In case anyone is still thinking of how to entertain their guests, or any guest is still thinking about what to take to dinner.
By the time you read this there will be no time to do anything marvelous to the goose (certainly not to cook the legs in fat and sear-roast the breast separately) or the standing ribs of beef (except slather it with vodka, then lots of salt and pepper and let it stand for a few hours at room temperature before baking). But there will be time to think about drinks. And time to nip down to the local store to buy the necessaries for whatever nog or nogg you desire.
I can quite easily forgo any of the culinary traditions of Christmas, but I would hate not to have a bite of aged Christmas pudding with hard sauce, or to miss out on my eggnog.
Every year I pour over old cookbooks, housewives’ companions, and books of household management, as I rethink which version of eggnog I am going to make. And every year I wish Elizabeth David was still here so I could sit around her kitchen table with several bottles of Sancerre and discuss the origins of “nog.” In Scotland they call eggnogg “auld man’s milk” which, in my case now, is quite fitting, even though I have been drinking it ever since I was old enough to get on a chair and steal it out of the punch bowl filled to the brim with this, alcoholic, creamy, custard.
The old books would tempt me to rediscover drinks like Flips, Possets, Syllabubs, Mr. Pickwick’s Caudel, a Spinster’s Blush, a Negus, Smollet’s Bumpos, Rumfustians, Swift’s Bishop, Bonalays and Sanfairyans, Ypocras, and even the Shakespeare’s Wassail Bowl. The Elizabethan period books, as for so many things, provide a definition of nog (and of Christmas) that is good enough for me:
“Here take this,” pouncing upon a glass of eggnog. “Ain’t it good?”
“What is it?”
“Oh, plenty of good things.”
I will, as usual, ignore all the recipes that call for raw egg versions of this sublime drink, because all those old recipes were before we put chickens in Guantanamo-like camps where they flirt with salmonella. And as for hot nogs, like a 1928 recipe (“very popular in California”) by Professor Jerry Thomas (principal bartender at the Metropolitan Hotel in New York), and father of the current mixology craze. Although the Cognac and Santa Cruz rum in equal proportions to the milk sounds challenging, I prefer my nog chilled. It’s more refreshing and less ruinous to the appetite. William Henry Harrison’s favorite beverage, when a general and not yet President, was an egg dropped into a tumbler with ice, sugar, and cider, and shaken vigorously. In Baltimore at the turn of the century they thought that by adding Madeira (as well as the brandy and rum) the drink would therefore not cause a headache. I like that approach, but both of those are raw-egg, uncooked versions.
If all that seems a bit dull and not bracing enough to face your in-laws, there is always the Blue Blazor. The cocktail that Professor Jerry invented while creating courage at the El Dorado gambling saloon in San Francisco in 1830. He included the theater of making one at no extra charge. “By lighting whiskey afire and passing it back and forth between two mixing glasses, creating an arc of flame.”
Image courtesy Mixology Academy.
Or this one from La Polo Magazine.
You can find it in his Bar-Tender’s Guide, but perhaps stick to a Nog and you won’t have to take out additional fire insurance.
Out of the many and various recipes for eggnog, I prefer the simple approach: crème anglaise or english custard with plenty of booze. No stiffened egg whites or whipped cream in it (leave the white moustaches to Santa), no nutmeg (a bully of flavors), no vanilla - ok perhaps a piece of scraped vanilla bean cooked in the custard - nothing added but lots of booze. Like the hard sauce, mix them up (balance the sweetness of brandy or bourbon with the cutting edge of Scotch whiskey) and use whatever bottles are already open. The ratio for me is half a cup of alcohol for 4 cups of custard.
Crème Anglaise
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
6 egg yolks
1/4 Teaspoon kosher salt
2 Cups whole milk
1 1-inch piece vanilla bean
Ice, to make an ice bath to make an ice bath
Mix the sugar, yolks, and salt in a large, heat safe mixing bowl and whisk until pale yellow (about 5 minutes).
Heat the milk and vanilla bean together until almost boiling, and pour slowly into the yolk mixture while whisking.
Cook over simmering water in a double boiler, stirring constantly, until the custard begins to thicken and coats the spoon.
Remove from heat and place over an ice bath to cool, stirring constantly with a spoon—this prevents the custard from overcooking (curdling) and forming a skin when it cools.
Strain and serve. If not ready to serve right away, you can refrigerate it for up to a week in an airtight container.
Hard Sauce
Sometimes called Brandy Butter, but I don't because I like to drown the sugar and butter with not only brandy, but whisky and rum as well. Whatever bottles you have open and need to use.
No point in making this in small batches, even if a dinner for one.
1 cup (240 gr.) salted butter
3 cups (350 gr.) powdered or icing sugar
1/2 cup (145 ml.) whisky, rum, or brandy or a mixture
Let the butter soften a bit and beat until creamy and smooth. Beat in the sugar until completely incorporated. Then add and mix in thoroughly the liqueur(s).
Keep covered in the refrigerator, taking it out an hour before needed.
Thank you my friend, and hope tpo see the cottage soon. May if be filled with friends and magnums now.
Thanks for sharing chef. I have never made Eggnog, but I enjoy it. I'll make sure to try this recipe.
I may make a hybrid between Coquito and Eggnog, with rum and spices. A blend of Puerto Rican and American tradition. Don't know how it would come out but Eggnog is already good, and Coquito is already good -and it'll have a good amount of rum- so it I'll be good (I suppose).
Happy holidays!