Modern gimlet

For ➊
6 cl gin
1 cl lime juice*
1 cl simple syrup (1:1, sugar:water)
lime wheel for garnish

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker.
Add ice and shake until chilled.
Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass. (Add a splash of soda, if wanted).
Garnish with a lime wheel.

*Before fresh juice was standard in cocktails, Rose’s Lime Cordial was the traditional substitute for simple syrup and lime juice. Some still insist that a gimlet is not a gimlet without Rose’s, but we prefer to use fresh citrus whenever possible.

This cocktail was created for English sailors as a way to prevent scurvy. It used Rose’s Lime Cordial, lime juice mixed with syrup, to add vitamine C. This preventative drink turned out to be delicious as well. Modern Rose’s Lime Cordial is a much sweeter concoction than the original and should be replaced by fresh juice. Replace the sugar in the syrup with stevia, if wanted.

Marinated orange carpaccio & Aperol granita

For ➍
8 oranges, 4 for serving
2 tbs pistachios, minced
fresh mint
granita:
2.5 dl Aperol
2.5 dl water
200 g sugar
zest of 1 orange
marinade:
2 dl fresh orange juice
50 g sugar
½ vanilla pod
½ ts pink peppercorns
1 quill cinnamon
1 star anise
lemon peel & orange zest for decoration

Prepare the granita the day before. Bring the water and sugar to a boil. Let this syrup cool. Dilute 2.5 dl Aperol and add 2.5 dl syrup. Finish with orange peel and mix carefully. Pour into the ice cube tray and freeze for 12 h.*
For the marinade: bring all ingredients to a boil and let cool in the fridge.
Peel 1 orange per person, cut into thin slices and arrange on a freezer cooled deep plate.
Pour a little marinade over it. Decorate with mint and minced pistachios.
Just before serving, place a scoop (or a nice ball) of granita* over it.

*To make the granita ready for serving, mix lightly in a food processor. Continue with a fork.
The traditional method is to freeze the liquid for 2 h, or until the mixture is frozen around the edges. With a fork, draw ice from the edges towards the centre. Return to the freezer, and then repeat this process about 3-4 times, every 30 m, or until all of the granita mixture is formed of ice crystals. Serve immediately.

Paloma

For ➊ drink
4.5 cl reposado tequila (or any good quality blanco)
juice of half a ruby grapefruit
1.5 cl of agave syrup or sugar syrup*
7.5 cl club soda
a squirt of fresh lime juice (optional)

Pour some kosher salt on a plate. Rub half of rim of a highball glass with grapefruit wedge; dip rim of glass in salt..
Mix the grapefruit juice, tequila and sugar syrup until well mixed.
Pour over a tall glass filled with ice and top up with soda water. You could add a squirt of lime juice. And rim the glass with salt.**

*To reduce your sugar intake, simply leave the sugar out. It's less sweet but delicious.
**Combine grapefruit juice, lime juice, and sugar in glass; stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in mescal, add ice, and top off with club soda. Garnish with grapefruit wedge.
***Replace the fresh grapefruit and soda with sparkling grapefruit lemonade.
***Or have a related Margarita.

Little is known about the historical origin of the Paloma, the most popular tequila-based cocktail in Mexico. Some believe that it is named after La Paloma ('The Dove'), the popular folk song composed in the early 1860s. Diffords guide states it was created by the legendary Don Javier Delgado Corona, owner and bartender of La Capilla, in Tequila, Mexico.
More Paloma recipes @ https://www.liquor.com/slideshows/paloma/#gs.PclY1XI

Margarita

For ➊ drink
9-12 cl fresh squeezed lime juice
3 cl Cointreau, triple sec or another orange liqueur
4.5 cl oz Blanco tequila
kosher salt (optional)
lime wheel
Glass: Cocktail or rocks

Add the ingredients to a shaker filled with ice and shake.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or rocks glass filled with fresh ice.
Garnish with a lime wheel.
For a slightly sweeter drink, add a dash of agave syrup (one part water, two parts agave nectar) before shaking. Or replace the Cointreau with it.

*Do another version, try 6 cl tequila, 3 cl lime juice, 3 cl agave syrup (1 part water/ 1 part agave nectar)
**Or have a related Paloma.

