Blood Orange Bourbon, Part 1
Inspired by this Ideas in Food blog post, I decided to try my hand at a little blood orange bourbon syrup. I love the IiF blog, but they don't really post lots of details on their recipes so I had to feel my way along on this one.
I first made a rich simple syrup, infused with blood orange zest: 3/4 cup demerara sugar plus 3/4 cup water, brought to boil in a small saucepan over high heat, then simmered over low heat for about 7-10 minutes. After removing it from the burner, I added the zest of one blood orange and let it sit to cool.
Meanwhile, I measured out one cup of Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon and sliced up four blood oranges (including the one that was zested). avoiding the pithiest bits on the ends. I had a half of a lime handy, so I sliced that up as well.
The slices all went into the quart jar I had washed and ready. It was filled pretty full, but I packed more in by shaking the jar with moderate violence in order to settle things.
By this time the simple syrup was cooled and I combined it with the Bourbon. Luck was with me because the syrup measured exactly one cup and that was what I was shooting for -- equal parts Bourbon and syrup.
The Bourbon syrup mixture went into the jar filled with orange an lime slices, filling it to the absolute brim. I had to shove all the strands of zest in there but that gave me an excuse to lick my fingers. Oh, so good.
The jar is resting in the back of a cabinet for the next couple of weeks. My plan is to then strain out the blood orange slices, return the elixir to the bottle with, say, a pound of excellent frozen cherries, return the bottle to the back of the cabinet, and see what happens over time.
I think this is going to be the crowing glory of one heck of an Old Fashioned.
I first made a rich simple syrup, infused with blood orange zest: 3/4 cup demerara sugar plus 3/4 cup water, brought to boil in a small saucepan over high heat, then simmered over low heat for about 7-10 minutes. After removing it from the burner, I added the zest of one blood orange and let it sit to cool.
Meanwhile, I measured out one cup of Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon and sliced up four blood oranges (including the one that was zested). avoiding the pithiest bits on the ends. I had a half of a lime handy, so I sliced that up as well.
The slices all went into the quart jar I had washed and ready. It was filled pretty full, but I packed more in by shaking the jar with moderate violence in order to settle things.
By this time the simple syrup was cooled and I combined it with the Bourbon. Luck was with me because the syrup measured exactly one cup and that was what I was shooting for -- equal parts Bourbon and syrup.
The Bourbon syrup mixture went into the jar filled with orange an lime slices, filling it to the absolute brim. I had to shove all the strands of zest in there but that gave me an excuse to lick my fingers. Oh, so good.
The jar is resting in the back of a cabinet for the next couple of weeks. My plan is to then strain out the blood orange slices, return the elixir to the bottle with, say, a pound of excellent frozen cherries, return the bottle to the back of the cabinet, and see what happens over time.
I think this is going to be the crowing glory of one heck of an Old Fashioned.