The Pittsburgh Public Market is running a series of “Quickie Cocktail” classes on Fridays at 5:00 p.m. featuring a variety of local ingredients. Tiffani, the events manager at the market, has been putting these together and when she started talking about cocktail classes I told her she wasn’t allowed to do them without letting me help. So today I filled in as celebrity bartender, and I talked about wine cocktails featuring the Market’s winery, Glade Pike Winery in Somerset, PA.

Wine cocktails get a bad rap, I think largely because of one single crappy drink, the white wine spritzer, which is just club soda and white wine. You know, if you need to water down your wine because it hits you too hard, you might want to stick to water with lemon or something.

But wine cocktails actually have a long history. In fact, the earliest drink labeled a “cocktail” that would be recognizable to modern drinkers as a cocktail was based on wine: the champagne cocktail. It’s just a lump of sugar doused in Angostura bitters, topped with champagne, and it’s quite lovely if you’ve never tried one.

Besides champagne-based cocktails (my favorite: the French 75 — maybe I’ll have to blog about that in a future post), most wine cocktails are based on fortified wines. Vermouth (the dry, white, French style or the sweet, red, Italian) is the most common any more, but there are a number of other aperitif-style, fortified, infused wines still around, like Lillet or Dubonnet.

Drinks based on unfortified wines are rarer, but there is one really common example lots of folks are familiar with: sangria. I do have a killer sangria recipe (also: future blog post), but I wanted to do something a little different today. Recipes below.

In right-to-left order: the Caravan, Walk in the Park, In a Barrel, and as-yet-unnamed blueberry shrub cocktails.

Caravan

I started with two long drinks — sangria-style but with some twists that make them a little different. The first is the Caravan cocktail. My recipe is an adaptation of the one in Difford’s Guide. Supposedly this drink originated in the ski resorts of the Alps.

The wine I used is Glade Pike’s Petit Verdot, a red. Pennsylvania isn’t really known for its reds, but this wine is really great, probably my favorite of all Glade Pike’s wines. Petit Verdot is a French grape that doesn’t grow particularly well in France (its name actually means “little green” because it tends not to ripen up), but it does nicely in the New World and has started to be used in single-varietal wines.

• 3 oz. dry red wine (Glade Pike Petit Verdot)
• 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
• Splash of Dr. Pepper
• Pinch of sugar, if you like it sweeter
• Garnish: brandy-soaked cherries

Mix wine and liqueur with ice in a tall glass. Top with Dr. Pepper. Add a brandy-soaked cherry as a garnish.

The original calls for Coca-cola, but I used Dr. Pepper. Actually, let me let you in on a little secret that Jimmy taught me: Dr. Pepper can fix any kind of red wine drink. If you have a sangria made with some wine that was a little too cheap, or mulled wine that mulled a little too long, or anything like that, throw some Dr. Pepper in it and it will fix it right up.

In a recipe like this, you might be a little skeptical about ruining a nice wine by mixing it with Dr. Pepper (it sounds so low-brow, doesn’t it?). But you’d be wrong. I mean, think of it this way: we often spruce up a cocktail with bitters (to add complexity), simple syrup (to add sweetness), and club soda (to add sparkle), and Dr. Pepper (or Coke) is really just a combination of all three. It’s sweetened soda water, and if you’ve ever tasted Coke or Dr. Pepper when it’s flat, you start to appreciate the complex flavors that are not so different from some bitters.

For the brandy-soaked cherries, take some fresh cherries, rinse, and dry. To pit them, if you have a fancy cherry-pitter, go for it. Otherwise, I used a paperclip bent into a hook. Just stab it into the bottom of the cherry and fish around a bit and pop out the pit. Put the cherries in a single layer shallow bowl. You can spoon a little sugar over them if they’re a little on the tart side, and then add enough brandy to just cover them. An hour or two is sufficient for them to soak it up.

Walk in the Park

The second drink is also a long drink, this one with white wine. I used the Glade Pike Vidal Blanc, which is similar in character to a Pinot Grigio (crisp, citrusy). I called this drink a “Walk in the Park” because it’s made to please most everybody: not too sweet, not to sour, not too strong — a nice refreshing summertime drink.

