Peanut Butter and Jelly Cocktail

We were first introduced to Skrewball peanut butter whiskey a few months ago, and Ariel became an instant fan. It's basically a sweet peanut liqueur with an intense aroma. Since then, I've been experimenting with it in cocktails. I quickly got the idea to make an homage to peanut butter and jelly, but struggled with what ingredient could emulate the jelly part. Most wine does not retain enough grape flavor to work, but then it occurred to me that there is one wine that does: Manischewitz. Despite the fact that no one seems to actually like it, every Jewish family seems to have a bottle lying around that makes a brief appearance at holidays. They typically sit open and unrefrigerated for years, quietly oxidizing. Do yourself a favor and a get a fresh bottle for this drink. 

I speculated about trying port instead of Manischewitz, which Ariel said would be a waste of port. I might try it with a younger ruby port. Other Concord grape wines, like Mogen David, could also be an option here. To build the rest of the cocktail, I added a lemon peel for a little aroma. This goes a long way to adding some complexity to this otherwise frivolous drink. Use a good cocktail cherry for the garnish and avoid the bright red kind. I used an amarena cherry from Trader Joe's. While this cocktail isn't something I would drink every day, it is quite pleasant. Sometimes two odd ingredients can come together in surprising ways.

The use America's classic kosher wine made this a fun post for Rosh Hashanah. I used the other half of the 9 pound brisket from Passover (it froze very well) to do a roughly doubled version of my recipe from 3 years ago. The leftovers went in the freezer for a future quick and easy meal. Ariel made a potato kugel for the first time, which is basically a huge potato cake. It was a completely new thing for me, and I enjoyed it. It was one of those things that makes you think "how is this going to work?" when it goes into the pan, but came out perfectly. For both the brisket and kugel, I made a big batch of schmaltz. It's been a real pleasure to delve into Ashkenazi traditions and cuisine over the last several years. There's something to be said about a family with three new years. Shana tova!

Irish Coffee

The inspiration for this post came a few weeks ago when I saw the last five minutes of an episode of Blue Bloods. Tom Selleck's character and his glorious moustache were showing his family how to pour the perfect Irish coffee. I had intended to get this one out for St. Patrick's Day, but as you can see, that did not happen. As it turns out, I didn't get it right until my fourth attempt. It seems that the key to this classic cocktail is to beat the cream and add lots of sugar to the coffee. My version is weaker than the International Bartenders' Association standard, using only one shot of whiskey, which to me is quite sufficient. This makes for a very smooth, tasty drink.

Ingredients

• About 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
• 1 shot Irish whiskey
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• Heavy cream

Instructions

Get the coffee started first. You can make this in any way you like. I prefer to use a one-cup French press for its ease of use. I grind up about 15 grams of beans, add those to the beaker, and pour hot water over them. Brew for 5 minutes.

Traditionally, Irish coffee is served in stemmed glass mugs. Since I don't have actual Irish coffee mugs, I used a wine glass instead. Fill the glass with hot tap water to warm it up. Pour cream into a bowl and whisk to thicken. Don't take it all the way to whipped cream. Transfer the cream to a container that's easy to pour from, such as a beaker or measuring cup. I find that the cream is more likely to float if you do this.

Once the coffee is ready, empty the water from the glass. Add the whiskey and coffee, filling up until there is about a half inch from the top of the coffee to the rim of the glass (more if you like extra cream). Add the brown sugar and stir it into the coffee. From what I've read, this is an important step for the floating of the cream, so do this even if you're a black coffee-guzzling Minnesotan.

The last step is the most important for the presentation of the drink. Lower a small spoon, backside-up, into the glass, with the end barely touching the coffee. Slowly pour the cream over the back of the spoon. If all the steps have been done correctly, the cream will float on top. Do not mix it in. The coffee should remain black below, and not clouded with cream. Serve immediately.