Category Archives: Spirits/Cocktails/Beer

Martini Madness

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Martinis galore at last year's cocktail celebration. (Photo courtesy of Douglas Thompson)

If you’re feeling a little hung over from all that revelry on New Year’s Eve, martinis might not be exactly what you want to see right now.

But just think: You have eight days to recover before the Martini Madness Challenge 2009 rolls around at the Saddles Steakhouse at MacArthur Place Inn & Spa in Sonoma.

The Jan. 9 event (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.), part of the Sonona Valley Olive Festival, will feature 10 bartenders from various Sonoma Valley restaurants and bars presenting their top martini for judging.

Enjoy the fruits of their labor (shaken or stirred?), along with appetizers and live music. Tickets are $40 per person ($45 at the door). There’s also an $85 option that includes entry to the Martini Madness festivities, plus a three-course dinner at Saddles.

Purchase tickets here.

For more fun Sonoma Valley Olive Festival events, head to Ramekins Culinary School’s Vineyard Room in Sonoma on Jan. 24 to partake in the annual Feast of the Olive Dinner. A host of chefs will prepare a five-course feast inspired by olives, with matching wine pairings. The chefs will work in teams of two to prepare each course using local, artisan olives and olive oils.

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Playing It Sweet and Safe

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In these uncertain times, we long for stability. We crave comfort. We want reassurance.

What we need, dang it, is pudding.

Bradley Ogden’s butterscotch pudding, to be precise.

It’s a taste of nostalgia, of a better era, of more flush times. It’s a sweet, creamy spoonful that goes down ever so easily, unlike each morning’s painful headlines. And it’s got a touch of real booze in it. How many of us couldn’t use a bit of a buzz these days to calm our anxieties, right?

This classic dessert, that’s thick as all get out, and a real mouthful of butterscotch flavor, can be found on the dessert menus of the various Lark Creek Restaurant Group establishments, of which Ogden is a founder.

In the original recipe by Ogden’s mom, the pudding is baked in individual ramekins in a water bath. The restaurants make their pudding in one large pan in a water bath, then strain the baked pudding through a chinoise, before serving it in tulip glasses. By straining the pudding, you get rid of the thin, darker skin that forms on the pudding after baking. It also results in a pudding that’s a little less dense in texture.

Since the skin doesn’t bother me, and because I like the pudding at its very thickest, I cook mine with the individual ramekin method sans sieving post-baking. It’s the way Ogden’s mom made it, and the way he prefers it, too.

Make a batch of this awesome butterscotch pudding, and welcome 2009 with a sure thing.

The pudding needs to be made a day ahead of serving, as it needs time to chill and set up in the refrigerator. Covered with foil, the pudding will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 days.

Butterscotch Pudding

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Cocktail Time

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The citrus-infused Waverly Place Echo cocktail.

Want to make New Year’s Eve extra special?

Then, serve one of mixologist Scott Beattie’s incredibly creative, incredibly satisfying cocktails. When he helped open the posh Healdsburg restaurant, Cyrus, Beattie created a whole menu of irresistible cocktails made with artisan liquors, heirloom produce, fresh herbs, and unique housemade garnishes.

My husband and I were lucky enough to nab a seat at the elegant, serene bar one evening when Beattie was there, mixing the cocktail concoctions, himself. I remember a gentleman sitting a few seats away, who took his first sip of Beattie’s glorious Autumn Apple cocktail. The man leaned back in his chair with a dreamy look on his face. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” he declared.

Some of the ingredients for the cocktail above: (back row, left to right) satsuma mandarin and Meyer lemon; (front, left to right) Kaffir lime leaves, Szechuan peppercorns, and star anise.

When my husband ordered one, and we each took our first sip, we knew what he meant immediately. It was the freshest tasting, and most balanced cocktail I’d ever had.

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A Show-Stopping Dessert with A Spicy Taste of Winter

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Gingerbread cake that's mmm, mmm good.

This is one of the desserts that award-winning San Francisco Pastry Chef Emily Luchetti says she makes most often.

It’s easy to understand why.

It’s a classic gingerbread cake with an air of elegance and sophistication because of its accouterments — a compote of warm, tender apples, and a rich, creamy sabayon with the added complex kick of Calvados (apple brandy).

Luchetti says she used to slice the cake and build little gingerbread houses out of them. Now, she takes the simpler approach and just cuts the cake into squares. “Tastes just as good,” she says with a smile.

“Gingerbread with Warm Apples and Cider Sabayon” is from Luchetti’s lastest book, “Classic Stars Desserts” (Chronicle Books).

The dark, moist cake looks almost like it’s made of chocolate because of the molasses in the batter. Warm spices including ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves give it a comforting taste of winter.

The cider sabayon is made by whisking egg yolks, sugar, apple juice and Calvados in a double-boiler until thick and smooth. Then, whipped cream is gently folded into the cooled sabayon for even more luxuriousness. I could happily eat this by the spoonful all on its own. But that would be wrong, wouldn’t it?

You can make the cake, warm apples (I used a mix of Galas and Granny Smiths), and sabayon a day ahead of time. Just reheat the apples before serving.

I made this dessert for my in-laws’ Christmas gathering. Even my husband’s 20-something nephews went wild for it.

The recipe says it serves 6, but that would mean some seriously large slabs of cake. I found that it makes more like 8 servings, even for me, who can’t get enough of this knockout dessert.

Gingerbread with Warm Apples and Cider Sabayon

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Brunch with History and a Breathtaking Setting

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Oxtail red flannel hash and a Pink Elephant cocktail. (Photo courtesy of Shawn Kearney)

That’s what you’ll enjoy at the new Saturday and Sunday brunch, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Presidio Social Club in San Francisco’s beautiful, tree-lined Presidio next to the landmark Golden Gate Bridge.

The hip restaurant, once the barracks of Army soldiers, serves up weekend breakfast with fun and flair. Satisfy your cravings with ”GI Jose’s Special” (Mission-style chilequiles topped with eggs any style, $11); oxtail red flannel hash with poached eggs ($11); or a “Morning Pastry Plate” ($8.25).

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