Category Archives: Drink

The “crazy good” bacon sundae. Believe.

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I can’t believe how good this is. But really…..you need to believe. As Heather said, “This is crazy good.”

Flash back to our 2010 trip to New Orleans, and our second night at the Green Goddess, a tiny little gem of a restaurant in the French Quarter. We had come back on the last night of our trip, based solely on Scotty’s (the excellent bartender) recommendation to try the “notorious” bacon sundae: pecan praline ice cream with a creamy bacon caramel sauce carrying a bit of both pink Himalayan & black lava salts, micro-planed Nueske’s applewood bacon, layered with whipped cream. Sounds good, huh? It was! So….thus our attempt to recreate the experience.

The “crazy good” bacon sundae. Sign me up for that!

It worked! We did it! Well, it wasn’t an exact replica…but it was still crazy good! We used Edy’s Slow Churned Butter Pecan ice cream, topped with La Salamandra Dulce de Leche Milk Caramel, a touch of French sea salt, diced applewood smoked bacon, whipped cream, and chopped caramelized pecans.

Not your average caramel. La Salamandra Dulce de Leche Milk Caramel, all the way from Argentina! (By way of Wegmans.)

Bacony goodness!! Can’t you just smell it??

To give props to Scotty once again….the Trader Vic’s Macadamia Nut Liqueur is an excellent pairing. It offers a smooth, sweet, nutty, caramelly taste. It’s very mellow, but has a nice warming effect.

Trader Vic’s Macadamia Nut Liqueur. Warm me up, Scotty!

Go….you must make this now! Please comment and let us know what you think. Cheers!

A Sunny Autumn Weekend in New York City… and a very belated post!

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Admittedly, we are way behind on our travel-related blogs, as this post is about a trip to New York that we took last October. Yes, October. However, since a major goal of that trip was to visit the location of the new World Trade Center complex and see the under-construction Freedom Tower, Memorial Day seemed like the perfect time to finally get this post done.

Accompanied by our good friend Stuart, we started our time in the city with brunch at the Minetta Tavern in Greenwich Village. Writers, poets, and musicians have frequented this lovely establishment over the course of its long history, and we were diggin’ its classy vibe. The food and drinks were pretty fabulous, too!

Brunch at the Minetta Tavern. Highly recommended!

Satiated, we walked off our meal by strolling all the way to the new WTC complex. I worked at the World Trade Center, briefly, prior to the 9/11 attacks, and have always felt a need to make the pilgrimage back. Not knowing that it was necessary to make reservations to visit the actual 9/11 Memorial, we had to content ourselves with visiting the area. We walked the perimeter around the construction fences, visiting such 9/11 survivors as St. Paul’s Chapel and O’Hara’s Pub. We joined the masses watching the construction of the Freedom Tower, the new 1 World Trade Center. It was, as my mom put it when I texted her the picture, “a shining testament to the American spirit.”

The Freedom Tower rising to its final height of 1776 feet.

After spending some time strolling along the Esplanade – gazing out at the Statue of Liberty, the Hudson River, and the New Jersey skyline – we then wandered further, stumbling across the Frank Gehry-designed residential tower at 8 Spruce Street. This building’s amazing design was beautifully highlighted by the late-afternoon sun.

Hanging in the financial district. The view from the Esplanade, Frank Gehry’s 8 Spruce Street, Heather and Stu!

A death-defying cab ride later and we were in the Lower East Side, where we ended up at a little place called Death + Company. This speakeasy-style establishment was the epitome of low-key cool. We were highly impressed with both the mixologists’ skills and the appetizery delights. I can’t say enough about this place. Go there.

Death + Company: some of the best mixed drinks we’ve ever had (Rich recommends the Rock, Paper, Scissors), the amazing truffle mac and cheese, and a peek at the very creative menu.

On day two of this trip, we unexpectedly ended up in the middle of a street fair. Really. A long stretch of a busy Manhattan street was closed, and food trucks and vendors’ booths were set up to sell… well, just about every type of food, gift, and craft you can imagine. We strolled and noshed and shopped away, and somehow ended up at the Russian Vodka Room. This cozy little place features many different varieties of infused vodka, along with specialty cocktails and authentic Russian food. After stopping there for a drink, we decided we’d walked enough for one day and hopped in a cab for SoHo.

The Russian Vodka Room. Infused vodka is one of their specialties (pineapple pictured).

Not knowing where we were heading, exactly, we wandered the streets of one of our favorite NYC neighborhoods until we found a tempting-looking restaurant. Boqueria, on Spring Street, was where we dined. This tapas-style place featured delicious food and very nice sangria. Unfortunately, we ate too fast to get any good pictures of our meal.

