Cocktail Hour, a webcomic by Scraps

Most people who have encountered Irish Cream liqueur have done so favorably and come away fans. While it does well as a single spirit, over ice or neat, it also pairs with a whole laundry list of others. There are some notable exceptions, however: like the lime juice that tops it in a Cement Mixer and, from personal experiments, strawberry liqueur–the consistency is, well, they call it a Cement Mixer for a reason. Blech!

Back to happier combos! Vodka seems to pair especially well with this spirit and, of course, anything chocolate or coffee. If you treat it as cream with a kick, you can hardly go wrong! This is what gets us such gems as the B52 and the Mudslide, but the cocktail I want to bring you today is a little newer, to me anyway, and with my own twist (mostly due to substitutions to match my current inventory of alcohol). Based on the cocktail known as the Oreo Cookie, I now present to you

The CHF Double-Stuff

1 oz Vanilla Vodka
1 oz Coffee liqueur
1 oz Irish Cream liqueur
1 oz Chocolate liqueur

Combine in a cocktail shaker over ice and then pour into a chilled glass. Makes 1 large cocktail or 2 double shots; after all, it’s good to share!

My love affair with the vanilla vodka continues, as you can see, and my other substitution was Godiva liqueur for creme de cacao. Creme de cacao, from my quickie research, is a lighter chocolate liqueur with a touch of vanilla, so my substitutions seemed incredibly logical. The first sip, according to my co-taster, was very chocolate but then leveled out whereas I got more of the Kahlua and Irish cream. It probably depends on the individual taste buds involved but we both agreed that it blends and mellows with each sip.

While it’s certainly no substitute for a real cookie, it’s a nice treat when you’re not actually hungry but craving something sweet.

It’s tough to cook much without a good knife, that’s just the way things are. And, in a lot of ways, it’s true: you get what you pay for. But sometimes, just sometimes, you get more than you expected.

When I was in School, along with uniforms and books, part of our fees went towards a rather spiffy knife kit. Included in this kit, obviously, was a very serious chef’s knife. And in this case, very serious translates to pretty big and heavy. Now, it’s true that women are making serious inroads into the professional kitchen arena but many things continue to default to male. Take chef’s jackets, for one: they look great on a man, second only to a double-breasted suit, probably, but on most women they need serious tailoring to be anything close to flattering. Chef’s knives, by and large, are made for men’s hands and I have tiny, girly hands, so using that knife for 2 years, straight, meant plenty of blisters.

Now, sure, I could have gone out and bought a smaller knife, we even had a specialty cookware store in town that carried some real beauties. But, as much as I wanted to stand out to my instructors (and I did, make no mistake) that wasn’t the way I wanted to do it. Call it stubborn, but I stuck it out with that massive knife and I still use it on big jobs at home because it is such a workhorse, even if it still hurts my hand.

Of course, part of that is because of how we were taught to hold the knife. While most people, myself included, would just hold it by the handle, that’s actually NOT the best way to work a blade. Think about it: a knife like this is 2/3 blade and 1/3 handle. Even though the manufacturer does an excellent job of balancing the two parts, it’s still uneven and if you hold the knife by the handle alone you don’t have as much control as when you place your thumb and first joint of your index finger on either sides of the blade and grasp the handle with the remaining 3 fingers. Try it for yourself, with this grip the knife becomes an extension of your arm and weilds greater force.

The idea that bigger, and more expensive, isn’t always better came to a head last year while I was browsing the kitchen-ware section of IKEA. On their wall of tools I saw a cute little utility knife that had the shape of a classic chef’s in a much smaller package. It was all of $7 so I thought I’d give it a try. To my unending surprise, this little mini-chef (as I like to call it) is lightweight, sturdy, comfortable for my little hands and keeps an excellent cutting surface. It’s been my workhorse for a year now and I only wish the nearest IKEA weren’t 4.5 hours away or I’d surely have given more of their knives a test.

About the only downside is the length of the blade when dealing with large veggies, like squash or leeks and the like. The longer blade allows for a good reach and a rocking motion to really power through some produce at top speed. But since this only matters, for me, when I’m prepping a ton of mise en place for a party or holiday dinner, it’s not too big a deal (and it’s not like I got rid of my big knives).

A few more tips from Knife Skills 101

• A falling knife has no handle.
• More accidents happen with dull blades than sharp ones.
• Knife Skills Practical Exam: if you cut yourself, you fail.

Behold, the lowly Jello Shot. Generally relegated to college parties and other youthful excess, they’re a good way to consume quite a bit of alcohol without realizing just how much.

