Rum with a twist

When we’re feeling a chill from real frost rather than frosty drinks — or from wading through real snow rather than snowy white sand — the time is right for a taste of the tropics. Sure, your friends may need to check their boots at the door rather than their sandals at the seashore. But even in the depths of winter, a menu with one or a few rum-based recipes can heat up a gathering.

“Obviously, rum has a natural affinity for anything sweet. But it can really play a role in savory dishes as well,” says Dana Holland, the owner of Blu Dog Catering and co-owner of Holland Mills, which produces sauces, rubs and other seasoning products. Holland honed his Caribbean cuisine as chef/owner of the late, lamented Babalu, a restaurant in the Central West End of St. Louis.

When cooking, you can reach for rum instead of all but the driest sherry.

“I do it all the time,” he says. “There’s a distinctive difference.”

Holland suggests stirring rum together with coffee, ginger, garlic and a little honey, then using the mixture as a glaze for flank steak or pork roast. Or splash in rum instead of wine to deglaze a pan after sauteing pork or chicken.

“Even if the dish is not inherently sweet, the rum will bring a little bit of sweetness,” he says.

Holland’s take on pineapple boats is popular with his catering customers. He makes a sugar syrup with whole cinnamon sticks, star anise and cardamom seeds, adds a bit of anejo (aged) rum, then folds in chunks of fruit. The fruit macerates in the syrup, picking up sweet and spicy flavors. Before serving, he piles it into hollowed-out pineapple halves.

For savory spirits, we’re offering recipes that showcase rum in a shiitake-pearl onion salad, black beans and rice and chicken with papaya.

For sweet endings, our recipes will show you how to enjoy rum in banana bread packed with chocolate and dried fruit and in a five-ingredient toffee sauce that’s an easy way to elevate ice cream or simple cakes.

Holland finds that inexpensive, amber-colored rum usually works best in his recipes.

“When I really want to play up rum’s flavor, I use the anejo,” he says.

Rum is sold in a spectrum of colors, from clear (called white or silver), to gold or dark, to black. Flavored rums can feature the flavors of fruits or spices. They’re most useful in mixed drinks, although they can have a place in desserts or fruity dishes.

Rum is distilled from sugar cane or molasses. Generally, the lighter the rum, the stronger and less complex the flavor. For everyday cooking, Holland recommends amber-colored rum.

The best aged rums can be sipped like cognac, often at a lower price. “There’s a lot of really good aged rum out there, and they’re fairly affordable,” Holland says. “If you want a really nice aged scotch, like Johnny Walker Blue, you’ve got to go out and borrow money.” Fine wine stores usually carry a nice selection of rum.

He sees rum increasing in popularity, perhaps because good tequila has become more scarce and correspondingly more expensive, perhaps because rum appeals to twentysomethings with a sweet tooth.

“Rum appeals to younger people; it’s a happy thing,” he says. “You think of the Caribbean.”

Drunken Chicken with Papaya

Adapted from “Fiesta! A Celebration of Latin Hospitality,” by Anya von Bremzen (Doubleday, 1997

2 teaspoons grated lime zest (colored portion of peel), plus more for optional garnish

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/3 cup amber or dark rum

4 cloves garlic, crushed through a press or minced

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

2 1/2 tablespoons light-brown sugar

4 1/2 pounds chicken drumsticks and thighs, rinsed and patted dry

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small papaya, peeled, seeded and diced

To prepare the marinade, combine lime zest, lime juice, orange zest, orange juice, rum, garlic, vinegar and sugar in a blender; process until smooth.

Prick the chicken all over with the tines of a fork; rub generously with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in a large glass or ceramic bowl; add the marinade and toss to combine. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Return to room temperature just before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the chicken in a large roasting pan, reserving the marinade. Brush the chicken with oil; bake until the skin begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees; bake for 10 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the oven; add the papaya and the reserved marinade. Return to the oven and bake, basting with the marinade, until the chicken is almost falling off the bone, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter; spoon the papaya and sauce over the chicken. Garnish with a sprinkling of lime zest.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 354 calories, 16 grams fat (4 grams saturated, 42 percent fat calories), 35.5 grams protein, 11 grams carbohydrate, 116 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 114 milligrams sodium.

