It  seems that we have been talking a lot about cocktails on our blog lately! Perhaps that is because nothing else says summer quite like relaxing outdoors (Accomac porch?) with a cocktail in hand. Zach and the Accomac Team have been working hard to create the most creative culinary cocktails in Central PA. We’re really excited to present June’s specialty cocktail list:

Kyoto Sour
sake, grapefruit, agave nectar, jalapeno, splash of sour mix, rimmed with mango sugar

LNO Margarita Wine Cocktail
refreshing wine is “like no other!” Made from the nectar of organic blue agave, served over ice.

Bikini Bod
beefeater and tonic, cucumber-lemon grass ice cubes

White Wine Sangria
white wine infused with fresh citrus and berries, topped with gingerale

Zach – o – mac Punch
bacardi, banana liquor, fresh strawberries,a squeeze of lemon

We started offering something new this past spring - micro cocktails!!! Why order just one cocktail when you can try 3 or 4? Order multiple micro-cocktails to pair with each course. 3 for $15 or 4 for $20.

A micro-cocktail flight at Accomac Inn

Pictured above from left to right: Zach – o -mac Punch, Bikini Bod, Kyoto Sour

This supercharged fruit is not only good for your skin, but also for your entire body. They are filled to the brim with vitamin B,E, and K in addition to fiber and potassium. We just love avocados! There are thousands of uses for this summery, green fruit. Here are a few of our favorites:

Grill avocados as a quick and fun side to barbecued chicken and steaks. Just cut your avocado in half, remove the seed, and brush it with lime juice and olive oil. Place it flesh-side down on your hot grill for about 5 to 7 minutes.Remove and sprinkle with lime juice and salt. Fill the seed cavity with sour cream and salsa or tuna salad and chopped mangos. These make great snacks in addition to summer sides.

Prosciutto or smoked salmon wrapped avocado wedges are another quick and easy appetizer for parities. You need 2 avocados and 16 slices of either prosciutto or smoked salmon. Seed and peel the avocados, cut them into 8 slices per fruit and wrap the slices diagonally with the meat. For the prosciutto try drizzling olive oil or balsamic vinegar on top. For the smoked salmon, garnish with lime juice and chopped cilantro or a small dollop of crème fraîche. Battered avocado fries are an unexpected side dish to go with burgers on the grill this summer! Serve them with lime sriracha mayo. Just mix together 1 cup of mayo, with lime juice and sriracha or other spicy chili sauce. (Add the Sriracha to taste depending onhow spicy you want it.) Serve along side your avocado fries and enjoy!

Use your noggin when viewing wedding websites. I’m always poking around on various sites just to see what other people put out there for wedding ideas. I’ve implemented some, I’ve been inspired by others that spawn into yet another idea, and then there are some ideas that I just sit back and ask, “What were you thinking?”

Think through every idea you see and dissect it from beginning to end. Instead of getting caught up in the photograph, think about and test out the logistics of the ideas. I’ll give you a few examples of what I’m talking about:

Idea: Instead of place cards, hand out a bottle of lemonade or any other natural fruit juice with your guest name and table number tied onto the neck of the bottle on a cute little leaf shaped card. Place a fun bendable straw into each bottle and line them up on your place card table for guests to enjoy. The photo that suggests this idea looks absolutely adorable!

Problems: Who wants to drink a warm bottle of anything?  Assuming you’d use this idea when it’s warm outside to act as a thirst quencher for your guests you must consider this; If you pre-chill these bottles, some poor soul has to pull them out of the ice, wipe them down, insert straws and then place them in alphabetical order on the place card table. Certainly after all of this time and handling, the bottles will be far from cold. Also, how do you stop bugs from flying into them if it’s an outdoor wedding? Will it be easy for your guests to see their names on rows of bottles?

Idea: A crepe layered wedding cake or a fruit marzipan wedding cake or better yet a wedding cake with an exterior of cookies.

