Pomegranate Martini 3 Ways

Continuing my experiments with PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur, I decided to test three martinis: the recipe suggested by the manufacturer plus two variations that furthered my experiments with TRU Organic Vodka.

First, the PAMAtini:1 oz. PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
1 oz. gin*
1 oz. dry or sweet vermouth*

Shake ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

* I used Plymouth Gin and Martini & Rossi Dry Vermouth.

Next, I substituted 1 oz. vodka for the 1 oz. gin. First I used TRU Organic Lemon Vodka and garnished the drink with a tangerine slice:
Next I used TRU Organic Vanilla Vodka and garnished the drink with pomegranate seeds:
Bottom line: All three combinations created tasty cocktails. My personal favorite was the version using TRU Organic Lemon vodka because the refreshing citrus notes paired perfectly with the pomegranate flavor.

Rodney Strong Sauvignon Blanc 2008

The 2008 Estate Rodney Strong Vineyards Charlotte's Home Sauvignon Blanc boasts forward apple flavors (primarily Granny Smith and Golden Delicious) alongside lemongrass and tropical fruit notes. Crisp and sprightly, this refreshing food-friendly wine held its own against notoriously tough-to-pair asparagus as well as pork chops topped with fennel and pomegranate salsa. Thumbs way up.

This wine retails for approx. $10.

Peachy Canyon Para Siempre 2004

This fruit-forward dark red wine boasted notes of Bing cherries, stewed red fruits and a hint of toast. Its luscious mouthfeel with soft tannins paired well with rare roast beef tenderloin and earned our thumbs up.

This wine retails for approx. $40.

Chateau de Beaulon Cognac

With its notes of stewed peaches, golden apples, caramel, almonds and subtle licorice, this cognac earned a hearty thumbs up from us. It's aged up to seven months in Limousin oak, made of 100% folle Blanche grapes and won the Trophy d'Or at Vinexpo 2001 (the year it was launched).

This cognac retails for approx. $45.

Antico Pizza

Antico Pizza is a bit of a surprise upon entry. It's a very tiny, ultra-casual restaurant where orders are placed at the counter—warning: expect to be tempted by a luscious display of desserts!—and then you hang out until it's ready. Seating options are limited and cramped: pick a bar stool by a window ledge, a seat at the one family-style dining table or pull a chair up to a stainless steel prep table in the kitchen. This isn't a place to go if you want to have an intimate conversation. It is the place to go if you want to pick up some pizza to take home or consume it fresh out of the oven with friends and friendly strangers.

My friend Dana and I tried two different pizzas while sitting in the kitchen. The first was Capricciosa topped with mushroom, artichoke, prosciutto and bufala mozzarella:
Next was San Gennaro topped with sausage, sweet peppers, bufala mozzarella and onions. The combination of sweet and spicy flavors was a scrumptious treat:
Both pizzas were very tasty. The thick, chewy crust holds up well to multiple toppings.

Bottom line: Great pizza is available in Atlanta, and this is among the places to get it.

Antico Pizza is located at 1093 Hemphill Ave. in Atlanta. 404-724-2333.

Holiday Breakfast Recipes

These holiday recipes come courtesy of Select Registry: Distinguished Inns of North America, which represents more than 400 top-rated country inns, luxury B&Bs and unique small hotels from California to Nova Scotia.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramel Pecan Topping
from Fairbanks House, Amelia Island, Florida

2 cups buttermilk pancake mix
2 eggs
1 cup milk
15 ounces canned pumpkin
3/4-cup brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2-tsp. allspice
1/2-tsp. nutmeg

Caramel Pecan Topping:
1/2-cup brown sugar
1/4-cup heavy whipping cream
1/4-cup light corn syrup
2 Tbsp. of butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4-cup chopped pecans

Preheat griddle to 350 degrees. Blend dry spices with brown sugar first, then combine all ingredients except milk in mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until well blended. Gradually add milk until the mixture is smooth. Grease griddle with butter. Cook pancakes until puffed and dry around edges. Turn and cook other sides until golden brown. Makes about twelve 4-inch pancakes.

