What drinks do you consider festive? Champagne cocktails? Mulled apple cider? Mulled wine? Hot Toddy?
Epicurious, the lynchpin online property behind Cond? Nast?s Bon App?tit magazine, would like you to consider the following:
Pomegranate-Champagne Punch; Brandied Hot Chocolate; Mulled Red Wine; Cranberry Kir Royale; Napa Valley Winter Punch; French 75; Ginger Pineapple Sparkling Punch; Aztec Sluggers; Neapolitan; Bishop; Ginger Tea; Flaming Brandy Punch; and Churros with Spiced Hot Chocolate
Bubbly, brandy, spices (including ground ginger), cranberry, and chocolate, Epicurious? suggestions all make sense. Though, homemade eggnog and eggnog shooters (1 part store-bought eggnog, 1 part spiced rum, topped with freshly grated nutmeg) are conspicuously absent from the list.
Having tried to convince people to ?eat? their eggnog as ice cream, we?re not surprised. Eggnog is a divisive Christmas treat, much liked fruit cake.
Having done a hot chocolate roundup of Ottawa this December, we understand the spicy hot chocolate and churros suggestion. Really, we do!
Now, would you consider another cocktail; something that is decidedly Canadian? Would you consider the mighty Caesar this holiday season?
Caesar, Made with Bacon Vodka and Clamato
Combining vodka with something savoury and flavouring it with Worcestershire and chiles has its roots in the British bullshot, which is itself a variant of the bloody mary (the drink, not the conjured spirit).
A bloody mary is considered a ?complex? cocktail as it mixes together vodka, tomato juice, beef consomme (sometimes bouillon), Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce (vinegar-based hot sauces like Tabasco), horseradish, chiles, and lemon juice. It is garnished with a slice of citrus and/or a rib of celery.
A bullshot includes no tomato juice, just beef consomme. It is usually served warm.
A Caesar (or bloody Caesar) substitutes ?Clamato? for tomato juice and beef consomme. Clamato is a mixture of tomato juice and clam broth, which is retailed by Mott?s. Both Clamato and Caesars are most popular in Canada.
This year, Mott?s approached me to provide them with a holiday tip, which they asked me to explain on camera to their ?Caesar Mixing Officer? (CMO), Clinton Pattemore (@CaesarClint). I chose the beloved subject of stuffing and how to accommodate guests with dietary restrictions.
An accomplished mixologist who teaches mixology, Pattemore made me my first Caesar on set, albeit a virgin one. It was tasty.
That same week, Claire, our wine blogger, gave me permission to come up with a drink for her upcoming housewarming party, which Jenn and I proceeded to miss due to unforeseen circumstances. When Claire entertains, she only expects her guests to come with a smile and may be some bubbly. Now, her then new Beau (now her fianc?) is Jewish. Naturally, I decide to try my hand at making bacon vodka and my own take on the Caesar. I even asked Pattemore for tips.
Eventually, I approached Bethann McLaren (@tasket), bartender at Chef Patrick Garland?s Absinthe Cafe (1208 Wellington Street W.), for guidance. Absinthe Cafe is well regarded for its cocktails by peers in the industry. Mark Warburton, founder of a local foodie forum Ottawa Foodies and an amateur cocktail artist, calls McLaren a cocktail genius.
She recommended making my own ?Clamato?, the key being chiles (including chipotle), cayenne, and black pepper. McLaren makes hers by instinct, employing an immersion blender. She even suggested straining the pulp, dehydrating it, grinding it into powder, mixing in some crisped bacon, and using the mixture as ?rimmer.?
Bacon Vodka
Following both Pattemore and Mclaren?s advice, Jenn and I picked up some value-oriented ($7.40/200 mL) Polar Ice vodka (4-times distilled) and Seed to Sausage smoked bacon. Meat maestro Mike Mckenzie (@seed_to_sausage) and his team at the Sharbot Lake-based salumeria now make bacon for local grocery chain Farm Boy. We picked up a package of Molasses Black Pepper bacon the first week it was available.
How does one make bacon vodka? Purchase some quality sliced bacon. Place the rashers on a rack over a pan in a cold oven. Set a timer to an hour and turn the oven to 400 F. Roast the bacon until much of the fat has rendered out. Check the bacon after 45 minutes for doneness. When the bacon crisps, remove it from the oven and dab the strips with a clean tea towel (or paper towel). Let the bacon cool.
