cran-o-mite

• 1 bottle of good quality vodka, chilled in freezer for at least a few hours
• 1/2 bottle of triple sec
• 1 1/2 bottles of clear cranberry juice
• 1 bag cranberries

Combine the vodka, triple sec and cranberry juice in a large container; shake to mix. Pour the bag of cranberries into mixture; they will float on the top. Serve in low ball glasses and garnish with lime and fresh mint if desired.

The dish: Retailers often get a bad rap around Christmas for their role in commercializing the Holiday. While this is most certainly true, the good news is that every year, like clockwork, they're there to remind us to spend some time with our family and friends. I'm not always good with routines, and the reinforcement of seeing trees and hearing carols in every store I walk into is all I need to get in the spirit. The non-commercial side of the season is up to each of us. This year, Kim and I decided to throw a last minute Christmas party for our friends. The shindig was only a conversation 48 hours prior to it being in full swing, but that didn't stop it from it being a success. All told we had about 45 or so people in our place, and everybody seemed to have a blast. We had plenty of good food and drink, including this cheerful cocktail. The cool dispenser was found in Kmart for about $7, but just a plain old pitcher would work fine. I think we started an annual tradition, not only for the party itself, but also for this cool drink. Next year please try to take a break from stomping other folks for tomorrow's obsolete electronics or standing in line to buy the hottest fashions with slavery stitched into them, and have a drink with those who matter to you. The stores will take of the carols and the decor, the heavy lifting is up to us. Whenever you're reading this, I hope your next Christmas is joyful and filled with moments that will become happy memories.

Bloody Mary shrimp cocktail

• frozen cooked shrimp, peeled with tails on
• prepared cocktail sauce
• tomato juice
• vodka (I used Bakon)
• celery stalks
• green olives
• fresh parsley, chopped fine

Let shrimp thaw in the refrigerator. Boil equal parts tomato juice and vodka for 5 minutes. Pour juice over the shrimp and stir in parsley, marinate for no more than 20 minutes. Drain and discard the marinade. Best served in a large Martini glass with the shrimp built on the sauce. Garnish with celery and skewered olives.

The dish: There's an old saying that says "there's and ass for every seat". No matter how outlandish a product may seem, somebody somewhere will buy it. When I first heard of Bakon vodka I wondered what type of person would buy such a product, and yet knew that I was whatever type it was. I bought it not to drink, but rather to cook with. As part of a Bloody Mary type marinade it works great without being overpowering. This is a great way to dress up an ordinary shrimp cocktail and turn it into something of a show piece. Don't be afraid to try this recipe using regular vodka, I'm sure it will work just as well. The large martini glass isn't necessary either, but it really adds to the presentation. The glass can be bought at most craft stores for under $10.

grilled asparagus

• fresh asparagus spears
• olive oil
• coarse salt
• fresh ground pepper

Drizzle asparagus with a little olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Grill to desired doneness over an open flame. Cut off bottom of stalks before serving.

The dish: Every now and again I love a little vino, but I've never paid too much attention to those "wine snobs" that turn the pleasurable act of sipping a glass of Cabernet into a chore full of using big words and making funny faces, and worst of all, ultimately spitting out the drink. I feel I should let them know that even "bad" wine is pretty good once swallowed, but it's just too much fun to watch them act like tools. White with fish and red with beef is pretty basic stuff, but after that you get into grey area with other meats and veggies. Everyone seems to have their own opinion about what works with what, but they all pretty much agree, there is no wine to pair with asparagus. To listen to the most snobby of them, you'd think they were talking about kryptonite and superman, not Pinot Grigio and spring's favorite green stalk. I'm not even that huge a fan of asparagus and I think it gets a bum wrap. To combat this bias I suggest first grilling asparagus, as there is no more delicious preparation of the green. Don't be afraid to let it sit on the bbq a little while and get some char-color to them. While that's going, find the cheapest and lightest dry white wine (bonus if the cap screws off) you can and stick that puppy in the freezer for awhile, letting it get almost ice cold. Between the taste of the grill and the lightness of the freezing wine, the flavors work together like Clark and Lois at the Daily Planet. While this method may be looked down upon by the most dedicated students of vinology, it works and is a great treat for the warm months.

strawberry banana smoothie

• 2 bananas
• 1 lb of strawberries, stems removed
• 1/2 cup fat free vanilla flavored yogurt
• 1/2 cup skim milk

Peel bananas and cut in half, place in blender. Add strawberries and yogurt, begin to blend. Add in milk as machine is on until desired consistency is reached. Serve cold.

The dish: 2009 has been a crazy year. Way back in December I got an awesome Christmas gift; a Cuisinart Duet blender and food processor. I'm ashamed to say that up until recently it was sitting in its original box just begging me to break it out. I finally got around to playing with it (it had instructions on how to remove it from the box) and I'm loving it. Expect to see a few more recipes that pour out of its glass blender jar or get chopped in its processor. I think I might be a little late in hopping on the whole smoothie craze, but I'm going to make them all summer and maybe even pour a little spirits in one or two.

salmon and mixed greens pita

• leftover salmon cakes
• leftover tarragon sauce
• mixed greens
• whole wheat pita

Crumble salmon cakes with a fork. Combine salmon bits and greens in pita, drizzle with sauce.

