A Perfect Thanksgiving Cocktail: The Lava Lamp

November 19, 2009
Lava lamp pomegranate cocktail

You could drink wine with your turkey… or maybe an artisanal beer. But wouldn’t a cocktail be more fun? Well, I’ve selected 3 great seasonal cocktails from The Bubbly Bar with refreshing, tangy and spicy flavors to perfectly complement your turkey dinner: The Ginger Snap, the pomegranate Lava Lamp and The Stiletto which offers subtle orange and cognac flavors.

The Ginger Snap and the Stiletto recipes are just for subscribers to my Bubbly Girl Chronicles newsletter. If you want to taste them, go to my website and sign up for the newsletter to get the password to access these recipes. It’s totally free and fun!

In the spirit of giving, here’s the recipe for the super-popular Lava Lamp.

The Lava Lamp, a tangy blend of Pama pomegranate liqueur and brut sparkling wine does a great stand-in for cranberry sauce. The tart-sweet pomegranate will cut through the rich flavors in gravy, stuffing and turkey. It would also be tasty with a juicy slice prime rib. The bubbles in the sparkling wine make the pomegranate seeds rise and fall in the glass, giving this drink the appearance of a retro lava lamp. A flute with a long hollow stem shows off this effect best.

1 ounce Pama pomegranate liqueur or 3 tablespoons pomegranate juice
5 ounces brut sparkling wine
3 pomegranate seeds

Add pomegranate liqueur or pomegranate juice to a champagne flute. Fill glass with sparkling wine. Drop in the pomegranate seeds.

From: The Bubbly Bar: Champagne & Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion by Maria C. Hunt (Clarkson Potter, $16.99) Photo credit: Paul Body.

Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: La Mattina Appassionata

November 14, 2009

Mattina Appassionata
I just did a fun Saturday morning radio interview with Mario Martnoli and Amy Strong of the “Food & Dining” show on KLAA AM 830 and are they ever Italo-philes! We talked about buying hand-blown champagne flutes in Venice, sipping cocktails made with Aperol and the Lemon Ice, a delicious digestif cocktail from The Bubbly Bar made with prosecco, vodka, lemon sorbet and fresh mint.

Our conversation got me thinking about all the lovely sparkling wines and liqueurs that come from Italy. When I’m mixing a cocktail, probably the first wine I think of is prosecco, the sparkling wine from the Veneto. Wines made from the prosecco grape have such a delicate quality with soft bubbles and hints of green apple, minerals and white flowers.

I recently received a sample of a new one called Passionne di Fiore.It’s a likable little wine, with lots of fresh green apple and hints of underripe peaches in its aroma. It’s a spumante style of prosecco, meaning it has about 4.5 to 5 atmospheres of pressure in the wine; a frizzante style of prosecco is softly sparkling and has just 2.2 to 2.5 atm of pressure. I also liked that it’s available in the 375 ml size which is perfect for making a couple cocktails for brunch.

The same company that makes Passionne di Fiore prosecco also makes a unique liqueur called Fragoli. It’s a wild strawberry liqueur that I wrote about here a few months ago after I discovered it at the W San Diego. Fragoli actually contains the little Italian wild strawberries called fragolini di bosco.

Since Mario, Amy and I were talking about good cocktails to serve to guests, I decided to create a brunch cocktail called La Mattina Appassionata (Passionate Morning in English) that mixes some of the flavors I love from Italy.

La Mattina Appassionata
1 ounce Fragoli
splash Aperol
juice of 1/2 tangerine
4 ounces prosecco

Add the Fragoli, Aperol and tangerine juice to a flute, straining out any seeds. Top with the chilled prosecco and serve immediately. Cin cin!

Bubbly Events, Champagne, Drinks

Isn’t it Grand? Champagne Tasting in San Diego

November 13, 2009
champagne_flight_flutes

The Tour de Champagne — a fabulous tasting event that I just attended in Washington DC — hasn’t made its way to San Diego just yet. But we have an annual tasting that’s just as spectacular: Le Grand Champagne this Saturday Nov. 14 at the WineSellar & Brasserie.

This year, the pre-holiday tasting and appetizer pairing will feature 37 different marques (aka brands) of champagne and sparkling wines. They range from wines from small producers such as Charles Ellner and Bruno Paillard (check out the site if you love the movie Diva) to tête de cuvées by well known houses like Taittinger, Bollinger and Moët & Chandon. It’s not just NV brut; there will be several fine rose champagnes, the somewhat elusive Veuve Clicquot Demi Sec and Iniskillin’s amazing sparkling ice wine. Special pricing is being offered on Saturday for people who want to take their favorites home.

Matt Smith, the creative new chef at WineSellar & Brasserie, has created a delicious menu to enhance the different bubblies. Enjoy honeydew and grapes with delicate wines, lavender-scented goat cheese with crisp ones, celery root soup and crispy pancetta to pair with bold toasty champagnes and smoked salmon mousse with brut rosés.

The tasting is from 2 to 6 p.m at the WineSellar & Brasserie, 9550 Waples St. Suite 115 in Mira Mesa. Tickets are $85 per person or $70 for Wine Club members. For reservations and more information, call 858-450-9557.

Bubbly Events

More Bubbly Book Fun in San Diego

November 11, 2009

ChloeRGB

The holidays are almost here, and admit it, you’re probably thinking about pulling out those same familiar recipes you make every year. I bet they’re good, but here’s an even better idea: join me for one of these three events in San Diego this month to pick up a bunch of new ideas and recipes for easy and delish drinks and party food.

Next Thursday Nov. 19 I’m teaching The Bubby Girl’s Ultimate Party Plan at the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Fest, which kicks off Nov. 18-22. We’ll be tasting great food like Mediterranean style lamb sliders, Alsatian Tarts and my super easy Posh Popcorn paired with deliciously affordable sparkling wines and seasonal cocktails from my new book The Bubbly Bar: Champagne & Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion.  Click here to buy your ticket and make sure you get a spot in this tasty and useful class for anyone who wants to be better at entertaining.

Bring your canvas shopping back and meet me at the Little Italy Mercato from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday Nov. 21. Pick up some free Bubbly Girl cocktail recipe cards and ingredients for your Thanksgiving dinner at the market at India and Date streets. Click here for a map to the area.  If you haven’t been before, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the mix of cool food artisans, farmers and restaurants at this urbane market.

And to help inspire you  just before Thanksgiving, join me at the ever-so-elegant Cafe Chloe for a pre-holiday party and book signing from 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday Nov. 23. This is a free event, so come down and share a glass of wickedly delicious Framboise Apricot Punch from The Bubbly Bar and nibble on appetizers including duck confit with caramelized shallots, housemade charcuterie and ahi niçoise  – all featured on Cafe Chloe’s delicious party platters.

We’ll also make it easy to get started with holiday gift buying- I’ll be signing copies of The Bubbly Bar and Cafe Chloe’s  just made a new batch of their gorgeous rose syrup that’s perfect in bubbly or an Italian soda. Never tasted it? Rose Royale cocktails  will be available for half-price.