Filed under: Drink | Tags: boozy, cinnamon, cloves, cocktails, cold weather, cranberry, fall, ginger, Halloween, Hobby, party, punch, recipes, spiced, syrup, winter
I was glad to see that the Witches’ Brew punch was so well-received at Hobby, even if no one could see the ice hand floating in the punch because I was too lazy to buy a punch bowl for the occasion. I now see the error of my ways, and I will be sure to shell out for a punch bowl next time I go to the trouble of making ice hands so you can witness them in all their gruesome glory.
For now, the recipe for the punch, which I modeled after the recipe I found on Epicurious (surprise!) by Kemp Minifie. I’m going to rename it “spiced cranberry ginger punch” because that’s way more descriptive than “Witches’ Brew.” Though “spiced cranberry ginger punch” is a mouthful.
Ingredients (Yields ~2 gallons of punch):
- 4 to 6 cinnamon sticks – I used 4 2-inch sticks and found myself wishing for a stronger cinnamon taste so I’ve upped the recommended amount of cinnamon.
- 12 to 15 whole cloves
- 2 fingers of shredded ginger – I just used a peeler to shave off thin slivers of fresh ginger. For a stronger ginger kick, use more.
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 4 quarts of cranberry juice cocktail, chilled
- 1 2-liter bottle of ginger ale, chilled
- 1 2-liter bottle club soda or seltzer, chilled
- 1 bottle of dark rum – spike to taste. I ended up using close to an entire bottle of rum and got something like 40 people pretty tipsy, and it tasted deceptively un-boozy but packed a serious punch (no pun intended).
- Ice
Preparation of spiced syrup
- Bring cinnamon sticks, cloves, ginger, water, and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then simmer, covered, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep, uncovered, 1 hour.
- You can refrigerate the spiced syrup, covered, for up to a week. Strain out the solids before use.
Preparation of punch
- Combine cranberry juice, seltzer/club, ginger ale, spiced syrup, and rum in a punch bowl. Stir to mix. Add ice and serve.
- Note: if you want to turn this recipe into individual cocktails, just keep to a ratio of 1/2 cranberry juice, 1/4 seltzer, 1/4 ginger ale, spiced syrup and rum to taste.
Filed under: Cook, Eat, Go | Tags: Asian, Cannes, chicken, citrus, France, ginger, guinea fowl, Jean-Luc Pelé, MIPcano, pâté croute, recipes
One of the best things about cooking in France is the abundance of farmers’ markets. Within 10 minutes’ walk from our hotel in Cannes, there were two farmers’ markets: the Marché Forville and the Marché Gambetta. On our last day in Cannes post-MIPcano, we stayed with a friend at his apartment, and he graciously allowed us free reign of his kitchen. After two weeks of rich food heavy in cream and fat, we were all feeling the need for something lighter. Dave suggested that we try to make something Asian, so with that in mind, I headed to the market.
Although the Marché Gambetta food and textiles and other wares, the Marché Forville has only food – freshly baked bread from neighborhood bakeries, house-cured saucissons and homemade pates from area boucheries, fish caught that morning in surrounding waters, and just-picked fruits and vegetables by local farmers. The produce is fiercely local, with a veritable bounty of beautiful and various kinds of asparagus, artichokes, and strawberries, but not so much in the way of snow peas, bean sprouts, Chinese broccoli, or the like.
After some perusing, I decided to go in the direction of making ginger and citrus marinated chicken legs with a side of gingered veggies. We already had soy sauce, honey, and sesame oil at the the apartment, so I picked up chicken legs, ginger, an orange, a lime, and green onions for the chicken itself, and green beans, onions, and carrots for the side of veggies.
Ingredients for Ginger Citrus Chicken (serves 3):
- 3 chicken skin-on, bone-in chicken quarters, legs and thighs attached
- Juice (and pulp) of half a large orange
- Juice of half a lime
- 4 plump cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 ounces of ginger, peeled and grated
- 2 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 2 tablespoons of orange marmalade
- 2 half-tablespoons of sesame oil
- Sea salt to taste
- White pepper to taste
Directions for Ginger Citrus Chicken (serves 3):
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Rinse chicken in cold water and pat dry.
- Rub chicken with a little sea salt and white pepper then set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients above except chicken and one half-tablespoon of sesame oil and mix well. Have a wee taste. Do not be alarmed if the marinade seems very spicy (from the ginger) or very garlicky (duh – from the garlic) – these flavors will mellow out with cooking. In fact, you might even want to add a little more for that extra zing. If you desire more sweetness, add more honey. If you want more tartness, add more lime. If you want more saltiness, add more soy sauce or a pinch of salt.
- Once satisfied with your marinade, arrange your chicken quarters in a baking dish.
- Pour the marinade onto the chicken quarters, and with your hands and/or a spoon, separate the chicken skin from the meat, and make sure the marinade gets all up in there.
- Slice green onions into long strips and scatter atop the chicken. This is purely aesthetic. I just liked the splash of green.
- Slice up leftover orange and lime for garnish. Waste not, want not! Marinate in refrigerator for two to eight hours, but remove from refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature before baking.
- Bake chicken in oven for 40 minutes.
- After 25 minutes, remove chicken from oven briefly and drizzle tops with remaining half-tablespoon of sesame oil to crisp up the skin.
While the chicken was cooking, we enjoyed some of our other market goodies: charcuterie!
This monstrous loaf is called “Pâté croute de pintade fermiere aux morilles” (or for you non-French speakers: “country-style crusted pâté of guinea fowl with morels.” It comes in the shape of a loaf, and consists of myriad different preparations of myriad innards of the guinea fowl with pistachios and morels, all rolled up and baked in a rich, buttery crust. This pretty baby cost 27.80 euros per kilo (but this thin slice only set me back 4 euros or so).
As the chicken was about to finish cooking, I sauteed slivers of onion in sesame oil until translucent, then added green beans (trimmed), and strips of carrot. When everything was just cooked through but still crisp, I added a little soy sauce and some Tabasco (for a kick of spice and vinegar).
Mmm… Then it was time for dessert, and for this glorious occasion, we had picked up a vanilla creme brulee and a chocolate mousse topped with chocolate pop rocks (they were explosive – never had anything like it!) from the best chocolatier in town: L’Atelier Jean-Luc Pelé.
It was a sweet end to a sweet week, and we slept like babies that night… at least until we had to wake up at 3:45 am to catch a cab to the Nice Airport. Until next time…
Treat yourself: L’Atelier Jean-Luc Pelé. 36 rue Meynadier. 06400 Cannes, France. +33 (0)4 9338 0610.
eat. shop. love. nyc. 