[1] A delicious Negroni at Taralucci e Vino in New York City (photo © Taralucci e Vino)

[2] An idea from Irvington Restaurant in New York City: bottling a Negroni as a party favor (photo © Irvington Restaurant).

[3] The bottled version is a natural infusion of bitter herbs and spices, including rhubarb, gentian, kola nut, roman wormwood and dandelion (photo © Distilleria Negroni).

[4] Adding some bubbly to a Negroni (photo © DeLallo).

It’s time to celebrate Negroni Week. For those not immersed in cocktail culture, the Negroni is one of the classics, dating back to 1919. The recipe follows, but first:

> Negroni food pairings.

> The top 12 gin cocktails.

> The history of gin.

> The history of vermouth.

> The history of cocktails.

> The history of Campari.

> The year’s 14 gin holidays.

> The year’s 49 cocktail holidays.
 
 
NEGRONI COCKTAIL HISTORY

As the story goes, the cocktail was invented in 1919 at the Bar Cassoni* in Florence, Italy by bartender Fosco Scarselli. He created it for a regular patron, Count Camillo Negroni, who customarily ordered an Americano cocktail—Campari, sweet vermouth, and soda water.

The count asked Scarselli to strengthen his cocktail, so he replaced the soda water with gin. He also added an orange peel garnish instead of the traditional lemon to distinguish it from the original Americano.

And he presented it to his client with the greatest honor a bartender can bestow: He bestowed the name “Negroni” on the new cocktail.

The cocktail—a balance of bitter, sweet, and botanical flavors—took off, and family member Sir Guglielmo Negroni seized the opportunity, quickly founding Negroni Antica Distilleria in the city of Treviso, producing Antico Negroni (photo #3), a ready-to-drink bottle of the cocktail.

However, the cocktail was unknown in the U.S. until 1947 when Orson Welles, working in Rome, wrote about it, creating a rush to try it.

But it didn’t remain prominent in American cocktail culture until the craft cocktail renaissance of the 2000s. By the 2010s, it had become a symbol of sophisticated drinking and has become popular worldwide, inspiring countless variations (photo #4).

> Here’s a recipe for a Balsamic Negroni.
 
 
RECIPE: THE CLASSIC NEGRONI COCKTAIL

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE ingredients in a shaker with ice.

2. STRAIN into chilled coupe or serve over ice in a chilled rocks glass. Garnish and serve.
 
 

[5] Negroni Week, in September, encourages you to enjoy one on the patio or balcony (photo © Daniel Kelleghan | Campari Group).
 
_____________________

*Bar Cassoni became Caffè Casoni and is now called Caffè Cavalli.
 
 

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If you haven’t been getting your recommended portions of fruits and vegetables*, how about starting your day with a breakfast salad? You can have one of these fruit-based salads with your regular breakfast foods—cereal, eggs, a bagel—or with a side of cottage cheese, ricotta and/or yogurt.

This recipe comes from Lynn’s Paradise Café, Louisville, Kentucky and was sent to us by the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council.

 
> Find more blueberry recipes at the Blueberry Council.
 
 
RECIPE: BREAKFAST FRUIT SALAD

Ingredients For 8 Servings

 
Preparation

1. TOSS salad greens with 1½ cups of blueberry vinaigrette (recipe below).

2. DIVIDE the dressed greens among eight large plates. Arrange ½ cup orange sections and ½ cup blueberries on top of each salad

3. SPRINKLE each salad with ¼ cup granola. Drizzle remaining dressing on top. Serve immediately.
 
 
RECIPE: BLUEBERRY VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE ingredients in a food processor. Process until mixture is smooth.

2. CHILL at least 30 minutes to blend flavors. Yield: 2 cups.

[1] Breakfast salad (photo © Blueberry Council).

[2] Blueberries growing on the bush (photo © Blueberry Council).

[3] Granola (photo © Good Eggs)

*It used to be “five a day,” but now the government bases the portions on calorie needs for your age, gender and activity level. Calculate your portions with this Fruit and Vegetable Calculator from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.

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Tater Tots are so beloved that the term is used generically, although it’s a trademark of Ore-Ida, which invented the little potato bites in 1953. (The story is below.)

Everyone else can call them “potato tots.” These days, chefs reaching back to childhood are serving fresh-from-scratch versions.

This variation, Baked Potato Tots, comes to us courtesy of PotatoGoodness.com and the blog, Mele Cotte. Prep time is 25 minutes, cook time is 1 hour 20 minutes and ready time is 1 hour 45 minutes.
 
 
BAKED POTATO TOTS RECIPE

Ingredients For 3 Servings

A baked variation of the iconic Tater Tots (photo © PotatoGoodness.com).

1. PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. SCRUB potatoes with a brush under running water; dry them off. Pierce each potato with a fork to prevent exploding. Bake the potatoes for about 1 hour, or until they are cooked through. When cool enough to handle but still hot, cut the potatoes in half and scoop the pulp out of the skins.

3. RUN the potatoes through a ricer or food mill into a medium bowl. With a wooden spoon or spatula, stir in yogurt and 1 tablespoon of the cheese. Add ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and stir just until blended.

4. PLACE breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl or pie tin. Stir in remaining ½ tablespoon cheese, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and Italian seasoning.

5. USING a small scoop, form potato mixture into rounds that resemble a large marble or gumball. Roll in breadcrumbs, shaping the potato into a tot as you roll. Place each tot on a baking sheet 1 inch apart. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping over halfway through baking. Check after 20 minutes and continue to bake until browned and crisp. Serve hot.

MORE POTATO TOT RECIPES

 
 
ABOUT TATER TOTS

Tater Tots are an American side dish made from deep-fried, grated potatoes. They are miniature croquettes: crisp little cylinders of hash brown-style potatoes. Tater is American dialect for potato, and “tots” came from their small size.

Although the name may seem generic, Tater Tots is a registered trademark of Ore-Ida. Tater Tots were created in 1953 when Ore-Ida founders, brothers F. Nephi Grigg and Golden Grigg, were considering what to do with leftover slivers of cut-up potatoes from their signature French fries.

They chopped them up, mixed them with flour and seasonings, and pushed logs of the grated/mashed potato mixture through a form, slicing off and frying small pieces. The Ore-Ida brand was acquired by H. J. Heinz Company in 1965.

Check out the different potato types in our Potato Glossary.
 
 

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