The Horse's Neck was originally served as a non-alcoholic highball on many menus in years gone by... it is a good choice because of the long showy spiral of lemon peel snaking down through the ice in the drink. We can mention also that many people add a Shot of Wild Turkey Bourbon or Rye to fortify the drink!
HORSE'S NECK
1 horse's neck lemon peel for garnish
1 1/2 ounces of bourbon (optional)
Dash Angostura Bitters
4 ounces ginger ale
To prepare the famous garnish for this drink you will need a paring knife and a channel knife and a steady hand. Using the channel knife cut a long spiral of lemon peel from the whole lemon leaving a strip about a half inch wide on the lemon. Using the paring knife cut under the skin remaining on the lemon carefully removing the larger spiral of lemon peel in one piece. Before icing the highball or collins glass place the large spiral peel in the glass with the curled end of the spiral hanging over the rim of the glass. Put the ice down through the center of the spiral and then build the drink.
HARVEST MOON PUNCH
Serves 20
Original recipe by Dale DeGroff
1 gal. Apple Cider
16 oz. Wild Turkey Bourbon (optional)
6 star anise
6 Cinnamon sticks
6 allspice berries cracked
1/4 cup of demerara or sugar in the raw
1 Orange peel (remove zest of tone navel oranges and retaining very little pith)
6 cloves
Combine apple cider, cinnamon sticks, cloves, anise, sugar, and an orange peel in a stainless steel pot and let simmer on lowest heat setting for one hour. Do not boil. In the meantime clean out a medium sized pumkin very well being sure to retain the meat and not puncture the skin See below. Heat the inside of the pumkin with boiling water then pour it out and strain the spiced cider hot into the pumkin through a fine strainer to remove the spices. Serve in punch cups or stem glasses with a cinnamon stick garnish. Add one cup of Wild Turkey Bourbon for and adult version of the drink.
For a party, you can serve the punch in a hollowed out pumpkin:
The Pumpkin
Prepare the pumpkin by cutting a lid as you would for a Jack o Lantern. Clean the lid piece by cutting away the pumpkin stands and seeds. Save all the seeds. Using a long handled spoon clean the inside of the pumpkin being careful not to puncture the skin or the bottom. When the pumpkin is clean rinse the inside with cool water, checking for leaks in the skin. Fill the pumpkin with the hot punch and replace the lid to retain the heat. Serve with a ladle in mugs and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
About Dale DeGroff:
Master Mixologist Dale DeGroff, aka King Cocktail, developed his extraordinary techniques and talent tending bar at great establishments, most notably, New York's famous Rainbow Room, where in the late 1980's he pioneered a gourmet approach to recreating the great classic cocktails. Universally acknowledged as the world's premier mixologist whose innovations have globally impacted the industry, DeGroff has been credited with reinventing the profession of bartending and setting off a cocktail explosion around the world.
DeGroff provides bar training and develops state of the art beverage programs for leading hotel chains and restaurants here and abroad. With his colleague Tony Abou-Ganim, DeGroff has brought "Finnishing School", a one day intensive bar training class sponsored by Finlandia Vodka, to cities around the world.
A four time James Beard award nominee, DeGroff appears regularly in the press and media, writes monthly columns for Theme Magazine and Beverage Media, and has won many industry awards including the 2008 TOTC Helen David Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2007 Cheers Beverage Industry Innovator of the Year for the award winning Beverage Alcohol Resource, a training and credentialing program in distilled spirits and mixology.
DeGroff is the author of "The Craft of The Cocktail", winner of the IACP Julia Child Award, and has just released his new book, "The Essential Cocktail" (Random House) in October 2008. He is also the founding President of The Museum of the American Cocktail, a non-profit organization dedicated to education in mixology and celebrating the rich history of the cocktail. For more information visit www.kingcocktail.com.
About the book: "The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks"
DeGroff's legacy-as King Cocktail-is crafting unique cocktails, reviving classics, and coaxing superior flavor from fresh ingredients. In THE ESSENTIAL COCKTAIL he has selected the 100 essential drinks and 100 of their best variations. The result is a book that is pictorial celebration of the cocktail and a great resource.
Featuring the drinks every amateur and professional bartender must know, the criteria for inclusion in this selective book is perfection.
DeGroff takes the best ingredients, flavors, and combinations to carefully explain proper technique, the use of tasteful garnishes, the ins and outs of glassware, and the importance of style and finesse in presentation so that the overall experience of the drink is as flawless as the taste.
Sleek photographs of every major cocktail along side wit and wisdom of nearly three decades behind the bar makes THE ESSENTIAL COCKTAIL an arsenal of fantastic drinks and conversation for any occasion. From the classics to Dale's signature twists, recipes include:
With King Cocktail as your coach, guests, whether in a restaurant or your home, will receive fresh ingredients, new flavors, and balanced composition not only in their food but in their drinks as well.
Buy the book on Amazon: The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks
