End of Week 1 of Cranberry Liqueur

Well Week 1 is over. Time to stir the "mash" and let sit for 1 more week.



I also received the Cookbook, "Classic Liqueurs, The Art of Making & Cooking with Liqueurs" by Cheryl Long and Heather Kirby.

A couple of tips that I read in this book that were not mentioned in the recipe I received but are in the book itself are:

1. Be sure to sterlize the aging container by either boiling in water for 15 minutes or running through a complete cycle of the dishwasher, sans soap

2. The Aging time on all the recipes in the book are a suggestion to provide a nice quality liqueur suitable for cooking/baking. However longer aging is preferred, up to 1 year. These liqueurs will be at their peak of smoothness at 1 year aging and can hold up to 3 years.



Additionally, I read that most of the liqueur recipes, although can use 80 Proof Vodka, are best with a 180-190 proof pure grain alcohol such as Everclear. Hpwever in California we can only buy 151 proof and it's around $14 a bottle. So the next time I'm in Mexico I plan on picking up 3 or 4 cases of 190 Proof Everclear at about $4-$5 per bottle.

Until Next Time.....Cook On!!!

The Food Dude

Cranberry Liqueur

A Chef Friend of mine, Chef Cheryl in Texas prepares this Liqueur every Holiday season for family and friends.

The recipe itself is from the book, "Classic Liqueurs...." by Cheryl Long and Heather Kibbey.

The whole process to make one batch takes approximately 5 months, so my batch won't be ready till around March. But I'm quite excited to see how it comes out.

It's really a simple recipe. Take Frozen or Fresh Cranberries and grind up in a food processor. Add some sugar and either Everclear + Water or if you do not have Everclear, use Vodka in place of both the Everclear and Water. Also there is a little additional water that will be added regardless if you use the Everclear or Vodka.

I had 2 bags of Frozen Cranberries in the Freezer that I purchased last Thanksgiving when they were on sale. Plus I have a supersized bottle of Vodka from Costco, so why not try this recipe I thought.



First I took the Cranberries, rinsed them off and chopped up in my food processor. I then combined them with the sugar.



Once this was done I placed them in a glass jar and added the Vodka and a little water.



Now for the funny part. I should have only made one batch as my Jar (that used to have kimchee in it. Don't worry..I made sure it was good and washed out of all the kimchee smell.) was only 8 cups total volume.

But NO.............I knew I could fit 2 batches in this jar. Now considering 1 batch has a volume of 8 1/2 Cups, I knew that I could fit all 17 cups in this jar. Afterall, the Vodka and Water which was 2 1/2 cups per batch would fill in the cracks and how much space can 2 cups of Sugar per batch really take?

An Einstein I am not. Fortunately my wife saved me and found a Mason Jar. Only problem, I did not have a lid for it. So I filled both jars. Put the lid on my Kimchee Jar and headed off to the store to find a lid for the Mason Jar.

Vons - Nope, they haven't carried these in 2 years
Ralphs - Great idea, I've seen the lids there before. Nope, they stopped carrying these too.
Bed, Bath & Beyond - Must have this item, I think. Nope, they don't carry them either.

Aye, Aye, Aye...Fortunately the Gentleman at BB&B makes a phone call to Albertsons, and sure enough they have them. I head over to Albertson's, pick up a box of Lids and head back home (1 hour later). My wife wondered whether I had gotten lost, as a 15 minute trip turned into 1 hour. But no worries..I have my lids and I am now all set.

The 2 jars are all sealed and placed in my Pantry. Next Friday I will stir them. Friday after that, Stir again. Then the Jars will sit for 8 weeks to ferment. After 8 weeks, I'll strain and place back into Jars and let sit for 3 more months.

So hopefully after the next 22 weeks, I'll have a nice batch of Cranberry Liqueur. I'll post more about this as the weeks go by.

Until Next Time.....Cook On!!!

The Food Dude

Dinner Party For Two

Last Saturday I did a Dinner Party For Two for one of my clients.

I arrived at Clients at 4:30 and left at 7:30.

The Menu was:

Tuna Tartar with Spicy Asian Viniagrette atop a bed of Fresh Pineapple and Avocado

Spinach Salad with Avocado, Red Onion, Orange Segments, Pumpkin Seeds and a Citrus Viniagrette made with fresh Grapefruit Juice

Cajun Spiced Chilean Sea Bass served with Oven Roasted Cajun Spiced Sweet Potatoes and Yam Fries

Apple Tarts with Vanilla Bean Ice-cream

The client and his wife (both doctors) were celebrating a 5 year anniversary. They had dinner on their Balcony and I could hear "moans of food pleasure" constantly coming from the balcony. They licked every plate clean.

The client told me: "Your Food is right up there with what we would expect from the Finer restaurants in Los Angeles""You exceeded our expectations""Your tuna tartar was perfectly balanced with the Spicy Asian Viniagrette"

The client told me I should start a newslettter to let people know about the Demos and my comings and goings. I think I might just do this.

Ohh..and as I was leaving...long story short, the client also hired a maseusse. I saw the maseusse outside and they work for a company that calls them when a client needs a massage. I got a business card, so I am going to get the Massage and Dinner going. I'm going to call the company and see if they would be interested in teaming up with me to do Massage and Dinners.

Here are photos of the food from tonight:

Appetizer



Salad


Entree


Dessert

Finally Posting Again

Wow...It's been over 8 months since I last posted. What a procrastinator I am.

What has happened since I last posted? Well, I finished my Culinary Class at Community College. Although the class was interesting, it wasn't as I expected. I was looking for a more structured class, and the class was more "free-flowing".

I believe I'm going to stick to taking "specific skills" classes through Private Schools to enhance my Culinary Background. I've been cooking since I was in about 6th Grade, so I don't think the "basics" are what I"m interested in. I prefer to refine my skills, and I think taking specialized classes will meet this need.

Over the Summer I have been doing my regular ChefsUSA Demos as well as Once a Month I do Oven Demos for Electrolux. In between I have done a dinner party here and there.

I will post separately regarding the Dinner Party.

I hope now that "I'm Back" that I will start blogging more.

Until Next Time.....Cook On!!!

The Food Dude