Tips For Your Home Bar, Plus Cocktail And Trail Mix Recipes

On this most American of holidays, I went to local spirts (and tiki) connoisseur Dean Hurst for some expert advice about tiki culture — and the drinks that foster the colorful, tropical vibes.

Tiki bars are an American creation, though they borrow their ambience and cocktail inspiration from Polynesian islands and the Caribbean. They were huge in the 1940s and ’50s. We don’t have many of the kitschy spots around here, which is why Hurst decided to build one in his backyard. To read more about his home setup and to learn how to make 6 classic tiki drinks, click here .

But for this column, I was inspired by Hurst to up my at-home bar game. He talks a lot about little things you can do to make your home cocktail-making (and drinking) experience more special.

So while you may have most of the food nailed down for today’s patriotic festivities, here are some ideas to up your bar game — whether or not you have built a tiki bar on your porch.

BYOB(ottle)

If you’re having friends or family over and they like a good cocktail, ask everyone to bring one bottle of something they enjoy. It doesn’t have to be unopened; they just have to be willing to share. Make one round of drinks with one person’s bottle, then move to another bottle, and so on. It’s a fun and affordable way to try a bunch of different liquors.

Fruit forward

Even if you are using Solo cups for your cocktails today, you can still garnish the heck out of those drinks. Citrus is always a good idea, as are pitted cherries. Have a vegetable peeler on hand and gently peel a strip of lemon rind or orange rind, then simply bend it almost in half and set gently on the rim of your cup. Or roll the peel into a cute shape and secure with a toothpick stacked with a couple fresh (or maraschino) cherries.

Designated shaker

If you don’t have a cocktail shaker and you like to make drinks at home, you should invest in one. But you can and should improvise one for these festive occasions. It will make your drink-making more seamless and authentic. Try using a tall cup or glass, and find a leftover container lid or other flat cover that can cover the opening of the cup. Add drink ingredients to the cup, place cover on top of cup, then shake well. Be careful when you shake, and you might spill a bit, but it’ll get the job done. Another thing I noticed from watching Hurst make drinks: He used a drink blender to blend many of the drinks with ice, resulting in a not-quite-slush but still very icy consistency that was marvelous on a hot day. You can easily do this with an immersion blender, especially if you’re mixing up lots of drinks at once. Just be sure to use a plastic vessel or something else that can withstand the blades of your blender: Mix the drink in there, then insert the immersion blender and give it a few whirls.

Serve snacks

If you’re spending the day trying a few different cocktails, snacks are a must. You need something to soak up all that booze, plus who doesn’t crave something salty and crunchy around drink No. 2? To go with the tiki bar theme, I came up with a tropical snack mix that has salty, crunchy, and some slightly sweet elements.

RECIPES

One of my favorite drinks this summer is the Pineapple Gin Freeze. Click here for the recipe. And below is a sweet and salty snack to pair with it.

Tropical Snack Mix

1 cup raw whole cashews

½ cup raw macadamia nuts

1 cup pretzel twists, roughly chopped or broken into smaller pieces

1 cup dried pineapple, roughly chopped

1 cup dried mango, roughly chopped

½ cup sweetened or unsweetened coconut flakes

½ cup honey

4 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper

Add cashews, macadamia nuts, pineapple, mango and coconut flakes to a large bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan set over medium heat, add honey and butter. Cook until butter is melted, stirring often. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir to combine.

Let sauce cool slightly, for at least 5 minutes. Pour sauce over contents in bowl, and stir really well to make sure sauce is coating snack mix.

Divide into smaller bowls or ramekins and set out around the area where you’re serving drinks.

Makes about 4 cups.

Why Fast Food Chains Sell Quirky Foods

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - Dunkin' Donuts is the latest chain to launch a quirky food item: donut fries.

What Dunkin' describes as five crispy pieces of donut dough dusted with cinnamon sugar and served in a box like french fries is yet another example of a restaurant trying to woo customers with a gimmicky culinary concoction.

