Punch: The stuff that dreams are made of…

I love movies and I love books about movies and movie stars.  I still think that MGM is great.  I love the grittiness of RKO movies; even the films that weren’t film noir have an aura of the genre to them.  I just finished the definitive biography on Spencer Tracy, am reading a new book on Barbara Stanwyck, in between those I also read a bio on Humphrey Bogart. 

Bogie is in many of my favorite movies, High Sierra, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, Caine Mutiny, Sabrina to name just a few of the ones I love the most.  But my most favorite of all is The Maltese Falcon. Bogart is wonderful; Mary Astor is great as Brigid O’Shaughnessey.  Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo and Sydney Greenstreet as  Kasper Gutman immediately become part of our cultural history.

Besides Bogart the main reason I love Maltese Falcon is that it is based on Dashiell Hammett’s book of the same name.  Hammett, to me, wrote the kind of mystery novels that really serve as the morality tales of our generation.  Many authors have done it, Raymond Chandler, Robert Parker, Robert Crais, Ross Macdonald and Michael Connelly are a few who come to mind.  But did anyone do it better than Hammett – I think not. 

Sam Spade is faced with choosing good over evil at every turn in The Maltese Falcon.  From Miles Archer’s murder in the beginning to deciding if he should let Brigid go free or turn her into the police, Spade shows the cost of choosing the right thing without losing the hard-edge of a private eye we've come to love.

Bogart, Hammett and Sam Spade, what do they have to do with punch?  Not much, except for the fact that Bogart and Hammett (and by inference Sam Spade) found way to much solace in alcohol.  So in tribute to Bogie I decided to try and make a punch that he and a relatively modest drinker like me would both enjoy.

I came up with Sangria with a fair amount of liquor for Bogie and a fair amount of fruit for me.

Rose Sangria Punch

·         2 bottles Rose Wine

·         1 cup brandy

·         ½ cup Orange Liqueur (i.e. Grand Mariner)

·         1/3 cup sugar

·         1 each of the following: peach, plum, apricot, lemon, lime (sliced thinly)

·         1 pint raspberries

·         1 liter bottle of Ginger Ale

In a punch bowl combine the wine, brandy, liqueur and sugar, stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the fruit all at one. Cover and let sit for at least one hour or up to four hours. Right before serving add the ginger ale, stir and serve in cups filled with ice.

The night I made the punch I had my daughter-in-law Meg and her mom, Jenny, over for dinner.  I served steak and chicken fajitas, Chipotle rice, tortillas and all the “fixins” with triple brownies for dessert.

The punch was delightful; the fruit flavored the wine but didn’t make it sweet, the carbonation of the ginger ale added lightness without watering it down.   I think you could serve this with either beef or chicken (as I did).  The rose is a perfect wine for this kind of sangria, I think white wine would have been overpowered by the brandy and fruit, red wine is too heavy for this kind of dinner and this time of year.

I was tempted to raise a glass with “Here’s looking at you kid” but wrong movie so I just tipped my imaginary hat to Sam Spade and had a wonderful evening with family.

And remember, we will always have "punch".