To prepare caramel pecan sauce, combine all ingredients except pecans in saucepan over medium low heat. Stir occasionally and heat to boiling. Remove from heat and stir in pecans. Ladle over warm pancakes.

Cranberry Pumpkin French Toast
from Joshua Grindle Inn, Mendocino, California

French Toast Ingredients:
12 – 15 slices of sliced sourdough bread cut into 1-inch cubes
8 ounces of cream cheese
1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 can of whole cranberry sauce
12 eggs
2 cups milk
2 cups pumpkin
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1/2 Tbsp. ginger
1/2 Tbsp. nutmeg

Sauce Ingredients:
1/2-cup water
1 can of cranberry sauce
1/2-cup sugar

Preparation:
Spray the bottom of a 10 x 15-inch glass baking dish with vegetable spray and place half the cubes of bread in the pan. Cube the cream cheese and put on top of the bread. Distribute half of the canned cranberries and fresh cranberries over the cream cheese. Place remaining bread on top and then top off with remaining cranberries. Beat the eggs, milk, pumpkin and spices together well. Pour over bread. Cover with plastic wrap and press firmly so that bread soaks up egg mixture. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 40 minutes. Top with foil during last 15 minutes if browning too much. Let stand for ten minutes before slicing. For sauce, heat ingredients and thin to desired consistency. Serve with cranberry sauce topping. Serves 12.

Eggnog Scones with Dried Cranberries
from Shelburne Inn & China Beach Retreat, Seaview, Washington

Ingredients:
9 cups unbleached white flour
3/4-cup fine, granulated baker’s sugar
3 Tbsp. of baking powder
1 Tbsp. of baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. salt
3/4-tsp. ground nutmeg
2-1/4 cups unsalted butter cut in small pieces
3 cups eggnog
1-1/2 cups dried cranberries
Grated rind of one orange

Preparation:
Sift dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl. Add butter that has been cut into small pieces and stir until the mixture forms coarse crumbs, leaving some large crumbs. Add dried cranberries, orange rind and eggnog, and stir gently until the dough pulls together and no dry parts remain in bowl, being careful not to over-mix.

Gather the dough and knead a few times to make a cohesive mass. Divide into four equal portions. Roll out each portion to a thickness of 1 inch and cut in desired shape. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar before placing in preheated 425-degree oven for 12 – 15 minutes. Tops should be lightly browned. Serve warm. Makes 76 scones in small Nordic ware scone pan.

Ginger Pear Muffins
from Asa Ransom House, Clarence, New York

Ingredients:
6 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup oil
2 Tbsp. baking powder
4 eggs
3 cups milk
15 oz. diced pears with juice drained
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. fresh peeled and grated ginger
1 Tbsp. of ginger

Preparation:
Place eggs and drained pears in a large mixing bowl. Top with all the dry ingredients. Add half the milk and mix. Keep adding milk until the mixture has the texture of wet sand. Scoop with a standard muffin scoop into sprayed muffin pans. Bake at 300 degrees in a convection oven for 25 minutes or at 350 degrees in a standard oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove when cool. Yields approximately 24 muffins.

Q&A with Harald Wüsthof

Harald Wüsthof was in Atlanta on Sunday, November 22. During his visit, I was able to interview him at The Cook’s Warehouse in Decatur for a forthcoming “What’s Cooking” column in The Sunday Paper. As a preview, here's some of our chat that the paper doesn’t have space to run:

Q. All Wüsthof knives are made in Solingen, Germany by your family-owned operation that dates back to 1814. How does it feel to carry on your family’s legacy?
A. Almost 200 years is a significant time. No question, we are proud that it’s still family owned and family run so there’s still a human being, a person behind the brand.

