Erin go Bragh!

Corned Beef Cabbage Rolls

(Makes 12)
6 Savoy cabbage leaves
1/2 cup stone-ground mustard
2 slices dark rye bread
1/2 lb. corned beef

Trim off the white core at the bottom. Steam cabbage leaves for no more than 2 minutes.  Rinse with cold water and pat dry. Cut leaves in half length-wise.

Cut rye bread and corned beef into strips. Spread mustard onto the bread strips and place corned beef on top. Lay the bread/corned beef section on a half cabbage leaf and roll.

Ideas for optional dips or alterations:

• Dip idea: Mix equal parts mayonnaise and chopped dill
• Dip idea: Mix 1/4 cup sour cream with 3 tbs. prepared horseradish
• Alteration: Leave out the bread for a low-carb appetizer
• Alteration: Don’t steam the cabbage for a crispier treat

Other St. Patrick’s Day party recipes:

Irish Car Bomb cupcakes
Whisky cupcakes
St. Patrick’s Day cocktails
How to pour a perfect Guinness pint
Recipe inspired by The Food Network

This recipe is from Herradura, which is appropriate since it means “horseshoe” in Spanish.

Blue Stampede

1 1/2 ounces Herradura Blanco
2 ounces fresh lime juice
1 ounce agave nectar
1/2 ounce Blue Curacao

Pour into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into rocks glass. You can make a bigger batch by multiplying all ingredients by 8 and combining in a punch bowl.

Super Bowl Party food recipes

How to Batch Drinks For Parties

Photo credit Pirate Alice

Unlike many New Orleans cocktails, it’s easy to make in batches for a crowd. Just keep a mix of the cognac and syrup base in the fridge, and guests can pour themselves a drink and just top off with club soda.

Who Dat Highball

2 oz. cognac
1 oz. apple-lemon syrup
club soda

Fill highball glass with ice. Pour in cognac and syrup. Top off with club soda and garnish with a lemon wheel.

*Apple-Lemon Syrup
(enough for 10 cocktails)

1 1/2 cups water
1 apple–cored, peeled and cut into pieces
zest of half a lemon (just the peel, no white pith)
1 cup sugar

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and boil. Strain out solids and pour the syrup into a container. Cool syrup and refrigerate. To make syrup last longer, add a 1/2 oz. of vodka.

Super Bowl Party food recipes

New Orleans drink recipes

How to Batch Drinks For Parties

Game time is the perfect time for those snacks you’ve been craving for months.

No matter who you’re rooting for, here are a few of our favorite Super Bowl food recipes:

Buffalo Wings
Creamy Artichoke Dip
Slow Cooker Super Bowl Chili
Sliders with Chipotle Mayo
Mexican Layered Dip
Deviled Eggs
Bacon Cheddar Popcorn
Whiskey Brownies

Football-Themed Cocktails

Photo credit Ron Almog

They look fancy, but take less than 15 minutes to make.  Here’s my favorite, super-simple recipe:

Deviled Eggs

12 eggs
1/2 cup safflower mayonnaise
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbs. chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Paprika (garnish)

Put eggs in a sauce pan, cover with water and add a splash of vinegar. Bring eggs to a boil on medium-high heat then turn down heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, drain the hot water and run cool water over the eggs.

Peel cooled eggs. Slice eggs in half lengthwise, scooping out the yolks. Mash half the yolks with a fork and stir in mayonnaise, parsley and mustard. Sprinkle in salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into the hollows in the egg whites and sprinkle with paprika. To make it pretty, use a cake decorating gun or plastic bag with the corner cut off to dispense the filling.

more cocktail food
for everything Deviled Eggs check out deviledeggs.com

Photo credit: TheGiantVermin

Buffalo Wings

24 chicken wings
1/2 cup butter
1 tbs. Tabasco sauce
1 cup cayenne pepper or Louisiana hot sauce
Canola oil

Cut the tips off the wings (throw them out or keep them to make a stock) and then cut the chicken wings in half at the joint. Fry wings in a pan with a couple inches of oil. Put on paper towels to drain. Melt the butter and pour in the hot sauces. Dip fried wings into the sauce. Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing.

more cocktail party food
Photo credit VirtualErn

No matter what kind of cocktail you’re serving, the first step of batching is to take the recipe you’re going to make and multiply all the ingredient measurements by the number of drinks you’re making.  So, if the recipe calls for 2 ounces of vodka and you’re serving 10 people, you will need 20 ounces of vodka.

