Cocktails and Amuse-Bouches by Daniel Boulud

Don't you just love it when you get a gift that is perfect for you!  This holiday good friends of ours - people who apparently know us very well - got us this amazing recepie book by Daniel Boulud and mixologist, Xavier Herit.  It's a two volume collection of modern twists on classic cocktails and hors d'oeuveres- one volume designed for him and one for her.  How absoluely perfect.

This past Friday we made two amazing cocktails from the "for him" volume - the Bourbon T Sour and the Mayfair Sour. 

The Bourbon T Sour calls for Earl Grey tea infused bourbon (which also makes a great Manhattan), lemon juice, simple syrup, Angostura bitters and a an extremely fancy garnish of brandied cherries and lemon peel.



The Mayfair Sour required a new addition to my bar - Benedictine. Given how great the Mayfair Sour tasted, I can see eventually draining that bottle.

The Mayfair Sour calls for the combination of gin (I prefer Plymouth), Benedictine, apricot liqueur, lemon juice and one egg white in an empty shaker,. After a shake or two, add ice, a few drops of peach bitters and shake again.

The Holiday Gift That Keeps On Giving

Over the holiday I received a copy of The PDT Cocktail Book, a great collection of unique and fun recipes. Last Friday night we played a game of cocktail roulette by opening the book to two random pages and making the drink on those pages.  If those two cocktails are a general reflection of the drink recipes throughout the book we are going to have a great time making our way through it.

Fate or karma decided that the first cocktail we were to try would be The Edgewood. 

This drink combines Gin (I prefer Plymoth), grapefruit juice, Punt e Mes and Lillet Blanc, shaken over ice, served up and garnished with a pinch of kosher salt.  Lillet and grapefruit juice is such a great flavor combination its no surprise to see them again. (For another great drink featuring Lillet and grapefruit juice see my recipe for the French Blond)

As luck would have it, the second cocktail ended up being the Corpse Reviver 2; another cocktail with Lillet. What luck!  Equal parts Gin, Cointreau, Lillet and lemon juice, shaken and served up in an Absinthe washed glass.

This drink comes with a history:  At one time there was an entire family of Corps Reviver cocktails originally intended as a cure for a hangover.  All but the original Cognac based Corpse Reviver and gin based Corpse Reviver #2 have been lost to time.   The only reason why these two cocktails are still around is due entirely to the efforts of  prohibition era bartender Harry Craddock.  Craddock was the chief barman at London's Savoy Hotel and is responsible for penning The Savoy Cocktail Book.  Both of the Corpse Reviver recipes are in this book.

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