Now that spring has sprung, it’s backyard party time. And while we like throwing back a Crooked Tree or two as much as the next dude, sometimes a refreshing cocktail just hits the spot. Spring herbs and greens are readily available now at the farmer’s market, so if you’re looking for something to spark a little happy hour on your patio, consider giving this riff on a gimlet a try.

The Briggs Gimlet (as a single cocktail)

• 2 oz gin
• .5 oz fresh lemon juice
• .5 oz cucumber syrup (recipe below)
• Sorrel (optional)
• Sparkling water
• Garnish: Lemon balm, lemon verbena, basil, or mint
• Combine first four ingredients in your shaker, add ample ice, shake the hell out of it. Double strain over large ice, and add about an ounce of soda water (or to taste). Garnish with a sprig of your chosen herb by gently smacking the leaves against your wrist or palm to express the aromatics, then place it at the rim of the glass.

Made as a Batched Punch for Your Rad Party

• Keeping the same 4:1:1 proportions, decide how much you want to make, and do the math on how much you need. You will need the same amount of soda water as you use gin (e.g., if you use a bottle of gin, you need 750mL of soda water).
• Using a muddler or a fat wooden spoon, muddle the sorrel into your gin in batches, straining the used sorrel out and discarding it.
• Combine all the ingredients except the soda water. Keep the drink chilled for about two hours.
• Right before serving, combine the chilled drink with the chilled soda water and briefly stir to combine. If you can, use a container with a fitted lid to keep the drink effervescent.
• Pour over ice and garnish as you would with the cocktail.
• Consume eagerly.

Making the Cucumber Syrup

• You’ll need a power juicer. Run a cucumber through the juicer and strain the juice out into a measuring cup.
• Combine the strained juice with an equal amount of white cane sugar in a small pot. (e.g., if you have one cup of cuke juice, add one cup of sugar).
• Heat the mixture, stirring with a whisk to incorporate. Do not overheat or the syrup will separate into a pale syrup and chunky cuke leftovers. If you heat it gently, the syrup will retain a deep green color.
• Let it cool and keep in a bottle in your fridge.

In the quarterly journal The Art of Eating, there’s a regular article called “Why This Bottle?” It’s a short column, written by a rotating assortment of somms, winemakers, and journalists – each telling the story of a particular wine that’s gotten them excited.

Clos Cibonne rosé is a bottle that we’ve been obsessing over lately, and both in the spirit of that article and in keeping with our effort to get people to drink as much awesome wine as possible, we thought we’d share why we’re so into it.

Actually, we just served this at a collaboration dinner featuring Andy and Chef Luciano DelSignore at Bacco Ristorante last weekend. Andy had made some halibut and put it over carrot purée with a fava bean salad and some ramp butter. Almost any decent rosé could work with such a springy, fresh dish. But this, in particular, is serious stuff that rewards food as much as it does a session on the back deck.

For a rosé, there’s a remarkable amount of depth. This isn’t some mediocre bottle of red wine runoff juice. Quite the opposite. Aromatically, there’s a lot of orange and lighter fruits; and on the palate, it’s very fleshy with a silky texture. There’s also a mild earthy characteristic and slight salinity to it.

This extra level of flavor is derived in part from the grape, Tibouren, which is not commonly used on its own, but the family behind this bottle has been growing it extensively since the 1930s. Moreover, it’s a finicky, difficult-to-grow grape, and it’s widely reported by people way smarter than us to have umami characteristics.

But the winemaking plays a role here too. The juice spends a year aging in large oak foudres (French for “huge freaking barrels”), but the 1000L vessels are never capped. Instead, a fleurette develops, covering the wine in a protective layer of yeast similar to a fino sherry.

It’s spring, which is pink wine season here, but we were still surprised by the reaction to this wine when we served it at Bacco. People don’t exactly line up around the corner at their wine shop to fill their trunks with dry rosé. So it was exciting to see everyone asking questions and, even better, asking for more.

The best part for everyone is that Clos Cibonne pretty affordable for bad ass wine. We’d love to serve it when the restaurant finally opens, but in the meantime, we’ve seen it at Great Lakes Coffee in Detroit and at Plum Market at 15 and Lahser, but it’s probably to be found elsewhere too.

Grab a bottle and pour heavily to instantly improve your evening.

Please note: The dinner discussed below is sold out as of May 7, 2014.

—–

One of our favorite local chefs is Luciano Del Signore at Bacco Ristorante in Southfield. So we’re pretty excited to announce that our own Andy Hollyday and Luciano will be doing a six-course collaboration dinner at Bacco on Friday May 9 and Saturday May 10.

Tickets are only available online and will go on sale Thursday, April 24th, 12:00pm at www.seldenstandard.com/baccodinner.

