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Authors: James Beard
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cocktail. [ Editor: Beard means that many bartenders added maraschino cherries and orange slices to the original Old-Fashioned recipe, which never had fruit in it. ]
1 sugar cube
1 slice of lemon peel
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
3 ounces whiskey, rum, or brandy
Mash the sugar, lemon peel, bitters in an old-fashioned glass (a.k.a. “rocks glass”) with a muddler. Add the ice and the spirit and stir well.
The Screwdriver
2 ounces vodka
1 cup (8 ounces) freshly squeezed orange juice
Put several ice cubes into a 14-ounce glass, pour in the vodka and orange juice, and stir languidly.
Sidecar
1 ⁄ 3 freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 ounce)
1 ⁄ 3 Cointreau (1 ounce)
1 ⁄ 3 Cognac (1 ounce)
Shake well in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Sour
2 ounces whiskey, rum, or brandy
1 teaspoon of superfine sugar
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
Shake well in cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Strain into a small chilled cocktail glass.
Stinger
2 ounces Cognac
1 ounce white crème de menthe
Shake in a cocktail shaker with cracked ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. [ Editor: For a vodka stinger, substitute vodka for the Cognac. ]
Tom Collins
The same recipe is correct for a rum Collins, substituting rum for gin. [ Editor: Or use vodka for a vodka Collins. ]
1½ teaspoons superfine sugar
1½ teaspoons water
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon or 1½ limes
4 ounces of gin
Club soda, as needed
Stir the sugar and water in a cocktail shaker. Add the juice and gin and shake with ice. Strain into an ice-filled tall glass, then fill with club soda. Do not garnish with fruit.
VARIATION
FRENCH SEVENTY-FIVE: Substitute French champagne or domestic sparkling wine for the club soda.
Vermouth Cassis
4 ounces French (dry) vermouth
Crème de cassis liqueur
Club soda, as needed
Pour the vermouth over ice in a tall glass. Add crème de cassis to taste. Fill with club soda. Add a twist of lemon peel.
White Satin
½ gin (1½ ounces)
½ freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (1½ ounces)
Shake well in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
----
BASIC CREAM OF VEGETABLE SOUP
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
This is easy and quick because it consists of little more than puréed cooked vegetables and their cooking liquid (preferably homemade chicken stock, skimmed of all fat) mixed with cream, sour cream, half-and-half, or yogurt. If you have a food processor or blender, the puréeing is simplicity itself. If you use a blender, you will have to blend the vegetables with some or all of the cooking liquid, in batches; but unless the vegetable is very dense and starchy, like potatoes, or shell beans, this isn’t necessary with the food processor.
The usual proportions for the soup are 1 cup uncooked chopped or cooked puréed vegetables and 2 cups stock to 1 cup cream, but the thickness of the soup depends on the vegetable you are using. Starchy root vegetables provide their own thickening. If you are using vegetables with a high water content, such as summer squash, cucumbers, or leafy green vegetables, you need a large quantity of the vegetable and added thickening. I find instant mashed potato, which cooks smooth and is comparatively tasteless, to be an excellent thickener. In fact, it is the best use I know for this “convenience” product. Use one of the 2-serving packages, or more if needed [see Editor’s Note, here ], and stir it into the reheated soup, cooking until you get the consistency you want.
For a more traditional and richer thickening, beat 2 egg yolks with the 1 cup cream before adding it to the soup, and cook gently, stirring, until thickened. [ Editor: Do not let the soup boil. ] However, I think you will find the all-vegetable thickening gives a better, purer flavor and a lighter result—with fewer calories.
The soup base of stock and puréed vegetables can be made in quantity and frozen, then thawed and reheated with the cream when you are ready to serve—and, of
1 sugar cube
1 slice of lemon peel
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
3 ounces whiskey, rum, or brandy
Mash the sugar, lemon peel, bitters in an old-fashioned glass (a.k.a. “rocks glass”) with a muddler. Add the ice and the spirit and stir well.
The Screwdriver
2 ounces vodka
1 cup (8 ounces) freshly squeezed orange juice
Put several ice cubes into a 14-ounce glass, pour in the vodka and orange juice, and stir languidly.
Sidecar
1 ⁄ 3 freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 ounce)
1 ⁄ 3 Cointreau (1 ounce)
1 ⁄ 3 Cognac (1 ounce)
Shake well in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Sour
2 ounces whiskey, rum, or brandy
1 teaspoon of superfine sugar
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
Shake well in cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Strain into a small chilled cocktail glass.
Stinger
2 ounces Cognac
1 ounce white crème de menthe
Shake in a cocktail shaker with cracked ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. [ Editor: For a vodka stinger, substitute vodka for the Cognac. ]
Tom Collins
The same recipe is correct for a rum Collins, substituting rum for gin. [ Editor: Or use vodka for a vodka Collins. ]
1½ teaspoons superfine sugar
1½ teaspoons water
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon or 1½ limes
4 ounces of gin
Club soda, as needed
Stir the sugar and water in a cocktail shaker. Add the juice and gin and shake with ice. Strain into an ice-filled tall glass, then fill with club soda. Do not garnish with fruit.
VARIATION
FRENCH SEVENTY-FIVE: Substitute French champagne or domestic sparkling wine for the club soda.
Vermouth Cassis
4 ounces French (dry) vermouth
Crème de cassis liqueur
Club soda, as needed
Pour the vermouth over ice in a tall glass. Add crème de cassis to taste. Fill with club soda. Add a twist of lemon peel.
White Satin
½ gin (1½ ounces)
½ freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (1½ ounces)
Shake well in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
----
BASIC CREAM OF VEGETABLE SOUP
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
This is easy and quick because it consists of little more than puréed cooked vegetables and their cooking liquid (preferably homemade chicken stock, skimmed of all fat) mixed with cream, sour cream, half-and-half, or yogurt. If you have a food processor or blender, the puréeing is simplicity itself. If you use a blender, you will have to blend the vegetables with some or all of the cooking liquid, in batches; but unless the vegetable is very dense and starchy, like potatoes, or shell beans, this isn’t necessary with the food processor.
The usual proportions for the soup are 1 cup uncooked chopped or cooked puréed vegetables and 2 cups stock to 1 cup cream, but the thickness of the soup depends on the vegetable you are using. Starchy root vegetables provide their own thickening. If you are using vegetables with a high water content, such as summer squash, cucumbers, or leafy green vegetables, you need a large quantity of the vegetable and added thickening. I find instant mashed potato, which cooks smooth and is comparatively tasteless, to be an excellent thickener. In fact, it is the best use I know for this “convenience” product. Use one of the 2-serving packages, or more if needed [see Editor’s Note, here ], and stir it into the reheated soup, cooking until you get the consistency you want.
For a more traditional and richer thickening, beat 2 egg yolks with the 1 cup cream before adding it to the soup, and cook gently, stirring, until thickened. [ Editor: Do not let the soup boil. ] However, I think you will find the all-vegetable thickening gives a better, purer flavor and a lighter result—with fewer calories.
The soup base of stock and puréed vegetables can be made in quantity and frozen, then thawed and reheated with the cream when you are ready to serve—and, of
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