I gathered up the team and we headed for Vegas, baby! And the VIBE was great!

We just recently got back from Vegas and had an amazing time at the VIBE Conference! This is the 2nd annual spirits and liquor industry conference where beverage industry leaders, national restaurant accounts and spirit brands come together to discuss all things beverage, showcase tasty new products, learn new things and get inspired. This year I shook it up for the opening night’s Celebrity Mixologist event at the William Grant & Monin “Americana themed bar” with Charlotte Voissey, a world-renowned mixologist! My drink was a play on the soda fountain: the  ROOT n’ Rye Float made with ROOT liquor, Hudson Rye, Sailor Jerry and a dash of Fee’s Old Fashioned Bitters. This was shaken and served up with a beautiful “float” of foam made with Monin French Vanilla Syrup. And of course I had to have a little bling bling in there… a dusting of edible gold flakes!

Charlotte Voissey and me at the VIBE Celebrity Mixologist Event

The next day I led a workshop-style seminar with my team about Cocktail Alternatives: Raising the Bar – Without Raiding the Bar! (a tasting discussion on non-alcoholic drinks). We held a lively discussion on what’s new on the non-alcoholic horizon, sampled mocktails such as the Yuzu Mizu and discussed all the cool beverages I have seen on my travels to the Middle East and Asia. The seminar ended with participants making their own non-alcoholic concoctions. You can see a brief overview of the seminar at the VIBE website.

My Yuzu Mizu mocktail

After all that, there was still time to party, eat at great restaurants, dance and party some more! If you’re in Vegas…you might as well live it up! Yeah! We can’t wait for VIBE next year!

My team and me having a blast in Vegas!

It’s Clammin’ Time!

My friend Scott and I cleaning razor clams

Last Saturday, March 19th was the 5th Annual Razor Clam Festival! I hosted this year’s festivities once again which kicked off with a Firemen’s Pancake Breakfast. There were a lot of  chowders to taste for this year’s Clam Chowder Cook-Offs — the professional and amateur competition! My chef team and I tasted and judged close to 30 chowders altogether! After a great festival, it was time for some clam digging! Stay tuned for a detailed blog with the official winners Clam Chowder Cook-Off competition winners and recipes!

Dancing the night away with a Rosemary Mandarin Tango!

Seattle Dances! was a hit! Plymouth Housing Group’s second annual auction and dinner event brought in lots of people to watch a new group of Seattleites dance their pants off… but not literally! If you remember, last year I put on my dancing shoes and danced the Charleston! This year, I put my dancing shoes away (thankfully!) and shook up some fun with my tasty Rosemary Mandarin Tango cocktail! This blends in the complex character of Moon Mountain vodka with the sweetness of a Cuties Clementine and the herbal note of fresh rosemary.

Rosemary Mandarin Tango
Makes 1 drink
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1/4 Cuties^® Mandarin
1 1/2 oz Moon Mountain Vodka
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz honey syrup*
————————————
1 oz brut champagne
Garnish: small sprig of rosemary

Bend rosemary sprig and drop into mixer glass. Squeeze and drop in Cuties Mandarin.
Measure in the Moon Mountain Vodka, lemon and honey syrup. Fill with ice. Cap and shake vigorously.
Strain into a large martini glass. Add a splash of champagne. Garnish with rosemary.
* To make Honey syrup combine 1 part local honey and 1 part hot water. Stir to combine. Store refrigerated.
Recipe © Kathy Casey Liquid Kitchen™

Kathy Casey’s Liquid Kitchen

The first season of my cocktail show Kathy Casey’s Liquid Kitchen^TM on Small Screen Network was a hit and I appreciate all the great responses! If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet log in today and try out my Luxury Piña Colada; a little taste of summer which is just around the corner! We start shooting the next season this spring!

As you may know, I had a fantastic trip to Kuala Lampur over the holidays to develop the bars and nightclubs at Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It was a crazy-busy visit but I did get a chance to sit down with Time Out: Kuala Lampur to talk about mixing up my favorite spirits with some d’lish flavor pairings! Make sure you check it out to get some ideas about unique taste combinations… don’t quote me on that Dr. Pepper comment, though!!! I swear I DID NOT say that!

It’s Tea Thyme! You read that right… Food & Wine online is featuring my lovely Tea Thyme cocktail. It marries English breakfast tea-infused vodka, a little splash of lemon juice, local honey like my own Liquid Kitchen “5130” Honey, and a pretty sprig of thyme for garnish to add a fresh, herbalicious note. This classy cocktail is perfect for a grown-up tea party! Cheers!

