Dark and Stormy

I went to Nashville, TN for work in April 2018.  One of the nights they had a reception at ACME Feed and Seed, which by the way is a great place to go on the waterfront.  One of the drink specials that they had that night was called a dark and stormy.  I took a picture of the drinks so that I could try to recreate this.  When I go back to Raleigh, my husband and I went out to dinner at Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar.  I asked for a Dark and Stormy drink and they said they could make it.  Well, it was nothing like the one I had in Nashville.  In fact, I am surprised that I could even get the entire drink down over the course of dinner.

Next I went to the ABC store in Raleigh, because that is what NC has.  Wish there was competition in NC for alcohol, but alas, there is not.  Alcohol is highly regulated in this state.  So I tried to find smoked rum.  Well, after 10 minutes of looking, I finally asked one of the guys working there.  He told me that they didn’t have smoked rum, and he had never heard of it, but all dark rum is inherently smoky because of the way it is distilled, etc.  Long story short, he showed me a few dark rums that he said other customers really liked.  Some of these were way out of my price range just to make a drink that I had in Nashville.  I finally picked a rum that I thought was a good deal, had a great name, and he had recommended.  I picked Plantation Artisanal Rum that is double aged and dark.  It has a really great flavor if you are looking for a dark rum.

The other ingredient that goes into a Dark and Stormy is Ginger Beer.  Now probably the reason I love this drink so much is that I love the taste of ginger.  Ginger Beer isn’t always easy to find, but Trader Joe’s has a great Ginger Beer.  It isn’t expensive and tastes great!

The third ingredient is bitters.  I do not have a picture of the bottle, but you can get bitters in any grocery store.  You must have this ingredient for this drink.  It really rounds out the flavor. 


Recipe:

Tall glass 3/4 filled with ice
5 dashes of bitters
2 shots of Rum
Fill the remainder of the glass with ginger beer

Peach Cobbler

I made this Peach Cobble last night, and didn't get a chance to take a pic until someone in the house had already dug in, LOL!  However, you can still get the idea of what this dish looked like.

I love the the taste of ginger!  Well, to be truthful, I love everything about ginger - taste, smell, everything.  The peach and the ginger are perfect together in this dish.  This is more like a peach cake than a cobbler, but it is so incredibly good.  This is a must try!

The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

4 cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
3/4 cups sugar - I use beet sugar or coconut sugar
Juice of one lemon, should be about 2 T
2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 tsp cinnamon

For the batter:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup King Arthur Whole Wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar - I use beet sugar or coconut sugar
1 T baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup whole milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place peach slices in a large bowl.  Add sugar, lemon juice, ginger and cinnamon.  Toss well to coat fruit.  Allow mixture to sit for at least 5 minutes.

Place butter in a baking dish (I use an oval stoneware Pampered Chef Dish) and warm in oven until butter melts completely, about 5 to 10 minutes.  In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Add milk and stir until a wet batter forms.  PLour batter over melted butter (do not stir).  Spoon peach mixture evenly over batter (do not stir).

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.