The trend arguably started in 2010 with KFC's infamous (and calorie-laden) Double Down sandwich -- bacon, cheese and sauce between two pieces of fried chicken instead of bread.

Since then, we've seen Burger King's Whopperito (a burger in a tortilla) as well as Mac and Cheetos.

Taco Bell, which like KFC is owned by Yum Brands, is responsible for Nacho Fries and Doritos Locos Tacos, which feature a corn shell seasoned with powdered orange cheese to look and taste like Doritos.

Both Denny's and Jack in the Box have had different versions of bacon shakes. White Castle has chicken rings on the menu -- and Burger King has offered them in the past.

The restaurants typically already offer unhealthy options like donuts or French fries. Launching Frankenfoods is a way to generate buzz with creations that often combine things people already like. The hope is those customers will come out to try donut fries or Doritos Locos Tacos.

For many of these companies, the weird food items are working.

Shares of Yum and Burger King owner Restaurant Brands have surged over the past five years by 50% and 65%, respectively. That's better than the Dow and S&P 500.

It's not surprising that other well-known chains are looking to spice things up.

The healthier living trend isn't going away obviously. But there are only so many kale salads that people can eat. That's probably why other restaurants are adding more guilty pleasures to their menu.

IHOP -- the franchise famous for its pancakes -- recently unveiled a new line of burgers and temporarily changed its name to IHOb.

Struggling burger chain Sonic unleashed a pickle juice snow cone slush.

Dunkin' Donuts is just the latest chain to hop on board.

In addition to the donut fries, which will only be available for a limited time, the company has a few other special summer offerings: a "shark bite" donut with shark-shaped sprinkles, a chocolate "coconutty" donut and a brown sugar, cold brew coffee.

Tony Weisman, chief marketing officer for Dunkin' Donuts US, said in an email to CNNMoney that the company has high hopes for the donut fries, which tested well earlier this year in some markets in New England.

Weisman conceded that "there have been some gimmicky items out there" but that Dunkin' thinks donut fries are an "innovation."

That remains to be seen. But Dunkin' is doing well while coffee rival Starbucks faces some big problems lately.

Shares of Dunkin' Brands are up more than 25% in the past year while Starbucks is down nearly 20%.

HERE ARE AMERICA'S FAVORITE FAST-FOOD RESTAURANTS

America has given the world many things, but fried food served with remarkable speed and consistency is definitely up there as far as greatest contributions go. We've pretty much mastered it by now, so competition is steep for the best speedy version of every cuisine. But still, a few rise to the top as the most beloved. And a recent study told us exactly which ones Americans love best.

Market Force Information recently released a new large-scale consumer report about America's favorite Quick Service Restaurants (aka fast food) in five categories: burgers, sandwiches, Mexican, pizza, and chicken. To accomplish this, it polled nearly 11,500 consumers to assemble a study that focuses on a Composite Loyalty Index, which is basically a love-o-meter based on overall satisfaction and likelihood to refer the restaurant to others. The winners were In-N-Out for burgers; Wawa for sandwiches; Chipotle for Mexican; Pizza Ranch for pizza; and Chick-fil-A for chicken.

As you probably noticed, the most surprising thing is that America's favorite sandwich shop, Wawa, is a convenience store. Jumping four places to unseat Firehouse Subs in the top spot, Wawa is primarily an East Coast thing, but it has 790 locations, a cult following, and a delicious Thanksgiving-themed sandwich called The Gobbler. The other chain you might not recognize is Pizza Ranch, which is based in Iowa and has 200 locations in 13 states. Despite all the sickness-related press in the last few years, Chipotle still managed to claim the top stop in Mexican food.

Probably less surprising is the dominance of Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out. Chick-fil-A led the chicken flock for the fourth year in a row, cited in particular for its excellent food and service, while KFC came in dead last of the 10 chicken chains surveyed. The West Coast burger chain In-N-Out landed an unsurprising first in the burger category consider its insanely devoted fan base and general sterling reputation. It was had the overall score of all the restaurants in the study in all categories. And supposedly working at In-N-Out is great too.