Q. What was it like to grow up in such a family?
A. I am the seventh generation, but I was never pushed to go into the business—though it was kind of assumed. I just liked it—cooking in general—from the very first. When I was a kid I was sitting next to my mother, looking into the pots and pans and doing things in the kitchen. I also like to eat. Cooking and cutting with knives is kind of one thing. I just loved it.

Q. Did you have siblings?
A. No. But even if so, we would have come to an agreement within the family who is most qualified and most passionate about it. Qualification is one thing but taking ownership of something is as important.

Q. Your company has over 65 different knife shapes!
A. Yes. Different blade shapes are required for fish filleting, cutting steak and so on. Also steak knives for the home table are different from those at a steakhouse. There is not one universal knife. All different knives serve different purposes.

Q. Does a sharpening steel work on a serrated knife?
A. Yes. If you look at the serration itself, it’s just round on one side and the other is flat. So, if you go down the sharpening steel on the flat side you can do it same as you do with straight edged knives on both sides. (If it’s a sharpening steel this works, but you can’t use an electrical sharpening machine on serrated knives of course.)

Q. Every knife you sell is put through quality control tests. When you do a cutting test what’s cut?
A. Foam.

Q. So is there an eighth generation lined up and ready to go?
A. They’re lined up. If they want to do it, it’s their decision. Nobody has been pushed.

Q. How old is your eldest?
A. 14.

Q. Have they expressed any interest in eventually running the company?
A. Sometimes yes. Other times it’s sports or veterinarian. But at 14 I didn’t really know that I’d become the captain of that ship.

Prohibition

The new bar Prohibition is designed to evoke the feel of a 1920s underground speakeasy. I did not think I would like it, but was very pleasantly surprised to discover it's quite fun. (I'd heard it on good authority that the speakeasy trend is over. Atlanta is well behind the curve on this trend. Oh well.) For discretion, there is no front door; entry access is through an original antique London phone booth: walk in, dial the secret number, wait to hear a beep, then push the back of the phone booth open. What looks like a front door says only "Acme Antiques: Closed for Business." Visitors exit through that door; when it's open even passerbys can see it's no empty antique store. While Prohibition is not a members-only club, the secret phone number is not widely publicized. Last night, the bar was filled with members of the media and others who somehow learned the access code.
Inside Prohibition, expert mixologists prepare classic and modern cocktails using top-notch spirits (many are small-batch, less-well-known brands). Because during Prohibition the only way to legally procure alcohol was for "medicinal" purposes, the Prohibition cocktail menu refers to cocktails as "prescriptions."
The Gin Gin Mule, a "modern classic" created by Audrey Sanders, pairs ginger and mint flavors with gin: Four oh Four, gets its color from Aperol and much of its flavor from St. Germain elderflower liqueur:
I sipped samples of four different cocktails (the two above plus an Aviation and a Ramos Fizz); all were excellent.

Bottom line: The fun of the speakeasy gimmick may grow weary over time, but the place's excellent preparation and service of cocktails will lure me back for more.

Prohibition is located in Andrews Square Buckhead at 56 East Andrews Drive (inside the basement of Stout.) To get the secret 'access code of the day' your best bet is to wine and/or dine at Cellar 56 upstairs (a great tapas restaurant and wine bar that's operated by Prohibition's owners), be very kind to your bartender and/or server, and if you're well-dressed, well-behaved and lucky, someone will give it to you.

TRU Organic Vanilla Vodka

TRU Organic Vodka, made by Los Angeles-based Modern Spirits, is available in three versions:

• Straight = made with 100% certified organic American wheat
• Lemon = infused with organic California lemons
• Vanilla = infused with organic Bourbon vanilla beans

Last night I had a hankering for a cocktail and the cold weather seemed to suggest that Vanilla was the way to go.

