Cranberry and Kumquat Sauce and A Thanksgiving Cocktail

Cranberry Sauce 1

You know those foods that leave a lasting impression?  The ones where you remember your first introduction... the exact place and time you had your first bite and exactly how it tasted and smelled?  Well, I had this with kumquats. Yes... kumquats. It was at the office of a documentary production company I had just started interning with (and would later work for) and one of my fellow interns was always bringing in foods I'd never heard of.  One day she brought in a bag of kumquats and I was amused by their shape.  What are those? What do they taste like?  She was quick to offer me one, explaining to slowly sink my teeth into the peel before continuing into the flesh. I did as instructed. Oh, it's sweet. Oh, it's tart! Oh, I want another!

This may or may not come as a surprise, but the inspiration for this sauce stemmed from a cocktail recipe I started working on a few weeks ago.  My mother in law, a cranberry sauce lover (she makes it all year long... not just around the holidays), left a container of her's at our apartment and, after tasting a spoon, I thought it'd be fun to incorporate it into a drink.  I wanted to keep it refreshing, so I went with gin, a bit of Aperol, some lemon juice and a little simple syrup to sweeten it up (despite what many cranberry sauce recipes say, the less sugar you add the better. Tart is the way to go).

I made this sauce for our Friendsgiving dinner last weekend and it was a huge hit... not as a side dish, but in the drink we served with appetizers.  Either way, folks will be pleased.  I mean, how can you go wrong with booze?

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Cranberry and Kumquat Sauce - A Thought For Food

Cranberry and Kumquat Sauce - A Thought For Food

Cranberry and Kumquat Sauce - A Thought For Food

Cranberry and Kumquat Sauce - A Thought For Food

Cranberry and Kumquat Sauce

Yield Approx. 1.5 cups

Ingredients 16 oz kumquats, seeds removed and quartered. 12 oz cranberries 1/2 cup fresh orange juice 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

Instructions

1. In a saucepan, place the the kumquats, cranberries, orange juice, cinnamon and sugar and set over medium heat.  Stir and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and let cook until the cranberries burst.

2. Add the vanilla bean.  Stir sauce. Once it thickens a bit, turn off the burner and let cool.

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Cranberry and Kumquat Libation - A Thought For Food

Cranberry and Kumquat Libation

Ingredients 1 tablespoon cranberry-kumquat sauce (see recipe above) 2 oz gin 1 oz lemon juice 1/2 oz Aperol 1/4 oz simple syrup 1/2 oz lemon-lime seltzer

Instructions

1. With the exception of the seltzer, place all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with three ice cubes.  Shake for 10-15 seconds to chill the drink.  Pour all contents, including ice, into a rocks glass.

2. Add another ice cube if preferred.

3. Add with lemon-lime seltzer and give the drink a stir with a spoon.

Cranberry and Kumquat Sauce and A Thanksgiving Cocktail

You know those foods that leave a lasting impression?  The ones where you remember your first introduction... the exact place and time you had your first bite and exactly how it tasted and smelled?  Well, I had this with kumquats. Yes... kumquats. It was at the office of a documentary production company I had just started interning with (and would later work for) and one of my fellow interns was always bringing in foods I'd never heard of.  One day she brought in a bag of kumquats and I was amused by their shape.  What are those? What do they taste like?  She was quick to offer me one, explaining to slowly sink my teeth into the peel before continuing into the flesh. I did as instructed. Oh, it's sweet. Oh, it's tart! Oh, I want another!

This may or may not come as a surprise, but the inspiration for this sauce stemmed from a cocktail recipe I started working on a few weeks ago.  My mother in law, a cranberry sauce lover (she makes it all year long... not just around the holidays), left a container of her's at our apartment and, after tasting a spoon, I thought it'd be fun to incorporate it into a drink.  I wanted to keep it refreshing, so I went with gin, a bit of Aperol, some lemon juice and a little simple syrup to sweeten it up (despite what many cranberry sauce recipes say, the less sugar you add the better. Tart is the way to go).

I made this sauce for our Friendsgiving dinner last weekend and it was a huge hit... not as a side dish, but in the drink we served with appetizers.  Either way, folks will be pleased.  I mean, how can you go wrong with booze?

