Cactus Jelly Bourbon'd Bacon Tacos

Good morning to you darlings!

So if you follow me @ Gastronomical Sovereignty, you may know I take part in this little thing called Foodie Pen Pals... And by little, I mean gargantuan. It's over 1000 members strong and each month we swap packages all around the world just stuffed with incredible food stuffs. It really is amazing to have so many food bloggers, non-food-blogger bloggers and blog readers connect over such vast distances!

This past month a woman named Tenecia had me as her assignee. You can read more about her here or check out her blog, Boobs, Barbells and Broccoli. One of the things she sent me was a locally crafted Cactus Apple Jelly. 

Um, first response: heck yeah! 

And my second response: what the ef is cactus apple jelly?

Now, the average person might spread that baby on some whole wheat toast, or a sesame seed bagel maybe, or if they were feeling really adventurous... dare i say, some homemade, from-scratch pancakes...? Oooooh, that's living on the edge!

But I'm no ordinary person. And neither is Tenecia. I wanted to do abnormality justice damn it!

Instead, I threw a good half jar into a small saucepan, reduced it down with a 'lil bourbon - because we all know bourbon makes everything better - and then used it as a glaze...for bacon.

Because if bourbon doesn't make everything better, bacon sure does. Mmmmm bacon... err bourbon... uhhh bourbony bacon.... mrraaaawwwwlllll.... (that's drooling in type form).

Tenecia also included a package of hand made tortillas from her area so what else could I possibly make besides cactus jelly bourbon'd bacon tacos?

Cactus Jelly Bourbon'd Bacon Tacos

(printable recipe) - serves 8 as an appetizer or 4 as a main.

Ingredients:

1 Lb. Happy Bacon, chopped.

8 Oz. Cactus Apple Jelly (though regular apple jelly would suffice).

1 Oz. Bourbon.

Handful or Two of Fresh Arugula.

1 Ear of Fresh Corn.

1 Pint Fresh Tomatoes.

Some Sour Cream (for serving).

8 Organic Corn or Flour Tortillas.

What to Do:

Place a pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Add the corn and allow to cook until tender. If it's fresh from the farmer's market it will cook much faster (approx 3 minutes); if it's store bought, hang on for 7-10. Drain, allow to cool to touch and then using a steak knife, saw the kernels off the cob. Set aside. 

As the corn cooks, dice the tomatoes and wash and dry the arugula. Sprinkle both lightly with salt and toss the arugula with a touch of good quality olive oil.

Place a large frying pan over medium-low heat. When hot, gently and carefully place the bacon in the pan. Cook until crispy, flipping half way through - be careful! The grease is a hot one! Drain on a paper towel lined plate and set aside. 

Turn your oven to 300 degrees F. Gently heat the taco shells as you finish the recipe. Alternatively, you could do this in a microwave for 60 seconds with the tortillas wrapped in a towel.

Wipe out the pan and add the jelly and bourbon, Reduce until relatively thick and sticky. As it cools it will get thicker. If it gets too thick, just reheat.

Add the bacon and stir well.

Throw all the ingredients into separate bowls and build your tacos...then...fill up your glass with one of these...and....

Eat!

What gets your creative motor running? What inspires you?

This post is linked up with Cast Party Wednesday; Whole Foods Wednesday @ This Chick Cooks; Whole Food Wednesdays @ Beyond the Peel; Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways; Showcase Your Talent Thursday; Full Plate Thursday; Tastetastic Thursday; Foodie Friday; Fight Back Friday; Fresh Bites Friday.

RPI: Bourbon with a side of bourbon...

While we may be very popular = no real time to make RPIs, it doesn't necessarily mean Haydn and I are being invited to "attend all of Victoria's most highly acclaimed art shows, movie premieres, and backyard barbecues".

Unlike Haydn, I have no quarrels with the art world so if we were attending acclaimed art shows, I'd actually be a pretty happy girl - hello, free alcohol. And movie premiers in Victoria? Yeah. Right. We live in hippie-ville Canada and I darn tootin' love it! Backyard BBQs though? Heck yeah - I've been on that train. Choo Choo! My point? Yes, we are busy. But not doing anything you'd find remotely interesting. Except the barbeques - those are pretty rad.

Also unlike Haydn, I got into the serving industry because I genuinely love it. Well, loved it. I get paid to socialize, meet new people, be around quality (or not) food and drink, and basically run my own business. And you know what? I'm damn good at it.

Fast forward 10 years later though: I hate people. No I don't.  But I do dislike working nights, I don't enjoy having to be "on" 30 or more hours a week, and I am awfully sick of seeing the worst of people - rudeness, crudeness, and general crankisorus-rexs. I'm over the serving industry - unless I can wiggle my way into management, I have no interest sucking up to enjoyable and non-enjoyable customers alike.

I have come into contact though with some pretty rad people, dishes and drinks. And while Haydn focuses on the history of the cocktail a little more than I do, I adore the art of the cocktail.

The love and care and creativity that goes into actually mixing and preparing drinks - be it wine, beer, spirits or a culmination of any of the above. It's still very new to me but the chemistry of making a good drink is very similar to that cooking - it's all about balancing flavours and making it pretty. Because as they say in food, you eat with your eyes first. Drinking is no different.

My current fixation? The Old fashioned. As I said @ Gastronomical Sovereignty yesterday, there's something just so rugged and burly about this drink...and me when I'm drinking it. Garnish it with some bourbon soaked cherries, and you've got a happy, happy girl... though that could be the bourbon talking.

