The Kerthy Fix Sidecar

Sidecars seem very sophisticated and old-fashioned, but in fact, they are just Margaritas made with Brandy instead of Tequila, and a sugar instead of a salt rim. These small differences count though. I drink Sidecars in the winter and would feel very silly drinking a Margarita when the weather wasn’t hot

I had my first sidecar at an artist retreat in the Berkshires. It was the most inspiring group of artists…not only were they intelligent and creative but they all knew how to cook! Since we took turns preparing the meals for each other, cooking ability was important! Anyway, a bunch of us arrived early to clean the beautiful farm house where we would be staying and working for a week and one of the artist made us all Sidecars to sip on while we cleaned.

About a year later, Chris and I had a cocktail party to show our friends a slide show of our trip to India (and announce our engagement). We requested 1960s attire and suggested that the guests pretend to be uncomfortably married to one another and talk about their imaginary children. We served old-fashioned appetizers…things wrapped in bacon, tiny quiches and creamy dips…and classic cocktails. Our friend Kerthy stepped up as bartender, and as out ingredients dwindled, she improvised an improvement on the Sidecar. The Sidecar wins the prize for best cocktail name in my opinion. Luckily Kerthy has a prize-winning name as well so ladies and gentleman I give you…

THE KERTHY FIX SIDECAR

1 lemon wedge
granulated sugar
cinnamon
Ice cubes
1 ounce (2 Tablespoons) Brandy
1 ounce (2 Tablespoons) Cointreau
1 ounce (2 Tablespoons) fresh lemon juice
1 ounce (2 Tablespoons) fresh orange juice
1 strip orange zest for garnish

Rub the lemon wedge on the rim of a cocktail glass.
Spread the sugar and cinnamon on a saucer and dip the wet rim of the glass into the mixture to coat.
Put the glass in the fridge to chill.
Fill a mixing glass with ice cubes.
Pour the Brandy, Cointreau, lemon and orange juice over the ice cubes and mix well.
Strain the drink into the chilled glass.
Garnish with the orange zest and serve.

Normally on this blog we post the stuff that we are cooking and eating right now. This cocktail was invented before we started this blog, but I have been meaning to post it the whole time. It has become my favourite cocktail to make whenever I have friends over for drinks…really, it’s the only cocktail I make, since I am famously more of a whiskey drinker. If you enjoy Kerthy’s Sidecar, you should also check out the cocktail that she made for our wedding, the Starfish Short Fizz, starring blueberries.

Kerthy made invented another amazing cocktail recently at her sweety Paul’s birthday using the strange assortment of booze, herbs and fruit juice that I had on hand at my house. Most of the liquor in my cabinet is there as an ingredient for cooking (sambuca for pear pie, rum for apple pie, cognac for tomato soup and pan sauce, Frangelico, Grand Marnier and Drambuie for caramelized fruit, Kirsch for clafouti) so the choices were a little odd. I can’t remember what all went into this….but if Kerthy does I’ll post it sometime soon!