Hey y’all thanks for your patience. Spirited away by new babies, holidays….. it’s all coming together.
Full recipes and pics to be posted in a few days.
Don’t forget to visit.
"cooking with spirit"
Hey y’all thanks for your patience. Spirited away by new babies, holidays….. it’s all coming together.
Full recipes and pics to be posted in a few days.
Don’t forget to visit.
There are mixed drinks and then
there are mixed coffee drinks.
I invented a coffee drink.. just because I liked the name. I was joking around with a bf back 4 years ago .
We both enjoyed a good coffee and some good bourbon. I do live just south of the mason dixon line! And I do favor a good cappuccino , So I said well here’s a drink:
the bourboccino
And it was born.. we would take it in thermoses hot or cold , accompanying us to pretty sites, and laugh over my brilliant concoction and how it would become famous … trust a me it’s one of my signature drinks and yes one does laugh while sipping a bourboccino!
That bf is long gone
but the bourboccino is here to stay
I was curious so I researched other “spirited” coffees and have selected two others that seemed just so cool. The Irish coffee is the classic we all know , but I found some winners!
These are not get up and go coffees, these are sip,relax, and go slow coffees
coffees to enjoy as part of the digestif with your friends at the end of a meal or hey
sip it alone
its all good
enjoy
The bourboccino:
The siciliano:
Spanish coffee:
spinach fettucini
ciabbatta
limincello brownies
simmering scents that carry us away to special places
What is it about Italian food that just makes us feel so bella vita ?!
This sauce happens when you just need that intimate evening with a partner, a small group of friends, la familia, mmm a nice glass of pinot grigio…..
I have made many pasta sauces from scratch.
This is what I call easy half scratch.
This sauce is dedicated to an old friend. a Texan bred, internationally and locally trained chef who taught me a couple of cool tricks:
How to use knives properly.
The special secrets to an Italian sauce that have stayed with me.
He is no longer on this earth.
His talents live on.
Ahh those Mediterraneans!
Tel Aviv, March 2018
my friend says; ” see that – its a whiskey tasting bar and museum across from us.”
ok, oh yeah..
I responded ;” Well lets check this out!”
We go downstairs into a deep underground
and
WE
enter another realm.
We have entered Whiskey Fantasy Heaven
My first son in law is an avid collector of fine whiskeys and bourbons,this would have been a place where at first his jaw would drop ,and then he would just be smiling the entire time.
This must have been an underground train at one time.
The setting; stone walls and stone and brick encased curved ceilings. Modern, yet old. Smokey, elegant, bi level, dual sided, and lit up mirrored back drops of thousands of the most collected whiskeys from around the entire world, and yes a fine cuisine to pair with your tastings..
Presentation: level 10
This place, by reservation only, and its a full house.
Whiskey Bar and Museum
With a whiskey and cigar room and a museum ,about yes whiskey
So my friends, whisked away by whiskey.
The Spirited Cuisine matches its heart to a whole new world!
So lets whisk something up together:
a salad so fine:
beets > avacados >feta >candied pecans, and green salad with a ceylon whiskey dressing
yes thats my concoction inspired by whiskey discovery heaven
and a drink called: “the dirty bastard”
Its variation; My invention
Warning : stay put or uber it !
Shakshuka el vino
Bourbon maple gluten free pancakes with blueberry port infused sauce
Half whole wheat Challah bread
We cherish those simple things of life.
Those moments we want to capture ,and just hang out there , to linger in that special space for as long as we can.
It was a special treat to have a visit from my son and his fiance as they are busy students.
my second grandkid, her dad., the second of my fabulous sons in law, and one of my grand doggies , all hanging around the kitchen on a laid back Sunday morning.
My son and his fiance have studied medicine abroad where they learned how to make shakshuka quite well from scratch, in a country where mediterranean food is core.
As they were methodically preparing the Shakshuka, of course I said.. “hey guys lets try a bit of wine in there..!”
“sure thing momma”
I was the purveyor of the pancakes, no I did not add the bourbon until after I made an alcohol free batch for my best pal my second grandgal , I am after all a responsible glamma!
As I am busy with the pancakes, my son tells me a story and I fell for it. Little did I know that it was something he wrote back in college when he was the writer and head of the comedy team .
