Bulldog and Bourbon

After a hectic weekend with L and D, S and I some alone time last night..So we cooked. Our kitchen in the new house is nice and roomy, we still bump into eachother a bit, but not as much as we used to.

Before the cooking could begin, the cocktails had to be made, because I swear I cook better with a martini within reach. Anyhow, earlier in the day I had fit a visit to Empire Wine and Liqueur (Northway Mall, Central Ave)into my schedule of errands. With my mind set on a bottle of Junipero gin, I was disappointed to see that they were out of it. Feeling adventurous, I instead bought a bottle of Bulldog gin, and was on my way.. For those of you who are unaware, I am quite picky about my gin and the way my martinis are made, and this Bulldog did not disappoint. S made me my usual dry martini up with a twist, he is the best bartender husband EVER! Anyhow, the cocktail was amazing, the gin has a very clean taste to start, then the flavor sneaks up on you with just a hint of fragrance and that bite that is usually much stronger. I have to put Bulldog up there on the list of must have gins.

So, after the cocktails were made, dinner was next. I had a recipe for a bourbon marinade for salmon. I can't remember where I found it, somewhere on the web. It consists of bourbon (Even Williams was the one on hand, S likes that in his manhattans), garlic, soy sauce, ginger, lime juice, brown sugar and a few other ingredients I cant remember. The salmon marinated for about 1 1/2 hours (while S and I furniture shopped online and had another cocktail).

After the marinading was done, the salmon was dropped on a hot grill pan for a few minutes per side, meanwhile, I steamed some fresh green and yellow beans from the farmer's market and made some white rice. S plated (he is really good at that), sprinkled some chopped up scallions on the salmon and that was that..Really flavorful, and the marinade caramelized a bit in the pan. Heaven! A bottle of Smoking Loon sauvignon blanc and all was right with the world.

It's great when S and I can have some grown up alone time, it does not happen often, so when it does, we try to make the most of it. What do you and your so do with your alone time?