Cocktails and canapes: Rosie Sykes cleverly pairs edible treats with a perfect festive pick-me-up
Some days demand a stiff drink and a bite to eat, whether it’s a cosy night on the sofa, or the bright lights of Christmas. In this extract from her new book, Rosie Sykes cleverly pairs each edible treat with a perfect festive pick-me-up …
Terrazzo…
Cooling like marble, almost flinty and savoury. Decorated with diced lime, lemon, orange and a zigzag of bay foliage to create a jazzy terrazzo impact, this fizzy aperitivo employs Cocchi Americano- a bitter Italian aperitif wine with citrus and herbal flavours- stimulating it the perfect start to any party.
Makes 1
Crushed ice
Small segments of lime, lemon, orange
1 part gin
2 proportions Cocchi Americano
4 parts sparkling wine
Paper drinking straw
Bay leaf
1 Half fill a highball or other tall glass with ice, adding small segments of lime, lemon and orange as you go.
2 Pour in the gin, Cocchi Americano and sparkling wine and stir well.
3 Top up with ice and citrus segments. Add a newspaper straw. Finish with a bay foliage garnish, decoratively cut with a pair of scissors to a design of your choice- we ordinarily go for a zig-zag.
… with anchovy-stuffed eggs
A throwback dish of unassuming style, stuffed eggs give immense sums of pleasure. My dear friend Peter and I once met in a bar in Manhattan to drink martinis and share a couple of plates of their famous devilled eggs, bringing to mind this quote from Pulitzer-prizewinning journalist Herb Caen:” Martinis are like breasts: one isn’t enough and three is too many .” In my book, it’s a sentiment that applies equally to stuffed eggs. The most delicious stuffed eggs I have feed in recent memory- and the inspiration for this recipe- were at a supper cooked by the amazing chef James Ferguson.
Makes 1
2 eggs
2 tbsp tinned anchovies, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
Finely grated zest and juice of 1/4 lemon
1/ 2 tsp dijon mustard
A generous pinch of smoked paprika
2 tbsp mayonnaise
A small handful of parsley, finely chopped
Cornichons or small pickled onions, to serve
1 Put the eggs into a saucepan of cold water. Bring to the boil, then lower the hot so the water is just simmer. Cook for 12 minutes. Meanwhile, set the anchovies in a bowl with the petroleum and mash to a paste, then add the lemon zest, mustard, paprika and mayonnaise and mixture until smooth. Stir in the parsley.
2 Lift out the eggs and cool entirely in cold water until totally cold- this will take a good few minutes. Then carefully peel the eggs and cut them in half lengthways. Scoop out the yolks and add them to the anchovy mixture, then mash softly together- I like a little bit of texture. Savor the stuffing concoction; season with lemon, salt and pepper to taste.
3 Depending on how many cocktails you are planning to have, it might be worth taking a tiny slice from the bottom of each egg-white “boat” so they sit steadily on the plate. Spoonful or, if you’re feeling super-fancy, tube the stuffing back into the egg-white boats, then serve at room temperature with a few cornichons or little pickled onions.
Light-emitting diode…
A variant of a whiskey sour that nearly incandescences in the dark that they are able to alleviate any excesses of dinner and have you jumping around in no time.
Makes 1
3 components rye whiskey or bourbon
1 part simple syrup, ideally infused with orange or grapefruit zest
1 part lemon juice
A dash of Pernod- or pastis or ouzo, if that’s all you can get your hands on
2 tsp egg white
Ice cubes
Frond of fennel or dill
1 Combine the whiskey, syrup, lemon juice, Pernod and egg white in a shaker, or a jar with a eyelid and add plenty of ice.
2 Shake vigorously until well chilled and the egg white is foaming.
3 Strain into a cocktail glass, ideally a stemmed one, using a mesh strainer or sieve – you may wish to spoon some of the egg-white foam from the shaker on to your drink if too much gets left behind.
4 Delicately garnish with a frond of fennel or dill- a little bit of green foliage sitting atop the frothy head of this drink is most appealing. Sip and perform a backwards somersault.
… with a squash and truffle brandade
Strictly speaking, brandade is a Provencal dish of salt cod pureed with garlic, olive oil and sometimes potato, but I have use ithere because the texture of the end result is similar. We’re so spoilt these days with the wide range of squash and pumpkins available to us. In their many guises, they make such aIf you’re feeling extra-decadent, you can grate over a little parmesan as well.
