CityFood Magazine - Mark Brand's Drunken Degas in a Santa Suit

Photo by Heather Goldsworthy of Image Obscura.

MARK BRAND'S DRUNKEN DEGAS

Ingredients:
1 bottle of EFFEN vodka
6 star anise pods (split in half with seeds)
Pinch of fleur de sel
3 oz brandy
small handful of cranberries
Pinch of brown sugar
1/2 egg white
1 oz Absinthe

Method:
Add star anise to the bottle of vodka and leave to infuse for 72 hours, then strain out. In small pot, add pinch of fleur de sel, 3 ounces of brandy and cranberries. Flambé until cranberries are browned then remove from heat and let cool. In a mixing glass, add 6 cranberries and a pinch of brown sugar. Muddle with rolling pin, or any blunt ended kitchen utensil until macerated. Add 2 oz of the infused vodka, half an egg white and shake vigorously for a full minute. Fill an atomizer (available at any cookware store) with Absinthe and spritz the inside of a martini glass. Fine strain the cranberry solution into the martini glass and serve with the Candy Cane brittle.

To make Candy Cane Brittle:
Place 2 cups of white chocolate chips into a small pot and suspend the pot over warm (not boiling) water until the chocolate is melted. Add 2 oz of Absinthe. Set aside to cool slightly. In a freezer zip lock bag, crush 5 candy canes with rolling pin until pieces are small (size of a dime), then stir these into the melted white chocolate. Pour mixture onto cookie sheet lined in wax paper. Spread evenly and place into fridge. Cool until chocolate is hard. Crack like brittle and serve on a side plate.

Mark is a co-owner of Boneta restaurant and the Save-On Meats Diner.
in Gastown, Vancouver.

_________________________________________

Clever how Mark's cocktail looks like a little Santa suit in a glass, don't you think? Or maybe that of a sleigh rider. Si Cranstoun sings about Santa's MTV makeover.