• dash Angostura bitters
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• 2 oz. semi-dry white wine (Glade Pike Vidal Blanc)
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• Splash of club soda
• Garnish: orange wheel

Mix wine, vermouth, bitters, and orange juice with ice in a tall glass. Top with club soda. Add an orange wheel as a garnish.

In a Barrel

The last wine I wanted to use was a challenge: a Niagara. Niagaras are table grapes as well as wine grapes, and they make a sweet wine with a very grape-y flavor. I’m not a sweet wine lover, and Niagara to me is like alcoholic grape juice. So how to use it in a cocktail?

Well, I wanted to make use of that great grape flavor, but balance the cloying sweetness with something else. It turned out the best way to do that was to use the wine as a syrup to flavor a cocktail that balances out the sweetness with acid (specifically lemon). This one’s best served neat in a cocktail glass, although you could do it over rocks in a highball. I called it “In a Barrel” as in “over Niagara falls in a barrel”, because after a few of these, you might feel like that’s where you’re going. They pack a punch — definitely a sipping drink.

• 3/4 oz. Niagara syrup (see below)
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 oz. gin (Plymouth)

Niagara syrup: 2 c. Niagara wine, 1 c. sugar. Heat together in a heavy saucepan on medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Cool.

Shake syrup, lemon juice, and gin in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a cocktail glass. You could garnish with a twist of lemon zest or a frozen grape.

I used Plymouth gin in this. Plymouth is a pretty strongly flavored gin but I feel like it holds up well with the other bold flavors in this cocktail. (Sidebar: I love gin. Most of the best cocktails in the world involve gin in some way. However, I recognize that not everyone has discovered the splendor of gin, and Plymouth is a very, well, “ginny” gin. So if you want to go with something a bit milder, Hendricks or Bluecoat are gins that might go nicely in this drink as well. If you use vodka instead of gin in this drink, please don’t tell me because that will just break my heart. Seriously.)

This was definitely the winning cocktail, according to the tasters at class. It got a lot of admirers and was described as a “grape-y Tom Collins” (in a good way).

Bonus: Tiffany’s blueberry shrub cocktail

This one is still a work in progress. One of the early ideas we had with the Niagara to balance its sweetness was to use what’s called a “fruit shrub”, which is a drink made from fruit (usually berries, in this case blueberries), sugar, and vinegar. We hoped the tartness of the vinegar would balance out the sweetness of the wine, but… well, it wasn’t pretty. However, it did pair nicely with Glade Pike’s Black and Blue, a fruit wine make from blackberries and blueberries. So we took a stab at this, but no definite recipe yet. I guess that means more “research” — oh no, the horror, drinking more cocktails!

More upcoming cocktail classes

There are two more of the quickie cocktail classes coming up the next 2 Fridays:

• July 22, 2011, 5:00-5:30 p.m. — Beer cocktails featuring East End Brewing with Chef Elizabeth from Slow Cooked Pittsburgh
• July 29, 2011, 5:00-5:30 p.m. — Tea cocktails with Danielle from Tupelo Honey Teas

Come and check them out! The cost is $5 which also gives you a free taste of all the cocktails. It’s a great way to close out the week and do something fun for happy hour. To register, email eventsandprograms.ppm@gmail.com

2 Vendémiaire: Safran (Saffron)

When I think of saffron, the first food that comes to mind is paella. If you’re not familiar with paella, the basics are this: it’s a rice dish from Spain flavored with saffron, and you just throw in whatever sausage, poultry, and seafood you can get your hands on. It’s a big dish to feed a lot of people, and the traditional method uses a wide, shallow pan and takes a loooong time to put together and cook (several hours at least).

I made up a batch of paella recently and Jimmy and I had our friend Zandrea over to test it out. I’d never attempted paella before (and it’s a little complex) so I consulted the experts: I adapted a method from Cook’s Illustrated. They used a Dutch oven instead of a paella pan (no need to buy a special pan for just one dish!) and part of the cooking happens in the oven (so I get to enjoy cocktails and appetizers while it’s cooking). I have to say, I’m an online subscriber to Cook’s Illustrated, and for the equivalent of the cover price of a single cookbook for a year’s subscription, it totally pays off. I always consult them for methods on foods I’m not familiar with because I know they have tested all the angles, and they have really excellent equipment and ingredient reviews as well.

