Cooking Lesson #304: Backyard Barbecue Bourbon-Cherry Fizzy Punch

…from the Happy Hour Bar

How you doin’? I’m hooked on American Bourbon. I just keep finding new ways to use it both in cooking and cocktails. My Backyard Barbecue Bourbon-Cherry Fizzy Punch offers sweet, spicy and bourbon flavors. I use a dry ancho chile which delivers assertive spiced dark cherry noteS while bringing together the sweet cherries and the bourbon to give a more 3-dimensional flavor to this wonderful cocktail punch.
 
When I’m looking for a stronger, contrasting citrus note. I use a crushed vitamin-C tablet. Don’t laugh, this is an old bartender trick. You don’t have one? Don’t fret. Just drop a cut lime quarter in each glass before serving.
 
There is some assembly required in making my Backyard Barbecue Bourbon-Cherry Fizzy Punch. It starts with pitting fresh cherries and turning them into a spicy purée. I promise it’s worth the effort. This cocktail is a perfect pitcher cocktail for your backyard summer barbecue.
 
Purée prep time:  20 minutes
Cocktail prep time:  5 minutes
Yield:  8 servings
 
Ingredients
For the cherry purée
1 dried ancho chile
1/2 cup warm water
10 ounces fresh sweet cherries (about 2 cups), stemmed and pitted
1/3 cup freshly-squeezed lime juice
1 500mg unflavored vitamin-C tablet, crushed into powder
 
For the cocktail
2 cups American bourbon
1/2 cup kirsch (cherry liqueur)
2 12-ounce bottles of black cherry soda (I prefer Dr. Brown’s)
Garnish: 8 cherries with stems (remove the pit—it can be done)
Ice
 
Directions
To make the cherry purée

1. Stem and seed the chile.
2. Soak the chile in enough cold water to cover it in a small bowl until soft… about 30 minutes.
3. Coarse-chop the chile and put it in a blender jar with the soaking water, cherries, lime juice and crushed vitamin tablet. Blend until the cherries are completely liquified about 45 seconds.
4. Strain the cherry purée through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl. Press on the purée to drain all the liquid from the purée and discard the liquid.

To make a pitcher

1. In a pitcher, stir together the cherry purée, bourbon and kirsch.
2. Refrigerate if not serving immediately.
3. When ready to serve, add the soda and evenly divide the punch among 8 tall Collins glasses filled with ice. 
4. Garnish each glass with a pitted cherry or two with the stem still on.

ChefSecret:  You can make the cherry purée the day before and store it in an airtight container. You can get a cherry pitter at Amazon for under $10 bucks. I like this one (pictured) because you can do 5 cherries at a time.

Quip of the Day: “Pain makes you stronger. Tears make you braver. A broken heart makes you wiser. And alcohol helps you to forget all that crap.”
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