Nog

      Alright kiddos, lots going on.  First I want to apologize for not having many posts lately, I've been busy with a promotion!!! Got a real life Chef position, no longer just a humble cook- the difference being all about responsibility and goodness knows, there is plenty to do! None the less, tt's Christmas time and everyone is crazy busy:  decorating, shopping, chauffeuring kids to and from the many holiday concerts/parties/parades, going to see Santa at the mall, picking up family from the airport.  It's a busy time of year, so my suggestion, take some time and indulge yourself.  IT'S WORTH IT! 
      I have actually spent most of my life disliking Egg Nog.  I've always been willing to drink it, but never really enjoyed it, because honestly I had never had the home made stuff.  It is way better than anything you will get from the store.  I'm not going to lie to you and pretend it's super easy to make.  It is very similar to making ice cream base, and in fact, if I find I've made too much and just can't drink it all (this has never happened) I will just throw it into my ice cream machine and voila, egg nog ice cream! So prepare yourself for a bit of a workout (or choose to use an electric hand mixer) and let's get started. 
      This recipe will make about 6 quarts of nog, give or take.  First you will need to separate eggs. You must do this carefully, because later you will want to be able to whip the whites to fold into the mixture.  When I am separating eggs for something like this I have 2 bowls and a mug.  I separate the whites into the mug one at a time then put the yolk in one bowl and after checking that there are no little stray bits of yolk in the mug that goes into the bowl too.  This makes it so you don't contaminate all the whites with one broken yolk.  Separate a total of
8 eggs (yolks separate from whites)
go ahead and leave the whites out, they separate easier cold, and whip up better at room temperature.  Once you have all the eggs separated get a large pot on the stove on high.  In a dry pan lightly toast
2 Green Cardamon Pods (not a necessary flavor, but man it is good in there)
2 cloves
3 allspice seeds and
a cinnamon stick toss them around in your hot pan for 30 seconds or so, just until they become lovely and fragrant. Then add
1 quart Cream  don't cheat and try to substitute milk or half and half here, suck it up and use the cream, otherwise you won't get the texture you want (i.e. rich and awesome) and
1/2 vanilla bean scraped (or use 1 tsp vanilla extract)
Now turn the heat down to medium and bring it up just to a simmer.  While you are waiting for this to happen you are going to whisk the egg yolks with
1 cup sugar
      When you are working with yolks and sugar there are a couple of things to keep in mind.  Don't ever put the sugar into the yolks and just leave them, immediately mix them, otherwise you will get lumpy bits that just won't come out.  So get a large pot of water simmering to put the bowl over to begin cooking the eggs.  When you are whisking the two together you are trying to pump air into the mixture, so as you mix them it will lighten up and then it will thicken up, this is exactly what you want to happen.  It doesn't need to whip to peaks like you will do with whites, but it will be creamy and thick enough so that if you drizzle some over the top of it with your whisk it will take 4-5 seconds to dissapate back into the mixture.  And remember while you are doing this to keep an eye on the cream mixture, don't want it to boil over!
      Once you have your five second ribbon (that's the fancy term for what I just described) and your cream is nice and hot slowly whisk the hot cream into the egg mixture, using a ladle and going a little at a time so you don't cook the egg by adding the hot liquid to fast.  We call this tempering the egg mixture.  Once all the liquid is in put the bowl back over your hot water bath and keep mixing, being sure to scrape the sides on a regular basis, you are still in danger of scrambling those eggs.  While you are letting the egg cook set yourself up an ice bath.  I like using two large bowls so that there is a good bit of surface area touching the ice so it cools faster.  So ice in the bigger bottom bowl with a little bit of water and salt and then another bowl on top.  Keep stirring your egg mixture until it thickens up, It will be pretty frothy on top so be sure you are judging it from the liquid underneath.  Should be thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon.  When it is ready take it off the heat and pour through a strainer into your prepared ice bath. It's a lot easier to strain while hot!
      For those of you more experienced with this kind of thing you might not want to use the second hot water bath, I don't.  I just put in on the stove directly in a pan on medium heat, and cook it while whisking CONSTANTLY until it comes about to a boil.  This is dangerous because it is much more likely to curdle and break, and you really don't want to risk all of your hard work.  My advise, unless you are really comfortable with it, use the hot water bath.  So much safer!
      Once this has cooled down it is time to whip your whites.  You don't need all of them (maybe save the rest for a healthy egg while omelet, you'll probably need it after the nog) use
4 whites, about 1/2 cup
 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
I use a stand mixer for this part, because my arm is usually pretty sore by this point.  Mix the eggs until they have stiff but not dry peaks.   Fold this into your cooled egg and cream mixture.   It will be thick and sinfully smooth.  Don't worry too much if you feel like it's too thick, it thins out when you add the booze. 
     If you are having a party go ahead and mix the alcohol right in, or keep it separate and mix as you go if it's a treat just for you.  I've seen people use all kinds of different things for this, most common I think is brandy (I made pear brandy just for this purpose), but I have seen people use 151, whiskey and bourbon.  It really all depends on your taste. 
      So this is my little holiday treat, I hope I didn't scare you off, because it is so worth taking the time to make it for yourself.  Enjoy and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!