A very fino martini

For ➊
4 cl Bombay gin*
0.5 cl fino sherry

Stir gin and sherry over ice-cubes in a mixing glass.
Strain the drink (without ice!) into a pre-cooled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

*Optionally, replace gin with top vodka.
**Some recipes recommend 4 cl gin  + 2 cl manzanilla or fino

Faisan à la gueuze et mousse de poireaux (pheasant with gueuze & leeks mousse)

For ➍
2 pheasants 700 g
4 tbs olive oil
40 g butter
15 cl cream
250 g fresh walnuts
5 cl gin
25 cl gueuze
salt, pepper
leek mousse

Blanch the nuts to remove the skin.
Clear the skin of the pheasant near the head and insert a finger to lift the skin up to the thigh. Push a little cream between the skin and the meat. Rub gently to spread the cream and close with a toothpick. Put a knob of salted butter in the belly and close with a toothpick.
Bind the legs, rub oil on the pheasants. Sauté in a pan with a little oil.
When pheasants are browned add the nuts and mix. Heat gin and blaze the pheasants.
Pour the gueuze over the fowl. Cook covered over low heat for 30 m.
Reduce the cooking juices and whisk in the butter.
Cut the white meat of the pheasants into 2 mm slices.
To serve, put leeks mousse on a plate, pour a little of the leek cooking juices around it. Put some slices of the pheasant on the mousse.
Pour the pheasants' sauce on the meat. Decorate with nuts.
In second service serve pheasant thighs with fried mushrooms with garlic and a little green salad.

Bob Dylan's finest mint julep

For ➊ drink
6 tbs Bourbon whiskey
1 tbs powder sugar
4 mint sprigs
1 tbs water

A traditional way to make a julep is to bruise the mint leaves, and put them in a glass with sugar, and add ice and bourbon. Bob Dylan described in his Theme Time Radio Hour how to make, by his preferences, a perfect mint julep:
“First up, you take four mint sprigs, two and a half ounces of bourbon. I'd put three. A table spoon of powder sugar, and a table spoon of water. You put the mint leaves, powder sugar and water in a Collins glass. You fill the glass with shaved, or crushed ice, and then add bourbon. Top that off with more ice. And... I'd like to garnish that with a mint sprig. Serve it with a straw. Two or three of those, and anything sounds good."

Read more Bob Dylan suggestions: Bob Dylan's perfect meatballs.

Mint julep

For ➊ drink
10 cl good Bourbon whiskey*
5 cl (4 tbs) white mint syrup**
6 tbs crushed ice
fresh mint sprig to garnish

Put a deep glass*** in the freezer for 30 m or more. When frosted, take them out by the edges with a towel.
Fill with crushed ice. Pour in mint syrup*, then bourbon.
Serve with a fresh sprig of mint and a short straw, peeping just above the rim.

*Or Tennessee sour mash.
**Avoid syrups that are too sweet, or that contain artificial colouring or flavours.
Or make your own fresh mint syrup.
Or use another method: see Bob Dylan's finest mint julep.
***Silver goblets may be used to great effect.

Mint juleps were developed in the 18th century in the Eastern American states like Virginia, but have now become a traditional Southern drink, due to the bourbon or sour mash used to make it. Mint juleps show up in popular culture, with several songs about it, including the great One Mint Julep by the Clovers, also a big hit for Ray Charles about the disastrous combination of just 1 mint julep & just 1 bad woman.
The julep uses a similar mixing method as the mojito. The word 'julep' is derived from Arabic 'julab' and Persian 'gulab', meaning 'rosewater'.
Read more on mint drinks: quick mint cider.

Old-Fashioned

For ➊ cocktail
1 sugar cube (or ½ ts loose sugar)*
3 dashes Angostura bitters
club soda
6 cl rye whisky or Bourbon

Place the sugar cube (or ½ ts loose sugar) in an old-fashioned glass.
Wet it down with 2 or 3 dashes of Angostura bitters and a short splash of water or club soda. Crush the sugar.
Rotate the glass so that the sugar grains and bitters give it a lining. Add a large ice cube. Pour in the rye (or bourbon).
Serve with a stirring rod.

*Or use simple syrup (¼ to ¾ whiskey).

The Old-Fashioned is the ur-cocktail, dating from the early 19th century. A 'cock tail' was a morning drink made up of a little water, a little sugar, a lot of liquor, and a couple splashes of bitters. Freeze the water, make it with whiskey, and you have an Old-Fashioned. The 60's variation, with a cherry and orange peel was revived with the 'Mad Men' television series.
The Jack Daniel's bourbon variation: gently muddle orange peel, cherry, 1.5 cl sugar syrup and 4 dashes of bitters in an old-fashioned glass. Optionally, add a Maraschino cherry. Add ice and stir in part of the JD Single Barrel bourbon until it dilutes. Keep adding Single Barrel and ice. Garnish with orange peel.
It could also be made with Dutch or Belgian jenever or rum.

Montezuma chocolate cocktail

For ➋ (large)- ➍(medium)
60 cl milk
75 g plain chocolate
pinch allspice
pinch powdered ginger
1 tbs honey
7.5 cl rum
5 cl eau de vie de marc or brandy
rind ½ lemon, grated

Heat the milk gently with the chocolate, spices and honey.  When the chocolate has melted, leave to cool. Pour the milk into a cocktail shaker, add rum and brandy/eau de vie de marc, and grated lemon rind. Shake well.
Refrigerate.*
Shake again before serving.

