Cherry Bounce 26 Weeks Later

Household Private Reserve

Last August, our first sojourn was made into the land of Cherry Bounce. The backstory is that we took 50+ pounds of pie cherries and made gallons upon gallons of cordial.

The trick to a good cordial is to not make it too sweet, and let it sit for months and months while the flavors magically develop. Made in July, we popped it open just before Christmas and were happy to find it to be incredible. It doesn't taste like cherry candy - instead it tastes just like fresh cherries. You can't buy this stuff in stores, and it goes down waaaaay to easily.

Brave Little Soldiers, Ready to Fight on the side of Alcoholism!

We were working over a steaming stove until midnight on Christmas Eve to get it all bottled and sealed in time for the family get together the next day, as everyone was getting Bounce for presents. Cute 4oz bottles - Check. Corks - Check. Labels - Check. Ribbon - Check. Sealing Wax - Check (after a long and arduous treck to every beer shop in the area!). Of course, we were bolstered along by generous libations from our own private reserve.

Left to Right: Bourbon, Brandy, Rum, Vodka

Here's the verdict on the different flavors:

Spices: The spiced versions came out too strong, and definitely tasted better as boozy cherries than in the cordials proper. I've gone back to revise the original recipe and cut way down on the amount of spices.

Vodka: The clear winner. The bounce is a gorgeous bright cherry red and has that fresh-picked cherry taste. This produced the least interesting boozy cherries. All the color and flavor ended up in the cordial and these bland little pale gobs of fruit were left over.

Rum: Lots of folks liked the rum, but it remided me of cherry cough syrup. If I do it again, I'll use spiced rum and half the amount of sugar. The Boozy cherries are good but pretty tart, so don't work as well in mixed drinks. They're great over ice cream.

Brandy: Lovely, complex and a bit spicy. This was my second favorite as it had a good spice-sweet-tart balance. It's a very dark red cordial, and works well with just a drop of spice in it. It's very a very Christmasey taste. These boozy cherries were definitely the best; rich and flavorful.

Bourbon: I thought I would love this more but it really just tastes like cherry flavored whiskey. It's okay, and the boozey cherries are okay, but at the end of the day it was kinda meh unless you're crazy for cherry flavored bourbon.

Next year we're going to make MASSIVE AMOUNTS of bounce and try other flavors too: peach, blackberry, blueberry, the list goes on. Tart fruits taste best, so we have high hopes for the plum and blackberry versions.

Red Dwarf Food: Drunken Fry-Up

Drunken Fry Up ...aka "The Full Monty"

Best between Midnight and 4:00 AM.

To qualify a meal as a Drunken Fry Up, two criteria must be met:
1. You must be drunk when you prepare it.
2. It must be some variant on the traditional English or Irish breakfast.

Red Dwarf makes references to the Drunken Fry Up here and there in episodes like Stasis Leak, Emohawk, and Thanks for the Memory. In keeping with the Lister Tradition, our weekend visits to Gwen's Old Family Canal Haus usually involve at least one evening with massive amounts of alcohol and a midnight fry up for 5 or 10 drunken geeks. It's amazing how much better baked beans taste in the middle of the night.

Suggested Ingredients:
Black Sausage, White Sausage, Back Bacon, Smoked Bacon, Bangers, Sausage, Kippers, Oysters, Baked Beans, Eggs, Oatcakes, Toast, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Mashed or Fried Potatoes


Prep all of your ingredients ahead of time and set them by the stove. This is extra important if you're drunk enough to be dangerous with a knife: prep THEN drink.

Don't forget this Very Important Step

For the Oysters, use a standard cornmeal crust: dust in flour, dip in egg, roll in cornmeal or crushed saltine crackers. Pan fry them over medium heat in a little bacon grease (sub oil mixed with butter) until the crust is golden brown.

Another Very Important Step

Get the beans going over medium-low heat near the back of the stove; they'll take care of themselves. The kippers can be served at room temp straight from the can.

This might be a good time to get a helper

Heat a VERY LARGE frying pan (or all the frying pans)(I think). Start with the meats, especially the bacon. Use the bacon grease to fry up the eggs, mushrooms, oysters and tomatoes. This is an excellent time to find out what else tastes good cooked in bacon grease.

Time to try beer with bacon grease?

Pile the food on a plate. The percentage of food that actually makes it onto the plate is inversely proportional to the amount of alcohol you've had.

Lancashire Hotpot

Autumn is upon us here in the cool, gray Pacific Northwest. The nights have grown cold (even a little frosty!) and the fall leaves are turning. It's the perfect time of year for hearty, warming meals. I have yet to make my first soup of the season, but recently I had another hankering for some piping hot, savory Britfood. To that end, I ventured into the kitchen to try my hand at Lancashire Hotpot.

Lancashire Hotpot is a one-pot dish, in the same family as casseroles or pot-a-feu. It's simple to prepare and ignore, as it cooks slowly at low to medium heat: you can assemble the ingredients, pop it in the oven, and leave it alone while you go do something else for awhile. The general ingredients are ground lamb, sliced potatoes, broth, root veggies, butter and seasonings. A traditional hotpot is made with lamb only, but I made mine with ground beef, and it turned out great. You can mix beef and lamb, as well as mixing up the various root vegetables depending on what you like or what's in season; you can also substitute flat beer or ale for part of the broth.

INGREDIENTS
About 1/2 lb. of ground lamb, beef, or a mix
2 or 3 carrots, sliced into 1-inch chunks or 1/4-inch medallions
1 medium white or yellow onion, in 1/2-inch dice
2 to 3 medium-sized firm potatoes cut into thin slices (stay away from baking potatoes; they fall apart too easily)
About 1/2 pound root veggies, cut into 1-inch chunks (try yams, parsnips, or turnips)
Broth (beef, or a mixture of chicken and beef)
Butter
Thyme
Salt & pepper

We used carrots, parsnips, turnips & red potatoes

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350F.

Cook the ground meat in a little bit of butter or oil on the stovetop over medium heat until mostly cooked but not browned. Drain off most of the fat, then add onion and cook until translucent but not browned. Add carrots and root veggies. Season with thyme, salt and pepper to taste.

You can also cook the veggies first if you like.

 Cook until the meat is starting to brown.

Meat & veggies

 Transfer the lot to a casserole dish with a lid. Use a spoon to flatten out the top. Pour in the liquid until it almost covers the meat/veggie mixture. Put a layer of sliced potatoes on top of the mixture. Dot with butter, sprinkle salt & pepper to taste, then add another layer of sliced potatoes. Dot with butter again, put the lid on, and pop into the oven. (I recommend setting the casserole dish on a cookie sheet with a fairly deep lip, as the pot can bubble over and leak out while it's cooking if the lid isn't terrifically tight.)

Potatoes on top. Note level of liquid.

Cook for about an hour to an hour and a half, then take the lid off and cook for another 15 to 30 minutes to brown the top layer of potatoes.

Piping hot!

Serve with crusty bread, a winter salad, steamed winter veggies (like broccoli, mustard greens, or Brussels sprouts), and a good stout, dark ale or porter. Perfect for a chilly fall night.