with their meal and I had a Fanta, like a six year old.  Othertimes, I felt like I had to explain why I wasn’t drinking.

Next time maybe I’ll be cooler about it.

Dog Beach 10Because there will be a next time.  The benefits far outweighed the negatives.  I’m thinking I might do a four- six week stint every season.

Oscar & Lulu Dog BeachYou might  be wondering why, given the obvious benefits why I am not quitting altogether.  One reason is that I do enjoy the social aspect and I love doing the research and making the cocktails for history happy hour.

However, I think that I will be a lot more mindful about how I drink from here on in.

Dog Beach 17

Speaking of which….let’s talk about the Salty Gin Hound!

Gin, grapefruit juice and lemon with a splash of sweet vermouth!  Yum!  That is the Gin Hound.

Dog Beach 50

I had an awesome merlot salt which I used to rim the glass making it a Salty Gin Hound.  I also increased the lemon from the initial recipe, just cos that’s how I like it.

Dog Beach 19The Salty Gin Hound was delicious.  Just the right blend of sweet, salty, bitter.  So refreshing for a hot summer day!   It would have been perfect down at the beach with that tang of salt air on the breeze.

And speaking of salty hounds…we had the two schnooziest of schnoozers on the way home.  So tired after so much fun!

Dog Beach 20Salty Gin Hound 2Salty Gin hound 4

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Salty Gin Hound

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3/4 cup fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
  • 2 tablespoon lemon Juice
  • 4 ounces gin
  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth
  • Vintage Merlot or other salt to rim the glass

Instructions

  1. Sprinkle the salt on a plate.
  2. Wipe the rim of your cocktail glass with the lemon rind.
  3. Swirl into the salt to rim.
  4. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
  5. Add the gin, lemon and grapefruit juices.
  6. Shake, baby, shake.
  7. Pour over ice.
  8. Add a splash of sweet vermouth.
  9. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful week!

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Jan
2016

REPOST FROM 2016 – Two Turtledoves

categories: Caramel, Chocolate, Cocktail, Nuts, Sweets

Sometime last year I became obsessed on Pinterest with an American candy called a turtle.  I went from never having heard of them in my life to seeing them all over the internet.  And holy moly did they sound good!  For those of you, like me, who have spent our lives in ignorance of this delight, just listen to this:

  • A chocolate base.
  • Toppped with pecan nuts
  • Topped with caramel
  • Topped with more chocolate

There is no way on God’s green earth that they could be bad.  Supposably.  As Joey Tribbiani would say.  And depending on your definition, they were really good.  Well, they tasted delicious.

Before we get into them, just a word of explanation.  The recipe I used called them turtledoves because they used Dove Chocolate.  We used to have Dove Chocolate here – apparently not anymore.  I wonder when that happened?

My turtledoves started really well.

TurtledovesIt all started to fall apart with the caramel.  I could not get it to sit on the pecans the way I wanted it too.  I wanted it to be a perfect dome, surrounding my pecans but leaving a little bit of chocolate on the base visible.  Not ONE of them looked like that.

Turtledoves2And the more I tried to meddle with it, the worse it got.  In the end, I thought. “Nevermind.  It will all be covered with the rest of the chocolate.  It will be fine”.

Not so.  I was already on a slippery slope and the only way was down.  The final chocolate layer was a disaster!  I could not get it smooth, it was a hot day and the second I touched it, it would either melt or crack.

Before I show you the wreck of the Hersperus that was my effort, let me show how these babies should look  (The Spruce Eats)

And, oh Lord, here are mine….

Turtledoves3I know.  I’m sorry.  Two fails in a row.  Although these tasted delish, my turtles may not have been teenage or ninjas but they were mutant. Technically they weren’t even turtledoves because I could not find Dove chocolate.

They did taste good.  Really good.  Even the fussiest eater in the world was a fan.

Turtledoves4But you know food blogging can be very much style over substance so that sometimes I think it doesn’t matter how things taste as long as they look good.  In retrospect, I should have not tried to cover them entirely but just done a little splodge of caramel and one of chocolate over the top.  Next time….

But I wanted to have something that was a success, of only to soothe my wounded self-esteem.  Two fails in a row is no way to write a food blog.  So I needed a turtledove.  Fast.  Guaranteed success.

Hmmmm….

  • Chocolate
  • Caramel
  • Nuts

How about something like this?

Turtledove7

  • Baileys
  • Frangelico
  • Butterscotch Schnapps

Now that’s my kind of Turtledove!