But let’s look at just the Jello for a moment. Gelatin’s been used in a number of quite grown-up recipes for centuries (various meats and veggies in aspic, mousses and the like) and in the mid-20th century became quite the novelty as packaged foods became more popular. Now it’s a subject of a few jokes but mostly a kid’s snack, a low-cal dessert or a safe food for anyone with a delicate tummy.

I’m not a big fan of the jiggly gel, mostly from associating it more with the latter of the common uses. Still, I did make Jello shots a couple years back for a friends birthday party. It seemed like a good idea at the time but, well… they were horrible. I made the egregious mistake of using cherry jello and vodka for half the water and they tasted like cough syrup (though it occurs to me that maybe tasting them is not something one is supposed to do).

But in trying to figure out where I went wrong, I found an absolute trove of recipes for rather inventive, and potentially tasty, jello shots. Probably the most comprehensive collection can be found at the site of the Jellophile.

In honor of today (July 24) being National Tequila Day I thought it would be fitting to try out the idea of the Margarita Jello Shot. We gave it a few tries, with varying amounts of tequila and other ingredients, and found the following to be the most palatable.

Margarita Jello Shot
(scaled down for small-box size)

3 oz box lime jello
1 c boiling water
3.5 oz cold water
.5 oz lime juice
3 oz tequila
1 oz triple sec

Dissolve the lime jello into the boiling water then stir in the other ingredients. Chill until set.

–Posted by Panthur on RecipeZaar

You can mix up the shots in a large measuring glass with a lip and pour into individual cups (paper or plastic, the latter sprayed with a bit of non-stick spray can help), silicone ice molds or just one large container to be cut up post-chill.

You really don’t want to go over a 3:1 ratio of water to tequila… more than 1 part tequila and your treading into cough syrup territory. We noticed that the lime juice became somewhat opaque in suspension, but it wasn’t overly distracting and, contrary to what I’ve read elsewhere, using a gold tequila (I keep Jose Cuervo Especial on the bar so that’s what we used) did not turn the mixture an olive green.

Apart  from the obvious uses as a party shot, I keep thinking back to the days when jello desserts were a staple at pot-lucks or low-key dinners. Looking through an old recipe card file (Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library, circa 1971) I see there’s a Tomato Aspic ring made with lemon jello–how about updating that for a brunch menu with a bloody mary flair? Need a tropical dessert for a summer barbecue: try some pineapple jello combined with spiced rum and coconut milk, perhaps even served in a pineapple boat!

I’m really into certain kitschy foods (fondue, anyone?) and could totally see myself hosting a dinner party of boozy, throw-back food updated only a little. And I really want to try a pina colada jello shot!

Good croutons are like little nuggets of gold, carbohydrate contraband hidden amongst leafy greens and good-for-you veggies. How often, though, have you had fresh croutons or, better yet, made them yourself?

Fresh croutons is actually a bit of a misnomer as the best bread for croutons is bread that’s been around a little bit. Just like French Toast, using day-old or slightly stale bread works because it slurps up moisture that much better. Any sturdy bread will do and you can decide to keep the crusts intact or trim them off.

Cube your bread into 1-inch or so pieces and heat a dry skillet on medium to medium-high. Toss the bread around the skillet for a while, letting it brown on the edges if you want, before drizzling with a good olive oil. Continue to stir or toss the bread around, being careful not to let it burn, adding more oil if there are several cubes left untouched. Sprinkle in some kosher salt, pepper and whatever other seasonings you like just before turning the croutons out of the pan (I’m partial to garlic powder and parsley, myself).

Homemade croutons don’t last very long in my house–whatever doesn’t get used on top of a salad or soup usually gets nibbled away in short order–but you can certainly place any leftovers into a plastic bag or storage container. They will keep for quite a while on the counter but I wouldn’t make them in too big a batch because the oil can turn on you and make the croutons taste ‘off’.

Anyone familiar with Classic French cuisine (a la Escoffier) or just French Onion Soup will be familiar with the larger crouton that is popular as a base or topping for many foods. A slice of baguette, done on the bias, is best for this application, and is treated much the same as the cubed croutons with maybe a bit less tossing involved. Whether floated on top of a rich soup and topped with soon-to-be-melted cheese or as a foundation for shredded beef in sauce or even tuna a la king, a fresh crouton of this nature adds a nice texture to an otherwise smooth dish and a hint of richness from the olive oil.

Now, I know most crouton applications are savory but I like to try and come up with alternatives. You can certainly use butter (clarified is best to avoid burning) for your croutons so why not season them with a bit of cinnamon and sugar and top them with berries and a bit of freshly whipped cream as a dessert? Instead of the cinnamon, what about a bit of nutmeg or even a pinch of cardamom to top a rich rice pudding?

What other interesting ways can you think of to use a good, homemade crouton?