TRU vodkas are distilled once through column stills and then filtered through activated charcoal. The smooth taste and clean mouthfeel of the spirit proves that quality ingredients are far more important to achieve great taste than multiple distillations.

The vodka is tasty on its own, but to rate it in cocktails we tested two recipes last night:

Soho Martini
2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. vanilla vodka
1/2 oz. Orange Curacao liqueur
1 dash orange bitters

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with flamed orange peel and serve. (I didn't want to mess with flame, plus lacked an orange, so I skipped the garnish. If I'd had an orange in the house, a twist or wedge would have added a welcome fresh flavor component to this cocktail.)
There are plenty of imitators on the market, but nothing beats The Genuine Senior Curacao of Curacao Liqueur: Fee Brothers is our brand of choice for orange bitters:
I didn't have TRU straight vodka available and so used Finlandia, my house vodka brand:
Eraser
3 oz. vanilla vodka
12 oz. chilled cranberry juice
1 splash raspberry liqueur

Stir ingredients together with ice in a Collins glass and serve.
Chambord is our choice for raspberry liqueur:Bottom line: TRU Organic Vanilla Vodka boasts rich, warm vanilla flavor, and can hold its own when mixed into cocktails with other premium ingredients.

Holiday Cocktails at Whiskey Blue

With much to celebrate—the holiday season, the successful end of the first week of a new job, the fact that we live in Georgia and don't have to shovel snow and thus remain the envy of our former cohorts in Minnesota—we headed to the swanky Whiskey Blue in the W Atlanta Buckhead to test out some selections from the new holiday and winter cocktail menu. (The same drinks are also available at Whiskey Park and Living Room, both at the W Atlanta Midtown). I've been to Whiskey Blue multiple times and can't get over the seven-foot-long white couch in the elevator; it's impossible not to feel chic and well-connected during the ride up and down. The feeling continues inside the bar, where the vibe is hip-yet-relaxed and the service excellent.

We started with the holiday cocktails:

Bubbling Rubies ($14) floats fresh raspberries in a concoction comprised of Belvedere vodka, crème de cassis, champagne, white cranberry juice and fresh lime juice. Before, during or after dinner, this cocktail is a surefire bet: Candy Cane ($13) has fun red and white layers and comes garnished with a mini candy cane. It features Stolichnaya Vodka, Rumple Minze Peppermint Schnapps, Cream and Grenadine. The intense minty flavor invites a pucker. To my palate, it would be difficult to consume a whole one of these drinks alone; it's the sort of cocktail best enjoyed after a meal and passed among friends:
Bon Bon ($13) is a yummy, decadent blend of Chambord, amaretto, Frangelico, chocolate syrup, cream and fresh raspberries. If the chocolate/raspberry combo rocks your world—do you poke your way through a box of mixed chocolate truffles most hoping to find one that's filled with raspberry cream?—then you won't want to miss this cocktail. This cocktail, too, seems best suited as an after-dinner indulgence: The Elf Mint-ini ($13) is a pleasing chocolate/mint blend of Stolichnaya Vanil vodka, dark crème de cacao, white crème de menthe and cream. It seems best suited for after-dinner enjoyment...but then I've also heard that cookies make a great dessert yet I love them for breakfast...! Beyond the holiday treats, the winter cocktail menu features some new additions. Among them:

Suspicious Minds ($13) combines Right Gin, ginger liqueur and white cranberry juice. The strawberry garnish felt very out-of-season; red cranberries would be better suited to the drink in this weather. But that's a minor quibble. This is a truly fabulous cocktail. What's more, it served as my introduction to Right Gin (I later tasted a splash on its own; Right Gin boasts a clean mouthfeel, crisp flavors and long spicy finish. It's fantastic. My gin collection is crowded but I'm going to make room for this addition.) Simply, yum:Rose Angel ($13) combines hibiscus-infused Roseangel Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila with elderflower syrup and is finished with a splash of Sprite. Because cocktails at Gerber Bars are free-poured rather than measured, there will be slight variations from one cocktail to another. The drink I sipped had a heavy amount of elderflower syrup, which is tasty but in this case overpowered the delicate hibiscus flavors infused into the pink-hued tequila. A splash more of the tequila helped balance the flavors. Hibiscus flavor is more earthy than flowery, a pleasant contrast to the sweeter taste of elderflowers. I only wish they'd use a hibiscus flower as a garnish instead of the lemon curl: Bottom line: I most heartily recommend Bubbling Rubies and Suspicious Minds.

