The Bubbly Girl

Celebrity Chefs, Cocktail Recipes, Food + Recipes, Travel

Weekend in Napa: Bottega & Domaine Chandon

August 12, 2010

The Venetian 75 is one of the lovely, Italian-themed cocktails at Bottega in Yountville.

I’m tired of waiting for summer to start here in the part of the California Bay Area that includes San Francisco and Oakland. You’d be hard pressed to melt a Popsicle in this grey and chilly clime. So this weekend, I drove up to a place where it’s about 10 degrees warmer and the mood is always resort-y and light. I’m talking about the Napa Valley.

As if you needed any enticement, here are a couple more great reasons to make the trip yourself.

Bottega Napa Valley is the grand new restaurant by Michael Chiarello of NapaStyle fame. Located in the tony burg of Yountville — home of The French Laundry — it’s set in an imposing building with a two large outdoor fireplace on the wrap-around porch. Inside, we sat at a long rustic communal table flanked by buttery yellow chairs.

When I opened the cocktail menu, I knew I’d order the Venetian 75, an Italian take on the classic French 75. Instead of champagne, this drink got its sparkle from a splash of prosecco, the sparkling wine of Italy’s Veneto region. And the drink’s gorgeous shade of pink makes me think of the vivid hues created by Venetian painters like Titian, Bellini and Tiepolo.

Venetian 75
2 ounces 209 Gin
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 ounces hibiscus syrup
1 piece candied ginger
2 ounces prosecco
fresh basil leaf, for garnish

Add the gin, lemon juice, hibiscus syrup and candied ginger to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until well-chilled. Strain into a champagne coupe or small martini glass with a sugared rim. Top with the prosecco and garnish with the basil leaf.

After enjoying house-made salumi and some of the ridiculously good salsa di Parmigiano — a mix of finely crumbled Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, olive oil, fresh parsley, garlic and a hint of red pepper flakes — I’d wander over to Domaine Chandon, the LVMH-owned winery just over the highway from downtown Yountville.

Domaine Chandon has always been one of my favorite places to unwind and sip bubbly in a beautiful setting. The winery is modern yet feels like its part of the landscape that includes beautiful old oaks, gentle slopes and a moat filled with aquatic life. As they approach the entrance, visitors are greeted by a patch of rock sculptures that resemble beige mushrooms.

The newest feature is an installation of 21 large metal wind sculptures throughout the grounds. Designed by Utah sculptor Lyman Whitaker, the copper and steel pieces inspired by natural motifs are designed to move with the wind.

I can almost taste the bubbly now.

A series of wind sculptures is the newest art installation at Domaine Chandon in Yountville.

Celebrity Chefs, Food + Recipes

Vodka Salad Dressing and Other 80 Proof Recipes From Finland

July 22, 2010

Finnish celeb chef Sara La Fountain and one of her creations.

Not content with customers that merely swill their spirits, many liquor companies are touting how great their stuff is in food recipes. Brown spirits are classics in the kitchen: Escoffier drizzled Grand Marnier into his famous Crepes Suzette. It wouldn’t be tiramisu without a little coffee liqueur and who’d want to hork down fruitcake — or baba for that matter — without the rum?

Now though, white spirits are getting into the culinary act. Earlier this week, I met Chef Sara La Fountain, a Finnish food television personality and chef. She’s developed a series of recipes using Finlandia Vodka, to show how well it works with a variety of foods.

La Fountain had a sweet smile and appealing persona that reminded me of Euro version of Giada di Laurentiis. She’s a big deal in Finland, where she’s written a book and has her own line of culinary products available on her website alasara.com, including hot pink aprons with graphic swirls.

She was paired up with Pekka Pellinen, a Finnish native who’s the mixologist for Finlandia. As he extolled the features and benefits of his brand, Pellinen had a noticeable accent, which one of the women at my table found alluring. Overheard: “I like his accent; he sounds dangerous.”

La Fountain and Pellinen had come up with four different pairings, but the Passion Fruit Lime Cocktail with a seared tuna salad drizzled with a miso and Finlandia Grapefruit Vodka dressing was my favorite bootleg match. The company shared the photos and recipes with me, in hopes that I’d tell you about them.

The fragrant and tart passion fruit pairs perfectly with light food like seared tuna.