And it brought F.Scott out of the funk caused by the Bobby Dazzler.

Turtledove6Normality has resumed in Chez Retro Food.  Well, as close as we can get ’round here anyway!

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Turtledove

Turtledove7
Print Recipe

A cocktail shooter that mirrors the flavours of the classic American turtle candy – chocolate, caramel and nuts

Ingredients

Scale
  • 30ml Butterscotch Schnapps
  • 30ml Frangelico
  • 30ml Bailey’s Irish Cream

Instructions

  1. Pour the Butterscotch Schnapps and the Frangelico into a shooter glass.
  2. Measure out the Bailey’s and pour very slowly over the back of a spoon into the glass.
  3. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful week!

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Jan
2016

REPOST – The Bobby Dazzler – History Happy Hour – 1788

categories: Australasia, History Happy Hour, Mocktail, Recipe Fail

G’day mates,  Happy Australia Day!

Today we are celebrating with a dubious mocktail with a fabulous name – The Bobby Dazzler.

Australia Day celebrates the 1788 landing of the First Fleet into Port Jackson, New South Wales and the raising of the British flag on Australian soil.

The day is marked by celebrations both formal and informal across Australia, with many people enjoying the day off work with barbecues, at the beach and otherwise enjoying the lovely summer weather.

Over at chez Retro Food, we are celebrating with this:

Bobby Dazzler1If you had asked me as a six-year-old to design my perfect drink it would have been something very like the Bobby Dazzler.  “I want coca cola with something pink in it and whipped cream and a strawberry and sprinkles….”  Seriously, if the Bobby Dazzler came with some glitter and a unicorn, it would have been my six-year-old idea of heaven.

Bobby Dazzler2However, according to International Mixed Drinks by Ken Fin (1995) the Bobby Dazzler was created by Maxine Nash at the Bubbles – Wodonga Hotel where it was the runner-up in the Best Border Beverage Competition of 1991.  International Mixed Drinks is silent on whether or not Maxine Nash was a six-year-old.

F.Scott who normally taste tests all the cocktails I  make wasn’t having a bar of this.  But like  his namesake F.Scott is partial to a sip o’ the hard stuff.

Bobby Dazzler3So another tester had to be found.  And how more appropriate than our friend the Tasmanian Devil?

He loved it.  But then again, we found him later on gnawing on one of the popper bottles.

Bobby Dazzler4The Bobby Dazzler  is not so much bad tasting as unremittingly, unrelentingly sweet.  And just when you think you can have no more sweet, you get a mouthful of cream.

Unless you are a six-year-old girl or a Tasmanian Devil you probably will not want to celebrate Australia Day with a Bobby Dazzler!  I still feel a bit ill after drinking it.  I feel like I need to have a little lie down.  Simultaneously, I am so wired on caffeine and sugar I feel like I may never sleep again.

For those who want it, here is the recipe:

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Bobby Dazzler

Bobby Dazzler2
Print Recipe

A very sweet and creamy mocktail.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 60ml Grenadine
  • 200ml cola
  • whipped cream
  • 100‘s and 1000’s or other sprinkles
  • Strawberry and 2 blueberries to garnish

Instructions

  1. Blend the Grenadine and cola and pour into a glass.
  2. Top with the whipped cream.
  3. Sprinkle with 100’s and 1000’s and garnish with a strawberry and the blueberries.

I am calling this a recipe fail not because there was anything wrong with the recipe, I think it worked out exactly as it should have.  To me the recipe fails because there is no counterbalance to that cloying sweetness. I also did not like that big chunk of whipped cream which pretty much just made your mouth feel greasy.  I think ice-cream may have been a better choice.  What do I know though?  It’s not like I ever came runner-up in the Best Border Beverage competition.

I hope your Australia Day is dazzling, even if this drink is not.

Have a wonderful week.

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Dec
2015

REPOST – History Happy Hour – 1959 – On The Beach

categories: 1960's recipes, Cocktail, Eggplant, Eggs, History Happy Hour, Peach Schnapps, Vegetables, Vodka

+Hello and welcome to a very special history happy hour.

Because today, December 17, not only do we have a super fruity and delicious cocktail to celebrate today’s event but also two yummy recipes courtesy of one of my (and hopefully your) favourite bloggers, Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers.  Jenny is also making the same trio of recipes so when you have finished here, please head over there to have a look.

But what, and how are we celebrating?