So, in anticipation of my attempt at paella, we took a trip to Pittsburgh’s Strip District and made a stop at Wholey’s, my go-to place for seafood. We got some scallops (buy the little ones, they’re cheaper than the big ones and you just need them bite-size for this anyway), shrimp, and mussels. I also got some boneless chicken thighs. (I prefer thigh meat over breast in most cases. It’s got more flavor, and for that matter, it’s cheaper too.)

If you’re not familiar with the Strip District, it’s a neighborhood in Pittsburgh that serves as a nexus for distributors of produce and meats, and also has many retail locations and street vendors. It’s a great time on a Saturday morning (when it’s not too crowded — avoid holidays).

Everyone in Pittsburgh has their favorite vendors. On my list: Wholey’s for seafood, Reyna’s for Mexican, Lotus and also the no-English-name Asian place up on twenty-somethingth-street for Asian foods. Pennsylvania Macaroni Company (Penn Mac for short) is an excellent place for Italian foods and has a cheese counter rivaled by none.

(Go early or risk being in line for half an hour or more at the cheese counter.

Cross your fingers and if you’re lucky, you’ll get served by the lady who calls everybody “dear heart”. If you’re in a hurry, try Stamoolis Bros., the Greek grocery right next door — similar selection but less lines.) And lastly, the thing I never, ever miss on a trip to the Strip District, is getting a mung bean pancake made by the Korean lady at the stand on Penn Ave. (Someday, someday, I will learn how to make a mung bean pancake.)

I also procured some chorizo from Reyna’s. (This was the Mexican version of chorizo — basically a spicy, fresh pork sausage. It’s hard to find Spanish chorizo, which is a dry-cured sausage, but the Mexican version is fine in this dish if that’s what you’ve got. If you can’t find either, spice up some ground pork yourself with chili powder, cayenne, salt and black pepper and call it close enough. We’re not trying to be authentic Spaniards here, just make something tasty.)

We also picked up a tasty selection of olives and cheeses to tide us over while we chatted before dinner…

I decided some Spanish-themed beverages were in order and made some white sangria as well as Palomas (grapefruit soda, salt, and tequila — yum).

Anyway, the main show: the paella. It has a lot in common with risotto, and starts with a creamy, short-grain rice roasting in a pan. (I used Arborio, the Italian rice I also always use in a risotto.) It finishes in the oven, adding the various meat and seafood at intervals depending on how long much time each takes to cook. (In this case, the chicken, sausage, and scallops got stirred directly into the rice, and the shrimp and mussels steamed on top in the last 10 or 15 minutes of cooking.) There are also a variety of vegetables, including roasted peppers and peas. And the distinctive flavor, is, of course, the saffron.

Saffron is a spice that’s made from the tiny center parts of a crocus flower that grows in the Mediterranean. Since it comes from such a tiny part of the plant (Wikipedia tells me it takes a football field full of flowers to make 1 pound), it’s very expensive. Fortunately, it doesn’t take very much to lend a dish its dintinctive yellow color and a largely indescribable flavor. There’s really no substitute (sometimes cookbooks say to use turmeric, which is also yellow and has a likewise indescribable flavor, though one that’s quite different from saffron). It comes in little dried reddish “threads” like the ones pictured here, which you simply crumble into your dish.

The paella turned out pretty well, I think, given it was my first try!

Recipe: Paella

Serves 6. Takes about an hour and a half to two hours, but the latter half hour or so it’s mostly in the oven and you’re free to have cocktails and appetizers.

