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TIP OF THE DAY: 11 Exciting Bloody Mary Garnishes

January 1, 2014 at 8:19 am · Filed under Cocktails & Spirits, Entertaining, Food Holidays, New Year's Eve

New Year’s Day is also National Bloody Mary Day. So today’s tip is: Find a new garnish for your Bloody Marys, and change it up every year.

A celery stalk garnish and optional lemon or lime wheel was de rigeur 20th century. Savvy hosts replaced them with a fennel stalk for the new millennium (there’s a word you haven’t heard in a while!).

But that was 14 years ago! So here are 10 groups to consider for your “signature garnish.” You can mix and match them as you wish. And yes, you can even match them with a celery stalk and any form of lemon or lime.

Creative types can get out the vegetable cutters and transform cucumbers, carrots, jalapeños, etc. into edible sculptures.

BLOODY MARY GARNISHES

  • “Antipasto” Pick: an assortment of goodies such as cheese cube, cocktail onion, deli meat cube, grape tomato, pickle, pickled garlic, shrimp or your favorite ingredients
  • The Bacon-Jerky Group: bacon strips, your favorite jerky or a “BLT” (grape tomatoes and bacon on a pick with a curly lettuce leaf replacing the celery)
  • The Citrus Group: curly lemon or lime peel, blood orange wheel, grapefruit wedge, any exotic citrus from the farmers market
    		•  

    A modern and easy Bloody Mary garnish: a gherkin and pepperoncini on a pick with a salt and pepper rim. Photo courtesy AGWA.
  • The Fresh Vegetable Group: cherry tomato/grape tomato (chose yellow for contrast), cucumber slice, green onion/scallion, snow pea, zucchini spear/slice
  • The Herbs Group: basil leaves, cilantro sprig, dill sprig, parsley sprig, rosemary sprig
    		•

     


    Bloody Mary “salad”: cherry tomato, celery,
    cucumber, dilly bean, lime wheel olive. Photo
    courtesy Arch Rock Fish Restaurant | Santa
    Barbara.    		  
  • The Fruit Group: apple wedge, melon balls, pineapple spear
  • The Olive Group: stuffed olives (cheese, chili, pimiento, etc.), mixed pitted olives
  • The Pickle Group: dill spear (the whole spear or cut into chunks on a pick), gherkins
  • The Pickled Vegetables Group: asparagus, carrot, dilly bean, okra, peppadew
  • The Seafood Group: crab leg meat, cooked shrimp
  • The Seasoned Rim Group: cracked pepper, seasoned salt (buy it or make your own, including a salt-and-pepper rim of coarse sea salt and cracked pepper)

    •  
    KNOW YOUR BLOODY MARYS

  • Bloody Mary History
  • Bloody Mary Recipes: the classics plus Danish, Mexican Scottish, Russian and Spanish Marys
    		•
     

      

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    Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Recipe With Sea Salt

    December 31, 2013 at 8:34 am · Filed under Cookies-Cake-Pastry, Food Holidays, Recipes

    We couldn’t close out the year without a batch of buttery shortbread. This recipe, from Spice Islands, adds creamy caramel, a dark chocolate ganache icing and a sprinkle of sea salt.

    The recipe includes cashews. You can substitute another favorite nut (macadamias, pecans, pistachios, walnuts) or omit the nuts entirely.

    This type of bar cookie is also called Millionaire Bars. Here’s more about them, including the history of Millionaire Bars.

    National Chocolate Caramel Day is March 18th. For another yummy recipe, check out this Chocolate Caramel Turtle Brownie Recipe.

    Below:

    > Salted caramel shortbread bars recipe.

    Elsewhere on The Nibble:

    > The history of shortbread.

    > The history of cookies.

    > The 10 different categories of cookies.

    > The different types of cookies: a photo glossary.

    > The year’s 44 cookie holidays.

    > The year’s 15 butterscotch, caramel, and toffee holidays.
     