Boqueria in SoHo.

After a quick drink at Pegu Club, we headed home to Stuart’s place. Many thanks to Stu for always being the awsomest host!

*Rich’s footnote: Heather wrote this post. If you couldn’t tell by her lovely style of writing, you’ll be able to tell by looking for the “by HFBrainerd” at the end of the tags. If a post doesn’t note the author, then it was poorly written by me 🙂 , and nicely edited by Heather. If you’d like, please check out Heather’s other blogs: Disney For Five and Driving Blind.

Simple syrup solutions

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Hi, it’s Heather! This post is actually an excerpt from Local Bubbly, an article I wrote for CITIZEN, a new Rochester area magazine. In the first part of the article (which can be seen in our post The Sparkling Finger Lakes),  I shared our tasting notes on three local sparkling wines – Chateau Frank Blanc de Blancs, Swedish Hill Riesling Cuvée, and Hunt Country Chardonnay Champagne. While all of these sparkling wines were fantastic on their own, during our tasting session, we decided to mix a bit of flavored simple syrup in with each of the wines to create a trio of tasty cocktails.

Making simple syrup is as easy as the name implies. Combine equal parts water and sugar in a saucepan. (We typically use one cup of each, and sometimes use brown sugar rather than white.) Bring the mixture just to a boil, reduce the heat, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let it cool completely. We pour ours into bottles and store it in the refrigerator. It has become a staple in our kitchen!

Our three simple syrups being infused with flavor!

To go with our three sparkling wines, we decided to make three different flavored simple syrups – rhubarb, cranberry cinnamon, and brown sugar orange. Flavoring the simple syrups was quite easy. Once the sugar had dissolved, we stirred in the necessary ingredients. Chopped rhubarb, cranberries that had been sprinkled with cinnamon and roasted for about an hour at 350º, and an orange peel with pith removed (add about half the juice of the orange to the simple syrup, as well) were our ingredients of choice. It was then time to take each of our three saucepans off the heat and let them sit for an hour. We strained the simple syrups into containers, let it all come to room temperature, and chilled it before use. Feel free to get creative with your flavoring, using nearly any spice, herb, or fruit you desire.

The finished syrups look as good as they taste.

To create the cocktails pictured, pour one to two ounces of flavored simple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it) into a champagne flute then top it off with sparkling wine.

Ready to drink!

The Chateau Frank Blanc de Blancs mixed nicely with the rhubarb-flavored simple syrup. The Swedish Hill Riesling Cuvée was superb with the cranberry cinnamon simple syrup. Our favorite combination was the Hunt Country Chardonnay Champagne with the brown sugar orange simple syrup. The deep caramelized flavors of this wine paired nicely with the brown sugar and citrus of the simple syrup, making for a deliciously decadent sparkling treat.

We hope you get a chance to enjoy some of the many delicious sparkling wines that our region has to offer, whether on their own or in your favorite drink recipe. And, if you haven’t done so already, pick up a free copy of CITIZEN. Cheers!

Fresh. Slang: fashionable, cool.

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The slang definition of fresh may be fashionable or cool. The actual definition is: not stale, sour, or decayed. We think both meanings apply to this fresh Asiago! If you can find it, we suggest you give it a try.

Fresh Asiago (AKA Pressato) is a totally different experience from the mature variety (Asiago d’Allevo). It’s lighter (in both taste and color), creamier, and milder than mature Asiago. The fresh variety is made from whole cow’s milk (as opposed to partially skimmed) and is aged for only 20 – 40 days (instead of 3 – 12 months +).

We decided to pair our light and creamy cheese with the 2009 Shaya Old Vines Verdejo. This Spanish wine was well-deserving of its 91 point rating. It had a pleasant aroma of citrus (particularly grapefruit and lemon) and a hint of honey. Those same notes of citrus and honey were on the palate after a slightly sweet start. It was light and bright with a nice, crisp finish. It also had a bit of creaminess that came out when paired with the fresh Asiago and…

Creminelli Wild Boar salami! We’d been wanting to try this for quite some time. You may not normally think to pair this with such a light cheese and wine, but they really did all compliment one another very nicely. The tanginess of the salami paired with the citrus notes in the wine, and its surprising creaminess went well with the fresh Asiago. This delicious salami was salty, creamy, spicy, and milder than expected.

On a side note… the juniper in the wild boar salami reminded us of gin, so we couldn’t help but pair it with a gin and tonic after finishing our cheese/salami/wine tasting. This was excellent, as well!

None of these would be “suggested” pairings for the others. But….this tasting was a great example of finding common characteristics (such as the creaminess of this cheese, salami, and wine) that become apparent as you taste them together. Let us know what your favorite “unusual pairings” are.

