My Hubby Made Me a Cocktail…
My new friend, Gianni, motioned to the plate as it arrived, a generous platter of apertivi filled with olives, chips, bites of pizza, focaccia, cured meats, cheeses, crostini, and vegetables.
It’s a habit one can get used to very quickly in Italy — that is, anticipating a plate of small bites to arrive with your cocktail. After all, “one should never drink on an empty stomach.”
Nibble. Sip.
Nibble. Sip.
The food is enhanced by the drink, and the drink is made all the better by the food. It is, as they say, a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately, here at the cottage, I am my own chef, server, hostess, and dishwasher, which means that if a tray of nibbles is to be served alongside the cocktails, it is I (and only I) who will make it so. Sigh.
But luckily, I do happen to have a pretty hot bartender on hand who won’t let me near the cocktail supplies — all the better, I say. It’s one department in our home that I’m happy to pass off to someone far more skilled in the arena than I.
I bring the food.
Stu brings the cocktail.
Together, we can pretend like we are at our favorite bar in Italy, sipping and nibbling our way to la dolce vita.
After a long, hot day in the garden, my payoff was enjoying one of Stu’s delicious creations! For the cocktail featured in this week’s video, he uses fresh apricot jam that we picked, puréed, and preserved ourselves.
I’m sharing the recipe so you can use it in your own cocktails and apertivi.
My Simplest Jam
Even though we make apricot jam together in our video, you can substitute any fruit that you’d like! This is the recipe I use to make all sorts of delicious flavors. Jam has a hard time setting in large batches, so instead of doubling or tripling the batch in a single pot, simmer small batches in multiple pots on the stove.
Ingredients:
4 cups of puréed fruit (pits removed if needed)
1 cup honey or sugar
3 tablespoons low-sugar pectin
Sterilized jelly jars
Instructions:
Combine the fruit, honey or sugar, and pectin in a saucepan. Over medium heat, bring the fruit to a simmer, stirring constantly. It will bubble, start to gently foam, and do all the beautiful things jam does!
Allow the jam to simmer for fifteen minutes until it thickly coats the back of a spoon.
Carefully spoon the jam into the jelly jars, put on a new lid and band, and gently tighten. Flip the jar upside down on the countertop and let it sit for a day. In this time, the hot jam will cool and in doing so, create a suction on the lid, thus sealing the jar. (This is an old method called "hot pack" and so long as the jars are sterilized and the jam is hot, you've nothing to fret. I sterilize my jars by running them through the dishwasher or boiling them for five minutes.)
Alternatively, you can water-can the jam jars for 10 minutes to achieve a seal.
Cheers to a beautiful August weekend, my friend.
