I'm a huge fan of Rum.. Anyone who knows me- and who has been to the house in NJ would say that I have a serious passion for Rum by the dozens of bottles that line the shelves.
After all my friend Ed Hamilton from the Ministry of Rum asked me to be a Rum Judge in 2010.
That was an honor!
And who could ever forget the blistering strong Rum Punches that I made during my college years at Emerson in Boston. We called them Chimney Punches.
The Chimney Punch
+ Recipe will souse the brains of about two dozen of your closest friends!
So be careful! Danger level 10 out of 10!
Ingredients:
Lemon Hart 151 Demerara Rum (here is the review from the Ministry of Rum)
Punt e Mes Sweet Vermouth
Freshly Squeezed Juices about 4 cups each:
Lemon
Lime
Pineapple
Orange
Mango
Crushed Ice
Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water (3 Bottles)
Preparation:
Into a punch bowl pour all the rums in.. Yes, even the whole bottle of 151.
Add 3 cups of each freshly squeezed juice
Add 3 Bottles of the Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water to the punch bowl
Add enough crushed ice to make everything nice
Add 2 cups of the Orgeat Syrup
Add 2 cups of the Punt e Mes Sweet Vermouth
Crush about 3 cups of fresh fruit, cherries, oranges, plums and peaches
Mix in to the Chimney Punch
Add about 20 drops of the Bitter End Thai Bitters
Stir well and serve
Take away the car keys!
Why was this called a chimney punch? Because on the roof of my former home on Beacon Hill there was a non functional chimney. I'd line it with plastic garbage bags and mix the punch in there!
Hence the Chimney Punch!
Rum is extremely versatile in cooking as well as in cocktails. My wife is a professional baker. She creates recipes out of thin air that taste tried and true. The following is for the Drunken Oatmeal Cookies.
Blackheart Rum sent me a bottle of their Spiced Rum for an article I wrote recently. I tried it in some mint juleps and in a hot toddy. What this Rum is really fabulous for is baking.
You can purchase it at Williams-Sonoma stores.
The combination of the Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla with the Blackheart Rum was just magical. I inhaled about six cookies with a big glass of Rum to wash them down!
This is a very easy recipe to make. Enjoy it!
Drunken Oatmeal - Raisin cookies with pecans and white chocolate chips
yields about 36
preheat oven to 350 and line cookie pans with parchment
Ingredients:
1 cup dark raisins
1 cup Blackheart 93 proof Premium Spiced Rum
2 sticks sweet butter softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 Tbs Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
11/4 cups quick oats
1 cup toasted chopped pecans
1 cup white chocolate chips
In a small saucepan simmer the raisins in the rum until the liquid is absorbed - set aside to cool
1. Beat butter on medium speed until creamy - add the sugars, egg, and vanilla and beat til blended
2. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and quick oats to the butter mixture - beat til blended
3. Stir in pecans, white chocolate chips, and raisins
4. Drop dough in heaping tablespoonfuls on the prepared cookie sheets and bake until lightly browned about 10-12 minutes
5. Remove to wire racks and let cool completely
Optional: Microwave 12 oz good quality white chocolate with 3 Tbs shortening stirring once - dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate.
Place dipped cookies on waxed paper and let stand until firm.
About Warren Bobrow
Warren has published over three hundred articles on everything from cocktail mixology to restaurant reviews. (Served Raw, Drinking in America, DrinkGal.com, Bluewater Vodka, Purity Vodka, Botran Rum, Orleans Apple Aperitif, Marie Brizard, Art in the Age: Root, Snap, Rhuby, Hendricks Gin, Sailor Jerry Rum, Tuthilltown Spirits, Bitter Cube, Bitter Truth, Bitter End-Bitters, Bitters, Old Men…etc. etc.)
He’s written food articles and news for Edible Jersey, Chutzpah Magazine, NJ Monthly, Serious Eats, Daily Candy (Philadelphia) Rambling Epicure (Geneva, Switzerland)
He is one of the cocktail bloggers for Williams-Sonoma and Foodista.
Warren is the On-Whiskey Columnist for Okra Magazine in New Orleans.
He is also a Ministry of Rum judge.
Warren is a self-taught photojournalist and shoots with the venerable Leica M8.
(Digital rangefinder)