Makes 6
1 small squash- about 680 g
Salt and black pepper
A small grating of nutmeg
2 tsp olive oil
60g( 4 tbsp) unsalted butter
1 tbsp truffle oil
3 pitta breads or flatbreads
A few shavings of fresh truffle( optional)
1 Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F/ gas 4. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds of both halves with a spoonful. Season the flesh side liberally with salt and pepper, then grate over a little nutmeg.
2 Put each half on to a large sheet of oiled foil, skin-side down, then splash over the rest of the olive oil and a good handful of water. Wrap up the squash halves to form two parcels and cook for 50-60 minutes or until wholly soft, but not brown. Scrape all the flesh out. If it seems waterlogged, tip into a sieve set over a saucepan and drainage for about half an hour, or until the squash seems dry. Then set the pan over a medium heat and let the liquid simmer and reduce until syrupy.
3 Meanwhile, mash the squash. When the liquid has reduced, add the squash to the pan to warm through. Now gradually beat in the butter, bit by bit, until you have a lovely rich and glossy mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then stir in three-quarters of the truffle oil.
4 Put the pitta breads or flatbreads under a hot grill to warm through, then cut into bite-sized strips.
5 Scrape the squash brandade into a warm bowl and sprinkle with the rest of the truffle oil( now is the time for a few shavings of truffle, if you have one tucked away somewhere ), then surround with the strips of bread.
Trainwreck…
This will either cause an incident or resuscitate those at the scene. For this drinking, crushed ice is best, as it helps to cool the ingredients quickly and melts in such a way as to soften the harshness of the alcohol. But if you don’t have an ice-crusher or a powerful blender, ice cubes will do.
Makes 1
Crushed ice
2 components rye whiskey or bourbon
1 part Campari
1 part simple syrup, ideally infused with orange or grapefruit zest
2 proportions orange juice- or, if in season, blood orange juice
Orange slice, for decoration
Paper drinking straw
1 Half-fill a small metal Julep cup or short tumbler with ice. Pour in the rye whiskey or bourbon, the Campari, syrup and orange juice and stir well.
2 Top up with enough ice to give your drink a bountiful appearance. Garnish with half-moon-shaped slicings of orange and add a paper straw.
… with white bean croquettes with herby mayonnaise
A few stints of living in the south of Spain have induced me a croquette aficionado. I like this type for home cooking, because it doesn’t involve making a bechamel sauce, so it’s relatively simple and very tasty.
Makes 8
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely sliced
1 small sprig rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
120g baby spinach leaves
400g tin of cannellini beans, drained
100g panko or other breadcrumbs
1 tbsp mint, finely chopped
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
A generous pinch of chilli flakes
75g mayonnaise
1 egg
6 tbsp illuminated olive oil
1 Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan over a low heat and add the onion and rosemary. Cook very gently until soft and sweet, then add the garlic and stir about for a minute.
2 Add the spinach and mix well, stirring until it wilts. Add the beans and warm through.
3 Transfer the contents of the pan to a food processor and whizz to a smooth paste. Add 20 g of breadcrumbs. Pulse to combine. The mixture should be quite stiff- if it seems too wet, add more breadcrumbs. Scrape into a bowl and transfer to the fridge for an hour or so. Meanwhile, stir the mint, parsley and chilli snowflakes into the mayonnaise.
4 Lightly beat the egg in a shallow bowl. Set the remaining breadcrumbs into another. Scoop out tablespoonfuls of the croquette concoction, roll into balls and then flattened into pucks. Dip the croquettes in beaten egg and then breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess. Double-dip the croquettes to give them an extra-crisp shell, if you like.
5 Heat the light olive oil in a small frying pan and, when hot, fry the croquettes in batches of three to keep the petroleum hot. Keep turning them until the objective is golden all over, then drain on kitchen paper. Eat while hot, dipped in, or drizzled with, the herby mayo.
Rosie Sykes is a freelance chef and menu consultant. She is the author of The Sunday Night Book( Quadrille) and co-author of the Kitchen Revolution( Ebury) This is an extract from Rosie’s latest book, The Sunday Night Book- Short Recipes to Attain the Weekend Feel Longer( Quadrille, 10.99) out now