Here's some holiday spirit you can share with guests:

HOLIDAY CIDER
Serves 8
1 cup Maker's Mark bourbon
4 cups apple cider
1 sliced lemon
6 cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 cinnamon sticks

Combine Maker's Mark and cider. Add the sliced lemon with rind, cloves, allspice and sticks of cinnamon. Heat to boiling and serve.

—Recipe Courtesy of Gerber Group

Down Home: Downtown

Rodney Strong Vineyards presents the new cookbook, Down Home: Downtown, Seasonal Recipes from Two Sonoma Wine Country Restaurants, authored by Jeff Mall of Zin Restaurant & Wine Bar and Josh Silvers of Syrah Bistro.

On opposing pages, the two chefs showcase two different styles of Sonoma County cuisine: "down home" comfort food with Southern flair and "downtown" upscale fare with French influences. The effect suggests an Iron Chef- or Top Chef-style showdown. On the left we have, for example, apple wood-smoked pork chops with fresh applesauce, braised rainbow chard and corn bread stuffing while on the right is a recipe for pork chops with fennel-apple salad and potato pancakes. In another instance it's grilled lamb sirloin with jalapeño-mint jelly, grilled asparagus and pecan rice pilaf vs. grilled lamb with asparagus and green garlic risotto. Another face-off pairs recipes for butterscotch crème brulée and butterscotch pudding with whipped cream. In each pairing, a mouthwatering color photo spread precedes the recipe pages—suggesting that there are no winners or losers, whichever culinary style you favor. The step-by-step recipes are organized by season. The 144-page book features 64 recipes and costs $24.95.

Bottom line: A beautiful cookbook that invites home cooks to try different techniques using similar ingredients.

Beer Versus Wine Dinner at ONE midtown kitchen

It was a food and beverage pairing showdown this past Wednesday as Todd Rushing of Concentrics Restaurants and Crawford Moran of 5 Seasons Brewing competed in a five-course challenge. Chef Drew Van Leuvan of ONE midtown kitchen and Chef David Larkworthy of 5 Seasons cooked up the dinner showcasing local fall produce. Rushing selected a wine pairing for each course while Moran chose a beer pairing and guests were invited to decide for themselves which was most pleasing.

Menu
First Course: Georgia Shrimp Ceviche, turnips, tarragon, lemon Wine: Aligoté.
Beer: Gueuze Fond Tradition, non-filtered lambic by St. Louis.

* To my palate, the wine won by a million miles. The beer sniffed of athletic socks and tasted like sour lemons. The guy sitting next to me, who seemed to be very familiar with lambics, admitted that this wasn't the tastiest example of it that he'd ever had. Regardless, I won't be running out to buy one. Had I been blindfolded, I'd have guessed the wine was a sauvignon blanc; it had strong citrus and grassy notes with a solid acid backbone.

Second Course: Potato Gnocchi, bay scallops, arugula, preserved tomato broth Wine: Vin d' Alsace 2007 Helfrich Gewurztraminer
Beer: Numbers Ale (#'s Ale)

* Todd Rushing makes Numbers Ale in a partnership with Atlanta Brewing Company and so he pointed out that he couldn't lose this round. I actually preferred the beer over the wine with this dish. The sweet notes of the wine didn't provide much contrast to the sweet dish while the beer offered soft honey notes in tune with it while also providing a refreshing malty contrast.

