Farewell 2011, here’s to a zesty 2012!
Another year has come and gone by so quickly! Last year was filled with exciting travels and delicious experiences. As we welcome in 2012, I hope you enjoy reading about my fun foodie adventures this year and all the new things we are up to and have on the horizon. — Kathy
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Tasty Travels
Spring travels in 2011 took my crew and me to Ocean Shores where I hosted the 5th Annual Razor Clam Fest — and ate a LOT of chowder! Then it was off to New York to present at the with Charlotte Voisey and Jamie Boudreau as well as Small Screen Network for our seminar, Three Mixologists — Three Cocktails — Three Ways.
My crew and me on our way back from the Razor Clam Fest at Ocean Shores!
Then I was off to Austin for the annual IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Conference where I presented a seminar on bitters. This annual event brings in a slew of professional culinarians from all over the world. In our downtime I zipped around the city with chef pals to check out the Austin Food Trailer scene — cool stuff!
A flight of bitters for our presentation at IACP
Summer travels started off in New Orleans where I presented a hit seminar on H2O Cocktails with Tony Abou- Ganim at Tales of the Cocktail. Our seminar was picked as one of the top by our peers! H2O cocktails were so well received that there was a slew of press and blogs featuring them. Check out Difford’s Guide and Camper English’s blog Alcademics and my guest article for Liquor.com. (I’m excited to start planning for 2012’s Tales of the Cocktail — it will be their 10th anniversary — but in the meantime check out Tales of the Cocktail on Tour: Vancouver this Feb in Vancouver B.C., Canada.)
Then it was off to Newport Beach, California for the Flavor Experience Conference where my team and I presented a seminar on Creativity and Creating New Cocktails and cooked up lots of great ideas with our client Monin, including our Soda Jerk Station! Here’s what we served:
Flash Carbonated Vodka and Sour Cherry & Lime Soda
Red Velvet Milk Shake
Dark chocolate, vanilla ice cream and bites of red velvet fudge cake
topped with a cream cheese frosting whip
Pineapple Split Milk Shake
Roasted pineapple and banana mingle with vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate
topped with marshmallow whip, nuts and a cherry
Berrylicious Chocolate Chip Shortcake Bites
Bite-sized chocolate chip shortcakes smothered with summer berries
crowned with a dollop of double berry whipped cream
Cameo, Me and Heather dressed up as soda jerks during the Flavor Experience!
Fall travels took me to back to California, this time to Napa Valley to present at the Culinary Institute of America’s Worlds of Flavor conference with Paramount Citrus. Heather and Travis shook up over 4,000 cocktails that week including my Pacifica, made with fresh pressed pineapple, kaffir lime leaves, freshly squeezed Paramount lime juice, agave nectar, silver tequila and mandarin-infused vodka, then all topped with coconut foam!
Fall and Winter travels took me all-over North America from San Francisco to Dallas to Chicago to Toronto to Miami — but the highlight was my trip to France with Cointreau. But to backtrack a little bit, I was a mentor again for the annual Cointreau Bar-Star Mix-Off Competition at last year’s Tales of the Cocktail. Four finalists are challenged to create a cocktail on the fly from a table of fresh ingredients in front a panel of judges. With the help of their mixologist mentor, the finalists go at it for a chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to France! New York’s Luigi Tarantino chose me as his mentor and we were off. After much discussion, he created the winning cocktail (recipe below)! Not only did he win a trip to France but as a mentor, I won a trip to France too!
Luigi and me after they announced the winners!
The Winning Cointreau Cocktail by Luigi Tarantino
Cointreau’ling Kamikazes
Created by Luigi Tarantino (Now on the menu at Tosca Café, Bronx, NY)
1 thyme sprig
5 raspberries
3/4 oz Cointreau®
3/4 oz Campari
1/4 oz yuzu juice
1 oz Woodford Reserve bourbon
1/2 oz simple syrup
Garnish: Sprig of thyme, raspberry
In a mixing glass, muddle thyme and raspberries, add remaining cocktail ingredients. Fill with ice, cap and shake, Strain into a martini or coupe glass. Garnish.
Citrus peels used in the making of Cointreau
Visiting Cointreau headquarters just outside of Angers in the Loire Valley was super amazing — I can still smell the beautiful orange peels as I write this!
After touring around the French countryside and eating and drinking way too much, we headed back to Paris where I was able to meet up with my Twitter friend @52Martinis for cocktails. If you’re headed to Paris in the future, be sure to check out her blog for all the best places to drink in the city.
Alfred Countreau leads us on a tour of the distillery
Then it was back to reality and the frenzy of setting up for our Annual Holiday Extravaganza & Open House at the Food Studios. Once a year we open our doors and invite everyone to come and enjoy some sips and apps and offer our “Over 21” Real Fruit Cakes made with Maker’s Mark, housemade preserves, and Dish D’Lish® and Liquid Kitchen™ retail items as well as candies and baked goods. Whew — we had a huge turn out and it was so great to see so many friends and end the year with a bang!
One of the many d’lish goods we made for my annual Holiday Extravaganza
“Over 21” Real Fruit Cakes made with Maker’s Mark
For the new year, I’ll have to pack extra warm…
because I will be heading next month to Kiev, Ukraine to help open the brand new Fairmont Grand Hotel! Make sure you follow me on Twitter (@KathyCaseyChef) where I’ll make sure to keep you all updated with fun news and tasty pics from Kiev!
