The second installment of Eric Ripert’s Dinner Social event was a holiday cocktail party theme. We were having trouble finding a slot on our calendars and wound up doing a cocktail brunch. What better way to start a day than with some festive cocktails and hors d’ouevres?
photo by Alison
Alison of The Humble Gourmand hosted this time, and prepared the cranberry champagne cocktails, pita and spreads, and lettuce-wrapped beef rolls.
Tiffany of The Garden Apartment made the wonderfully crisp and flavorful cheese straws with cayenne and pistachios, and shrimp and chorizo skewers.
April of The Food Scribe made creamy smoked salmon deviled eggs — with creme fraiche in lieu of mayonnaise — and spiked apple cider.
And I made the portobella mushroom fries with truffled aioli and the ginger-infused bourbon smash. The fries were simple, seasoned with good pecorino and dried thyme, and were definitely addictive. The toddler even enjoyed the leftovers, asking for more when they ran out. I will definitely be making them again soon!
The cocktail called for muddling fresh ginger, lemon slices, and sugar cubes. Instead I made a ginger simple syrup (1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 2-inch peeled piece of fresh ginger, sliced; bring to boil, cover and reduce to low simmer for 10 minutes), then muddled lemons and a little more fresh ginger. I don’t usually like bourbon but I really enjoyed the blend of the smoky liquor with ginger and lemons.
It was a shame we were rushed to get on with our other obligations for the day, but it was a fun time enjoying great food (and photography practice) with friends. If you have a cocktail party on your agenda, check out Chef Ripert’s recipes for some tasty inspiration.
10 responses so far ↓
1 P.Price // Dec 15, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Wow. This makes me really hungry. I love, love, love appetizers.
2 Sarah Jackson // Dec 15, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Wow, really great and beautiful blog! I am this close to a New Year’s resolution of cooking more of my own meals. Blogs like this bring me that much closer;-)
BTW, can I find that bourbon/ginger cocktail recipe anywhere? Looks amazing. (But I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count as a meal at home;-)
-Sarah
3 Tiffany // Dec 17, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Great to see you again, Colleen! Happy Holidays!
4 foodietots
Twitter: foodietots
// Dec 18, 2008 at 1:06 pm
@ Sarah – The original recipe is on AvecEric.com, but here it is with my modifications:
Ginger Bourbon Smash
Adapted from Eric Ripert
Ingredients:
1 ounces ginger simple syrup (see below)
2 ounce bourbon
2 slices lemon
2 slices fresh ginger root
ice
Muddle lemon and ginger in bottom of cocktail shake. Add ginger syrup and bourbon, shake with ice and strain into cocktail glasses over ice cubes. Garnish with lemon peel and sliver of fresh ginger. Enjoy!
Ginger Simple Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2-inch peeled piece of fresh ginger, sliced
Place ingredients in small saucepan and bring to boil. Cover and reduce to low simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and cool.
5 FoodieTots.com » Blog Archive » Treats: Gingered Apple Cider // Dec 31, 2008 at 2:00 am
[…] cup ginger simple syrup (or a peeled chunk of fresh […]
6 Jaime K. Mcdonald // Apr 3, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Alcoholic cocktail recipes
We Finally Made it with the Best Rum Cocktail Recipes
A comprehensive list of the best 8 rum cocktail recipes to liven up any activity. These can also be used to substitute your all time favorite holiday cocktail recipes and fruit cocktail recipes
7 ABRIELLE // Sep 12, 2009 at 11:54 am
Such a usefule blog. thx !!!!
8 Bourbon Bacon Cheeseball // Dec 31, 2011 at 8:45 am
[…] (Click more for the cocktail recipe.) Ginger Bourbon Smash Adapted from Eric Ripert, originally published at FoodieTots […]
9 Champagne With Cheese | Anderson Wine // Jul 31, 2012 at 11:43 pm
[…] before, during or after a meal. I actually used the pecorino and dried thyme in the breading for my portobella fries Sunday, which was a nice blend of […]
10 http://harris72g.wordpress.com // Sep 20, 2014 at 8:17 pm
Hello there, just became alert to your bog thhrough Google,and found that it’s really informative.
I am gonna watch out foor brussels. I will be grateful if you contine thiss in future.
Lots of peole will be benefited from your writing.
Cheers!
Feel free to srf too my webpage; geet to know a local family lawyers in atlanta
(http://harris72g.wordpress.com)