Problem: Try this out on a smaller version at home and see what happens when you cut the cake.  It’s a bloody mess that looks awful when presented to your guests!

I’m by no means trying to to shoot down every idea out there. It’s simply a matter of thinking about how realistic some of these items really are. Before you get your heart set on anything, be sure to think it through!

We wanted to let you know about an exciting change at the Accomac – the name of our catering division! Accomac Catering is now Accomac Events! Due to the extensive services we offer our clients (event planning, event design, rentals etc.)  we feel this name better represents our company. Accomac Events continues to offer high quality catering made with the freshest and finest ingredients. The professionals and event planners at Accomac Events can handle your special event or wedding from start to finish, providing everything you need (tenting, floral arrangements, tables, chairs and more.) President Charlene Calvert-Campbell, who has produced and designed events for Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump, will offer her creative flair and attention to detail at your next event.

Our new Accomac Events website will be launched shortly! In the meantime, please check out our newly designed Accomac Inn website.

]]> http://www.culinnovation.net/blog/2011/05/31/accomac-catering-is-now-accomac-events/feed/ 0 http://www.culinnovation.net/blog/2011/05/31/honey-infused-cocktail-creations/ http://www.culinnovation.net/blog/2011/05/31/honey-infused-cocktail-creations/#comments Tue, 31 May 2011 18:30:16 +0000 TheAccomac http://www.culinnovation.net/blog/?p=1463

Honey based drinks are currently in the spotlight!  Back during the holidays, Accomac Inn featured a specialty drink called “The Bee’s Knees.”  It was a mix of  Accomac-infused honey vodka, lillet, and sour mix.

Look for these honey beverages on the shelf:

Jack Danielʼs came out with Tennessee Honey, a blend of Honey Liqueur and Jack Danielʼs Whiskey.
For a delicious spin on Lemonade - 1 part Tennessee Honey, 1 part Triple Sec, 1 part Sour mix, and 4 parts Lemon-lime soda. Stir together with ice and garnish with a lemon wedge and cherries.

image courtesy of christianbrothersbrandy.com

Christian Brothers Honey infuses pure, natural honey with the rich taste of Christian Brothers Brandy. Serve it as a shot – “The Honey Bear” or go the “Fizzy Bear” route – 2 oz. Christian Brothers Honey and 1 oz. Club soda over ice with a squeeze of lime.

Wild Turkey American Honey 71 is what you expect from Wild Turkey bourbon but with a sweet finish. This is best served straight either chilled from the freezer or room temperature.

Bee Vodka is a little known vodka out of Seneca Falls, NY. While the Finger Lakes region is mostly known for its wine, distilleries are in full bloom. Bee Vodka is triple distilled and uses only up-state NY honey. It is great just to sip on but can be used as a mixer as well.

On another note:

Accomac Inn and Events is currently looking into beekeeping at the Farm (the current site of our Garden). The possibility of being able to offer our very own local honey is extremely exciting. We will keep you posted on this venture!

As of this past weekend at the Farm we are now seeing beets and zucchini, as well as pumpkin blossoms and watermelon vines! We also  We also put in tomato cages made from recycled wire fence from the farm. We hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!!

With Memorial Day Weekend beginning today, we are so excited to welcome the “Unofficial Start of Summer.”  Since it’s Friday and nothing quite says summer like a Margarita, here are some unique margarita recipes to try (yes, one does involve Jell-O!!)

Everyone loves strawberry margaritas so why not make them in the strawberry?! These require some love and labour with carving out the strawberries but they are great for intimate gatherings and your Memorial Day picnics. You will need strawberries, Strawberry Jell-O, Tequilla, Cointreau, course salt, and a lime for garnish. To prepare your strawberries, cut the bottoms of the strawberry flat to get them to stand upright. When you do so, make sure that you do not cut off so much that there is a hole at the bottom. Use a huller or apple corer to empty out the strawberry. Once the strawberries have been emptied, use a towel to pat the outside of the strawberries dry. Check each strawberry and make sure there is not a hole in the bottom before you start filling. Follow the directions for the Jello except use only a 1/4 cup of cold water. Combine 4 oz. tequila and 2 oz. Cointreau, in cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add liquour mixture to cold water and stir to combine. Pour final Jell-o mix into strawberries and chill overnight. Dip your finger in water or use a moistened brush to wet the edge of the strawberries, dip and rotate the strawberries in salt to rim. Garnish with cut lime triangles to finish. These pint sized margaritas are not only pretty but will be gone in a flash. (Read more about these strawberry margaritas at bakersroyale.com)

