The Spirit World

I may have suggested in some post or comment somewhere that this week’s Happy Hour at Home would be about coffee - Spanish Coffee to be exact. However, we’ve had so much discussion about coffee liqueur over the last few days that I decided to give you a taste of something different. I’ll get back to Spanish Coffee in a week or two…

The Holiday Starr is a cocktail that I created a few years ago. I don’t know about you, but when winter hits and Satsumas are available I go crazy! I love the little guys and buy boxes and boxes of them while they are in season. Well, this inevitably means that at some point I need to use them up fast as I didn’t quite eat them as fast as I thought I would. So, finding myself in that situation I suddenly was inspired to see what I could do with the juice.

This cocktail has become an annual favorite. I especially like them sitting in a hot tub at Whistler, after a day of skiing. The crisp, refreshing drink hits the spot as you are soaking the aches and pains of the day away! If I’m making just one or two drinks I’ll use lime juice and a teaspoon or so of superfine sugar for each cocktail. When making up batches of them I prefer to use the homemade sweet and sour. The taste is very close to the same and it’s easier to crank a bunch out quickly since you can make the sweet and sour a day or two before.

The reason they are called “Starr” has to do with my name. I’m never sure if this is good or bad but my Mom sort of named me after Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter…

Here you go!

Holiday Starr

1 ½ oz Vodka
1 ½ oz Fresh lime sweet and sour (see recipe below)
½ - ¾ oz Fresh squeezed Satsuma juice or other tangerine juice

Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake until very cold. Strain into chilled martini glass.

Lime Sweet and Sour

Mix:
1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (I like mine tart so I use a generous cup)
1 cup simple syrup (recipe follows)

Keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. (However, it’s best when used within a day or so.)

Substitute lemon for the lime to make lemon sweet and sour or ½ lemon and ½ lime for “regular” sweet and sour.

Simple Syrup

4 cups water
4 cups sugar

Bring to boil over medium heat. Boil gently for 2 minutes. Cool and then store at room temperature until needed. Keeps indefinitely.

To go along with these cocktails I recently came across the best sounding appetizer in the February 2006 edition of Food and Wine magazine. I haven’t tried it yet, but just by looking at the ingredients and instructions I know it will be good!

Brioche Crab Melts

By Vitaly Paley, the chef and owner of Paley’s Place

8 small, round brioche or buttery dinner rolls, split crosswise
6 tablespoons truffle butter or unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 Granny Smith apple—quartered lengthwise, cored and thinly sliced crosswise
Several dashes of hot sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over
1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyère cheese

Preheat the broiler. Spread the cut sides of the brioche with the truffle butter and set on a baking sheet, cut sides up. Broil the rolls 6 inches from the heat, until toasted. Reduce the oven temperature to 400°.

In a large bowl, mix the mayonnaise, red onion, parsley, lime juice, apple and hot sauce and season with salt and pepper. Fold in the crabmeat.

Set the top halves of the rolls aside. Top the bottoms with the crab salad and sprinkle with the Gruyère. Bake in the upper third of the oven until the cheese is melted. Close the crab melts and serve.

MAKE AHEAD: The crab salad can be refrigerated overnight