Savory Chicken Cupcakes?? Yes indeed! And a $10 thousand dollar recipe contest!

This year’s Seattle Food & Wine Experience was a sell-out hit! With wines from over 10 countries and lots of fantastic nibbles from local culinarians there was a lot to see and taste! I was at the Foster Farms booth where my team was serving up my Savory Chicken & Bacon “Cupcakes” with Tabasco Cream Cheese Frosting while I was signing complimentary copies of my Northwest Table, courtesy of Foster Farms. If you weren’t able to attend or did and didn’t catch the recipe, look no further as I’ve included it below, and if you fancy yourself a great cook and are a resident of Washington, Oregon or California then get creating and enter the Foster Farms recipe contest.

Kathy Casey’s Savory Chicken & Bacon “Cupcakes” with Tabasco Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes about 24

Cupcakes
1 cup small diced Foster Farm’s raw chicken breast (about 12 oz wt.)
3 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup each 1/8-inch-diced onion, celery and red bell pepper
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. Old Bay seasoning
2 eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained well
8 strips cooked bacon, chopped fine (about 1/2 cup chopped)

Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
Garnish: 2 thinly sliced green onions

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F

To make the cupcakes: Spray nonstick mini–muffin tins with cooking spray. Set aside.

Cut chicken breast into 1/4-inch small pieces. In a small skillet or sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the chicken breast and sauté for about 3 minutes moving around the pan with a spoon. When chicken is three-quarters cooked then add the onion, celery, and bell pepper for about 3 to 4 minutes more, until vegetables are just starting to get tender. Add the garlic and sauté about 30 seconds more. Let cool.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and Old Bay seasoning; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and sour cream.

Once the cooked mixture is cooled, add the cornmeal mixture to the egg mixture, and mix lightly. Fold in the drained corn, bacon, and cooked chicken and vegetables. Do not overmix; fold in just until evenly distributed.

Divide batter between the prepared mini muffin cups, fill to the top – you will get about 24 cupcakes. Bake the cupcakes for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in cupcake center comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then carefully remove them from the pan and let cool briefly on a wire rack before frosting. The cupcakes can be made up to 1 day in advance, covered, and refrigerated before frosting. Refrigeration is imperative if making in advance. (If reheating them, warm them for minute or so in a 350-degree F oven before frosting.)

To make the frosting: In a small bowl, mash the cream cheese with a fork, then whisk in the milk and Tabasco until smooth and creamy. Top each cupcake with about 1 teaspoon of frosting then sprinkle with green onion for garnish. Serve warm.

© 2011 by Kathy Casey Food Studios® – Liquid Kitchen™ www.kathycasey.com

Where to catch Kathy next:

April 14th – 16th: New Orleans, Louisiana
I’ll be cooking it up in New Orleans for the Mom 2.0 Summit this year! The Mom Summit is an annual event between moms, marketers, and social media specialists. I’ll be there with Almond Accents sharing my tips for delicious almond-related recipes! Check out this year’s event schedule and ticket info!

May 13th – 17th: New York, New York
If you happen to live or be in the area of Manhattan on those dates, make sure that you stop by the Manhattan Cocktail Classic! This is a part conference, part cocktail party and part festival-style liquor and spirits industry event. The best part: it’s open to the public! Come stop by and attend my seminar: Three Mixologists – Three Drinks – Three Ways (or Cocktail Ménage á Trois!) For event and ticket info, click here.

It’s been a whirlwind month so far and shows no signs of stopping with all the super-fun events coming up, so make sure you stay tuned to catch all the details of my adventures! Cheers! – Kathy

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Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@KathyCaseyChef), Dishing with Kathy Casey Blog or find Sips & Apps on Facebook for all my tasty travel tidbits.

If you haven’t signed up for my Newsletter, you can sign-up here.

Well, it’s been a super, crazy, busy summer here at Kathy Casey Food Studios®-Liquid Kitchen™. I’ve been filming, traveling, and shaking up a storm the past few months. If you want to stay updated with all kinds of super-tasty tidbits of what’s been going on, be sure to follow me on Twitter and check out my blog.

Food Network Canada — yea! I’m their new “Ask an Expert” mixologist!

I am so honored to be working with Food Network—so click, and ask away everything you wanted to know about crafting a great cocktail, throwing a libacious party or what the newest imbibing trend is. Click here to check it out!

The Liquid Kitchen™ has been shaking up some new products …

At our online store we have our logo’d Boston shaker tin sets and our house-made Golden Era bitters as well as our Liquid Kitchen Cocktail Kit with all the barware basics. Look forward to other tasty cocktail concoctions soon, too, such as unique handmade marmalades and preserves—that will be excellent to shake into your favorite spirit—as well as our Liquid Kitchen No. 5130 backyard honey from our very own bee hives!

