The CookingBites recipe challenge: non-sparkling alcohol

I typed this up and almost forgot to include it here:

Recipe - Swabian-style Sauerkraut (Schwäbisches Sauerkraut)

This is my favorite way to prepare sauerkraut, when I have the time. It has all the familiar sauerkraut flavors in there, from the white wine cooking liquid, tart apples, sweet brown sugar…but where this is a little different is in adding the grated potato, which doesn’t get the starch rinsed away and becomes a thickener - the finished dish has a consistency that’s not unlike a risotto, actually, a little creamy, which makes for a heartier dish, IMO.

I’ll add that while I think it’s fine the next day, MrsT is adamant that this doesn’t keep well. She says it can get a little gloppy from the potato - I think she just wants an excuse to eat it all in one sitting!

These aren’t the best pics, I wasn’t expecting to enter this, but as I was chugging the wine in, I thought, “Why(ne) not?!” And here we are.

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One that’s so fitting for today:

Recipe - Whiskey Milk Punch (Scailtin)

I love Friday cocktail (two) hour(s). End of the work week, and I’m not on call, so I can really relax and make a couple of nice drinks.

The weather today stayed cold and alternated between snow flurries and rain, and after being out for about half the day, I knew I wanted something warm and boozy to cheer me up, and this was it:

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Hot apiced whiskey milk, that’s the plainest way to say it - think of it as really thin eggnog (minus the egg, of course).

Warming, and a lovely coating of the innards, the way milk does, and after two of these, I’m ready for Slumberland.
 
Time for dessert:

Recipe - Prunes in Red Wine

Ahhhh, stewed prunes, flagship dish of the irregular.

MrsT and I both love prunes, usually just snacking on them straight from the bag, but here’s a nice little treatment that dresses them up and presents them in a more elegant fashion:

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Hard to see everything going on there, but there’s a round of pound cake in the bottoms of each glass, then the prunes and sauce over that.

Really quite nice. The sour cream is especially good with this. Entertaining at home for the holidays, this would be an excellent dessert, not terribly sweet, but you might want to call it Poached Dried Plums, as some folks balk at prunes.
 
I’ve got two more…but do I really feel up to deboning that chicken? I’m so behind today!
 
All right, let’s all get in the time machine…no pushing, there’s room for everyone…move along…right. Here we go:

Recipe - A Yard of Flannel (Hot Cocktail)

This was a drink popular in colonial America, but no telling how far back it goes. It tastes very…medieval. According to the book I pulled it from, General Washington and his officers enjoyed this when he gave his farewell address in 1783 (the tavern still stands today). I like that it was traditionally heated with a red-hot fireplace poker, called a flip-dog.

Other articles I’ve read humorously call this “beernog” - and that pretty much sums it up. Its eggnog made with beer.

I must admit, both MrsT and I were a little dubious about this, but rest assured, those colonials knew a thing or two about a thing or two…this concoction is magnificent.

It’s got the sweetness, the alcohol kick, the warmth from the serving temp and the spice, and the richness from the eggs. How can it miss?!

The name? That’s just the little spice on top…A Yard of Flannel, called so because it warms the imbiber up like, well, a yard of flannel would.

One last thing - this is sooooo appropriate for the holidays. This is going into our festive rotation.

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Morning Glory said:
I looked it up. 'Flannel' is confusing because it means other things in the UK but I now know its that plaid fleecy type of cloth that lumberjacks wear.
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The meaning of flannel that I remember from the UK was what we’d call a facecloth or a washcloth - little square of soft fabric for washing your face.

Here, flannel refers to a cotton fabric, usually brushed, a little heavier than usual, and incredibly soft and warm - used to make shirts, pajamas, and neck scarves mainly.

There’s probably some nerdy definition from the American Weavers Association or The Fabric Foundation or some other trade organization that says it has to be this cotton of this thread count and must weigh at least this much blah blah blah, but colloquially, it just means a nice toasty warm plaid thing.

Flannel shirt:
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Flannel scarf:
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Flannel PJ’s:
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I have no idea if the colonists thought of all that…probably just the fabric itself.

New England is considered the Land of Flannel here, and it all comes from LL Bean. :laugh:
 
To drag SatNavSaysStraightOn and her heritage into this…further reading says the yard of flannel drink is a variation of the Scottish “het pint” (hot pint) - everything’s the same, except Scotch whiskey is used in place of the beer.
 
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