The Murdery Delicious Hamwich Gumm Mystery - Persephone's Bush

As my fiendish murder mystery is about to hit the shelves, I present a sneak peak of the dastardly recipes fraught, rigidly fraught! with clues to be found in the pages of The Murdery Delicious Hamwich Gumm Mystery.
 
While we anticipate the foul murders in my novel, please peruse the series of recipes and cocktails in the upcoming weeks, here on eveningswithpeter...presented...in hideous parts.  


PERSEPHONE'S BUSH
This will take some time, so prepare accordingly. First, address the following:

Purloin fresh lavender and stick it in a bottle of vodka. Let it sit in darkness for about two weeks to make the extract.

Put sprigs of rosemary and perhaps some thyme in a bottle of Stoli honey flavored vodka. Let that sit for about two weeks as well.

Once these agrarian touches have come to fruition, do this:

Rinse chilled Champagne glasses with the lavender extract. In an ice-filled shaker, use about 2 oz per serving of the rosemary/thyme steeped honey vodka. Add perhaps the barest breath of rose water if so inclined. A squeeze of lemon is welcome. Shake and pour into your glasses. Top off with fizzy, almost freezing Champagne. Do note that this cocktail must be served vitally cold--and garnish with fresh, fragrant thyme sprigs.

Then throw it on the floor.

Do enjoy! peterhalseysherwood.com

The Murdery Delicious Hamwich Gumm Mystery - Presumptive Pie Pastry

As my fiendish murder mystery is about to hit the shelves, I present a sneak peak of the dastardly recipes fraught, rigidly fraught! with clues to be found in the pages of The Murdery Delicious Hamwich Gumm Mystery. My Nana used this basic recipe for pie pastry and somehow it wound up in my book. Think of it would you when turning toward the holiday season--pork pies! Pumpkin pies! Pecan pies!

While we anticipate the foul murders in my novel, please peruse the series of menus in the upcoming weeks, here on eveningswithpeter...presented...in hideous parts. 

A Recipe for Hamwich Gumm’s Presumptive Pie Pastry

 Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

Salt

1/2 cup Crisco shortening

3 tablespoons plus ice cold water

Method

Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Cut in shortening with a destructive device such as a blender or two very sharp knives until crumbly. Add ice water, stir cautiously with a fork and add more water just until it holds together. Make into a ball and knead with prudence.

Beware: Handle as little as possible.

The Murdery Delicious Hamwich Gumm Mystery - Curious Creamed Spinach

As my fiendish murder mystery is about to hit the shelves, I present a sneak peek of the dastardly recipes fraught, rigidly fraught! with clues to be found in the pages of The Murdery Delicious Hamwich Gumm Mystery. While we anticipate the foul murders, please peruse the series of menus in the upcoming weeks, here on eveningswithpeter...presented...in hideous parts.

A Recipe for Curious Creamed Spinach

Makes 10 servings

Ingredients

3 lbs of spinach 
1 1/4 cups soured milk
1 cup cumbersome cream 
1 diminutive onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced and mashed 
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup purposeful flour 
1 tablespoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg from an old woman’s purse

Method
Rinse spinach bundle and then drop in a wee dram of boiling salted water until wilted, one to two minutes. Drain and plunge into cold water. Strangle the bundle of spinach to release the water, then vehemently chop into bits. Slay the onions in the butter until softened, about four minutes. Bring the milk and cream to a conspiratorial simmer in a separate pan. Kill heat. Put aside. Take the flour to task, whisking into the onion and butter mix to make a roux with the consequence of milk and cream slowly stirred in afterward to settle for about three minutes, continually whisking with fervor to avoid lumps, and simmer until thickened, three to four minutes more. Add a slash of nutmeg, the mutilated spinach, and resolve with thyme leaves removed from their stems, and a dash of salt and pepper. Bring to a heated conclusion.

Do enjoy! peterhalseysherwood.com

Shouldn't You Just...?

Launch applauding bouquets of roses all about the room for any occasion--or none at all?

Modern advice on etiquette for the not-so-new-millennium.

Next Magazine - Villard Michel Richard

The legendary New York Palace is still going strong, with Villard Michel Richard to bolster it! 

Villard Michel Richard
455 Madison Ave (btwn 50th/51st Sts)
212-891-8100
VillardMichelRichard.com

SHORT ORDER: An exquisite experience helmed by master chef Michel Richard, and extraordinarily designed by the divine Jeffrey Beers.
PETER’S PICKS: Negroni; lobster bisque; perfect steak; fried chicken; Napoleon
PETER’S PANS: We didn’t experience an ectoplasmic visitation from the long-departed Leona Helmsley. Also, I’ve run out of superlatives.

Having recently visited the extraordinary Villard Michel Richard helmed by the gentleman himself, master chef Michel Richard, in the legendary New York Palace hotel, I can confidently assert that even former proprietress Leona Helmsley would be proud. Interior designer Jeffrey Beers has created an exquisite, remarkably ornate experience that must be seen to be believed—seriously, there’s enough gorgeous grandeur and intricate pomp that, were circumstances somewhat different, Marie Antoinette herself would lose her head. Illumined golden curls blaze upward on the sconces that flank the marble finishes and original paintings lining the walls and all the while, an outrageous temperature-controlled chamber known as the “wine cube” is stocked with 1,000 bottles and anchors the sprawling dining room.
Cocktails crafted from age-old recipes border on the mystical and are taken quite seriously at Villard Michel Richard. The few rounds my friends and I encountered while we lingered were devastatingly good, but certainly not for the uninitiated, and should be sipped slowly. Alongside a basket of petite gougères (fancy French cheese puffs), an evenly balanced sidecar rattled forth, straight up in an elegantly etched coupe that lent a feminine touch to the otherwise masculine tables. My Negroni was on the rocks, however, in a brew of G’Vine gin, Campari, sweet vermouth and a conspiring orange zest.
Cubes of tuna tartare tangoed with watermelon; at once a wonderful chewy crunch left to dance on the palate with a suggestion of sesame oil. We shared spoonfuls of superb, steaming sherried French onion soup with luscious violin strings of cheese, and also leaned toward rich, sumptuous lobster bisque poured over chopped lobster meat and onions that all came to full flavor as the bowl rested near to room temperature. The sole crab cake was bedded by finely shredded leeks bathing in a bright drizzle of chive oil. Mushroom feuilleté delighted—we devoured the luxuriously plump shiitake mushrooms neatly sandwiched between layers of puff pastry.
Mushroom risotto outfitted with pearls of pasta and topped with a crumbled Parmesan tuille was a delicious interim course that we also shared, before launching into mains. Seared salmon was served fairly rare with just enough salt. Tender, tiny lentils, carrots, and shallots accompanied. A gargantuan slab of medium rare côte de boeuf au poivre was prime perfection. Served with French fries and a side of haricots verts tossed with crispy shallots, it readily warranted the $59 price tag (and is the most expensive item on the menu). Michel’s fried chicken was beyond. Start taking notes: the breast and legs are first wrapped with chicken mousse and shaken with bits of country bread before being fried. The end result: tender, mouth-watering pieces of chicken resting upon absolutely dreamy mashed potatoes.
We easily succumbed to the banana split topped with cubes of pineapple and served with plots of vanilla and chocolate ice cream as well as strawberry sorbet with sugar-browned Rice Crispies. The Napoleon featured more puff pastry, lighter than air, filled with a ridiculously delicious cream.  

Prices: Appetizers: $12–$20; Entrées: $24–$59; Alcohol: wine, beer, signature cocktails, full bar

First published in part in Next magazine.

Next Magazine Review - Juni

Easily one of my top ten picks for the year! Do enjoy!
 
