cincinnati cocktail quest: the blood and sand

with my bloody mary quest well underway, i can now focus on other tasty adult beverages. my new holy grail of cocktails is the blood and sand. what is the blood and sand, you ask? as well you should, since if you have not had one you are missing out on one of life's great pleasures, right up there with winning the lottery or finding out it isn't cancer after all.

wikipedia to the rescue:

Blood and Sand is a scotch based cocktail introduced in 1922. The red juice of the blood orange in the drink helped link it with the recently released film the cocktail was named after, Rudolph Valentino's bullfighter movie Blood and Sand. The recipe first appeared in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book.

Blood and Sand

Primary alcohol by volume
* Scotch whisky
* Vermouth

Served: Straight up; without ice

Standard garnish: Maraschino cherry, Flamed orange zest

Standard drinkware: cocktail glass / collins glass

Commonly used ingredients
* 1 oz blended scotch
* 1 oz blood orange juice
* ¾ oz sweet vermouth
* ¾ oz Cherry Heering

Preparation: Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes. Shake well. Strain into Cocktail glass. Flame orange zest over the top of the glass.

Notes: A variant is to combine all ingredients in a collins glass, add another splash of orange juice then flame the zest over it.

i discovered this life alteringly delicious drink in chicago over new year's. lavine and i were gorging ourselves on the gluttonous gustatory riches of longman & eagle when i overheard a girl next to me practically trading away her future first born child in an effort to persuade the bartender to make her a blood and sand. after she got the drink (which involved melting the oil of an orange peel out of the orange peel and into the drink) she started moaning and flailing like a quaker in a jesus filled ecstasy.

we took one look at that display and the facts that it was 2 pm, that we had already had 3 cocktails each, and that we were on our way to see black swan all went down the toilet. we had to have that drink. it was just as good as we hoped. the fact that it has cherry liqueur in it makes it over the top because cherry is my absolute favorite fruit and it's pretty much impossible to get a delicious, not overly sweet, cherry flavored cocktail.

at the new year's party the next night, my friend marc tried to make the drink and while i applaud his efforts, it just didn't come out nearly as good. but at least in chicago you can get it at bars. i haven't seen it anywhere on any cocktail menu in cincinnati. which isn't to say that there aren't good bartenders who know how to make it, but it just makes me wonder if anyone really knows how to do it right. the wise one (cherry infused woodford reserve + simple syrup + fresh lemon juice + fresh sage) at the bar at palm court is extremely delicious and hits the cherry spot, but it is not the same.

readers, i need this drink in my life. has anyone seen it around town? please help a lush in need.

600 miles for some brown rice and vegetables... well sort of

i just got back from a long weekend in new york for my law school reunion and my friend christine's baby shower. normally i have a long list of things to eat in new york but this time i had so many non-food plans that i decided not to try to kill myself with a food list too. there was only one meal i had to have...

that's right suckers, it's the stir fried vegetables with tahini dressing at dojo. laugh away, food snobs. i seriously crave this shit constantly. dreaming of a meal for five years and then having it be just as good as you remembered = one of life's great pleasures.

me and the adorable mom to be, reliving our younger and drunker days

the reunion was at the waldorf astoria... this was just one of many dessert tables. they don't fuck around. i of course was so focused on the drinks that i forgot to eat any of this.

dinner and a ridiculous number of mojitos at boca chica = a requirement for any trip to new york

i also ate this delicious brunch at telepan

limited run return engagement... back to new orleans

because posting them all up on facebook hasn't fully satisfied my urge to smother the internet with new orleans food pictures, here are some snapshots from last week which i spent there. (read about my first trip there here). i went down there for training and ended up having one of the most awesome weeks i have had in a long time... good weather, amazing food, way too much alcohol, awesome friends, unexpected adventures, and on top of all that the training turned out to be one of the best i've ever been to.

i'm nostalgic and depressed over the gray monotony that is cincinnati and i am trying to take my mind off of worrying about a custody trial i have tomorrow* so let's relive last week in food.

shrimp and crawfish poboys at johnny's

beignets at cafe du monde

praline bacon at elizabeth's

literally, not shitting you, the absolute best biscuit in the entire world, also at elizabeth's

gumbo at stanley

muffaletta at napoleon house

turtle soup at commander's palace

cochon at cochon

not pictured: some of the best fried chicken in the entire world at coop's place and an oh my god i fucking died and went to beef heaven burger at yo mama's, and probably a bunch of other things i'm forgetting.

*yes i'm a lawyer. fuck it, i don't give a shit about anonymity anymore. have at me stalkers.

florida vacation

cousin brian* and i took a trip to ft. lauderdale where we laid on the beach or at the pool all week. it was nice and relaxing. we also ate some good food. here are pictures.

we went grocery shopping so we would not eat out too much

i tried to make grilled cheeses but i was drunk and burned them. we put easy cheese on it to mask the burned taste. not my most shining culinary moment but damn that tasted good after 2 bottles of wine...

here is a picture of a meal that turned out a little better

we went to miami to see andy and diego and we ate at a brazilian place where i had moqueca de peixe... yummy

apparently the oil leak has not yet hit ft. lauderdale

coconut panna cotta with orange and pineapple sauce... this was the most refreshing and delicious dessert

we found some good new york style pizza

fresh, simple, amazing peruvian ceviche

i finally got some more lusted-after oysters

some hot meat... and two steaks

we had sushi on our last night in florida and it was damn good

oh yeah we also went to the beach

i know i am really from cincinnati now because the first thing we ate when we got home was skyline

*not actually my cousin

red coat tavern

while i was in michigan over the holidays, my sister made a pretty serious proclamation. "i know a place that has the best burger in michigan." clearly i could not just let that one slide and demanded that she take me there. a short ride on 275 and there we were... red coat tavern.

the place was hilarious and... red. i read some reviews online and one angsty eater claimed it was "too red" for him to enjoy his meal. i found it to be a high, but acceptable, degree of red.

enough about the lighting... let's get to the food. they have an impressive menu that includes a scotch egg, a cuban sandwich, and two different seafood chowders. but we were there for the burger. you get your pick of toppings including onions which can be raw, grilled, burned, or caramelized.

there are about 10 cheese options and gruyere is one of them. smoked gouda is another. you can get "zip sauce" which is a reduction of au jus and butter. hi, my name is liz and i have died and gone to sauce heaven. and what about the bun? do you prefer brioche, an onion roll, grilled rye? or maybe something else? they have it. don't like lettuce? well how about watercress instead? the options were out of control.

we all got the burgers and we shared sides of onion rings and fries. the burger was everything it was supposed to be. huge (1/2 lb.), perfectly cooked (i asked for, and got, medium rare), delicious. the ingredients and toppings were top quality. there was a long wait but once i got my food i found myself completely unable to care.

another point worth mentioning is the beer selection. the back of the huge menu has a ridiculously long list of beers from all over the world. you could go there for a year and not try every beer (well maybe you could).

service was friendly. bellies were stuffed. taste buds were sated. best burger promises were fulfilled.

my thanksgiving in pictures

i am too lazy to blog lately so i am going to try doing things 5chw4r7z-style and just throw up some pretty pictures. he is winning awards and i am basically tanking as a blogger so i figure i can't lose. if nothing else, maybe i will get some more creepy japanese porn links in the comments.