A Christmas cocktail. Photo courtesy
Belvedere Vodka.

GIVE A FIG COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation
1. Whisk sugar into pomegranate juice in a shaker.
2. Add rest of ingredients and shake with cubed ice.
3. Double-strain into a rocks glass and garnish with a split fig.

*Adapted from a drink created by Aaron Rosa, Purple Bar, Sanderson Hotel.

Red ale, or Irish red ale, is, as its name suggests, an ale with a slightly reddish color. The color is intentional, and results from the use of a small amount of roasted barley in the mash.

If it comes from Ireland, it’s called Irish ale. In the U.S. and elsewhere, it’s called red ale or red beer. Some Americans use the term amber ale, but this typically describes a darker beer—truly amber instead of reddish.

Serve a red ale at your holiday celebration (add a cucumber wheel for a bit of green; or a lime wedge if your guests prefer to drink from the bottle.

If you need a holiday gift for a beer drinker, put together a six-pack of different red ale brands (see below).

How Well Do You Know Your Brews?

Take a look at our Beer Glossary.

Here are the top 10 red ales as rated by judges in the 2011 U.S. Open Beer Championship.

1. Pursuit of Hoppiness – Grand Teton Brewing, Idaho
2. O’Regan’s Revenge Irish Red Ale – Sound Brewery, Washington
3. Bomber Mountain Amber – Black Tooth Brewing, Wyoming
4. River Falls Red Ale, Thomas Creek Brewing – South Carolina
5. Cameron’s Auburn Ale – Cameron’s Brewing, Canada
6. Celtic Ale – Harpoon Brewery – Massachusetts
7. Red Mountain Ale – Silverton Brewing, Colorado
8. Samuel Adams Red Ale – Boston Beer Company, Massachusetts
9. O’Hara’s Irish Red – Carlow Brewing – Ireland
10. Kilgubbin Red Ale – Goose Island – Illinois

Cheers!

Two of the seven Crazy Cuizine varieties.
Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

But in half that time, we can remove the Crazy Cuizine from the freezer and microwave our own.

Crazy Cuizine is a line of frozen Asian entrées—Chinese, Japanese and Korean dishes—that you can find at select Costco locations and BJ’s Wholesale Clubs nationwide, and at some regional chains.

About The Entrées

Ready to heat and eat, the line comprises sauced meat dishes—mostly chicken—that are high in protein and free of preservatives, trans fats and MSG.

The entrées can be microwaved in five minutes or less—one-quarter of the time it takes to microwave an appropriate amount of conventional rice. That a heaping plate of tender meat can be available in a few minutes is a great convenience.

While the line claims “authentic recipes,” some of the authenticity needs to be added.

• Add seasonings. Neither the sauces nor the meats have secondary seasonings that create a complex flavor. They’re fine for kids—or adults who don’t have a demanding palate—but we like to think that even these two groups deserve to have more educated tastes. We added thin-sliced green onions, toasted sesame seeds, and herbs or spices: minced fresh garlic and/or ginger, or their dried cousins; fresh or dried jalapeño; and fresh basil (which is more Thai and Vietnamese, but works well, and we always have some).
• Add vegetables. Amost all Asian dishes use them. We used what we always have in the house: broccoli, carrots, celery, mushrooms and onions—not necessarily all at the same time. If you have water chestnuts, bamboo shoots or baby corn, toss them in. We either steamed the veggies in the microwave for three minutes prior to making the rice, or sautéed them on the stove top while the rice cooks.

Orange chicken is ready in five minutes. Photo courtesy Crazy Cuizine.

• Assemble the dish. You can choose to heat the sauce packets with the veggies. We used a different technique: We heated the sauce before the meat; then added it to a bowl with the meat and veggies. Then toss to blend.

The ingredients are U.S.-sourced and the dishes are produced at the company’s state-of-the-art facility in Southern California. The chicken is all-natural white meat, and has very good chicken flavor. Some are sliced, some are breaded.

