We’re a couple weeks into 2011 and many of you are still hopeful about staying true to your resolutions. Although last year I did my best to aid you in detoxing from the holiday gluttony, this year my intentions aren’t so pure. Rather than fortify your resolve, I’m here to steer your ship back to the harbor of iniquity.

How you ask? Three words my friends. Hot. Buttered. Rum.

It is a classic wintertime potion that soothes the soul and warms the physical faculties, while adding a layer or two of insulation to your frame. Sure you can have a Hot Toddy to fight the frost, and I love those as well. But sometimes you simply want some butter in your drink. In those times, a Hot Buttered Rum is where it’s at.

Truth be told I wrote about this drink last year but somehow that piece got lost in cyberspace, never to be found again. I was dumbfounded, but interpreted it as a sign and decided to hold off for another year. So here’s take two of the Hot Buttered Rum, and the timing is especially fortuitous if you live in one of the snowed in cities on the Eastern seaboard like I do.

Hot Buttered Rum
2 oz aged rum (or a good spiced rum, ie not Captain Morgan)
3/4 oz demerara syrup (raw sugar dissolved in equal part water)
1 tbsp (or more) spiced compound butter (will get to that in a minute)
Hot apple cider to top
Cinnamon stick as garnish (optional)

Glass: any mug or glass appropriate for hot drinks

Pour the syrup in the glass along with the compound butter and a little hot cider. Stir to dissolve the syrup and melt the butter. Add the rum and more cider to fill, then give it a light stir. Add the cinnamon stick (or not) and enjoy.

It’s not a Hot Buttered Rum without the butter, and although you can use plain butter in a pinch, the compound butter adds nice depth if you have the time to make it. This recipe comes from Dale Degroff, and I liked it enough to use as is, but you’re certainly encouraged to get creative and spice it up as you wish.

Spiced Compound Butter
1 lb softened butter (I recommended unsalted sweet cream butter)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg (fresh is best)
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup dark brown sugar

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Place the compound on wax paper and roll it into logs. Set in refrigerator or freezer to set. Though you can use it immediately, it’s best to give the flavors some time in the fridge to marry. Once set you can use as needed by cutting pieces as you would a stick of butter.

It makes much more sense to make more than single portions since the effort is the same, and the recipe above should give you enough for a sizable group of folks. I usually make a supply that’ll last me the winter, freeze half and keep half in the fridge. Then a few minutes before I want to use it, I set it out to get it to room temperature. Just as you wouldn’t want to add any hot components to a cold drink, you don’t want to add a cold component to a hot one.

Cheers, and good luck on those resolutions. You’ll need it even more now.

*Got a cocktail question? Hit me on twitter @paystyle, email me at payman(at)lifesacocktail(dot)com, or simply drop me a comment below!

This butter is fresh off the farm and totally off the hook. I bought it from Lancaster, PA (Mennonite?) farmers of Millport Dairy, at the Union Square Greenmarket. It’s big– about 5 inches in diameter– and only $5.

After all my bitching, I finally got my fancypants on at Zuni Cafe last month. I must say that the place far exceeded my expectations. It was all in the butter.

I have a slight obsession with butter, as you all know. It is a major detail that so many fancy restaurants overlook, it drives me absolutely crazy. Thing is, it doesn’t have to be overpriced, uber-organic, hormone-free butter or anything pretentious like that. Actually, I would say that the little golden slabs they give out so liberally at the local diner far exceed the greasy butter bowls of godknowswhat they dare serve at 95% of restaurants.

So the butter came out at Zuni on a small white dish. Just a thin slab, nothing over the top- I was a bit taken aback by its simplicity, actually.

It was cold. Creamy. Subtly sweet. So fresh, it tasted as though there was a cow in the kitchen that the sous chef milked himself, churning it into this dairydelight in a matter of mere moments. MAGIC!

The Akaboris were in butterheaven. (uhhhhof course I went to dinner with Hideko and Kuni, WHO ELSE???).

I asked our server (Joe, who we adored) where this GODbutter came from. Turns out it was from Gilt Edge Creamery, which is right smack in the middle of San Francisco. Apparently this creamery has been around for over 50 years in the city. Who knew? I love the thought that the best butter I’ve ever had does not come from a farm in the middle of nowhere. Oh, hell no- this is URBANBUTTER.

