NATIONAL HOT TODDY DAY: MAKE A HOT TODDY TO KEEP WARM THIS WINTER!

I love "national" days and January 11th is National Hot Toddy day. I guess any hot cocktail qualifies as a hot toddy. If you've never warmed up with a hot adult beverage, here's one of my favorite recipes... honey, bourbon, lemon, and orange... comforting and delicious. If you make a large quantity recipe in a saucepan or pot, remember to always remove it from the heat before adding alcohol as it will flame.

Warm up with a bourbon hot toddy for National Hot Toddy Day!

BOURBON HOT TODDY

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 ounces bourbon (I like Knob Creek or Gentleman Jack for this recipe)

1/2 ounce Grand Marnier (or any orange liqueur)

1/2 teaspoons local honey

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 cinnamon stick

Lemon or orange twist (which is a strip of the lemon peel)

1 1/2 cups boiling water (more or less depending on the size of the mug)

DIRECTIONS:

Put the cinnamon stick, twist, and lemon juice into a heavy mug. Add bourbon and Grand Marnier and top off with the boiling water. Let stand for 2-3 minutes to allow the flavors to blend and to cool slightly. Remove the cinnamon stick and enjoy!

JUSTIN WARNER'S TEMPURA RECIPE

JANUARY 7TH IS NATIONAL TEMPURA DAY...  in other words, national fry something at home day.

Any time I hear the word tempura, I immediately think of my Food Network Star teammate, Justin Warner. Justin knows how to fry things really, really well and his tempura recipe was not only one of the best I've ever tried, it was a huge hit with all of the guests at our pop-up Italian restaurant on the show. Since then, I've used it for a number of things but really like it for frying shrimp for a Po-Boy.

Fried Shrimp Po-Boy... Justin's tempura batter makes it light and airy. Not heavy.

Here's us... working the fry station. Justin's tempura recipe follows.

Making a lot of fried food in our pop-up restaurant with Justin Warner on Food Network Star season 8. Get his recipe for tempura batter below

JUSTIN'S FAMOUS TEMPURA BATTER

INGREDIENTS

2 cups rice flour

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried parsley

Salt and ground black pepper

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning

Club soda

Vegetable or peanut oil, for frying

DIRECTIONS:

Make a dredge of 1 cup rice flour, oregano, parsley and some salt and pepper.

Make a batter by combining the remaining 1 cup rice flour with the all-purpose flour, red pepper flakes, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Pour in the club soda a little bit at a time and whisk until the batter is just slightly loosened and the whisk won't stand up. Keep on an ice bath as  you are using it.

Fill a Dutch oven just under halfway with oil and heat over medium-high heat to 350 degrees F.

To fry: Dredge strips of fresh veggies, like bell pepper, zucchini, onion, whole string beans in the seasoned flour and then dip in the batter and drop into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels, season with salt and a spray of lemon juice.

If you make this recipe, please give my buddy Justin a shout out on Twitter: @EatFellowHumans. His highly acclaimed restaurant, Do or Dine, is located in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, New York where tempura fried things like the Cauli-Balls are always on the menu. Check out the Nippon Nachos with gouda and cheddar -- the one chef's dish Alton Brown says he wishes he'd come up with during an interview with Conde Nast Traveler.

Happy National TEMPURA DAY! Go fry something delicious!

LEARN MORE ABOUT JUSTIN WARNER IN MY CHEF SERIES Q & A. Read the article....

SUNDAY POT ROAST WITH ONIONS, CARROTS, AND POTATOES

My mom made a pot roast every other Sunday. On the alternate Sundays we had fried chicken, or a rump roast. I don’t know how she did it- getting four kids ready for church and then minutes after we arrived home, she’d whip up some cornbread and take the pot roast out of the oven. She did not even have to call us in from the yard. We were already at the table. I helped my mom make this dish a hundred times. I wish I’d written down exactly how she did it. She cooked it in her big cast iron Dutch oven- what I always called the “chicken pot” because she used it to fry chicken. Even though I still have that same Dutch oven, it has taken me ten years of trying different options to get the flavor just right. I finally discovered I was leaving out the bay leaf… that was the missing ingredient. Make this recipe for your family. You can be assured that 40 years later, your kids will still remember the taste and the times gathered around the table when you served it.

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SUNDAY POT ROAST WITH ONIONS, CARROTS AND POTATOES

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1-(3 pound) chuck roast, trimmed (boneless or bone-in, if you prefer)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 small yellow onions, quartered

3 cups beef broth

1 tablespoon Worcestershire

2 bay leaves

3 thyme sprigs

6 carrots, peeled and halved

6 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered into wedges

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350° F. 

Remove the roast from the fridge. While it is still cold, trim any excess fat from the sides of the cut. In a small bowl, combine the salt and pepper. Season each side of the roast liberally with it. Allow it to sit out for 15 minutes on the counter.

Next, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour over each side of the roast, patting it into the top, bottom, and sides.

In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. When the oil and pan are hot, add the roast and sear it well on all sides; approximately 3 minutes for the top and bottom and a minute or so for the sides.

Remove the roast to a plate. Set aside. Add the beef broth a little at a time, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the Worcestershire. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat. Add the onion, bay leaves, and thyme to the pan. Add the roast on top. Cover with the lid and put into the oven at 350° F for 1 ½ hours.

Add the carrots and potatoes. Cook for another hour or until the vegetables are tender (not mushy) and the roast pulls apart easily.

Remove the roast to a plate and shred it. Serve with potatoes, carrots, onion, and a bit of the cooking liquid as gravy.

Note: If you want a thicker gravy, you can make a slurry with flour. Remove the roast and the vegetables to a platter or bowl. Discard the thyme and bay leaves. Add 3 tablespoons of the hot liquid to 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour and whisk until smooth. Turn up the heat under the pan to medium high. Whisk the flour mixture into the cooking liquid and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2-3 minutes more so you cook out the raw flour taste. If the gravy is too thick, you can add more beef broth as desired. Before serving, check the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper to taste.