Here is what he wrote:
Pancakes were definitely invented by some hungover divorced dad trying to bribe his kid with cake for breakfast.
” Daddy! this cake is flat!”
“Well–”
“And you’re making it in a pan! Mommy doesn’t make it in a pan”
“Yeah that’s cause its called a pan…cake.”
“Mommy doesn’t know how to make pancakes.”
“Oh , Well it doesn’t taste like a cake.”
“There’s no icing!”
“You don’t put icing on pancakes Silly ! ( laughing)”
“You don’t?”
“No silly! You put … (looking in the cabinet) uh syrup on pancakes!!”
“You do?”
“Yeah and ….sugar!”
“SUGAR!”
“And chocolate syrup. You can put. mm ..bananas on it or cherries or ”
“Sprinkles?”
“Sprinkles. Yeah.”
Hey its comedy.
But I actually could see this happening.
So now this divorced mom.. revamped those pancakes.. !
‘a bit of bourbon to enhance the maple and vanilla in the pancakes.drizzled with a port infused blueberry sauce
and some wine to elevate the shakshuka..’
The music that’s playing :
“suga suga you look so fine…”
FUN days those SUNdays.
so my friend’s mom dotty always says ;
“life is short..let’s eat dessert first”
So here are two desserts that I have reinvented.
chocolate halva bobka with chocolate liquer
chocolate bourbon pecan pie
paired with a blackberry bourbon smash drink ( considered the bourbon drinkers mojito!)
first.. a little note on my cooking and baking style …
I try to replace ingredients whenever possible with more organic or more natural substitutes and I will point this out.
I will give you different options of replacements when I can.
Before I post the recipes and accompanying photos,
here is a little history
on Bourbon
Bourbon is a type of American whiskey, a barrel -aged distilled spirit, made primarily from corn, although there a few made from other grains.
Bourbon can be made anywhere in the USA, it is strongly associated with the South, and with Kentucky.
It seems to originate in the later 1700s.
As of 2014, the revenue for bourbon sold in the USA is approx 2.7 billion, and bourbon makes up for about 2/3 of us exports of distilled spirits. Id say bourbon is popular!
Many say that the originator of the early Bourbon was Elijah Craig.
The practice of aging and charring barrels for better flavor was known in Europe for centuries and likely the Scottish and Irish, who immigrated to the USA, brought this knowledge with them.
Also the name may have been derived from when the Kentucky spirit was sold in New Orleans, and named after Bourbon street, it was considered cheaper than French cognac.
In addition, Bourbon county was an area of Kentucky that was separated off from Virginia.
The original bottles were stamped with Old Bourbon for the port in Old Bourbon county from where they were shipped.
Prohibition was devastating to the bourbon industry in the early 1900s.
Bourbon, and Tennessee whiskey are considered to be a type of Bourbon, and have gained growth and popularity.
And the story continues.
time to bake 🙂
well
maybe?!
It all began with my son in law;
“hey mom in law”
aka
la la
“you cook a lot with different spirits!”
you post so many alcohol related gourmet recipes
time for a recipe cooking blog!”
so here we are .
Over 4 years ago I began a blog called “the midlife blahhhg”
That was such a pre- major transition time for me
empty nest
empty marriage
aging very dependent parents
questions of now what
what now?
Then
a large window opened,
and all sorts of things came pouring in.
my marriage ended..
moving, loss of my father- yes we were super close,
my mothers dimentia reared its head,
grandchildren came..such beauty !!
friends were rocks
new friendships
the world opened up
freedom
creative bursts
music,and cooking, good wine
began to combine
I LOVE to experiment with food and my friends and family do not mind.
I LOVE the challenge of testing out different cuisines.
you’re a vegan coming for a meal, no problem, I will make this a feast treat
your gf, np , there will be incredible gf desserts
pescatarian
carnivore
It will be healthy
ahh but yes
I put my spirit into the food!
and yes i like to cook with spirits!
so I invite you all on this journey
discover foods with a dash or more of a fine wine, a bourbon, a tequila drizzle .. or more
WE will discover the history of different wines, whiskey ,and bourbon, and its cousins..and become drunken with the enhanced spirits in each recipe
ali
from
the spirited cusine
ps next time we meet we will start with dessert
we will start with dessert