Shiitake and Pearl Onion Salad

Adapted from a recipe developed by Wilo Benet for the rums of Puerto Rico

10 ounces fresh pearl onions

1/4 cup olive oil

6 tablespoons ( 3/4 stick) butter

3/4 pound shiitake mushroom caps (without stems; see tester’s note)

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1/4 cup amber rum

Salt

Cracked black pepper

6 to 8 cups mixed greens, divided

4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled, divided

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add onions; let boil 3 minutes, then drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. Snip the ends of each onion and slip off the peels. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet until almost smoking; add the butter. When butter melts, add the mushrooms; saute until they brown around the edges. Add onions; cook until lightly browned. Push the vegetables to the sides of the pan; pour in the vinegar and rum. Cook, scraping the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to release the browned bits, until the liquid comes to a boil and reduces to a glaze. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let cool slightly.

To serve, cover individual salad plates with salad greens, using 3/4 to 1 cup per serving. Spoon mushroom mixture over the lettuce; top each serving with 1/2 ounce crumbled goat cheese.

Tester’s note: Shiitakes were in short supply at the market, so I used a 3 1/2 -ounce package of whole shiitakes plus an 8-ounce package of sliced baby portobellos.

Yield: 8 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 265 calories, 20 grams fat (9.8 grams saturated, 67 percent fat calories), 6.3 grams protein, 12 grams carbohydrate, 38 milligrams cholesterol, 2.5 grams dietary fiber, 226 milligrams sodium.

Warm Rum-Toffee Sauce

Adapted from “Miami Spice,” by Steven Raichlen (Workman, 1993).

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar

6 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons amber or dark rum

Combine all of the ingredients in a heavy saucepan; place over medium heat. Boil until thick and well blended, about 3 minutes. Serve warm. (Leftover sauce can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week. Reheat in a small, heavy saucepan over low heat.)

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Approximate nutrition per tablespoon: 81 calories, 5grams fat (3 grams saturated, 56 percent fat calories); 8 grams carbohydrate, 15 milligrams cholesterol, no dietary fiber, 5 milligrams sodium.

Banana Bread Man’s Banana Bread

Adapted from “New World Kitchen,” by Norman Van Aken (Ecco, 2003).

1/3 cup pecans

1/3 cup cashews

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed dark-brown sugar

2 extra-large eggs

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoons amber or dark rum

2 cups mashed ripe banana (4 to 5 medium bananas)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3 tablespoons buttermilk

2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup pitted dates, chopped (see tester’s note)

1/3 cup dried cherries (see tester’s note)

1/3 cup diced dried papaya (see tester’s note)

Toast the pecans and then the cashews in a dry skillet, stirring frequently until they begin to darken and turn fragrant. Immediately transfer to a small bowl; let cool, then chop coarsely. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 1/2 -by-4 1/2 -inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean; add the seeds to the bowl (or add the extract). Add the rum, bananas, cinnamon, mace and cloves; beat until blended. (The batter may look as if it is separating; this is normal.)

Alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beating until fully incorporated. Fold in the chocolate, nuts, dates, cherries and papaya.

Spoon the batter into the pan; bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 300 degrees; bake until the bread pulls away slightly from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 70 minutes longer.

Let the bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert the loaf onto the rack, then turn right side up to cool completely. Slice and serve, plain or toasted and topped with ice cream.

Note: This bread is inspired by the “Banana Man,” who used to sell his bread off the back of his bicycle in Key West, Fla.

Tester’s note: I substituted 2/3 cup already chopped dates and 2/3 cup mixed dried cherries and golden raisins for the whole dates, cherries and papaya.

Yield: 1 loaf cake; 10 servings.

Nutrition per serving (based on 10 servings): 510 calories, 19grams fat (8.5 grams saturated, 34 percent fat calories), 77 grams carbohydrate, 72 milligrams cholesterol, 5.5 grams dietary fiber, 221 milligrams sodium.