Juni, 12 E 31st St (btwn Fifth/Madison Aves)

212-995-8599
JuniNYC.com

SHORT ORDER: A spectacular seasonal menu in a soothing, intimate setting.
PETER’S PICKS: foie gras with warm brioche; kale soup; salsify agnolotti; sumptuous duck
PETER’S PANS: Where was the bed in which we might stay and continue to sup overnight?

Even though we were only in the East 30s when we went to Juni, we could have sworn the cab driver took a wrong turn and dropped us off somewhere else. Juni is an immediately soothing, refined, palely considered salon, perhaps not as hip as the neighboring Breslin or as gorgeously grandiose as the NoMad Hotel, but we felt like we’d been transported to the intimate social atmospheres that were once found at Lutèce or La Côte Basque in days past. Executive chef Shaun Hergatt hails from Australia and his revolving seasonal menu is unassuming, elegant and precise, displaying a keen sense of culinary artistry—and the place has only been open for a little over two months! My two companions and I eagerly launched into the personally customized six-course menu (and we shared each other’s orders too).

A black tea and lavender cocktail seemed such a bizarre conglomeration at first that I had to try it. Somehow, splashes of rye, artichoke liqueur, scotch, a black-tea-infused aperitivo and lavender syrup worked together marvelously. My fella readily rode the Sidecar with cognac, juice from McIntosh apples and a fine lace of honey.

The fragrant amuse-bouche trio was a delight, featuring a petite carrot tuile with a dot of goat cheese, root vegetable tapioca with parsley oil, and thinly sliced mushrooms with summer truffle vinaigrette. Even the crusty, warm table bread was fantastic, served with an herbed green olive oil tapenade.
“Pearls” of rooty kohlrabi and butternut squash served with kingfish were quickly outdone by Hudson Valley foie gras over a Granny Smith apple purée, apple gel and a sassy apple relish. The accompanying miniature pot filled with steaming brioche was charming and perfect to swab the plate with. Tuscan kale soup was rich and earthy, outfitted with sprouted lentils and simmered pork neck. Creamy black salsify stuffed into gentle blankets of agnolotti made us weep delicious tears.

Moving toward mains, we picked a perfect pairing with a Pouilly-Fuissé that had touches of apples and honey and even traces of lemon. Black bass, featuring a fascinating latticework on the grilled skin, was graced by leaves of purslane, little leaning towers of flourless gnocchi and a truffle sabayon sauce. Atlantic salmon was enlivened by sharp fennel, a lemon yogurt cotta and watermelon radish chips. Duck lightly bathed in an anise-hyssop emulsion, flattered by small “cannons” of candy beets. Veal tenderloin was delicately flavored but found balanced depth with accompanying quinoa, burdock root, hon shimeji mushrooms and a trickle of mushroom sauce, poured at the table.

By dessert, we went for a few batches of nosey, satisfying Hudson Baby bourbon. Between sips, we tried homey, roasted Fuji apples with a touch of maple syrup and smoked mascarpone. Spongy chocolate prepared with a sweet potato purée and a bit of bay leaves left a nice touch, and taste. Sweet corn was tied up with a ribbon of tarragon lime gel and salty cheddar crisps.

Prices: Four course: $90; six course: $120; 10 course: $180; Alcohol: wine, beer, full bar, specialty cocktails

First published in part in Next magazine. 

Next Magazine - '21' Club's Fatal Mistakes

Having long been a fan of the '21' Club, I was delighted to discover a cocktail inspired by the prohibition era series Boardwalk Empire at their recently installed bar. Now, this booze-fueled concoction really packs some heat! Do enjoy--but responsibly! 

21 Club's Fatal Mistakes

Ingredients: 

1 ½ oz Canadian Club

1 oz Applejack brandy (a.k.a. Jersey Lightning, from the oldest licensed distillery in the U.S.)
1 oz maraschino liquor
1/2 oz dry vermouth
3 dashes Fee Brothers bitters

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice and stir. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Rim and garnish with a lemon twist.

21 Club is located at 21 W 52nd St (btwn Fifth/Sixth Aves). Visit 21Club.com for more info. 

First published in part in Next magazine.