Third Course: Crisp Pork Rillette, mushrooms, fontina veloute...
...The chefs had a bit of fun plating this third course, perhaps after enjoying several sips of the wine and beer pairing options? The risqué appearance was surprising and even a bit off-putting, but Van Leuvan admitted to me that he'd hoped someone would get it. How could anyone overlook such an obvious phallic symbol? (Seriously, this is exactly how it was plated and presented.)
Wine: Bouchard Aine & Fils 2007 Pinot Noir
Beer: Aventinus Wheat Doppelbock

* Both pairings were excellent. The dark Bavarian beer, made one day out of the year, has chocolate and banana notes. The wine balanced soft earth with juicy red fruit.

Fourth Course: Braised Veal Cheeks, carrots, potato, pancetta, bernaise
Wine: St. Francis Winery RED 2005 Sonoma County
Beer: Petrus Brown Ale

* Again, both great pairings. The wine had figgy flavors with a punch of acidity. The beer had sour and woody notes.

Fifth Course: Parsnip Spice Cake, cream cheese frosting, bosc pear sorbet
Wine: Foris Muscat Frissante
Beer: Corsendonk Christmas Ale

* Both were good pairings, but I preferred the wine with its wonderful orange and honeysuckle aromas.

Bottom line: There were no losers in this battle.

No need to wait until the next Beer Versus Wine Dinner to enjoy a great meal at ONE midtown kitchen. The restaurant serves dinner daily. In addition to the menu that features local, organic produce in a range of eclectic dishes there's a nightly roast:
Monday = Bramlett Trout
Tuesday = Leg of Lamb
Wednesday = Niman Ranch Pork Rack
Thursday = Roasted Duck for 2
Friday = Lemon Sole on the bone
Saturday = Crisp Breast of Veal
Sunday = Milk-fed free bird chicken

Great food is also on tap at 5 Seasons Brewing, which currently has three locations. Don't miss the $1 boule of bread made using spent grains!

The Blackberry Farm Cookbook

The Blackberry Farm Cookbook: Four Seasons of Great Food and The Good Life is an oversized cookbook boasting spectacular photos superior to those found in a typical cookbook. The photos showcase food (both ingredients and completed dishes) as well as people and the Blackberry Farm property in Walland, Tennessee. Beyond the color and black-and-white photos, the book is packed with over 100 recipes inspired by Chef Sam Beall's California training as well as his family's Inn and farm-to-table restaurants at Blackberry Farm. Recipes are organized by season, subdivided by special events (such as The Fourth of July, Quail Hunters' Dinner, Sunday Supper and so on) and range from rustic to refined. Among them: rye whiskey cured trout with fresh and pickled fennel; beet carpaccio with summer chanterelles and chives; wine-roasted ducks; poussin roasted with sumac-ginger butter; and ramp risotto with Jack Daniel's.

"Like everything we do at Blackberry Farm, creating this book was a collective experience, and an instructive one: we had to find words for what we know in our hands and our hearts. We did this by reflecting on the seasons, and by describing the sights, sounds, folk history, and characters in our particular patch of the world. We also tried to communicate the style in which we've chosen to live by doing what we do: creating meals. You can trust our ideas, but all of us really hope that our recipes and menus will inspire you to savor your own region, meal by meal," Beall was quoted as saying in a press release to announce the cookbook.

ATLANTA BOOK SIGNING: On Friday, December 4, 2009, beginning at 2:00 p.m. Sam Beall will be at the Buckhead Barnes & Noble for a book signing. He will bring along and serve a “taste” of Blackberry Farm for guests to enjoy during the signing.

Bottom line: Gorgeous enough to serve as a coffee table book (and sized to serve as a side table if given legs) this cookbook is packed with inspiring recipes and mouthwatering photos. Priced at $60, it will appeal most to ardent foodies, cookbook collectors and fans of Blackberry Farm.