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October 26, 2010

Cooking with Gin

Filed under: American Food,Barbeque,Celebrity,Chefs,Fruit,Gin — raincoaster @ 11:04 pm

Bombay Sapphire in Vancouver

Well, I promised it’d be different, didn’t I? Today we’re going to cover barbequeing with gin, just as winter’s setting in. Hey, brush the snow off the grill and fire it up; everybody loves playing with fire!

Todays foodie blog is a drinkie blog brought to you by the two times (so far, don’t be strangers, boys!) that Bombay Sapphire gin has invited me to their special tasting events with their global Gin Ambassador, Merlin Griffiths, a man who truly knows that the way to a blogger’s heart is through her liver.

Sure, Bombay makes a tasty cocktail, every discerning barfly knows that, and in fact it made three or four of them at the Spice Up the Summer event, but even more, it makes a pretty nifty ingredient in some surprising and creative dishes, courtesy of Rob Rainford, Canuckistan’s Guru of the Grill, author of License to Grill, and The Sister’s secret crush.

Like: Marinated, Grilled Tri-Tip Steak:

The gin replaces the vinegar and speeds up the marination process considerably, to say nothing of adding a savory herbal/floral bouquet of its own. The juniper in the gin goes amazingly well with grilled beef, particularly if you avoid the temptation to add those gimmicky and overwhelming mesquite chips to the grill. The result is a lighter impression, with delicate wafts of botanicals spiraling around the taste of the pure beef. Different, but definitely worthwhile

In Part 2 of the video, Rob gives the slickest secret of barbeque success I’ve ever seen. But I won’t spoil it for you: click and see what a man who’s good with his hands can do for your next meatfest.

And my favorite from the event, Leg of Lamb:

And the very bizarre, yet quite tasty, Smoked Honeydew Melon Soup, along with how to make a smoke pouch.

Round about the time they were serving the fourth cocktail, things got a little cross-talky, but hey, that’s how you know the party is a hit, right? At that point, Rob introduced the Bombay Sapphire Salsa Fresca that he’d made, and which I can highly recommend. Actually, a really good floral gin is not a bad substitute any time you’d use a high-end white tequila or even dry white Cuban rum. In this video, Merlin also goes over the critical ingredients for any successful cocktail.

And yes, of COURSE I have the cocktail recipes … coming soon.

All videos and image below courtesy of AHA Media. Top image courtesy Emme Rogers.

Bombay Sapphire in Vancouver

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8 Comments

  1. Merlin is cute!

    Comment by Glinda — October 27, 2010 @ 8:39 am

  2. The “slick secret of barbecue success” makes no sense. What is he doing? I can’t see in the video. How do touching fingers relate to doneness of the meat?

    Comment by eowyn_2 — October 27, 2010 @ 7:41 pm

  3. Sorry, I should have clarified. He’s just holding his completely relaxed hand out, and with the other hand, poking the first hand, just between the thumb and forefinger. That’s the same feeling as “rare” when all fingers are relaxed. As you put each finger up, it gets to be “medium” and so on.

    Comment by raincoaster — October 28, 2010 @ 10:21 pm

  4. Merlin is cute!!!

    Comment by Glinda — November 3, 2010 @ 8:13 pm

  5. I cook with gin a lot. Chicken livers cooked with bay leaf, juniper berries, and gin are really nice as a spread on crackers, and chicken with gin is delicious.

    Comment by Fabrisse — November 11, 2010 @ 1:29 pm

  6. That’s funny: I always sautee my chicken livers in vermouth! I guess you can’t go wrong with Martini fixings either way!

    Comment by raincoaster — November 11, 2010 @ 6:50 pm

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