Fashionable, cool Asiagoo.

91 point 2009 Shaya Verdejo.

Creminelli Wild Boar Salami. A fresh pairing idea!

Creminelli Wild Boar Salami, as you'll find it in the store.

Cheers and thank you! Tullamore Dew 10 Year Single Malt.

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I know St. Patrick’s Day is over, but that’s no excuse to stop enjoying Irish Whiskey! Plus, I didn’t have the chance to fully taste it before Saturday evening, and I wanted to give you my impression of this fine Irish single malt.  I had posted about Jamesons Irish Whiskey last year (and its blended whiskey burn). Yeah, I know it’s 80 proof, and I know there are nice blended whiskeys out there, but it doesn’t need to be harsh. (Shots, anyone?)

Tullamore Dew Single Malt 10 year is definitely a step up. Being smooth and medium bodied, I definitely enjoyed it neat versus on the rocks.  It tastes like the photos look… layers of color = layers of flavor. Aromas of smoky wood, vanilla, and subtle sweet fruit translate into similar tastes, mixed with a fair amount of spice (most likely from the bourbon barrels it was aged in) and a long, dry, spicy, sherry finish.

This whiskey was used for a fitting toast to all of you, my readers. As I mentioned in Bourbon + Spice, I entered the Addys with the photography from a few of my posts. The awards show was last Thursday and I was very pleased to have won two Addys! One for the food, and one for the drinks! Cheers, with a special thank you to my lovely wife, for her role as writer, editor, and more importantly co-taster and muse.

Tullamore Dew Single Malt 10 year gettin' all glamourous on us.

Anyone care for a sip of flavorful Irish whiskey?

Happy to have 2 Addys! Cheers to you all!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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Heather and I both have a little Irish blood in us. So…hopefully you are wearing a touch of green to celebrate with us. Baileys Irish Cream is an easy way to turn your coffee into a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Does the swirl remind you of the tumultuous Irish sea? Or have you already had a few drinks? Only you can answer that! Either way, don’t forget to have your green shamrock cookies. Have a happy (and safe) St. Patrick’s Day!

Baileys and coffee. The Irish cream swirl! Tumultuous Irish sea?

Baileys Irish Cream. A nice blend of Irish cream, spirits, Irish whiskey, and a touch of chocolate.

Shamrock cookies. Would your St. Patrick's Day be complete without them??

Bourbon + Spice makes everything nice. (Even the intense competition inherent in local award shows!)

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I entered 2eat2drink in the Rochester Advertising Federation Addy competition, our local advertising awards. This gave me a chance to review my 2011 annual report. I did 67 posts, with 251 pictures (WOW, no wonder I had no free time!), and had over 12,000 page views (thank you!) in just over ten months! It’s been an extremly fun way to reach out to clients, friends, and friends-to-be around the world, while sharing a little about our lives and highlighting my photography. If this is your first visit I encourage a full review. Those of you looking to get a brief overview, here are some of my favorite and most viewed posts:

The drink of choice for Sam Axe: The Minty Mojito.
Gin + Juice
I like it chunky: Guacamole!
Campfires and the double marshmallow, Special Dark chocolate s’more!
Bourbon Tasting at the Lake
The first post! Honey Roasted Tomato Bruschetta
You know you want one…the creamy root beer float!
Gooey, earthy, creamy, pungent French camembert.
The NOLA Margarita
Blimey! That’s a good ale!
Yes, I really did drink prehistoric plant matter deposits.
I want Mahón!

Now that you’ve worked up a thirst, on to the bourbon + spice! This is the cocktail I prepared for Chef Mark’s Thanksgiving feast. It’s a marvelous combination of rich, spicy and sweet. Infusing the flavors of ginger, cinnamon and cloves into dark brown sugar simple syrup is step one. Combine one cup each of water and dark brown sugar in a saucepan.  Bring the mixture just shy of a boil while stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add 3-4 slices of ginger, 5-6 cloves and 2 cinnamon sticks, remove the pan from the heat and let steep for about an hour. Strain before use.

Over ice in a rocks glass add 2 oz. bourbon, 1 oz. cinnamon ginger clove simple syrup, 1 oz. Trader Vic’s Kona Coffee liqueur, and 3-4 dashes Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged bitters. Stir, garnish and enjoy. (Bottle and store the remaining syrup in the refrigerator.)

Cheers to the Addy judges and all those who work hard to make the Addys a great event!

The Bourbon + Spice cocktail!

The rich, sweet and spicy ingredients!

Willett Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey was my choice for Bourbon + Spice.