Event Details

• Two Seatings: Fri May 9th and Sat May 10th
• Time: 6:30pm cocktail hour, dinner begins at 7pm
• Location: Bacco Ristorante, 29410 Northwestern Hwy, Southfield, MI 48034
• Bacco will provide its complimentary valet service for guests
• Each seating can accommodate 60 guests. Tickets are first come, first served.
• Tickets are $150 per person. Price includes six courses with beverage pairings as well as hors d’ouevres, a welcome cocktail, tax, and gratuity

Bacco is a restaurant we’ve always enjoyed. And they’re a perfect partner for an event like this since there’s a similar approach in the kitchen — namely great ingredients, honest flavors, and scratch cooking. So naturally, the meal will highlight fresh spring vegetables and flavors. We hope you’ll join us for what promises to be an awesome night.

It seems there are still a few chilly days left in 2014. If the mood strikes you for a cold-weather meal, here’s a stew that might suit you. Earlier this winter, Andy was playing around with kind of a Mediterranean approach to this one-bowl dish using lamb and spices – tons of flavor and perfect with just about any beer. Eat this “as is,” or if you want to load this up with toppings, try feta, scallion, and baked pita chips instead of the usual cheddar, onions, and so on. Or hell, just crumble up some Fritos on top. It’ll be delicious either way.

Makes about 1 gallon 

•  ½ cup Olive oil
• 5 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut in 1”cubes
• 4 onion, medium diced
• 2 red bell peppers, medium diced
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 1tablespoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon chili flakes
• 6 cups chicken or lamb stock
• 2 pounds diced tomatoes, fresh or canned
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 quart cooked chickpeas
• Handfull of fresh herbs, parsley, mint, cilantro, scallion or a mixture of your choice
• Greek yogurt or sour cream
• 2 Lemons, cut into wedges

Season the meat with salt and pepper. Put a 5-1/2 quart Dutch oven or large pot over high heat, and add oil to the pan. Brown lamb in batches, removing with a slotted spoon, and set the lamb aside.

Reduce heat to medium and add the onion, peppers, and garlic to the pan. Season with a pinch of salt and cook for five minutes until they begin to soften. Add the flour and spices and stir for 30 seconds. Whisk in the stock, then add tomato and bay leaves, bringing to a simmer.

Cook for 1 hour at a low simmer, inhaling deeply to remind you of how awesome this is going to be. Add chickpeas and simmer another 30 minutes. If the lamb is super tender, it is done. if not, continue simmering checking every several minutes until it’s shredding apart. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve in warm bowls and garnish with a big dollop of yogurt, a sprinkle of fresh herbs, and a lemon wedge. If you really like your guests, set out some additional toppings for them too.

Full Circle is a USDA-certified organic farm specializing in grass-fed lamb – their website describes animals “of superior genetic and culinary quality.” We’ve tasted the meat and heartily agree with that assessment. But what makes it superior? What’s the real distinction between one organic lamb and another?

It would be easy to resort to the clichés – “oh, well, it’s local” or “it’s humanely raised” or “twelve masseuses rub them down every day.” But we wanted to know how it really works, so we drove out to the property, which is close to Howell, Michigan, to see first-hand.

To say that the animals are treated well would be an understatement: The owner and her colleagues clearly love these animals, and their comfort and quality of life is paramount. Even in the barn, they’re given a surprising amount of room to roam freely, and access to hay and fresh water is plentiful. It’s also the cleanest animal barn we’ve ever seen.

We were honored to be granted a glimpse of said barn, which is where the lambs (and a few goats) spend the colder months and is home to a lot of their proprietary lambing practices. They work with a few breeds, including Ile de France and Persian, among others. Each of the few hundred lambs is closely tracked to ensure the genetic characteristics they’re looking for. Those that don’t measure up are removed from the breeding pool.

It wasn’t surprising to see that musculature and other physical traits were routinely tracked – but the farmers at Full Circle are committed to raising animals that mother their young well. That behavior is closely monitored and ultimately encouraged. It’s a crucial part of how they raise the animals before they’re set free to roam.

They spend the late winter months in the barn and are later let out to pasture – rotated between different zones across the property’s 300+ acres. The lambs never eat grain, seeing only plants both from the grounds and from hay they produce on-site from their own grasses. Grazing animals will eat from a wide variety of plants over the course of the season – wild grasses, bergamot, and wild onion, for example.

Clearly, the lamb’s deliciousness is derived from ethical treatment and exquisite diet. These are exactly the types of animals we’re looking forward to serving at Selden Standard.

Someone asked us the other day if we were concerned that showing potential customers pictures of insanely adorable lambs would turn some away from eating them. But we think that knowing an animal has had a good life is a crucial part of celebrating what’s at our table. And as discerning omnivores, we’ll be grateful to have the opportunity to serve them to those who enjoy high-quality meats.

Slideshow of Adorable Animals

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