On The Beach CollageOn The Beach – The Film

December 17, 1959 saw the première of the film On The Beach.  And just look at this for a cast list – Ava Gardner, Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins.   There’s galaxies that wish they were that star studded!!!!  Oh and just for fun, Frank Sinatra came along too.  Not to be in the film,  Just to hang out with Ava.  On the beach.

 

And that beach was in my hometown of Melbourne!  Or in a place called Frankston on the outskirts thereof.  In fact, for many a year, there was a scurrilous rumour that Ms Gardner had made the snarky comment that Melbourne was “the perfect place to make a film about the end of the world.”  Not true my friends,  not true.  Said quote was totally invented by a junior reporter from a Sydney newspaper, obviously miffed that we got Ava, Gregory, Fred, Tony (and Frank) and all they got was a bridge and an Opera House.

 

On The Beach, based on a novel by Nevil Shute (which I have not read but now really want to) is a post-apocalyptic romance in which Australia is the only country to survive a nuclear war.  However, it is only a matter of months before radiation clouds doom the survivors to the same fate as the rest of the world.  Unless…Dah dah da dah….

This is a film worth seeking out. A stellar cast, some superlative acting, and an engrossing storyline, which although somewhat dated has much to speak to us about our current situation.  And, if you can watch the scene with Tony Perkins and Donna Andrews without welling up?  You’re already a little dead inside.

On The Beach – The Drink

What more appropriate way to celebrate the release of On The Beach than with the classic cocktail Sex on The Beach!  And it’s so good.   Peach schnapps where have you been all my life?

Sex On The Beach 3

This is fruit, fruit and more fruit – peach from the schnapps, cranberry, orange juice and pineapple juice all playing a role.  With a hit of vodka to give it some backbone.

Sex On The Beach 2

This is the best summer you have ever had, in a glass.  And unlike its namesake you don’t have to worry about getting sand in your privates if you have one. And you can have two, maybe three in one night with lots of different people without anyone looking askance at you!

On The Beach – The Food

Jenny (this woman is a marvel!!!)  sent me a host of recipes by the stars of On The Beach but there was one that stood out for me above all others.

Gregory  Peck’s recipe for Happy Pappy Eggs.  Oh my…..it’s not often that words fail me.  But….first up how you could you not love something called Happy Pappy eggs and second…the recipe came from Gregory Peck.  AKA Atticus Finch (pre Go Set a Watchman). And then I also chose a Gregory Peck recipe for ratatouille.

Happy Pappy Eggs

The Happy Pappy Eggs were scrambled eggs with some slow cooked onions.  Simple and delicious!!! But oh man, that rataouille was amazing!!!  I have no idea why I don’t make it more often.  It went really well with the eggs. And together they would make a super brunch dish after a long night of Sex on The Beach (either way).

I also ate the rataouille for lunch for a few days with some cheese in a toasted turkish roll and OMG…it was a revelation!  So good!

Ratatouille Cheese Roll

On The Beach – The Recipe

There were some rather frightening copyright restrictions on the Gregory Peck recipes so we  decided not to print them.  However, I’m sure if you asked Jenny very nicely she would send you a copy.  For personal use only. Don’t let us find you in a dingy alley handing out illegal copies of the recipe of Happy Pappy Eggs!

There are also a myriad recipes and variations for the Sex On The Beach Cocktail.  This is a fairly classic take on it.

Print

History Happy Hour – 1959 – On The Beach

Sex On The Beach 2
Print Recipe

Recipe from Wiki-How:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Sex-on-the-Beach-Cocktail

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1.5 oz (45 ml.) peach schnapps
  • 1.5 oz (45 ml.) vodka
  • 2 oz. (60 ml.) cranberry juice
  • 2 oz. (60 ml.) orange juice
  • 2 oz. (60 ml.) pineapple juice
  • Orange slice for garnish
  • Maraschino cherry for garnish
  • Ice cubes

Instructions

  1. Pour peach schnapps, vodka, cranberry juice, orange juice, and pineapple juice into a shaker filled with ice.
  2. Shake until the outside of the shaker gets frosty – about 20 seconds.
  3. Strain the mixture into a glass filled with more ice cubes.
  4. Garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry

This was so much fun, it was great collaborating with Jenny and getting to watch a fabulous movie to boot!  Thank you Jenny for the awesome recipes, I can’t wait to see what you have dome with them!

Have a great week you lovely people, happy drinking (and eating)!

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