     
    RECIPE: SALTED CARAMEL SHORTBREAD BARS WITH
    DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE & CASHEWS

    Ingredients For The Shortbread

  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup coarsely chopped, salted cashews

    •  
    For The Caramel

  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 6 tablespoons butter, cut into 6 pieces
  • 1/3 cup Karo light corn syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, fine grind (you can substitute table salt)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    •  
    For The Ganache

  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
    		•   
    [1] Shortbread topped with caramel, chocolate and sea salt (photo © Spice Islands).


    [2] There’s a layer of caramel (photo © Wicked Good Kitchen).
     
    Preparation

    1. PREHEAT oven to 325°F. Line a 9 x 9-inch baking dish with aluminum foil leaving an overhang on 2 sides. Lightly grease the foil on the sides of the pan.

    2. MAKE shortbread crust: Mix butter and sugar until well blended in a bowl. Stir in flour and cashews until a stiff dough forms. Press dough evenly onto the bottom of the foil-lined pan. Prick the dough using the tines of a fork. Bake shortbread for 20 to 23 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven and place on wire rack.

    3. MAKE caramel: Stir brown sugar, cream, butter, and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the mixture begins to bubble. Stir in salt and mix well. Continue to cook at a full boil without stirring for about 8 to 10 minutes until candy reaches 240°F. Stir in vanilla. Pour caramel over shortbread crust. Cool completely, about 2 hours.

    4. HEAT cream and chocolate in microwave on HIGH (100% power), stirring every 15 seconds until chocolate is melted, about 30 to 45 seconds. Evenly spread Ganache over caramel layer. Top with coarse sea salt. Place in refrigerator 10 minutes or just until chocolate is set. Cut into bars.
     
    Find more of our favorite cookie recipes.
     

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    RECIPE: Thai Shrimp Appetizer

    December 31, 2013 at 8:17 am · Filed under Appetizers-Hors d’Oeuvre, International Foods, Recipes


    Shrimp wrapped in pretty puff pastry. Photo
    and recipe courtesy Campbell’s.    		   We’ve been playing around with puff pastry this week, and are making these Thai Shrimp Spirals to go with the Champagne tonight. Marinated shrimp wrapped in tender puff pastry and served on skewers with a dip, they’re a fun and tasty food.

    Prep time 30 minutes; total time 1 hour 40 minutes, which includes 40 minutes of thawing time. Suggested serving size: 2 pieces.

     
    RECIPE: THAI SHRIMP SKEWERS WITH
    HONEY SOY DIPPING SAUCE

    Ingredients For 20 Pieces

  • 2 limes
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
    		•
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 two-inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced (about 2 tablespoons)
  • 20 fresh or thawed frozen large shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
  • 5 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • All-purpose flour
  • 1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons sesame oil

    •  
    Plus

  • 20 six-inch wood or metal skewers (presoak wood skewers)

    •  
    Preparation

    1. GRATE 2 teaspoons zest and squeeze about 1/4 cup juice from the limes. Stir the zest, juice, cilantro, garlic and ginger in a small bowl.

    2. PLACE the shrimp into a medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and half the lime mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Reserve the remaining lime mixture for the dipping sauce.

    3. HEAT the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl with a fork.

    4. SPRINKLE the flour on the work surface. Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface and roll into a 10-inch square. Cut into 20 strips, about 1/2-inch wide.

    5. SKEWER each shrimp with a wooden skewer. Starting at the top, wrap 1 pastry strip around each shrimp, slightly overlapping the pastry and ending just before the tail.

    6. PLACE the skewered pastries onto 2 baking sheets. Brush the pastries with the egg mixture. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Let the pastries cool on the baking sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes.

    7. BEAT the reserved lime mixture, remaining soy sauce and water, the honey and sesame oil in a small bowl with a fork or whisk. Serve with the pastries for dipping.

      

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