Lime Passion Fruit Cocktail
3 lime wedges, plus one more for garnish
1 fresh passion fruit
1-1/2 ounces Finlandia Lime Vodka
1/2 ounce Monin passion fruit syrup
soda water

Gently muddle the lime wedges and passion fruit in a tall, heavy cocktail mixing glass. Add the vodka, passion fruit syrup and crushed ice. Top with club soda and stir lightly Garnish with the lime wedge.

Your tuna salad with Finlandia Grapefruit Voda dressing won't look this good, but it will be tasty.

Your tuna salad with Finlandia Grapefruit Vodka dressing won’t look this good, but it will be tasty.

Tuna Salad with Miso-Finlandia Grapefruit Vodka Dressing
4 servings
8 oz Tuna steaks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 lb. baby greens
2 carrots cut into small sticks
4 oz sugar snaps peas, cut into small sticks
4 radishes, cut into thin rounds
4 tablespoons wasabi nuts, chopped into small pieces
For the Miso dressing:
3 teaspoons miso paste
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon grated fresh garlic
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Finlandia Grapefruit Vodka
1 tablespoon water
salt, to taste
First cut the steaks into thick long strips and season with salt. Heat the frying pan with oil until very hot, fry the tuna strips for about 1 minute on each side until crispy brown. Next place the fried tuna strips in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, slice into thin slices. Next make the miso dressing. In a small bowl, add all the miso dressing ingredients and mix all together. Then plate the salad adding salad mix, carrot sticks, sugar snaps, radishes and wasabi nuts. Next add thin tuna slices on top of the salad and drizzle on some miso dressing.

Drinks

Lilikoi Prosecco Batida – A Cocktail Recipe from Maui

June 20, 2010

Well, the sun is setting quite literally on my trip to the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea. It’s one of the most beautiful resorts I’ve visited in a while.

Even though it was a reporting trip, I tried really hard to relax and found that it wasn’t hard to get into that groove. It felt quite decadent laying under an umbrella by the Fountain Pool or reading a trashy murder mystery in one of the high-end cabañas by the adults-only Serenity Pool.

It wouldn’t be a Hawaiian vacation without tropical drinks. The hotel’s poolside cocktail menu includes a classic Mai Tai, a Lava Flow — basically a piña colada with a dash of strawberry puree — a Blueberry Mojito and a few new creations.

One of the most delicious was a batida — a Brazilian style milk shake with cachaça sugarcane liqueur, sweetened condensed milk and fruit. The variety of batidas is endless, check out this article Cachaça and the Batida for more variations.

I couldn’t resist when I saw this passion fruit — lilikoi in Hawaii — batida that also included the Italian sparkling wine prosecco. A bartender at Ferraro’s was kind enough to share the recipe for the Lilikoi Batida, which could be served for brunch, or for sipping by the pool or as a dessert cocktail on a hot day.

Lilikoi Batida

1-1/2 ounces Leblon Cachaça

2 ounces passion-orange juice

2 ounces sweetened condensed milk

2 ounces Prosecco

organic dendrobium orchid, for garnish

Add the cachaça, passion-orange juice and condensed milk to a blender with a handful of ice cubes. Blend until smooth. Add the prosecco and give it a stir. Pour into a tall glass and garnish with the orchid.

Makes 1 drink

From Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

Bubbly Events

Sangria Celebration and a Bit of History

June 5, 2010

Sangria means anything you want it to; in late spring mix up a pitcher of this Apricot White Cherry Sangria.

So in just a few hours, I’ll be appearing at Sunset Magazine’s Celebration Weekend to share some tips for making the delicious Ruby Red Sangria and Sangria Blanca from my book The Bubbly Bar. Even though I don’t go on until 4:30 p.m. – happy hour! – I’m looking forward to going over and seeing some of the other presenters like Aaron McCargo Jr of Big Daddy’s House, Guillaume Bienaime of Marché Restaurant, Sunset Magazine Food Editor Margo True and Roy Choi, the genius behind the crazy-good, cross cultural Kogi Korean BBQ food truck in Los Angeles.

Preparing for my segment on sangrias, I started doing some research on the history of the drink. We all know the typical red sangria that’s at every Spanish restaurant in the country – red wine, lemon soda, apples, oranges and if you’re lucky some good brandy. On a recent trip to Spain’s cava region, I collected an authentic recipe from the Mont Marçal Cava export manager named Gareth York – he says the trick to making it sing is the Lemon Fanta.