If you want to save yourself from shaking every drink, you can serve a drink that doesn’t have fruit juice or muddled ingredients. This would be drinks like Martinis, Manhattans and Gibsons that combine various types of liquor and wine. What you’ll do is combine the ingredients and a 1 tablespoon of water for every drink in the batch and put them in the freezer. After an hour, they’ll be cold enough to serve.

For every other type of drink: Pour all the ingredients together into a glass pitcher. Muddled ingredients (like the mint in a mojito) should be muddled and kept in their own separate container and added to individual drinks as needed per serving. Similarly, sparkling ingredients (like the ginger ale in a Dark and Stormy) should be added to individual drinks before serving.

Once you’ve made your batch of cocktails, you still have to shake or stir each cocktail individually if it contains fruit juice so that it gets cold enough and has the right amount of water added to the drink.

Photo credit: slushpup

First, an article on mixing great drinks at home, not only will this help stretch your drinking budget, but using fresh mixers and premium spirits will help to ease that New Year’s Day Hangover. Don’t know how much liquor to buy for your party? We’ve assembled an easy to follow cocktail party check list just for you. As for drink recipes we’ve got tons, you all know that, we suggest picking 3 or 4 to make. Maybe a Martini? Batching for parties is good way to go.

What’s next, where to go what to do, for that we like Yelp. Real reviews from real people, so take them with a grain of salt. Once you are out remember to drink responsibly, it is bad form to be out of control drunk, and not classy either. We have a few tools to help you gauge your consumption, like this breath alcohol calculator and this blood alcohol chart. Print it our and take it with you. Use these as tools to as a reality check while drinking. If you plan to drink anything, just don’t drive.

What about the New Years Day?

Hangover Helpers come in all varieties, some you wouldn’t imagine. We haven’t tried them all, so be careful and remember the best hangover cure is to not over do it. To fill you belly while watching the Bowls, we’ve got some easy to make snacks.

Champagne Cocktails are great for the left over Champagne, we discuss in this recent post.

Remember to be safe out there, stay alert and have fun!

Not only is big bowl of Christmas punch is an easy way to serve a lot of guests, but it can also be a festive display that gets people in the holiday spirit.

Here are some punch recipes we think will make your holiday party a hit!

- English Christmas Punch
- Coconut Eggnog
- Spiced Tea Holiday Punch
- Burroughs Festive Plum Punch
- Wassail Punch
- Ponche Navideno
- Dementia Pugilistica
- Sleigh Ride Punch

More Holiday Punches and Cocktails

With October just a week or so away, I thought a little cocktail party food refresher was in order. I always have an issue with this, but when trying to decide how much food to get for your cocktail party - always err on the side of too much! You can always put it in the fridge or send extras home with friends. I always seem to have takers.

When planning party food, this is my top 10 (in no particular order):

1. Cheese: serve a variety of hard an soft cheeses
2. Bread: good fresh baguettes are best
3. Fruit: grapes, apple & pear slices, strawberries
4. Crackers: I like Soda Crackers, Triskets and the good ol’ Ritz
5. Olives: Don’t skimp and get the fancy Greek ones
6. Pickles: The small koshers are a must, try some peppers and mushroom as well
7. Cured Meats: We have bread and Cheese, one needs Salami, Sausage and other meaty treats
8. Fresh Veggies: Nothing is more popular than a good ranch dip and fresh cut carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms and other veggies
9. Dips: A good Taco dip can anchor any get together, other favorites include artichoke and the famous French Onion
10. Chips: Make sure they go with your dips

Of course this is the basics, feel free to explore the world of heavier appetizers that includes chicken wings, brochettes and other more involved finger treats.

more cocktail eats…