Cranberry and Kumquat Sauce

Yield Approx. 1.5 cups

Ingredients 16 oz kumquats, seeds removed and quartered. 12 oz cranberries 1/2 cup fresh orange juice 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

Instructions

1. In a saucepan, place the the kumquats, cranberries, orange juice, cinnamon and sugar and set over medium heat.  Stir and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and let cook until the cranberries burst.

2. Add the vanilla bean.  Stir sauce. Once it thickens a bit, turn off the burner and let cool.

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Cranberry and Kumquat Libation

Ingredients 1 tablespoon cranberry-kumquat sauce (see recipe above) 2 oz gin 1 oz lemon juice 1/2 oz Aperol 1/4 oz simple syrup 1/2 oz lemon-lime seltzer

Instructions

1. With the exception of the seltzer, place all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with three ice cubes.  Shake for 10-15 seconds to chill the drink.  Pour all contents, including ice, into a rocks glass.

2. Add another ice cube if preferred.

3. Add with lemon-lime seltzer and give the drink a stir with a spoon.

Pomegranate "Manhattan" + A Tour of Treaty Oak Distilling Co.

Pomegranate "Manhattan"

Eric and I aren’t ones to bring back souvenirs from our travels.  We eat our way through a city and return home with memories and a few extra (happy) pounds.  If we do purchase something, it tends to be booze.  From our honeymoon in France, we came back with a couple bottles of wine (oh, yeah, and a container of foie gras) and this is how it usually pans out when we go away.  Like food, drinking local vino or beer or spirits tells you a bit about the culture and it's nice to be able to relive that months (or even years) after a trip.

On our second day in Austin, we stopped at a liquor store to pick up some gin to have in the apartment we were staying at for the week. We scoured the shelves for something produced in the area, and that’s when we came across a bottle with a nifty label proudly proclaiming it as a “Texas-style gin.”  Ok, we’ll give it a try. Another stop for tonic and citrus and we were on our way home to test it out.

The Treaty Oak Distilling Co. is owned and operated by Daniel Barnes (along with his knowledgable and very friendly staff).  Walking in, we weren't quite sure what we'd find, but the guys there beamed when they saw us and were excited to give some out-of-towners a tour of their operations.  The day ended with them lining up bottles on a counter and one of them gestured and said "Ok... help yourselves." If we must, we will!  And we did.

The highlights are their gins… we had already become quite fond of their Waterloo gin, their take on a traditional London dry gin, which is infused with local juniper, lavender, zest from oranges, lemons and grapefruits, rosemary, anise, coriander, licorice root, ginger root and pecans.  The real knockout, however, is their newly released Waterloo Antique barrel-aged gin.  This is a whiskey lovers gin, not just because of its color, but the smooth, caramel notes that it embodies. We’ve been drinking it straight or swapping out for the whiskey in a Manhattan.  I wanted to get a bit playful and thought it might be fun to include a little pomegranate juice into the mix.  Sometimes my experiments are less than stellar. This, however, worked beautifully. Sweet, smooth, boozy. What's not to like?

Treaty Oak Distilling Co. in Austin TX - A Thought For Food

Treaty Oak Distilling Co. in Austin TX - A Thought For Food

Treaty Oak Distilling Co. in Austin TX - A Thought For Food

Treaty Oak Distilling Co. in Austin TX - A Thought For Food

Treaty Oak Distilling Co. in Austin TX - A Thought For Food

Treaty Oak Distilling Co. in Austin TX - A Thought For Food

Treaty Oak Distilling Co. in Austin TX - A Thought For Food

Pomegranate Manhattan - A Thought For Food

Pomegranate Manhattan - A Thought For Food

Pomegranate Manhattan - A Thought For Food

Pomegranate Manhattan - A Thought For Food

Pomegranate "Manhattan"

Yield 1 drink

Tools Bar spoon

Ingredients 2 oz barrel aged gin (alternatively, whiskey can be used) 1 oz pomegranate juice 1/2 oz sweet vermouth 1/4 oz fresh lemon juice 1-2 dashes Angostura bitters

1 tablespoon fresh pomegranate seeds

Instructions

1. In a glass with a few ice cubes, add the barrel aged gin, pomegranate juice, sweet vermouth, lemon juice, and bitters.

2. Stir for 10 seconds and strain into another glass.

3. Add the pomegranate seeds and enjoy!