fee brothers

Arugula In My Gin

by whitney on May 15, 2012

Last week, I grabbed a drink at Library Bar at The Roosevelt Hotel. The bartender served me up, what he called, a “Rockette.” Its star ingredient, other than gin, was freshly torn bits of wild arugula. It was delicious! If you’ve never been to Library Bar, all the beautiful produce used in each cocktail is stocked in abundance on the bar for all to see. Just to the right of where I was sitting was a bowl of juicy strawberries. As I sipped my Rockette, I thought ” what if these strawberries were in my drink?”

Boom. Making dreams into reality, people.

I also decided to add a little rhubarb bitters into the mix! Excellent addition, I must say.

I’m not that keen on measuring. A little of this, a little of that, taste as I go along and I end up with what I want and what I find to be balanced. A good rule of thumb for cocktails like this is 3 parts booze, 2 parts sweetness, 2 parts sour. Then you can make as little or as much as you want, for yourself or a crowd. Ingredients: gin, lime juice, agave syrup, bitters (a few generous dashes), torn arugula and diced strawberry. Dice up the strawberry a bit and tear the arugula with the tippy tops of your fingers. Put that in a shaker with ice and then add all liquid ingredients. Shake the crap out of it.

The strawberries sigh out some juice and give the whole thing a lovely blush. I am a crushed ice kind of gal but use a large square cube if you prefer for less dilution. Honestly- I drank it so fast, it didn’t have time to melt.

A Few of My Favorite Things…

by whitney on August 4, 2010

I wanted to take a moment to honor the fine specimens of my refrigerator, cupboard and bar; my favorite items with which I could not live without. Seriously. I would perish.  So, I decided to stage a photo shoot in my kitchen…because that’s what people do on a Wednesday afternoon.

Item 1: My Ice-O-Mat, found at a thrift store in Echo Park. It takes regular old ice and crushes the crap out of it. Therefore creating my favorite kind of ice experience. The crushed kind. I don’t have a fancy schmancy in-door ice maker like some….so, this will have to do. And in my humble opinion, it’s way cooler anyway.

Item 2 (and 3): My old standby- Aperol.  Good buddy old pal. When would not be a good time for an Aperol spritz? Never. Case closed. And a new love- Dolin white vermouth. It’s “sweet,” not dry and is heavenly in a gin martini but also great on it’s own as an aperitif over ice with an orange twist.

Items 4 (and 5 & 6): Bitters! An essential for any bar to add complexity and well…a bitter note to a cocktail. I happen to be in love with the Aztec chocolate (used in my coco devereaux) and the rhubarb (used in my old smashioned.)

Items 7 & 8: If you aren’t new to the blog you’ve definitely seen the bottle on the left. Many times. It may be getting old at this point, but I don’t care. Bulleit bourbon is awesome (as evidenced by the almost empty bottle.) The little guy on the right should be illegal it’s so sinfully good. These Luxardo cherries are the perfect addition to a Manhattan. I’ve even infused them into the bourbon before to excellent results.

Item 9: Light agave nectar (aka the nectar of the gods.) I adore this stuff and use it ALL the time. Not only for cooking, but to sweeten cocktails. It is super light and not cloying. It gives a fuller, more rounded feel than granulated sugar but a more delicate touch than honey or molasses. And it is wonderful when wanting to make an infused simple syrup. (Item 9a: Mister Cow the creamer- from all the way out in Charleston, SC. Thanks Mom!)

Item 10: I just might be cuckoo for coco. Vita Coco coconut water is always in my fridge and it’s surprisingly good in fruit based cocktails and punch.  Highly. Recommended.

I simply remember my favorite things….And then I don’t feeeeeel so bad.