Speaking of honey … we are all abuzz about the very first batch of No. 5130 Honey
The end of July had things buzzing here at the Food Studios — it was time for the 1^st honey harvest from our hive! Bee Master Corky Luster spun the first batch, and is it d’lish! With a dark amber hue, our honey is rich and complex tasting. Honey is a great sweetener and can be used in a plethora of recipes. I love it drizzled over sexy cheeses, lush summer fruits or in cocktails such as my newest fav — the Maker’s Honey Hum Collins (recipe follows). This cocktail combines the new Maker’s Mark 46, honey syrup, fresh lemon and HUM liqueur made by my friend and extraordinary mixologist Adam Seger.

Above is a finished comb filled with honey that has been capped with wax
It’s on the way to become Liquid Kitchen™ #5130 Honey!

Maker’s Honey Hum Collins
featuring Liquid Kitchen™ No. 5130 Honey

Makes 1 drink

1 1/2 oz Maker’s Mark 46
1/4 oz Hum Botanical Spirit*
3/4 oz Liquid Kitchen Honey Syrup (recipe follows)
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz soda
Garnish: hibiscus flower and honey comb on a pick

Measure Maker’s Mark 46, Hum, honey syrup and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice, cap and shake. Add splash of soda to the shaker and pour into a tall Collins glass. Add additional ice if needed.
Garnish.

To make Liquid Kitchen™ Honey Syrup: Measure 1 part HOT water and 1 part Liquid Kitchen™ No. 5130 honey into a container. Stir until honey is completely dissolved. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

*Check out the HUM site for stores that carry it, or visit Drinks over Dearborn to order online if your state allows.

Recipe © 2010 by Kathy Casey Food Studios® – Liquid Kitchen™

Pur’ly Refreshing Cockails

Most recently I have been working with Purity Vodka, a complex character vodka. Unlike many neutral-tasting vodkas, Purity has a subtle, yet complex taste, which is best when embraced and highlighted rather than masked by overly sweet ingredients and powerful flavors. These cocktails are not only refreshing to sip this summer, but are also ideal when “watching your waistline.” Check out my blog on Amazon’s Al Dente site for the full read and the recipes.

Purity Vodka’s Berry Purity H₂O and the Frisk

Libatious Tales from The Big Easy
In July, my Executive Chef Cameo, my Account Manager Jill and I kicked off our “summer conference frenzy” with a trip to New Orleans for the annual Tales of the Cocktail. The attendees of this conference are what I endearingly refer to as the cocktail “geeks” (which I humbly place myself among), who are super into the Art of Mixology.

Cameo and my seminar Creativity and the Power of Brainstorming was picked for the Pro “line-up” which was so much fun! A portion of the presentation was hands on: each table of attendees had to create a cocktail in 5 minutes using a unique bar tool and whatever they could grab in 1 minute from a “pantry” of ingredients. (There were 80 people doing this at once! Can you say crazy!!) I’ll have to say we were pretty impressed with what the teams came up with in such a short period of time. The winning drink was called “Morris Day and the Thyme” and was a tasty blend of cucumber, Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine, gin, lime and a touch of simple syrup.

Attendees choosing from the “pantry” of ingredients.

Ms. Franky, Cameo, and I with the hard task of picking a winner!

After the seminar was over, we had time to enjoy the rest of the conference! I participated in the Cointreau Tasting Room & Bar Star Mix-Off where I was a “mentor” for a mixologist. The rest of our time in the Big Easy was split between eating and drinking, more seminars, parties and avoiding the heat! We hit all our favorite restaurants: Lunch at Napoleon House, famous for their Muffaletta and Pimm’s Cup; Cochon Restaurant for Pork Ribs with Watermelon Pickles; and Mother’s Restaurant for Grits with Debris.

If you missed Tales and want to shake up some of this year’s cocktails, check out the Tales of the Cocktail eBook — it is available online. This is a great deal for just 10 bucks (my recipe entry for the Planter’s Punch contest is also included along with our other seminar recipes). For more information, click here.

To read more, check out Cameo and my blog on Amazon’s Al Dente.

Then it was on to California for the 2010 Flavor Conference

After only a few days back in Seattle, Cameo and I were re-packed and ready to head to sunny Newport Beach, California, for the annual Flavor Conference. While we never see much more than the inside of a kitchen and the back side of a banquet table, it’s a great event that brings together restaurant, hotel, cruise line, resort, and food and liquor industry professionals from all over the US. It’s a three-day eat-and-drink-a-thon showcasing popular food trends, flavors and new products.