(image courtesy of bakersroyale.com)

Lastly we have fallen in love with “Like No Other” Margarita wine from Tamanend Winery. (It is a featured specialty drink right now at Accomac Inn!) You can hardly believe that you are drinking wine! Melon soaked in margarita wine is a match made in heaven. Ball or cube watermelon, cantaloupe, or honeydew. Place in your choice of melon in a large bowl and pour the margarita wine over the melon and let it soak for about an hour. You can serve them in a bowl with toothpicks or serve as garnish in a glass of the margarita wine or in a margarita!

In continuation of our Jell-O theme for summer, Lemon “wedge” shooters are a kick back to the candy fruit slices from our childhoods. These shooters are simple to make and look lovely! Cut 6 lemons in half from end to end and juice the halves, saving the pulp for later. Turn the skin inside out and dig out the remaining pulp and citrus. Begin to make your lemon Jell-O according to the directions except reduce the cold water portion by a 1/4 cup and use lemon infused vodka for the rest. Place the lemon halves in the wells of a muffin tin and fill. Refrigerate over night. Use a sharp, non-serrated knife to cut in to wedges. We suggest keeping the wedges refrigerated until serving time. You can also do variations of the wedges with limes and oranges with tequila, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, and Triple Sec.

Turn the lemon or lime inside out to remove the pulp (image courtesy of bakersroyale.com)

(image courtesy of bakersroyale.com)

Accomac's White Wine Sangria

It’s Friday and time to relax after a long (and rainy if you are in Central PA) week! What better thing to talk about on a Friday afternoon than cocktails?!?

Here at the Accomac we like to challenge ourselves with how we can take our culinary cocktails to the next level. Currently we have our famous white wine sangria and Tamanend Winery’s “Like No Other” Margarita wine as some of our top sellers. We have been trying to reconnect with our “high-school” selves and going back to chemistry class. After many trials we have had some tribulations and also successes with Jell-O. Here are our findings…

A spin on our famous white wine sangria is sangria Jell-O blocks! This is a labor-intensive recipe but it is pretty straight forward.

You will need: 5 tablespoons cold water, 3 packages unflavored gelatin (about 3 tablespoons total),1/2 cup sugar,1/2 cup water,1 cup ginger ale ,1 1/4 cups white wine ( we suggest a sweeter, dessert wine for this),1 each grapefruit, blood orange, navel orange, tangerine, lemon, and a handful of blueberries and raspberries.

Directions: Combine 5 tablespoons cold water and gelatin in a bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, gingerale and wine in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until sugar has dissolved. Add gelatin mixture, and whisk until melted for about 1 minute. Remove from heat, and pour through a fine sieve into a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Let cool completely. Cut peel and pith from citrus. Cut each segment from membranes, then cut horizontally into 1/8- to 1/4-inch-thick slices (you will need 1 cup). Arrange in a single layer over gelatin mixture. Refrigerate, uncovered, overnight. To unmold,run a knife around edge of dish. Using an offset spatula, gently coax gelatin from sides. Invert and turn out onto a cutting board. Trim edges, and cut into 1 1/4-inch squares. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 1 day.

More of our Jell-O findings and recipes coming soon!

For today’s Wedding Wednesday post, I wanted to share these photos from one of my weddings this past weekend! This lovely, whimsical design is a great inspiration for your spring and summer wedding planning. Congratulations to Avery and Drew!!!

Cheers to the Happy Couple!