But all fast-food categories performed worse on the Composite Loyalty Index this year. “We attribute this to two factors: consumer expectations of the QSR experience are rising, and, in many cases, execution at these restaurants is declining," said Brad Christian, chief customer officer at Market Force Information. "As our research continues to show, delighting guests by providing an exceptional customer experience is a key differentiator in an incredibly competitive environment."

However the country feels about these fast-food chains, these results certainly aren't going to quite the rest of the country's demands for In-N-Outs near them.

Salt and Vinegar Chip Wingettes

Ingredients

• SALT AND VINEGAR CHIP WINGETTES
• 2 bags kettle-cooked salt and vinegar chips
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs (lightly beaten)
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 pounds chicken wingettes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with a baking rack and set aside.
• In the bowl of a food processor, fitted with the blade attachment, add chips and pulse into medium sized crumbs. Transfer mixture to a shallow baking dish and set aside.
• In a second shallow baking dish, add flour and season with salt and pepper. Whisk to combine and set aside.
• In a third shallow baking dish, add eggs, water, and season with salt and pepper. Whisk to combine and set aside.
• On a clean workspace, pat chicken wings dry with paper towels. Working in small batches, dredge wings in flour and shake off any excess. Dip in egg mixture, letting any excess drip off. Add wings to chip crumbles and toss to coat. Gently press crumbles into chicken and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all wings are coated.
• Transfer to oven and bake for 20 minutes. Flip and return to oven to bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 10 more minutes.
• Remove from oven and transfer to a serving platter. Serve immediately.
• Tip: Try this method with your favorite chip to give this recipe your own tasty twist!

7 Delicious Food Items That Can Taste Extra Awesome With Just A Generous Layer Of Hot Sauce

If somebody asked you to state that one food item which could just make your ordinary, boring food taste extra-ordinarily tasty and lip-smacking, what would that be? Simple, it's a bottle of chilly-loaded fiery, hot sauce, isn't it? Bet you can't find anything else on the planet that can practically go with EVERY-freaking-dish possible! Whether you're a college student in a hostel that serves bland & boring food, or you're a traveller who needs that spicy tadka even on a roast pie, or you've got friends over and need something out-of-the-world to serve - there's one thing to your rescue, and that's a bottle of Bira 91 hot sauce.

To satiate your taste buds, here's a list of generally oh-so-normal foods that can taste extra awesome and delicious with just a layer of this fiery, hot sauce.

1. A Simple Platter Of Nachos That Need An Extra Dash Of Awesomeness.

Hot sauce effect: Forget the thick layer of cheese or the lamb chops and meatballs that are too less, the spicy Habenero chillies in the sauce will just take your gastronomic experience to a new high.

2. Spicy Hot Chicken Wings Which Need To Be Even Spicier.

Hot sauce effect: Oh man! Just so delectably out of the world! These chilly-layered wings can deeply satisfy your innermost cravings for a flavourful platter. And bet you can't stop with just one!

3. Those Quintessential Spaghetti And Meatballs That Are A Spicy Dream Topped With Chilly Sauce.

Hot sauce effect: Drool-worthy to the core! Who wants gravy when the top-view of the spagetti bowl is layered up with a generous amount of hot sauce? And with those meatballs soaking in them, totally dinner-date material, dude!

4. Steamed Momos. Fried Momos. Tandoori Momos. Gravy Momos.

Hot sauce effect: Momos are real momos only if they are dipped in a gratifying bowl of finger-licking and burning-hot chilly sauce! It is the ultimate evening snack.

5. Those Regular Snacky Veggie Cutlets Which Really Need Some Excitement To It.

Hot sauce effect: These crunchy cutlets get loaded up in their spice quotient with just one layer of hot sauce. And there you go, they jump to the top of your favourite food list just like that!