We were in attendance with our friends at Monin, shaking up some cocktails and appetizers we adapted from my book, Sips and Apps. At the welcome reception I signed copies of my book and Cameo served up Blue Thai Mojitos, 1800 Spiced Margaritas with a Mango Ginger Grilled Shrimp Garnish, and a delicious Clover Club with raspberry foam.

From left to right, Blue Thai Mojito, Clover Club with raspberry foam and 1800 Margarita

I headed back to Seattle the next day for a Seattle Sip Around (read more below) while Cameo held down the fort for the second night at Flavor for the “Chef’s Showcase.” Cameo was on hand poolside to serve up some sweet and spicy ceviche to a crowd of hungry conference-goers. This time we paired shrimp with pineapple and mango with a hint of chipotle, and a fresh halibut ceviche with hints of habanero, lime and orange. We added a fun twist to the margarita by offering a trio of foams and a sprinkling of black lava salt. Along with the beautiful and delicious sangria that Monin served, we were quite a hit at the sunset pool party!

Now we’re home and the dust has settled, we can relax for a minute or two before the next big thing … BlogHer Food 2010. Stay tuned for more info.

Things are Jammin’ at the Studios
Right now it’s Jam Time! It’s that time of year again when summer fruits are in abundance (despite this crazy weather!). We’ve been hooking up with City Fruit, a cool non-profit organization that gathers excess fruits from neighborhood yards then delivers them to food banks and restaurants. We love supporting them and are donning our sexy hairnets to cook up lots of great tasty treasures, which we will feature at Kathy Casey Food Studios annual open house this December … yes, we are thinking ahead!

Travis, myself and Cameo in our sexy hairnets!

Mmm … Strawberry Lavender Jam

Sip Around Seattle
This is a great new event we hosted for Beam Global and is something we for sure want to host again. We started out with Senior Mixology Associate Keith Waldbauer and fellow Mixologist Andrew Bohrer’s presentation on cocktail history, classic and new bartending techniques, and some new trends we are seeing in mixology bars across the country. Andrew carved up a slew of ice balls, Keith flamed some rosemary, and both mixed up some fantastic drinks for the guests.

Sr. Mixologist Associate and owner of Liberty Bar, Keith Waldbauer

The following day I conducted a major mixology session and drink tasting featuring 16 new drinks! Whew! After my seminar, we were off to the Sip Around tour. Seattle has so many great mixologists and bars that truly are on the cutting edge of all the nations’ trends, we thought we should show our guests what Seattle has to offer. So 30 of us piled onto a party bus and headed out.

First, we saw Jay Kuehner at Sambar, where we sipped his fruit-forward creations in the back garden patio.

Jay Kuehner, hard at work
The drink is Cruzan Single Estate Rum, grapefruit, grapefruit bitters,
Tahitian vanilla bean, sassafras and Cremant de Limoux — YUM!

Next, on to Oliver’s Twist. Robert Rowland and Kim Bruso each made a fantastic drink while we snacked on oxtail sliders and anchovy deviled eggs. We grabbed our treats of garlic truffle popcorn and hopped back on the bus to head downtown. At Vessel, Jim Romdall served us the signature “Vessel 75” made with two types of bourbon and Peychaud’s bitters poured over luscious maple syrup foam. Stop #4 was at Tavern Law, where we snuck up the secret staircase to the upstairs private room and Nathan Weber whipped up two delicious cocktails, served in their beautiful vintage glassware collection.

Nathan Weber’s “Chancey” cocktail

For our final stop we zipped over to Barrio where we tried Casey Robison’s ever-popular “Sexy Sadie,” a jalapeño-spiced tequila drink with a touch of sage. Then it was on to Liberty for last call, where co-owner Keith mixed up some drinks “on the fly” for us.

One of Liberty’s many concoctions, Rum Pineapple White Tea
… if you ask nicely, Keith might make you a special drink with it!

All-in-all it was a booze-a-licious and spectacular couple of days; everyone learned — and drank — a lot!

Save the Date for a delicious event — the Seattle Food & Culinary Arts Show!

I am so excited to be the emcee at the Culinarium live stage for this year’s Seattle Food Show. We are going to have a great line up of chefs! For years, foodies of all ages have devoured their way through Seattle’s specialty chocolate, artisanal coffee, craft brews, regional wine, scratch-made cupcakes, farmstead cheeses, fine restaurants and retailers. On November 20 and 21, you’ll find them all tempting you under one roof, at the Seattle Key Arena, and just in time for holiday shopping. Advance general admission is $20; details available here.

