French 75

For ➊ cocktail
6 cl London dry gin or cognac or brandy
1 ts superfine sugar or 1.5 cl simple syrup
1.5 cl lemon juice
15 cl brut champagne or a good sparkling wine

Fill ½ a chilled shaker with cracked ice. Shake well. Then strain into a Collins glass half-full of cracked ice and top off with champagne.

Named after the 75-millimeter M1897, a light gun with a vicious rate of fire, the mainstay of the French field artillery in World War I. The drink was created in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris, later Harry's New York Bar, by barman Harry MacElhone. The French 75, or Soixante-quinze was popularized in America at the Stork Club in New York.
(Some stories claim it was invented for the fighter pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille, made up of French and American aces. The story goes that they began toasting their fallen comrades with champagne but soon started to fortify the drink with something more potent. Lacking whiskey, the Americans opted for the more readily accessible Cognac. Others argue the drink was instead invented by the British who during World War I received a daily gin ration and began adding it to the locally available Champagne. This gin version is the recipe that first appeared in print, and is the best known French 75 recipe.)
The version with cognac with brandy or cognac yields a King's Peg, although often recipes for these omit the lemon and sugar.
You can use a champagne flute for esthetics.
Drawing by Jacques Tardi in 'Putain de guerre'.

Gambas al ajillo (Spanish garlic shrimp tapa)

For ➍
500 g (25) shrimps, peeled or not  **
4 large cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 ts sweet Spanish paprika
1 ts red pepper flakes
7 cl cognac (or dry sherry)
12 cl virgin olive oil
3 ts chopped fresh parsley
1 lemon for juice
1 fresh baguette, sliced

In a sauté pan or heavy frying pan, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for about one minute or until they just begin to brown. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
Raise the heat to high. Add the shrimp, lemon juice, sherry or cognac and paprika. Stir well, then sauté, stirring briskly until the shrimp turn pink and curl, about 3 m.
Remove from heat and transfer shrimp with oil and sauce to a warm plate or serve right from the pan. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with fresh bread.

*If preparing for a main course, double the recipe.
**If using frozen shrimp, rinse under cold water and pat dry. Allow for a longer cooking time for shrimp that are not completely thawed, and to cook thoroughly.

Try shrimps & garlic @ microwave, a similar Spanish recipe or the Italian version.

Gambas al ajillo (Spanish shrimps with garlic)

For ➍
5 cl olive oil
10 cloves of garlic
2 dried peppers, or 1 tbs pepper flakes
500 g shrimp
1 tbs cognac
handful of garlic sprouts*
salt & pepper

Add the oil, garlic and chili pepper to a sauté pan. Heat over medium high heat until the garlic is fragrant and the oil has turned slightly red.

Turn up the heat to high, then add the shrimp in a single layer. Fry until cooked on one side, then flip and fry on the other. Add the cognac and garlic sprouts* and stir fry. Salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer to a bowl and serve immediately with pitta or crusty bread.

Shrimp and garlic are a classic combination all over the world, from this tapas to the French crevettes à l'ail or the Japanese izakaya snack over the interpretations in each South-Eastern Asian cuisine. Try the American-Italian fusion shrimp scampi, the Italian gamberi all'aglio, or more elaborate dishes like cavatelli con gamberi all'aglio fresco. Try the quick microwave prawns & garlic.

Crayfish & endives @ microwave

For ➊
175 g cleaned fresh crayfish*/***
15 g butter
1½ tbs cognac
3 tbs cream
6 leaves of endives**
salt & pepper

Melt the butter in 45 s on high. Add the crayfish for 2 m on high.***

Put the crayfish apart. Add salt and pepper, cognac and cream to the butter. Heat 4 m on high.

Add crayfish and endives to the sauce and heat for 30 s on high.

Serve with a slice of lemon and fresh toast. Or serve small portions as an appetizer.

*You can use tiger prawns instead.
**You can use Roman lettuce instead.
***You can use pre-cooked crayfish instead. Omit the baking.