Christmas Bowl of Bishop

In the Charles Dickens Novel A Christmas Carol, Ebinezer Scrooge had spent the night with three ghosts and finally comes to repentence of his ways. On Christmas day he visits his nephew and dips the laddle in the bowl of Bishops punch to enjoy.
Punches were very popular in the nineteenth century and are a communal drink not to be mesured per cup but to have a generous amount for all guests. This Christmas show your generosity and serve up a bowl of Bishop for all your guests.

God bless and Cheers,

John Apodaca
john@daddyosmartinis.com


Christmas Bowl of Bishop

2 lemons
1/2 pint of water
Whole mulling spices
1 bottle ruby port
1/4 cup sugar, more or less to taste.

Stude two lemons with half a dozen cloves each. Roast the lemons in the oven for half an hour more or less at 350 degrees.  Cut the roasted lemons in half and put them into a saucepan with a half pint of water and whole mulling spices, such as cinnamon, allspice, ginger, mace, and star anise.  Don't use powdered spices which will make the drink sludgy.  Boil off a little of the water before adding the port, and then sugar to taste. Be sure not to boil the wine, but let it steep just below a simmer for an hour.  If the punch is too strong, add a little more water.  Serve steaming in punch cups or mugs.

It's Wassail Time

If you're not familiar with Wassail, it refers to ancient southern English tradition, of people wassailing or hopes that the apple trees would yield a good crop of apples for cider.

It's also a hot mulled punch often associated with yuletide season and is traditionally made with mulled cider, Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg along with wine, port or other spirits. When made, it's great to have it sit on the stove with a low flame, it creates a wonderful aroma that makes the whole house smell wonderful and it's also great to pour into a mug for your guest at Christmas.

God bless and Cheers,


John Apodaca
john@daddyosmartinis.com


Wassail


12 Eggs
4 Bottles of Sherry or Madeira
2 pounds of Sugar
1 tsp powdered Nutmeg
2 tsp of Ginger
6 Whole Coves
1/2 tsp of Mace
6 whole Allspice
1 tsp Cinnamon

Mix the the dry ingredients in 1/2 pint of water.  Add the wine and let the mixture simmer over a very low flame.  Beat the egg yolks and whites separately and add these to the hot brew.  Before serving, add several baked apples and lace the mixture well with brandy.  Makes approximately 25 - 30 cups.

Time for Bishops Cooler

Tis the season to get beyond the traditional carton of eggnog one purchases at his local grocery store and pour some whiskey and brandy into it and serve it up for expectant guests for a Christmas or Hanukkah party.  The host may wonder why there's so much left over at end of the night.

Why not go a step further and go back to old traditional drink that was served up in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries called the Bishops Cooler. It's the protestant bishop mentioned in barman Jerry Thomas's 1862 Bartenders guide also in "Trader Vic" Bergeron's 1947 bar book along with two other recipes but this one is of the best and easy to make.

God bless and cheers,

John Apodaca
john@daddyosmartinis.com


Bishop's Cooler


Juice of 1/2 lemon (approx 1/2 oz)
Juice of half an orange (approx 1 oz)
1 tsp sugar
3 oz of Burgundy (wine)
1/2 oz of Jamaican rum (Appleton Estates)

Squeeze lemon and orange juice over cracked ice in a 10 oz glass, add sugar and stir.  Add burgundy and stir, float the rum.