The Old Fashioned
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:
Serves One

2 Oz Good Quality Bourbon (i.e. Maker's Mark).
Three Swigs of Angostura Bitters.
Three Swigs of Orange Bitters.
1 Oz Organic Cane Sugar Simple Syrup.
1 Huge or 2 Large Ice Cubes.
1 Small Strip of Lemon Zest, pith free.
1 Slightly Larger Strip of Orange Zest, pith free.
3 Bourbon Soaked Cherries.

What to Do:

To make simple syrup: Place 2 C water and 2 C organic cane sugar in a heavy bottom pot. Heat over a medium-low burner, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves completely. Once dissolved, remove from the heat and if you like, add a Tsp of pure vanilla extract. Pour into a large glass mason jar and refrigerate until ready to use. It will keep quite a while.

In a rocks glass, combine the bourbon, bitters and simple syrup. Add the ice and stir for a good 45 seconds to a minute - this allows some of the ice to break down in the drink making it much more palatable. 

Squeeze and twist the strip of lemon, drop it in the drink. Do the same with the orange strip but rub it cut side down along the rim of the glass before tossing it in. 

Skewer the cherries on a metal or wooden toothpick and drop in the drink. 

Let sit for a minute or two. Sip.

Enjoy.

 This post is linked up with Whole Foods Wednesday; Cast Party Wednesday;  Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways; Tastetastic Thursday; Full Plate Thursday; Showcase Your Talent Thursday; Foodie Friday; Fight Back Friday; Fresh Bites Friday.

RPI: The Born Again Old-Fashioned

The Lowdown:

Kristy and I, unfortunately for you, are currently experiencing the side-effects of being just too freakin' popular. Friends begging us for our presence, text messages out the wahoo (yeah, that's right I said wahoo), not to mention we've been asked to attend all of Victoria's most highly acclaimed art shows, movie premieres, and backyard barbecues. Art shows... nah. Backyard barbecues definitely get the thumbs up though. What I'm getting at is that our RPI didn't quite formulate. In fact, it failed. Miserably. If you enjoy the finer side of spirits, this is a bonus for you. If not, well... shit.

Bartending, to most, is a simple and effective way to look cool. How can I say anything different? I've been bartending for some time now, and rarely do I ever look into the history of what I'm making or, mostly likely, drinking. But I sure as hell do look cool. To be honest, I only got into bartending to put myself through too many agonizing years of school. Finally, knowing that my days as a bartender are nearing at an end, I thought I should start to explore the classier side of bartending.

One thing, that I can truthfully say, is that I have always appreciated the classics. Sugary and fruity drinks have never been my thing. Scratch that, they haven't been my thing since I was 16 and drinking out of a 2L cider bottle with 4 other friends. Ah shit, scratch that once again. I did also enjoy freshly made pina coladas while I was away on vacation last month. But how can you resist a bit of Jimmy Buffet - Margaritaville and a freshly made blender drink? That's right, listen to that song and tell me you aren't craving a blended drink.

Beyond the aforementioned slips of my past sips, I've always enjoyed the bite that a well crafted drink has. This of course, is much different than the bite that a poorly made drink at a stag or toga party has (you know, where coke is added for colour). Bite. Yes, bite was one of the reasons that this cocktail has so many variations (or so history says).

This recipe (not the name however), and the word cocktail, are claimed to have been published in 1806. The term cocktail was a simple definition that included a beverage that contained bitters, sugar, water, and spirits. It's clear to see that a Old-Fashioned clearly fits within these boundaries. Although, 1806 is when the general definition of a cocktail was unveiled, it wasn't until 1895 that the words "Old-Fashioned" were published in relation to the, once again popular, cocktail (Kosevich, 2009). Although, the Old-Fashioned is synonymous with whiskey today, it used to be a simple process of building a cocktail (Patterson, 2011). In other words, every spirit had its own version of the old-fashioned (IE: rum old-fashioned, tequila old-fashioned, etc).

Cocktails, in their primitive definition, were essentially there to make the spirits of the time manageable. Since then, the original recipe has spawned a million illegitimate children. Some say that the prohibition was to blame, when underground bartenders made cocktails that were disguised as non-alcoholic beverages. A few other sources stated that spirits, during the prohibition, were made so poorly that fruit had to be added just to make them bearable (Kosevich, 2009).

So whether you are a purist wanting to prove your historical sense of this cocktail, or you're the type that enjoys an entire fruit salad muddled into your Old-Fashioned, I hope you enjoyed this extremely brief look at one of the world's most misunderstood cocktails. Now you know why one of the first cocktails invented was referred to as an Old-Fashioned. So while you're enjoying making your own Old-Fashioned, listen to this fine diddy, because it's 5 o'clock somewhere. 

The Playlist:

1806 Old-Fashioned

3 oz Rye**

3 dashes Angostura bitters

1 Sugar cube*

1 tsp Water*

1 sliver Lemon zest

* This is essentially simple syrup, so if you are in a rush (or lazy) you can substitute 0.5 - 1 oz of simple syrup for these two ingredients.

** After reviewing many bartending sites the preferred alcohol is Rye because it is much less sweet than Bourbon. "Purists," don't hate, because there will always be a place for Bourbon in the Old-Fashioned. 

Sarsaparilla Old-Fashioned

3 oz Rye
3 dashes Angostura bitters
1 oz Sarsaparilla infused simple syrup***
1 sliver Orange zest

*** In small pot: bring 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp sarsaparilla root to a gentle boil until sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain out sarsaparilla root.

The Skinny:

1. In an old-fashioned glass (now usually referred to as a rocks glass) muddle sugar cube, bitters, and water together until a paste forms. Rotate the glass on an angle so that the sugar paste coats the lining of the glass. Or if you are using simple syrup simply put the simple syrup in the glass (a bit of a tongue twister).
2. Add rye (or bourbon), a large ice cube, and the lemon zest.

Stay Rad - h