Champagne Cocktails (New Holland, 2008, $12.95.) by David Biggs.
What it is: A tidy guide to 60 Champagne cocktails as well as recipes for cooking with Champagne and party punches. Although the book touts French Champagnes, sparkling wines can be used to create the recipes.
Praise (and quibbles): When it comes to Champagne, I am a purist. To me, a lovely glass of Champagne, perhaps accompanied by cheese, hors d’oeuvres or popcorn (try it), is perfection. Adding anything else is just gilding the lily. So I opened this book with a bit of bias, which was quickly dispelled by Biggs’ lively style and tasty recipes.
Why we think you’ll like it: This is a primer for making, choosing and storing the bubbly and even offers suggestions for touring France’s Champagne houses.
Recipes: Accompanied by beautiful photographs, the recipes are easy to follow. But the drink recipes don’t have precise measurements, relying instead on the mixologist’s tastes and preferences. This can be daunting to the beginner but the experienced will easily figure out the right balance. This guide makes you want to experiment, and so we did, from the simple Buck’s Fizz (a European version of a mimosa), to the more inventive Amaretto Ritz, D’Artagnan to the Champagne Normande.
Recipes for dishes such as savory Champagne Chicken Breasts provide exact measurements and directions.
– Oline Cogdill