*Serve it warm, without cooling. Don't shake,but blend.

A cold grog variation on Mexican spiced hot cocoa.

Mexican hot chocolate with tequila & cayenne

For ➋ servings
70 cl milk
125 g premium dark chocolate, broken into chunks
6 tbs cocoa
2 tbs cane sugar
⅛-¼ ts cayenne (or paprika)
12 cl tequila (or white rum)
10 cl heavy whipping cream
ground cinnamon for garnish

Warm the milk in a medium size heavy saucepan on medium heat, watching carefully.
Add the chocolate, the cocoa and the sugar.
Heat until the chocolate dissolves, whisking to combine all ingredients.
Season with the cayenne pepper. Start with ⅛ teaspoon and season to your taste.
Pour the warm milk into 2 large mugs and add 2 oz of tequila.
Top with whipped cream. Sprinkle whipping cream with cinnamon.

Zombie cocktail

For ➊
1 measure* dark rum
1 measure* white rum
1 measure* old rum (optional)
½ measure* apricot brandy**
2 measures* pineapple juice
½ measure* lime juice
2 ts powdered sugar***
cocktail cherry & pineapple wedge

Add all the ingredients into a cocktail mixer with ice and shake, then pour into a hurricane glass. Spear the pineapple and cherry onto a cocktail stick and place on the edge of the glass.
Finally add a straw.

*1 measure would be 3 cl.
**Use orange curaçao instead.
***Use a (grenadine or cinnamon) syrup instead.

The Zombie, also known as skull-puncher, is a cocktail with an extremely high alcohol content (1 Zombie equals 3-4 average cocktails, hence the Zombie name). It is made of fruit juices, liqueurs, and various rums. The first recipe seemed to have had 3 different kinds of rum, lime juice, falernum, Angostura bitters, Pernod, grenadine, and a combination of cinnamon syrup and grapefruit juice. It was invented by Donn Beach of Hollywood's Don the Beachcomber restaurant in late 1934. It became popular at the 1939 New York World's Fair. It survived as a trendy cocktail at tiki Hawaiian style parties of the 40's and 50's.

Summer pea soup

For ➍
250 g shelled peas (frozen)
150 g fennel, cut into small pieces, fronds apart
1 small onion, peeled & chopped
1 potato, cubed
50 cl (chicken) stock
1 tbs pastis
2 tbs sour cream
bunch of mint
freshly ground pepper
salt

Fry the onion and potato in a large soup pot. Add the peas and diced fennel.
Add the broth. Simmer for 15 m over medium heat.
Add the mint leaves. Process the soup with a mixer or robot until very fine. Rub the puree through a sieve.
Let the soup cool in the refrigerator.
Before serving, mix the pastis and sour cream into the soup. Garnish with fennel fronds.

Red negroni

For ➊
4 cl gin
4 cl Campari
4 cl sweet (red) vermouth

In a mixing glass, add ingredients and cracked ice. Stir for at least 15 s.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Twist an orange peel and garnish.

The negroni was invented in Florence, Italy in 1919, at Caffè Casoni. Count Negroni invented it by asking the bartender, Fosco Scarselli, to strengthen his favorite cocktail, the americano, by adding gin rather than the normal soda water.
The 'negroni sbagliato' ("wrong negroni" in Italian) uses sparkling wine (e.g., prosecco) instead of gin.
Negroski is a recipe with vodka again as substitute for gin.
Cardinaloski is a negroski with some angostura drops.
Punt e Mes negroni instead replaces standard red vermouth with a specific, distinctively more bitter-tasting brand called Punt e Mes.
The cin cyn uses Cynar an artichoke based liquor, instead of Campari.
Pinkish negroni is made with pink wine (instead of gin).
A raultini is a variation using Aperol instead of Campari, giving its distinctive orange color, lighter alcohol content, and a bit of sweetness.
The most basic variation is served straight up in a martini glass with a splash of carbonated water floating on top of the alcohol mixture and a twist of lemon zest replacing the orange peel, known as the American version.
Other Italian versions substitute spumante brut or vodka for gin. A sparkling negroni is made with champagne or prosecco.

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'.

Orange chocolate martini

For ➊ cocktail
25 cl cold chocolate milk
3 cl of Grand Marnier orange liquor (or vodka) (from the freezer)*

Pour the chocolate milk into a chilled glass then add the Grand Marnier. Stir to combine.
Serve.

*For a more potent drink, use 3 cl of vodka and 3 cl of Grand Marnier.