• 1/2 lb. large shrimp, peeled & deveined
• 1/2 lb. scallops (the small ones are fine, see above)
• 1 dozen mussels
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 lb. chorizo (Spanish if you can find it, see above)
• 1 red and 1 green bell pepper
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 can tomatoes, diced and drained
• 1/2 c. frozen peas
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 c. white wine
• olive oil
• 1/2 t. saffron threads, crumbled
• 2 bay leaves
• chopped fresh parsley
• lemon wedges

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Peel and devein the shrimp. (People always say to leave the tails on when you do this to make the shrimp look pretty, but I find that makes them a pain in the ass to eat in a dish you are otherwise consuming with a fork.) Season the shrimp with salt & pepper and refrigerate until needed.
3. If your mussels are precleaned, just keep them in the fridge. If they’re not, soak them in cold water in the sink, scrub the shells clean, and remove the “beards” by pinching them between your thumb and the flat of a knife and pulling.
4. Trim any excess fat off the chicken thighs and cut each thigh into thirds lengthwise. Season with salt & pepper.
5. If you have Spanish chorizo (the dry sausage) cut it into bite-size pieces.
6. Chop the onion. Seed the bell peppers and cut them into strips.
7. Get out your trusty Dutch oven — it’s the only pot we’re going to use for this whole shindig. You need a large one, at least 6 quarts or so, to fit all of this in. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom on medium-high heat. Put the pepper strips in, skin-side down, and cook them until they get a little black and blistery. Remove them to a bowl.
8. Add a little more oil if necessary, then place the chicken strips in the hot pan. Cook until they’re brown on one side, about 3 minutes, then flip them over and go another 3. When the chicken is done, remove it to a bowl.
9. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the chorizo and cook until the fat renders and it browns. If you’re using the Mexican chorizo, break it up with a wooden spoon into small pieces as it cooks. Remove the chorizo to the bowl with the chicken.
10. If the chorizo was really fatty, remove some fat from the pan. If it was lean, you may need a little more olive oil. Add the onion and cook until soft, then add the garlic and stir about a minute, then add the tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes break up and begin to thicken, then add the rice, stirring thouroughly. Then add the remaining liquids — broth and wine — and the spices — bay leaf and saffron. Add the chicken and chorizo back to the pot and also add the scallops at this time. Turn the heat back up and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
11. When you’ve reached a boil, cover the pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed by the rice, about 15 minutes.
12. Remove the pot from the oven. Arrange the pepper strips, shrimp, and mussels over the surface of the rice (point the mussels straight up so they open upward). Scatter the peas over the top. Replace the cover and return pot to the oven for about 10 minutes or until the shrimp are opaque and the mussels have opened.
13. Remove the pot from the oven and place it back on the burner for 2 minutes on medium-high heat. The idea is to get a browned, crispy bottom crust of rice (although you can certainly skip this step if you like).
14. Remove the pot from heat and let rest 5 minutes. If any of the mussels didn’t open, remove them now and discard. Sprinkle some parsley over the top, and serve with lemon wedges and a big spoon to fill everyone’s plate with yumminess.

1 Vendémiaire: Raisin (Grape)

The first day of the French Republican calendar celebrates grapes, a fruit dear to the French people for wine, of course, but tasty all on their own. (We’ll get to wine on 20 Vendémiaire, dedicated to the pressoir or wine-press.)

We most often think of grapes as a snack food, either as fresh fruit or as raisins. Raisins often make appearances in baked sweets. And Jimmy always raves about grape pie, though I have never had the pleasure of eating a slice and have not yet attempted to make one.

I tend to love when grapes make an appearance in savory food just as much as enjoying them in sweets, however. I adore fresh grapes in a salad, and I find raisins often do nicely in quinoa, couscous, or rice dishes. (I enjoy the golden raisins much more than the purplish-brown ones. Prettier, and tastier too I think, though possibly that’s just in my head.)

But these are examples of grapes as an accent in a dish. Grapes rarely get the chance to be the star, but here’s a recipe I tried out on a couple of friends over for dinner a while back: Chicken with Grapes (with couscous and roasted asparagus). It’s a Rachael Ray recipe, and like all her recipes it’s designed to be pretty easy to execute.

I often tweak recipes as I go, but this was my first try at this one, so I stayed pretty faithful (although I made green beans instead of asparagus, because I had some fresh ones). The grapes made a great component in the dish, and it was a hit. Everybody was pleasantly surprised at how nicely the flavors worked together.