Seed to Sausage?s Molasses Black Pepper Bacon
Starting the Infusion with Rendered and Crisped Bacon
Bacon-Infused Vodka after Two Weeks
Filtering the Bacon-Infused Vodka
Pour the vodka into a lidded container. We used a wine decater. Add the bacon. Lid the container and place it in the fridge. Let the bacon infuse anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks. Afterward, strain the vodka, which will have taken on a yellow tinge, through a funnel, lined with a coffee filter paper. This last step removes excess bacon drippings and any residual particulate matter.
Bacon vodka contributes a few bacony notes and distinct smokiness to mixed drinks.
Bacon Vodka
Bacon Rimmer
Rimmer is a mixture of salt and spices that is used to coat the rim of glasses. While you can purchase prepared rimmer from Mott?s, which is laced with mono-sodium glutamate (MSG), it is easily made at home. The following, for instance, is a spicy rimmer, laced with bacon.
What You?ll Need:
- 2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
- 2 tsp red chile flake
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 3 rashers of crisped bacon
Prep:
- Finely chop the crisped bacon and place it in a metal bowl.
- Crack the peppercorns with a mortar and pestle or a tea towel, a cutting board, and a heavy pot. Placed the cracked pepper into the bowl with the bacon.
- Grind the cloves into powder. Add it to the bowl with the bacon.
Method
- Mix together the chopped bacon, cracked pepper, ground cloves, chile flake, and salt and place everything onto a plate.
Bacon Rimmer Mise-en-place
Classic Caesar
According to labels on bottles of Mott?s Clamato, Caesars are made by first rimming highball glasses with rimmer.
This can be done by gently dampening a tea towel; placing the open end of a glass onto the towel; and placing the glass into plated rimmer.
Alternatively, rim the glass with a wedge of lemon and place the lemon-coated end into plated rimmer.
Then, fill the rimmed glass with ice and add 1 ? 1 1/2 oz of vodka (or bacon vodka). Add 4-6 oz of Clamato, 2 dashes of pepper sauce, 2-4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste, and a squeeze of lemon.
Garnish with a slice of lime and a rib of celery.
Enjoy.
Bullshot-style Caesar
For a bullshot-style caesar, rim a glass. Fill it with ice and add a little less than an oz of bacon vodka. Add 8 oz of tomato beef consomme; 4 dashes of pepper sauce; 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce; salt and pepper to taste; and a squeeze of lemon.
Bullshot-style Caesar Mise-en-place
Garnish with a slice of lime and a stalk of lemongrass.
Personally, I think a bullshot-style Caesar tastes best warm. So, omit the ice and bring the consomme to a simmer in a non-reative pot set to medium heat. Take it off the heat and add chilled bacon vodka. The vodka will bring the temperature of mixture down to something drinkable.
Bullshot-Style and Classic Caesar
Bullshot-Style Caesar
Why is there nothing nearly as festive as a Caesar? There are two reasons: Firstly, this drink, served hot or chilled, can warm you inside-out. It may have something to do with the spices. It may have something to do with the vodka. Caesars taste almost healthy! Secondly, look at the colours, red and green. Caesars are already decorated for Christmas!
Merry Christmas from the foodiePrints team! Drink responsibly! Eat Well! Have fun!
Side Notes
Tomato Consomme
To make a tomato beef consomme, simmer 3 cups of clarified beef broth (or stock) with 1 tsp of black peppercorns, 1 small white or yellow onion, 8 cloves, 2 star anise pods, and a 5? stalk of cinnamon for 2 hours.
Then, finish the consomme by adding 4 tbsp of tomato paste and strain the mixture through a fine mesh seive or chinoise.
If you would like more distinct spice flavours, dry roast the dried whole spices beforehand.
Easy Bacon
The bacon we used for the rimmer is something we make using raw sliced pork belly. We call it ?easy-bacon.?
What You?ll Need:
- 1 lb of sliced pork belly
- 4 cups of water
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1/4 cup raw sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp juniper berries
- 2 whole star anise pods
- 6 dried chiles
Prep:
- Place a non-reactive pot set onto medium heat and add the water.
- When the water starts to simmer add all of the ingredients except the pork belly.
- Bring the mixture back up to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Take the pot off the heat and let the brine cool to room temperature.
- Brine the pork belly in the mixture for 4 hours or overnight, refrigerated.
Method:
- Remove the pork belly slices from the brine and dab with a clean tea towel (or paper towel) to dry.
- Treat the slices as you would raw rashers of bacon.
- Place the slices on a rack over a pan in a cold oven.
- Set a timer to an hour and turn the oven to 400 F.
- Roast the slices until much of the fat has rendered out.
- Check the bacon after 45 minutes for doneness.
Because the bacon is unsmoked, besides rimmer, it also makes a nice spaghetti carbonara.
Spaghetti Carbonara
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