The sauces tend to be adaptions of the same recipe, thick and slightly sweet. The choices include:

• General Tso’s Chicken: The sweet and spicy, deep-fried chicken dish was invented in the U.S. and named after one of the greatest military leaders of China’s history, General Tso (1812-1885). This version fares well, if nowhere as hot and spicy as the real deal. The general’s name is correctly pronounced sow, not so or tso.
• Korean BBQ Chicken: Our favorite. A delicious Korean dish featuring chicken breast topped with Korean BBQ spicy sauce.
• Orange Chicken: Pretty good, but lacking the orange peel added to restaurant dishes. Add your own small strips of peel. We added green onions, too.
• Potstickers, Chicken & Pork: The pork version is more flavorful. Both have the same excellent dipping sauce, made of soy sauce and vinegar.
• Tangerine Beef: Not tasted.
• Teriyaki Chicken: We weren’t crazy about this one. The sauce doesn’t resemble traditional teriyaki sauce, so the dish doesn’t resemble teriyaki—at least not the kind you’d get at a Japanese restaurant. It’s better to make your own: Thoroughly combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup mirin (rice wine) and 2 tablespoons sugar in a sauce pan; bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer for two minutes. Cool to room temperature or slightly warmer. If you don’t have mirin, use 1/2 cup saké mixed with one tablespoon sugar. Both mirin and saké are types of rice wine.

The 20-ounce boxes have a suggested retail price of $8.99.

Given that we pay between $5.00 and $6.00 for an order of six poststickers, delivered or in-restaurant, the 28-30 pieces from Crazy Cuizine are a bargain.

Learn more at DayLeeFoods.com.

Lower cholesterol and salt by substituting
smoked turkey for ham hocks (shown
above). Photo courtesy CVSOP.com. Get the
recipe for bean soup with ham hocks—or
turkey.

But many people don’t eat ham, and many of those who do should cut back on cholesterol and salt.

As we were preparing to make a 12-bean soup this weekend, we recalled a tip from Top Chef audience favorite Carla Hall: Use smoked turkey drumsticks instead of ham hocks.

(If you want pork for your recipe but can’t find ham hocks, substitute two-to-four ounces per hock with: chopped bacon, guanciale [cured smoked hog jowl], cubed ham, chopped salt pork, a ham bone or smoked sausage.)

Carla, a Nashville native, loves Southern food and eats lots of greens. To make them healthier, she uses smoked turkey instead of ham hocks, and adds Brussels sprouts—leaves separated—for extra nutrition.

Another tip: Carla makes a healthy sweet potato mash with olive oil and orange zest.

Things you don’t know about Carla Hall

She’s a CPA! An alumna of Howard University’s School of Business, she worked for Price Waterhouse for two years. She then took a 180-degree turn and spent several years as a model on the runways of London, Milan and Paris. In Paris she fell in love with the art of food, and voilà!

Know Your Pig Parts

What’s the difference between a back rib and a spare rib? Pork belly and pancetta? American bacon and British bacon?

Become a pig parts expert.
  

The company was founded in 1986 by a group of French tea enthusiasts, who went into the tea business so they could have the freshest, highest-quality teas. In handsome packaging, the teas are sold worldwide.

But before we dig in to the tea gifts, here’s a bit of tea history. (Don’t want history? Scroll down.)

A Brief History Of Tea-Drinking In Europe

England is known for tea-drinking; but it actually came late to the game. Tea was first introduced to Europe via Portugal.

*A tea caddy is a small box, can, or chest for holding tea leaves.

The Portuguese infanta, Catherine of Braganza, married to England’s King Charles II in 1662, introduced† the custom of drinking tea to England.

Tea was extremely costly for more than 100 years, due to rarity and taxes. It was kept in a locked chest to prevent pinching by servants and others. But after the 1750s, smuggled tea was widely available, reasonably-priced and purchased by respectable people.

†Catherine also introduced the fork to the England. Amazingly, although it was used by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and the Roman legions occupied England, the fork took many centuries to make the leap.

According to A Brief History Of Tea And Tea Caddies, the word caddy derives from the Malay kati, a measure of weight equal to about 3/5 of a kilo.

And now, for your consideration, some delicious teas in lovely caddies:

Le Palais De The: Gift Canisters Of Fine Tea

 
A canister (caddy), 4.4 ounces, is $25.00.