10 January 2021: Negroni Sbagliato

In looking for new ideas for our two-person cooking escapades, I happened on a great website hosted by Sonja and Alex Overhiser, A Couple Cooks. Not only do they cook, they have some terrific ideas for cocktails and this - a Negroni Sbagliato - is one of them. The difference is the trade off of champagne (or sparkling wine) for gin. Make no mistake (sbaglio) - this is delicious!

Don’t skip the importance of a bit of orange peel to counteract the Campari.

Negroni Sbagliato

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) sweet or semi-sweet red vermouth

• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) Campari

• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) Prosecco, champagne or other sparkling wine

• Ice

• Orange peel (garnish - but in my experience essential)

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Using a rocks glass, add the vermouth and Campari. Top off with the sparkling wine (Prosecco or champagne), add ice and the orange peel.

04 July: French 75

In place of picnics and parades this year, we are staying within our bubble, so it made sense that tonight’s cocktail would include bubbles. We’ve both had several variations on The French 75, but this one I believe may be the last word. It comes from Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. If you want to learn the history of a cocktail, this is the book to own. Along with some terrific drinks from bygone eras (by-the-way, what exactly is a “gill”?), one can learn about the history of long lost ingredients,

So, here is our homage to the French who helped turn the tides on the Revolution - the French 75!

Ingredients:

• 2 oz gin

• 1 oz lemon juice (fresh is best)

• 1 tsp simple syrup

• champagne (we used a brut rose which gives this a nice salmon hue)

Method:

• Put a cocktail shaker in the freezer and also ice the champagne flute

• Pour gin, lemon juice and simple syrup into the shaker filled with ice. Shake for a good 30 seconds.

• Pour into an iced flute and top with champagne

• Stir gently and garnish with a long, thin lemon spiral (and a cocktail cherry if you like)