And stay tuned to see who wins $10K in the Foster Farms Chicken Recipe contest!

This next week we are hosting the Washington recipe finals here at the Food Studios. See all the semi-finalists’ recipes from Washington, Oregon and California here.

I hope you have had a delicious summer and I look forward to an excting fall. Stay tuned on Facebook and Twitter for news about all my tasty travels and projects.

XXO – Kathy Casey

Every year around mid July, Kathy and I are in a flurry in what I consider ‘Conference tour 2010!’  It’s a whirlwind of activity during the hottest months of the year.  While the rest of the world sits poolside sipping blended cocktails ( we probably helped develop), we are schlepping boxes from airport to airport hoping our luggage doesn’t get searched. (Often times, it’s a little difficult to explain the contents of our bags to the TSA official.)  We spent the first part of the month hob nobbing in New Orleans at Tales of the Cocktail. With a slight pit stop in Minneapolis-St. Paul because of cancelled flight, Kathy and I made a night of it playing Zilch ( a great dice game we have both become addicted to), eating delivery pizza and sipping possibly turned wine. We were off again to California for the annual Flavor Confrence held in Newport Beach. While we never see much more than the inside of a kitchen and the back side of a banquet table, it’s a great event that brings together national account representatives from pretty much every chain, supplier and distributor in the industry.  It’s three days of a eat-and-drink -a-thon showcasing popular food trends, flavors and new products.

We were representing  our friends at Monin by shaking up some cocktails and appetizers we adapted from Kathy’s book Sips and Apps. At the welcome reception, Kathy signed copies of ‘Sips & Apps’ and I served up Blue Thai Mojitos, 1800 Poppy’s Margaritas with a Ginger Mango Grilled Shrimp garnish,  and a delicious Clover Club with raspberry foam.

The second night of Flavor was the Chef’s showcase and we were on hand poolside to serve up some sweet and spicy ceviche to a crowd of hungry conference goers.  This time we paired shrimp with pineapple and mango with a hint of chipotle, and a fresh halibut ceviches with hints of habanero lime and orange.  We added a fun twist to the margarita by offering a trio of foams (strawberry, peach and mango) and a sprinkling of black lava salt.  Along with a beautiful and delicious sangria, the Monin gang was quite a hit at the sunset pool party.

Now we’re home and the dust has settled; we can relax for a minute or two before the next big thing… Is it already Jam time?! ….but we’ve got it on our calendar and its 360 days and counting till ‘Conference Tour 2011’ gets us off and running again.   – Cameo McRoberts,  Executive Chef  Kathy Casey Food Studios® – Liquid Kitchen™

Poppy’s Margarita
Spicy cocktails are hot! The counterbalance of sweet, sour, spice, and salt achieves a mouthwatering result. Garnish with tropical Ginger Grilled Shrimp for a perfect Sips & Apps paring.

Makes 1 drink

Kosher salt for rimming glass
1 ½  – 2 ounces Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila
1 ½  ounces Spicy Lime Sour (recipe follows)
1/4 ounce triple sec or other orange-flavored liqueur

For garnishing: Lime wheel with a straw inserted through the middle
Tropical Ginger Grilled Shrimp on a pick (recipe follows)

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Measure in the tequila, Spicy Lime Sour, and triple sec. Cap and shake vigorously. Pour into glass. Insert straw into a lime wheel and place in drink. Garnish with a skewered Tropical Ginger Grilled Shrimp.

Spicy Lime Sour
½ cup  Monin Chipotle Pineapple Syrup
1 cup  simple syrup
1 ½  cups fresh lime juice

Combine the syrups and lime juice. Transfer to a pretty bottle. Chill before using. The sour will keep for up to 2 weeks, refrigerated. Adapted from a recipe from Kathy Casey’s Sips & Apps, Chronicle Books

Tropical Ginger Grilled Shrimp
Makes  about 20- 25 pieces

1/2 cup Monin Mango Puree
2 Tbsp Monin Chipotle Pineapple Syrup
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp fresh minced ginger
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp Kosher salt
1 Tbsp chili paste (Sambul Olek)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
—————————————————–
1 lb large shrimp , peeled and deveined

Whisk marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.
Add shrimp and toss to coat well. Refrigerate marinated for 4 hours.
Preheat grill to med-high and grill shrimp on each side until scored and just cooked through – but not overcooked. Chill until ready for service.

Recipe © 2010 by Kathy Casey