The perfect chocolate martini, or “Heaven in a glass”

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This post required a fair amount of “research”. While on our honeymoon in Puerto Rico, we had a few chocolate martinis at the Copamarina resort. They were excellent! But we had no idea what the recipe was. So…..after some experimentation, and some more experimentation…..and a little more……..we came up with a delectable treat!

Over ice in a martini shaker add:1 oz. chocolate vodka, 1 oz. triple espresso vodka, 1 oz. Godiva chocolate liqueur, 1 oz. Kahlua Mocha, 1/2 oz. black raspberry liqueur, 2 oz. milk or half and half or cream (whichever you prefer), and a touch of dark chocolate syrup. Shake it up! Then pour in your martini glass….. after rimming the edge with chocolate shavings and drizzling a swirl of dark chocolate syrup around the inside of the glass.

Sip and enjoy!

The perfect chocolate martini!

The sparkling Finger Lakes!

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Hi, it’s Heather! As Rich mentioned in the last post, over the holiday season, we had the opportunity to try a few of the sparkling wines that are produced here in the Finger Lakes region. Here’s a quick synopsis of our taste test:

First we sampled Hunt Country’s Chardonnay Champagne. This wine was deep, rich and delicious, with pear and apple flavors, a surprising hint of buttered popcorn, and a caramelized-buttery finish. It reminded us of crème brulée, and we agreed that it would pair nicely with that dessert. We just may have to pick up another bottle soon!

Next up was the award-winning 2006 Chateau Frank Blanc de Blancs. We already knew that we liked Chateau Frank Célèbre, as well as Célèbre Rosé. We were eager to try the 2006 Blanc de Blancs, which won gold at both the Tasters Guild International and the Los Angeles International Wine Competitions. It also was given a 90 point rating by Wine and Spirits Magazine. This sparkling wine is made from 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Blanc. It was light, refreshing, and extremely well-balanced. The slightly floral aroma led into a sweet start with citrus and pear flavors. The finish was dry and crisp. We agreed that it was the most “Champagne-like” of the sparkling wines that we tasted, and well-deserving of its many honors.

Finally, we indulged in Swedish Hill’s Riesling Cuvée. This is another award-winning wine, having garnered the Governor’s Cup at the 2010 New York Wine and Food Classic, the highest honor for a New York State wine. It was pleasantly light and crisp, with a fruity aroma and hints of peach on the palate. This slightly sweet sparkling wine was quite amazing!

What’s your favorite Finger Lakes sparkling wine? Leave us a comment so we can try your recommendations!

Which fish can perform operations? (or help you celebrate the New Year?)

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The sturgeon is definitely good for more than just fish jokes! Namely….Caviar! I must say, it’s not something we have often, but it’s a nice treat. I had the opportunity to shoot a variety of caviar for Wegmans (thank you)…. which you can see here: caviar.  Ranging from $60 for the tin of domestic Hackleback Sturgeon to the $210 for the tin of Caspian Sea Golden Osetra (Sturgeon), caviar can be quite different. I believe the White Sturgeon was $130, and the Siberian Osetra was $170. Quality definitely goes up with the price, along with the size of the roe, and the Russian Caspian Sea Osetra was by far our favorite. It was delicate, buttery, mild, and slightly nutty. We knew it was fish, without it being “fishy” or salty. The Hackleback did have a tiny bit of a salty, fishy taste, was not as mild or buttery, but was still very good. We had all of them on baguette with the traditional accompaniments of creme fraiche and hard boiled egg. Next time I’ll plan to make blinis, as I couldn’t find any at the last minute, but the baguette was a good way to go.

Leave me a comment with your caviar experiences. As most people are very opinionated on caviar, I’d love to hear what you think!

We paired our caviar with ice cold vodka and champagne. As a match to the caviar we both liked the champagne, but I have to say that Sobieski makes a very good vodka. And it’s ridiculously cheap….less than half of most. Maybe it didn’t pair well being a Polish rye vodka, and unlike most Russian vodkas? It is quite bold in flavor, sweet to start with some citrus, and has a slightly bitter aftertaste. But it’s very smooth, and you almost forget it’s 70 proof. We had a vodka tasting party and this finished in the top two or three with most of us, but almost deserved it’s own category. Give it a try and let me know what you think of Sobieski as well!

We plan on trying a few Finger Lakes sparkling wines to celebrate New Year’s Eve. I will post about them next week…I mean next year. Be safe and Happy New Year!

Caviar tins, straight off the ice.

Serve on ice with creme fraiche and hard boiled eggs.

We ate ours on baguette, but you may want to try blinis as well.

Sobieski Vodka, frosted, straight from the freezer. Polish, not Russian to match the caviar, but excellent.