Cranberry Cocktail from Episode 22
"A cocktail is not meant to be a melange. At its best, a cocktail should be crisp, elegant, sincere--and limited to two ingredients." --Richard from the novel Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Don't listen to the American in a Gentleman in Moscow who says that a cocktail should be limited to just two ingredients! This delicious cranberry cocktail has many elements which complement each other beautifully. It starts with a cranberry slurry made from your own cranberry sauce leftover from Thanksgiving (and if you ate it all, Bootie has a recipe for you). You can put the cranberry slurry in a quart mason jar which makes it hooch, an excellent host gift! Or keep it for yourself and enjoy it whenever you need a little help to make it through the holidaze. Just add an equal part of ginger beer and the juice of a lime, plus of course magical ice spheres.
Here's a parody of Ina Garten making a cranberry cosmopolitan and who can forget the real Ina making a cocktail during quarantine!
Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cocktail:
1 c. of cranberry sauce, whatever you have but preferably homemade
1 c. cranberry juice cocktail
1 c. vodka
½ c. Triple Sec or Grand Marnier
To serve:
Ginger Beer or seltzer (Bossy prefers ginger beer while Bootie finds the seltzer refreshing and light)
Juice of a lime or two
Magical ice spheres
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Whiz cranberry sauce with cranberry juice cocktail—making a concentrated cranberry slurry. If you don't want it too chunky, you can put it through a sieve.
If your cranberry sauce has nuts, heat it up, add the cranberry juice cocktail and then put it through a sieve.
Mix up the slurry with the vodka and Triple Sec—it all fits in a quart Mason jar that you can keep in the fridge and then just add equal parts Ginger Beer or seltzer and the juice of a lime. So if you're making one cocktail, pour 1/2 cup slurry into a glass with ice, add 1/2 cup ginger beer or seltzer, and the juice of one lime.