It’s true that sangria comes from Spain. The root word in it is sangre – Spanish for blood and a reference to the deep red color. But sangria is well established here in the U.S. too. It turns out that since the early 1800s, Brits and later Americans started making their own version of sangria that was called sangaree. According to cocktail historian David Wondrich in Imbibe! this drink was usually a mix of port, sherry or Madeira mixed with sugar, water and nutmeg.It wasn’t uncommon to find sangarees made with a base of porter, ale, and even brandy.

Jerry Thomas’ Port Wine Sangaree

4 ounces Port wine

1 teaspoon sugar

grated nutmeg

Add the Port and sugar to a cocktail shaker filled two-thirds with ice. Shake until well chilled. Strain into a small bar glass, then top with the freshly grated nutmeg.

I think the reason sangria or sangarees continue to be so popular in America is that there’s not just one way to make them. They’re a drink that allows any bartender or home entertainer to show off their personality or make up a new one to fit the season. Last summer, I created a fun White Elderflower Berry Sangria with St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, every berry at the market and white cherries. And as soon as apricots appeared, I whipped up another drink called an Apricot White Cherry Sangria that is just fragrant with apricot liqueur and fresh fruit. Trust me, this one is so good, it bears repeating.

Apricot & White Cherry Sangria

Makes 8 servings

8 fresh apricots, cut in quarters

1 cup white cherries, pitted and halved

1 white Asian pear, cored and diced

1 lemon halved and thinly sliced in half moons

Juice of 1 orange or 2 tangerines

1/2 cup Rothman & Winter Apricot Orchard Liqueur

1/2 cup Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur (at BevMo)

1/2 cup Landy Cognac

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon orange bitters

1 bottle brut sparkling wine, well chilled

handful fresh mint, torn

Add the apricots, cherries, Asian pear, lemon slices and orange or tangerine juice to a large pitcher. Top with the apricot brandy, Maraschino and Cognac. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. You could let the sangria sit for a while in the refrigerator at this point so the fruit has some time to soak and release its flavors. Or if you’re in a hurry, next add the orange bitters and sparkling wine to the pitcher. Add a cup of crushed ice, since this is a pretty potent sangria or you could add another bottle of sparkling wine if you want it to serve more people. Top with the freshly torn mint and serve by ladling some fruit into each glass and then pouring sangria on top.

By Maria Hunt aka The Bubbly Girl, author of The Bubbly Bar: Champagne & Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion (Clarkson Potter, August 2009)

The Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: Tropical Passion at Mr. Smith’s

May 21, 2010

Ataulfo mangoes are also known as Champagne mangoes because they're so delectable. (Courtesy Photo)

I love mangoes. I discovered how amazing the ripe fresh fruit could taste during an internship at the Palm Beach Post, when I lived with this couple who had a mango tree in their back yard. If I could resist devouring the fragrant, sweet and golden fruit plain, it wound up in some sort of mango smoothie.

So why didn’t I include a mango cocktail in my sparkling cocktail book The Bubbly Bar? Who knows. Especially since one of the best mangoes around is the Champagne Mango, a smooth and golden-skinned variety so called because its sweet flesh doesn’t get stringy like other mangoes. The Champagne Mango comes from the variety known as the Ataulfo, named after a grower in Chiapas, Mexico.

I’ve enjoyed some tasty mango drinks, including the Mango Ginger Fizz at the Sheraton Twenty/20 in Carlsbad. The National Mango Board‘s web site shares some fun-sounding drinks, like the Sweet Escape and Tropical Egg Nog from mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim. And here in the Bay area, where there are plenty of bars with great champagne and sparkling wine cocktails, I discovered Mr. Smith’s.

Every Thursday, bubbly is the thing at Mr. Smith’s in near the Tenderloin. The bar has an old-fashioned feel but boasts three levels including a VIP room with bottle service (really?) and a dance floor. They pour $4 glasses of sparkling wine like the Segura Viudas Aria Brut Cava and offer their sparkling cocktails for just $5 instead of $10. I considered ordering the Absolute Lush, a blend of fresh raspberries, Chambord black raspberry liqueur and cava, but settled on the very tasty Tropical Passion. They were kind enough to share the recipe.

Tropical Passion
3 oz mango puree
1 oz Peach Schnapps
3 oz brut sparkling wine, chilled

Add the mango puree and Peach Schnapps to a champagne flute. Top with the chilled sparkling wine. For contrast, garnish with a raspberry or strawberry.