Ok, jesus, enough about that. Here’s some highlights of the rest of the meal.

My Lillet on ice in a rocks glass. Ahhhh, so pretty!

Oysters, YAH! I believe these were Fanny Bays and Belons harvested in Tomales Bay. I rarely see these on the menu so I was super stoked- they are some of my favorite species of the bivalve. And house-made mignonette!

Burrata alla panna with heirloom tomatoes, garden lettuces and coutons.
Burrata from a Southern California creamery, Di Stefano- I know it just looks like a lump of poo here, but it was utter umami-in-your-mouth. It was like mozzarella on crack.

House-cured anchovies with celery, Parmesan and nicoise olives.
The anchovies were plump and delicious. Not too salty, not under-cured. Needed some crackers though.

Deep-fried padron peppers, okra and onions with lime and cumin.
Hideko is ethnocentric and thinks shishitos are better peppers than padrons. I personally can’t really tell the difference- padrons are sweeter, maybe? I love padrons and get them whenever I see them at the farmer’s market. Plus I never say no to okra if it’s on any menu. This here was perfectly fried, holler.

The ever-famous Zuni Cafe roasted chicken for two, with bread salad and mustard greens. This takes an hour to cook, so you want to order it right when you sit down.

The chicken was moist and fluffy hotness. A bit overly-brined, so too salty, but it was definitely one delicious bird. Was it FIFTY DOLLARS delicious?? Eh, that might be a stretch. But the bread salad had these currants and pine nuts in it, which was genius. The greens were awesome too, just the perfect touch of bitterness. I would actually say that the greens and bread outshined the chicken, if that’s at all possible.

“Piccola meringat” with peaches, raspberries and mascarpone.
Now, I am not much into sweets, but this was pretty incredible. Layers of mascarpone, raspberries and peaches sub-divided by these slim, crackly meringue discs. It was heavenly.

The entire feel of the place is pretty casual yet chic. I would say that Zuni definitely is a guiding light for Craft in NYC, both in decor and menu concept. Hideko kept commenting on how old the clientele was- it definitely leaned more towards the senior set, at least in the dining room. It made her feel old.

Right as you walk in the bar is to your left, facing the window. No stools! I loved the bar area the most, it was so pristine. Paystyle, you would definitely dig this. Also, the kitchen area back there is open- the unshucked oysters and chickens ready to be roasted are all visible when you walk by. It’s all very exciting to see your food being cooked.

ZUNI CAFE
1658 Market Street
San Francisco, CA
T: 415.552.2522

PS: Joe, our server, was sweet enough to bring me out the label for our Burrata when I asked him where it was from. Seems that Di Stefano ONLY makes Burrata, no other cheese, according to this article in SF Gate. All natural, no preservatives. Yamahomo, you’ve gotta follow-up your Mozzarella Battle with a BURRATA-OFF!

*Kayoko runs on her high school track every morning with the PE class, in Cupertino, CA. At the moment, she is craving some sparkling pink wine.

But, butter is also excessively expensive- the good stuff even more so. So let me tell you that the best, and cheapest butter in NYC is at the Amish Market- if you live or work near one of the four market locations in town, you are in luck. Believe me, at $4.98/lb., this is the creamiest, freshest, cheapest block of butter ever!!! It even has a sell-by date!

You can get it by the 1/2 lb. for as little as $2.50, and it comes folded in wax paper, then saran wrap. Doesn’t get much more DIY than that! Considering that actual Amish COUNTRY butter from PA is the best I’ve ever had, I would say that Amish MARKET knows what they’re doing. Let’s hope it’s not a clever marketing ploy to toy with my butter-obsessed mind.

Butter porn shots.

Grease me up!

PS- I’m going on a faux-vacation and will be back next Wednesday, I promise. Miss me!

FOOD FIND
so it turns out that i am a terse critic when it comes to butter. which brings me to the french butter, Isigny Ste. Mere (pictured), i bought last week in the cheese section at Whole Foods for only $2.99! i’m no francophile, and i was really wanting the butter from italy, but it was a bit over my budget at $4.99 (and that’s the average price!). and i was a bit skeptical at how cheap this stuff was, but i am a frugal gourmand and my friend Fumiko, who spent some time in Paris, reassured me that “it’s french, it can’t be that bad.” and it isn’t! this stuff is great! for the price, i highly recommend it.