The dish: Leftovers are great, "planned overs" are even better. Getting two meals from cooking once is never bad, but if they can be two different meals then that's all the better. This particular dish requires a bit of finesse as it's very difficult to have a condo full of people and be able to hide extras of a dish that everyone likes. Let's just say that Kim and I worked on our parental distractions (Wii) in advance and a few extra cakes were able to find their way into a Tupperware (It's not disrespecting the trademark if you use the real deal) in the fridge before anyone knew there were any left. Before you give me a hard time about being a bad host, remember, this was an appetizer, followed by a salad before the meal even began. Anyway, with the 1,000 or so milliliters of pinot griogio that was floating around no one seemed to mind too much of anything.

seared chicken in a sage gravy

• boneless skinless chicken breasts
• fresh parsley, chopped fine
• dried sage
• gravy master
• wundra flour
• good quality chicken stock
• dry white wine

Beat the hell out of the chicken with a meat tenderizer, season with a little coarse salt and fresh pepper. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a skillet over a medium high flame heat up a swirl or two of olive oil and brown chicken, cooking each side about 3 minutes or until seared. Transfer chicken to a pan in the oven and cover with tin foil. Once all the chicken is cooked, turn heat on pan up to high and add about 1 cup of wine for every 4 breasts that you cooked. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon making sure to scrape any bits of chicken funk from the bottom of the pan (those that have high opinions of their cooking abilities call this "deglazing"). Once reduced (about 5+ minutes), add about a cup of chicken stock and continue the process until that is relatively reduced, add herbs and turn heat off. Add a dash or two of the master, and whisk in wundra (using a silicone whisk- get one if you don't have one) until desired thickness is reached. Season to taste with salt and pepper, pour generously over chicken and serve.

The dish: I've extolled the virtues of using gravy master before; I wouldn't even think of trying to make a gravy without it. This chicken was the main course of our parental dinner and everyone seemed to like it. My sister and her husband stopped by for a pre-dinner visit (I offered for them to stay) with our niece and nephew so we had a full house as this dish came together. The kids were great and nobody seemed to mind that I was pulverizing raw meat in the next room. Thank goodness that all the parents read this blog, otherwise they might not find it so amusing that they had to refrain from eating the hot food in front of them while their son (in-law) leaned in to snap photos. They all learned something that Kim has known for a while; while most of the food you see on these pages tastes pretty good, it's never scalding hot by the time you get to eat it.

martini

• gin
• dry vermouth
• good quality olives

Fill martini glass with ice and water, set aside. In shaker, combine gin with a little vermouth to taste and shake well (don't believe the hype- you can't bruise gin) for 30 seconds. Dump ice water out of glass, strain drink into glass and garnish with olives.

The dish: Having spent a fair enough of time on both sides of the bar I've learned a few things about mixing drinks. It seems these days that any drink you strain into a martini glass deserves the fabled title, even if gin, vermouth or olives are nowhere near it. This of course is wrong and if a bartender immediately asks "gin or vodka" after you say "martini", my advice is to turn and run as the gentleman clearly doesn't know a cape cod from a vodka cranberry. There is only one martini and this is it. Make it with vodka and it's a vodkatini, with Scotch it's a rob roy, with bourbon a Manhattan. Even if you make it with gin and vermouth but then throw an onion in it, it becomes a gibson. This was made with Bombay Sapphire White, but any good quality gin will work.

shiitake and white truffle risotto

• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups chicken stock
• shiitake mushrooms, chopped
• butter
• fresh parsley, chopped
• white truffle oil (highly optional, I just got some on sale and had to use it)

Combine chicken and vegetable stock in large pot, heat on back burner over a medium high flame, stirring occasionally. In large pot on front burner, brown the mushrooms in a little butter over a medium flame for about 3 minutes. Add rice and more butter, occasionally turning rice, for another 3-5 minutes. Add wine, cook for 3-5 minutes, or until wine is fully dissolved. Reduce flame on rice pot down to medium low and stir in a ladle of stock, cook until fully dissolved. Continue adding stock, one ladle at a time waiting for each to dissolve before adding more. Make sure to keep the pot with the stock warm and be watchful of the rice, making sure to add enough stock so that the rice doesn't burn, but not so much that the rice appears mushy. The whole process will take longer than you'd expect, about 40+/- minutes. Once all stock has been ladled in check rice for doneness. If not fully cooked add more stock or water until done, if it's good then add parsley and truffle oil.

The dish: Loosely translated, "risotto" is Italian for "rice that's a pain in the ass to cook". However, the end result is well worth the effort. I'm not sure if it's the browning of the rice or the incremental addition of the liquids that makes it taste so distinctive, but whatever the trick is you certainly won't mistake risotto for Uncle Ben's boil in the bag. I had the truffle oil and decided to play on it with the mushroom theme, but risotto is a blank canvas that you can do any number of things with. I usually add cheese at the very end, but figured it might be a little too much with the oil. Use any white wine, but I have a box of Digit's likeness in the fridge that I use primarily for cooking.

Grand Marnier salmon

• 4 fresh salmon fillets, bones and skin removed
• Grand Marnier
• orange juice

Marinate salmon in the Grand Marnier for 3-24 hours. Preheat a small amount of olive oil in a large skillet over a medium high flame. Add salmon, cook about 3 minute per side depending on thickness of fillet and desired doneness. Remove fish from the pan and add another generous splash of the liqueur (stand back, it's gonna sizzle) and a pour of the oj. Continuously whisk sauce over a high flame for 3-5 minutes. Turn heat off and continue to whisk for another 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Pour a generous amount of sauce over fish and serve with wild rice made with 1/4 of the water substituted for oj.

The dish: Two recipes does not a kick make, but I'm loving salmon and you can expect to see more of it in the future. We much prefer salmon fillets to steaks, but I'm pretty sure you could use either. I keep a pair of tweezers that I use for nothing else than removing bones that they missed at the store. I'm down with keeping the skin on (I'll even rock out the salmon skin roll every now and again) but Kim is not really a fan so we go naked. For real ease, you can even use unseasoned frozen salmon for these recipes. This recipe is not only easy, but it only uses one pan and absolutely no salt. The prohibitionists can sleep easy because all the alcohol is cooked off.