6. Those Fiery, Hot Peanuts Which Can Get You All Geared Up For The Boys' Night.

Hot sauce effect: Can those snacky peanuts get more awesome? Sure, it can! Simple yet lip-smacking and flavorsome! It becomes the ultimate bowl of satisfaction when a few tomatoes, onions, green chillies and a generous layer of hot sauce is mixed up!

7. Plain Platter Of French Fries Which Needs A Party Twist To It.

Hot sauce effect: Who doesn't love french fries? But just those ordinary salted ones can be boring. Turn them into tangy and delicious fries with just a squeeze of spicy, hot sauce! Shake them up well inside a box, and there you go! You can very well forget the mayo, bet you'll fall in love with the chilly-flavoured french fries.

Be it midnight hunger pangs or last-minute food ideas, you know what you need! Because, the all-new extra-hot and spicy sauce in town - Bira 91 hot sauce has come to the table! It is super-hot and flavourful. With just a splash of it, you can make your normal boring food so damn interesting. Of course, spicy food and beer is undoubtedly THE best combination there is! Ain't it? Go order your bottle today from Amazon - 350 gms for just Rs.399 and get on a food high like never before!

Gonzo Gourmet Food Truck Looking To Expand In Hall

Hot chicken came sizzling out of the oil, but it didn’t become “hot chicken” until it was smothered in Brandon Wilson’s cayenne pepper sauce.

Wilson was slinging hot chicken, a full cut of chicken breast deep fried, covered in cayenne pepper paste and laid over buttered bread with a slice of pickle and green onion, at Tap It on Friday for one of the growler bar’s takeover events. The truck also sold sweet potato fries, North Georgia tacos (which are heavy on the pulled pork) and a few other dishes in the parking lot.
Normally seen covering lunches at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, the Friday event was one of the first in Hall County served by Gonzo Gourmet as the food truck tries to break into the Hall market.

Wilson and Gonzo Gourmet operate from a farm just over the line in Lumpkin County. For the past 18 months — since he moved to Georgia from Knoxville, Tennessee, to be closer to his daughter — Gonzo Gourmet has sold food at North Georgia wineries, weddings and festivals.

“That worked out well, but I did want to branch out,” Wilson said, talking about his past few years running the food truck in Knoxville.

Gonzo Gourmet had become a regular around a few famous corporations, including Regal Cinemas, which has a theater in Gainesville. But in Tennessee the truck was operating from a “postage stamp” of a lot and, while it was still based on local ingredients, Wilson didn’t have the room to grow his own food.

The truck now has “a real focus on farm to table, so we try to bring forward local ingredients, local product, to nearly everything for serve off the truck — except for tater tots, today,” Wilson said, smiling and standing in the parking lot at Tap It.

Tater tots came in at the bottom of Gonzo Gourmet’s menu for the event. But now in Georgia, just about every bit of vegetable served from Gonzo Gourmet comes from Wilson’s Lumpkin County farm, and the meat comes from local farmers. The food and its background went over well at wineries and weddings, but Wilson said he’s looking to add more to the truck’s routine.

Hoping to get back into more regular lunch service, he and his girlfriend, Kim Hughes, made the jump into Hall County — starting with lunch at the hospital.

“I’m looking for more big corporations in Hall County that would love for me to be there for lunch services with their employees,” Wilson said.

The name of the truck was inspired by Hunter S. Thompson and his gonzo journalism. Wilson himself is a graduate of journalism school and spent 10 years working in newspapers, including the Marietta Daily Journal.

Roy Choi on Food Trucks, Pizza and the Art of Properly Cooked Korean Food

Plus, the L.A. chef offers his predictions for the food world in 2018.

