Juliette proclaimed that this was the best Cosmo that she has ever tasted, and having been a bartender until just recently in her past I paid heed, as did Michelle. We all agreed the cocktail was pretty darn fantastic. When we sipped this cocktail together at Mario Batali's bar in the B&B Ristorante at The Palazzo, we decided we would need to recreate it at home. When asked about the blood orange juice in the ingredient list the bartender had recited off to us, he told us that he used a blood orange concentrate... end of story.
Upon returning home, Michelle found the blood orange concentrate from a company in Napa. We procrastinated, not wanting to have to order it on-line because of the stiff shipping charges. Quite simply, the concentrate is frozen and must stay frozen during shipping which requires overnight delivery.
Needless to say, I was very pleased when The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley turned up in the freezer section of my Whole Foods Market last week. Not only did I buy the blood orange purée, I also picked up strawberry, white peach and passion fruit purées which I will keep on hand for other uses. If you are someone who thinks that a Cosmopolitan is just too sweet, here is your less sweet Cosmo.
Blood Orange Cosmopolitan
"Made from 100% blood oranges, this classic Sicilian fruit ingredient offers a rich deep orange-red color and citrus flavor base perfect for cocktails, vinaigrette and gourmet desserts. It provides an aromatic, intense citrus flavor without diluting a recipe." ~The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley
This is our recreation of the recipe from the ingredient list which was revealed to us at B&B Ristorante. It makes two small martinis.
3/4 cup Ketel One® Citroen Vodka
1/4 cup Cointreau Liqueur
1 Tbsp blood orange concentrate
juice from one large lime
Procedure:
1. Dissolve the frozen blood orange concentrate in the fresh lime juice, and then pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Add ice. Shake vigorously and strain into two martini glasses; discard ice. Garnish as desired and serve immediately.
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Linda's Yelp review on our Sistercation visit to B&B Ristorante in the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian:
During our recent stay in Las Vegas, my sister, Michelle, had not eaten after a long day at a convention where she was an exhibitor. Since we three sisters were staying at The Palazzo, I had been eyeing B&B Ristorante, being that we are all huge fans of Mario Batali. In summary, the experience was so poor that it will be memorable. Since Michelle was the only one ordering food (Juliette and I had eaten earlier in the evening), we decided to sit at the bar. To begin with, the restaurant hostess refused to seat us at one of the small tables at the entrance which were all vacant. So we obliged her and sat at the bar. We were handed menus, and then left to wait—a very long time—without being acknowledged by the young bespectacled hipster bartender with hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail who managed to acknowledge and take orders from all of the men who sat at the bar after us. Led Zeppelin's Greatest Hits were blaring overhead ( I kid you not!). After we were finally able to order Michelle's entrée and our drinks, we were left to wait for probably at least a good 30 minutes before our Blood Orange Cosmos appeared with the glass of wine that Michelle ordered to go with her Bolognese Paparadelle. In retrospect, this should have been our cue to walk out, but being to tired from a long day of trudging around the strip we were all too exhausted to take action, get fired up and leave—which in a less exhausted state we would have done in a heartbeat. When our tiny $15 Cosmos finally arrived, they were delicious. However, when my sister's thin slice of a flute baguette topped with a dab of chick purée showed up on a small side plate that dwarfed it, we are agreed it was indeed an "amuse bouche". Very funny—the joke is on us! At some length after that, the Bolognese Paparadelle finally showed up. Again, a huge white plate with a serving of pasta that looked more like an appetizer. No bread, no nothing. All this for a mere $28. Finally, a single slice of bread (really!) was brought to Michelle when she was half way through the pasta. Her plate from her "appetizer" was never removed. I joked with her that because there was a tiny speck of sauce left on the plate, the restaurant staff thought there was still a serving left. Michelle left hungry, and we all felt assaulted by the music and insulted by the lousy misogynistic service. The microscopic portions of food were good (I sure would hope so—it is Mario Batali's restaurant). I tried to send this feedback directly to B&B, but there is not email contact provided. Needless to say, we won't be back—ever—and we certainly do not desire to visit other Batali locations. Ciao, Baby!
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