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Serious Sippin’ with the Liquid Kitchen
I’m excited to announce that we’ll be filming the 3rd Season soon! I covered lots of libatious drinks during the 2ndSeason, including a Zen Garden, a Platinum Sparkle (which was also feature in Food & Wine: Cocktails 2011 in which I wrote the Vodka Chapter) a Spirited Chocolate Covered Cherry Milkshake and a crowd pleasing Spiked Iced Tea Punch. Guest episodes include a spot with Tim Master of Frederick Wildman & Sons to educate us on mezcal and share his Maguey Harvest cocktail.
And if you’ve ever wondered how maraschino cherries were made — follow me on an episode that takes you from Orchard to Jar. Stay tuned to Kathy Casey’s Liquid Kitchen, for a new episode every Tuesday!
Tim Master and me getting ready to make a tasty Maguey Harvest cocktail
Want to make a cocktail at home just like the pros do, but can never find the right restaurant/bar quality tools? Look no further than my Liquid Kitchen Cocktail Kit! It’s all the equipment that I use. It comes with a Liquid Kitchen logo’ed Boston tin shaker and pint glass, a channel knife, a metal two sided jigger, Hawthorn strainer and a julep strainer. All you need is the booze, ice and you’re on your way to a faboo drink!
And to help get you started with a great winter cocktail recipe, I penned this guest article for Liquor.com. I write all about winter citrus and share my recipes for a Citrus 75 and Grapefruit Negroni.
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Libatious Reads
If you’re inclined to cozy up to a good read about cocktails, read up on my good friend Jim Meehan’s new book The PDT (Please Don’t Tell) Cocktail Book. Fashioned around the famed NY bar, it’s filled with over 300 cocktail recipes and a few behind the scenes moments of his bar.
Another couple of must have cocktail books are the “new” Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide. Mixologist Jonathan Pogash updated this bar classic and added new recipes from a wide variety of other mixologists and bartenders, including my recipe for a Rosemary Clementine Sparkle.
For those of you that geek out over ingredients and like to get down to the specifics, bitters enthusiasts will love Brad Thomas Parsons’ book BITTERS and if you’ve just always wanted to know everything about vermouth then Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown’s The Mixellany Guide to Vermouth and Other Apertifs is the book for you. I got some ink in with my Tuscan Martini that has a grappa & lemon-infused dry vermouth in it.
If you’re looking for spirited news about the Pacific Northwest, then be sure to check out Sip Northwest magazine. Covering all things from new distilleries and spirits to the latest and the hottest craft cocktail bars, Sip Northwest is a new must read quarterly magazine. Make sure you check out my feature column Shake, Swizzle & Stir — this issue I shake it up with Aviation Gin and Woodinville Headlong White Dog Whiskey, and visit Liberty Bar in Seattle and Clyde Common in Portland.
Dishing with Kathy Casey – On-Air and Online
Catch me throughout the weekend for Dishing with Kathy Casey on KOMO News Radio to hear about what’s in season, recipe tips as well as neighborhood hot spots and restaurant news. Link back to my blog Dishing with Kathy Casey for everything I dish up on the show, recipes, links and other helpful info.
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Cook Up Some Fun with Cuties Citrus!
Photo by Kathy Casey Food Studios
Clementine Salad with Fennel, Feta and Honey Citrus Dressing
This salad is great as a starter, or as an entrée topped with grilled chicken or shrimp. When in season, a scattering of pomegranate seeds is a festive addition. Whole Cuties are blended in the dressing for a zesty twist!
Makes 4 entrée servings or 6-8 starter servings
1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed
6 Cuties Clementines
6 cups spring mixed greens (about 5 oz.)
Honey Citrus Dressing (recipe follows)
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Finely shave fennel with a sharp knife or mandoline, and crisp in ice water for 10 minutes. Spin dry before using. Cut peel off Cuties, trim away all white pith, then cut fruit into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Set fruit aside.
Toss greens and fennel with 1/2 cup of dressing to coat nicely. Serve salad on a large platter or divide among individual plates. Top with sliced Cuties and sprinkle with feta. Drizzle with a little extra dressing if desired.
Honey Citrus Dressing
Quick and easy this dressing can be easily doubled or tripled. It’s a snap to make in a Vitamix blender.
Makes 2 cups
2 Cuties Clementines, peeled and torn into quarters
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 Tbsp minced shallots
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt or Dish D’Lish French Seasoning Salt
2 Tbsps honey
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup olive oil
Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Recipe by Kathy Casey Food Studios®
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Where to Catch Kathy Next
Foodportunity: Monday, February 6th, 6:00pm — 9:00pm
Palace Ballroom – Seattle
Come join me for Frantic Foodie Keren Brown’s next Foodportunity event. I’ll be on a special panel alongside chef Lisa Dupar, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese’s Kurt Beecher Dammeier and CakeSpy’s Jessie Oleson. There will be lively conversation and lots of tasty bites offered by the Palace Ballroom, Rover’s and Luc, Local 360, The Coterie Room and so much more. Make sure you get your tickets soon and I hope to see you there!
Save the Date:
VIBE Conference – Las, Vegas, NV – March 13th & 14th
6th Annual Razor Clam Festival – Ocean Shores, WA – March 24th
Flavor Summit – Greystone, CA – April 19th – 21st
Cheers to a bright and flavorful 2012! — Kathy
Don’t forget to check my D’lish column with DList Magazine and my posts on Amazon’s Al Dente blog too!
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Follow on Twitter @KathyCaseyChef. Blogging: Dishing with Kathy Casey. Like on Facebook: Sips & Apps andKathy Casey’s Liquid Kitchen. Watch: www.LiquidKitchen.tv.
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