It’s been ten years since Roy Choi parked his Korean taco truck Kogi in front of a nightclub and became one of the first people to spark what would become a phenomenon in the restaurant industry—the now-ubiquitous food truck. Choi is now working on opening a restaurant at the Park MGM in Las Vegas, he has a line of food products with Williams-Sonoma and he’s still celebrating the successful launch of POT Pizza Joint. In the decade since he entered the food scene, he’s still conquering new territory. Choi has always been ahead of the curve, though. He’s just been waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

“Everyone always looked at food trucks like the trend is going to end. I have been hearing that for ten years and it hasn’t,” he tells Food and Wine. “They're still serving a lot of people lunches in office complexes. We’re no longer the ones that you have to drive out of town and call the cops on. Food trucks are an essential part of people’s days. They are important to the fabric of feeding people, like hotel chefs cooking breakfasts or for weddings.”

He says this last part without an ounce of disparagement in his voice—this is not a criticism of the food truck system, but is rather meant to praise how necessary they have become to Los Angeles. Now, Choi sees the true originators of the food truck movement—the taco trucks—experiencing a renaissance in his city.

“There has been a resurgence of the roots of food trucks. There are really great taco trucks right now,” he says. “The original taco trucks survived the new wave, and the now [they’re] coming back with even better food. It’s gratifying to see that.”

Though Choi is considered an innovator in the food scene, especially when it comes to fusion cuisine, he still experiences moments of anxiety when introducing a new dish to the public. He recently had that experience with the opening of POT Pizza Joint, which serves a kimchi pizza.

“I was nervous and excited to see people accept it,” he explains. “There are certain foods that are somewhat sacred or you’re not supposed to mess with. When you do mess with them, it touches a nerve where you have to compare it to the original, and then that thing you’re creating has a loosing change right out of the gate.”

Still, Choi took a risk with the kimchi pizza, and it paid off. He found that when people eat his creation, they aren’t thinking about the Neopolitan origins of pizza, or scrutinizing his variation for all the elements that make up a classic slice. Instead, his diners can appreciate for the innovation for what it is.

“It just tastes delicious,” he says. “It's not even pizza anymore, but it is pizza.”

Choi—who is Korean-American—has long been playing with Korean-inspired flavors and ingredients in his food. Though this has been a largely fearless enterprise for him, Choi remembers a time when adding Asian influences to a dish may have been not only unwelcome, but looked down upon.

“[Korean flavors] weren’t so versatile when people would scrunch their nose and call our food stinky,” he recalls. “You have to give all props to David Chang. David was the first one to break through. That was the thing that opened the versatility up. Korean restaurants have always been the same, but when that window opened up, it just allowed people to look at it with a different lens.”

While Americans with Westernized palates may not have accepted these flavors until Korean chefs hit the mainstream, Choi is quick to point out that Korean-Americans, especially the children of immigrants, have always known how delicious their food is.

“The things that make Korean food delicious are garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili powder and chili paste,” he explains. "They make anything delicious."

In order to cook Asian dishes properly in your own home, Choi says the most important thing to do is “take a step back and respect the differences in cultures.”

“This is not a one-shoe-fits type of thing,” he continues. “I see a lot of people doing fusion things [but] Korean food is not European food. I see folks trying to cook it like it’s beef bourguignon. You don’t have to cook it the traditional way, but it’s a difference in technique.”

Choi points to the fact that Korean recipes for braising typically don’t sear the meat, whereas in a French recipe, searing the meat is common practice.

“When you take that approach with Korean food you end with a murky product – it hurts the product.”

In his experience, home cooks also tend to underseason their food, so he recommends that they “focus on simplicity, season properly" and embrace "the less-is-more model.” For example, if you’re cooking a piece of meat, don’t try to be fancy. “The best way to do it,” Choi says, is to simply “roast with salt and pepper.”



 You can expect to see all his favorite Korean ingredients continue to pop up in Choi’s food as he continues to expand his restaurant empire. He jokes that the next fusion cuisine to pick up steam in 2018 is “healthy milkshakes,” but he actually sees the whole world of food open to being molded into something new.

“Everything is up for grabs,” he says. “Meatloaf, casserole, even the cherished hero—we can mess with those. I think this year is up for grabs.”