Fireside Veggies

After doing a photo shoot for the Kamikaze Carrot, A friend of mine decided to do an article for a local food magazine about using fall veggies in cocktails.  You can check out the article here.  After she approached me, I marched off to the local grocery store to grab a bunch of veggies.  I picked up some beets, yams, (more) carrots and various squashes.  

Confession time: I never got around to trying the other veggies I was so impressed with the butternut squash which is aptly named for it’s nutty character.  When I think of booze and nuts the first thing that comes to mind (aside of Frangelico®) is sherry.  So off I marched again to the store to pick up some sherry and sherry vinegar.  

The only sherry that the local liquor purveyor of repute had was Lustau’s East India Solera.  It turns out that this is an extremely delicious wine and I sincerely recommend picking up a bottle if you’re ever given the opportunity.  Regardless, this sherry had everything that I needed for a natural and intuitive flavour compliment.  Next I went back to the kitchen for some other possible compliments.  I came back with vanilla and pear to add some winter fruit and spice (apple may have been another possibility).  For the pear I used Giffard’s pear liqueur and a hint of Navan for the vanilla.  Plus, nothing really says fireside like a glass of Cognac (Calvados) and Navan, like it’s cousin Grand Marnier, has Cognac at its base.  I had first planned to use Remy Martin V.S.O.P. but opted for Navan to ensure that its spice was able to cut through the other ingredients.

Next, I wanted to balance the cocktail off with a touch of bitters and because I was using the East India Solera sherry, Fee Brothers West Indian orange bitters made an interesting first choice.  However, the next time I pick up a butternut squash I plan to sub in some Amaro Nonino.  Since Winter’s going to be here a while longer I’m not too concerned.

Another possible twist for the cocktail would involve roasting the squash before juicing it.  I simply peeled the squash, scraped out the seeds and sent it through the juicer.  Either way I think the sage garnish would work out very nicely.

Invierno de Jerez

1 oz freshly squeezed Butternut Squash juice

1 oz Lustau East India Solera sherry

1 oz Giffard Pear liqueur

⅛ oz Navan

⅛ oz Sherry Vinegar (used a 30 year solera)

3 dashes Fee Brothers West Indian Bitters

photo by Maryanne Carmack

Shake all ingredients with ice and double strain into stemmed cocktail glass

Garnish with fresh sprig of sage and pear slices