Blue Plate Bachelor

I’m planning a cocktail party this weekend, and I wanted to make all the cocktails up in advance, so I don’t have to spend my party with a shaker instead of mingling and cracking wise.

Also, one’s ability to mix a cocktail greatly diminishes after one has consumed one or two (or four). Best not to leave that to chance.

I was thinking I needed to find some kind of classy pitcher type devices that I could mix up the cocktails in, store in the freezer, then put on ice during the party. The Fred Meyer yielded nothing.

Then I had a brain storm. I remembered my Mint Julep recipe and how the drink is made right in the bottle the booze comes in. Tada. Problem solved. I’ll mix my cocktails into their requisite bottles, stash the bottles in the freezer, then pop the bottles in a bucket of ice.

In another flash of brilliance, I was making a quiche the other night. Your standard Quiche Lorraine with the bacon and gruyere.

I wanted a little vegetation to go along with dinner, so I split some brussels sprouts in half lengthwise.

Now, normally I brown the cut (flat) side of the sprouts in butter over high-ish heat, then turn the heat down, and finish cooking them in chicken stock or white wine.

But I had just fried up a bunch of bacon…

I drained the excess bacon fat out of the cast iron skillet, and sautéed the sprouts in the most delicious fat on the planet, then poured a half cup or so of white wine over the sprouts, and let that reduce down by half or so.

Having trouble getting the kids to eat their greens? Roll ‘em in pork fat.

This entry was posted Friday, April 7th, 2006 at 7:40 pm and is filed under Day to day, Drink, Food. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.