Redfish with fennel & pastis

For ➍
4 redfish fillets*
2 fennel bulbs
1 onion, coarsely chopped
5 cl/ 3 tbs olive oil
1 lime, sliced
parsley to taste, finely chopped
chervil to taste, finely chopped
basil to taste, finely chopped
coriander to taste, finely chopped
4 tbs pastis

Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Wash the fennel and remove the outer leaves. Cut the fennel into strips.
Sauté the onion and fennel briefly in the olive oil and toss them in a baking dish.
Season the redfish fillets with salt and pepper and put on the vegetables. Drizzle a little olive oil. Put a few slices of lime on the fish. Put the baking dish in the oven for 20 m.
Meanwhile, chop the parsley, chervil, basil and coriander.
Take the dish from the oven, pour the pastis on the redfish and sprinkle with green herbs.

*Dutch: roodbaars

Pollo Marsala (chicken Marsala)

For ➍
2 boneless chicken breasts with skin, halved***
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 onion, sliced thin
200 g mushrooms, sliced thinly
10 cl (dry) Marsala*
20 cl chicken broth**
2 tbs fresh parsley leaves, minced

Pat chicken dry. Season with salt and pepper. In a large heavy skillet heat oil and 1 ½ tbs of butter over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Brown chicken in 2 batches, transferring with tongs to a large plate as browned.
Discard all but 1 tbs fat from skillet and sauté onion and mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until the liquid from the mushrooms is evaporated. Add Marsala* and cook mixture, stirring, until Marsala is almost evaporated. Add broth** and chicken with any juices that have accumulated on plate and simmer, turning chicken once, until cooked through, about 15 m. Transfer chicken with tongs to a platter.
Simmer mushroom sauce until liquid is reduced to about 10 cl. Remove skillet from heat and stir in ½ tbs of butter***. Salt and pepper to taste, stirring until butter*** is just incorporated. Spoon mushroom sauce around chicken and sprinkle with parsley.
Serve with fresh egg pasta, or with a fresh green salad or aspargus in season. And a glass of spicy white wine, or a fresh red Sicilian wine.

*Replace broth and Marsala with 20 cl Marsala and 10 cl dry sherry.
**Replace ⅓ of the Marsala with dry sherry or crisp white wine to cut the sweetness.
***Replace butter with heavy cream for a thicker, creamier sauce.
****Replace chicken with thin veal or even pork.

Marsala is a fortified wine from the Sicilian city of Marsala, similar to port. It was developed by the British trader John Woodhouse in the late 18th century. Being fortified, it could easily be transported to England and the colonies. It became popular as a cooking wine in, because it could be stored open for a longer time than other wines. Chicken Marsala is much more an American favourite than an original Italian dish.
Picture shows an ad from Ingham Marsala wine.
Read the chicken cooking tip.

Hot Tennessee toddy

For ➊
1 part (3 cl) Bourbon
1 tbs honey
1 cinnamon stick
1 squeeze of fresh lemon juice
boiling water

Pour the Bourbon into a heavy mug.
Add 1 tbs spoonful of honey, cinnamon stick and lemon juice.
Top with boiling water and stir.
Drink before going to sleep.

A toddy is a traditional drink in North England, mixing whisky with hot water or milk and some spices, meant to cure a cold. The name might have been derived from a Scottish nickname for whiskey. The American versions mostly use Bourbon, or, as in Wisconsin,  brandy. Sometimes the water is replaced by ginger ale, omitting the cinnamon. This is the version preferred by Tennessee whiskey distiller Jack Daniels.

Spritz (Italian light cocktail)

For ➊
3 parts  white wine, sparkling wine like prosecco or spumante preferred, cooled
2 parts  aperitivo like Aperol (or Campari for a more bitter taste), cooled
2 parts  selzer or soda water, cooled
a slice of orange (or lemon when using a strong aperitivo)
some ice

Pour the wine and the aperitivo in a tumbler or stemmed wine glass. Add sparkling water (from a syphon if available). Add some ice and a slice of orange.

Serve with small bites of Italian snacks.

When Austria reigned the North of Italy, they developed a habit of diluting the wine with water, called 'Spritzer'. Italians rethought the formula by adding a bitter aperitivo to (sparkling) white wine, and tipping it with a splash of sparkling water, hence the Austrian name 'Spritz' or 'injection'. The typical Venetian spritz has 3 equal parts of each ingredient, other recipes tend to use 40% of wine, and 30% each of water and aperitivo. When using a sparkling wine and a low alcoholic aperitivo like Aperol, you can omit the sparkling water or limit it to a splash, 6 cl wine, 4 cl Aperol, splash of soda, the classic recipe of Aperol since 1950.
Normally, a red/orange aperitivo is used, but it can be replaced by others, like Cynar, or even the  orange-based curaçao blue (resulting in a blue cocktail).