Ok, so the book isn’t called A Sidecar Cocktail Named Desire. It’s a Streetcar. But, this week’s cocktail for the fall series of the Bon Appeteach “Book Club” is.. did you guess it? A Sidecar Cocktail (tough one, I know). How could I not use the play on words here? A teacher’s gotta do what a teacher’s gotta do. If we’re really technical here, this isn’t actually a book either, but a Pulitzer Prize winning play written in 1947.  However I know nothing about this play (other than what I read on wikipedia and it was a little intense) because I don’t ever actually read the books (just look them up on wikipedia…I know, bad teacher), I only make cocktails named after them (best book club, ever). This week’s cocktail is a classic, it’s absolutely delicious and goes so well with this week’s food pairing, Grilled Brie with Blueberry Compote. Find the full recipe below!

The Sidecar Cocktail:

• 1.5 oz Cognac
• .75 oz Cointreau
• .75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
• Sugar Rim Garnish & Lemon Peel

Shaken, Not Stirred-

For a three ingredient cocktail, this isn’t rocket science kids. You can use any orange liqueur for this cocktail (Grand Marnier or Triple sec would be a good substitute as well). For this recipe, I prefer Cointreau. Combine the three ingredients into a glass and pour over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake till chilled and double strain into a sugar rimmed coupe glass. I added an (optional) lemon peel for a garnish.

Food Pairing-

This week’s foods pairing, Grilled Brie with Blueberry Compote is a great holiday appetizer but worked so well with this drink too. The lemon notes of The Sidecar Cocktail really pair with the smokiness of the grilled brie and the tanginess of the blueberry compote. You can easily throw this all together in 5-10 minutes, bake or grill, and it makes an easy low carb/keto friendly appetizer to share! Throw on a little prosciutto, some flax crackers, and some fresh olives or dried fruit onto a platter and you have the perfect Friday night snack!

Cheers to another great week of the Bon Appeteach “Book Club”, make a double, and don’t drink alone!

Bon Appeteach,

-L