I’m going to start today by talking about washing up. Washing up is the downside of cooking and cocktail making. If you make cocktails at home there is a certain amount of washing up that will eventually be required beyond the glass that your drink ends up in. A shaker (yes even if you use a jam jar!), a stirring spoon, a strainer.  After you have made and drunk your cocktail, you will need to wash up.

If you’re lucky you’ll have a dishwasher, either a machine or a person that will do this for you.  My life and my flat are dishwasher deficient (unless Christelle or my mother are visiting!) and whoever designed my kitchen clearly never had to use a kitchen, it has one of those very silly small round sinks, that aren’t deep enough and doesn’t have a draining board.   On a wooden surface. It’s not a good look and something I hope to one day persuade my landlord to do something about.

Meanwhile, I struggle on and make sure the washing up is done every night before I go to bed. Except on Friday. On Friday’s I leave the washing up for the morning. Which is why sometimes on a Friday night, I want a cocktail I can make in one glass.

Which is where this comes in.

A Manhattan on the rocks.  Job done.

While my normal preference is for a Perfect Manhattan (half dry/half sweet vermouth), straight up.  Michael picked up the habit of an ‘on-the-rocks’ Manhattan while he was living in the US and introduced me to it. I’ve found that it works better sweet and I use the everyday whiskey in the cupboard instead of the rye. Generally something Irish and blended, often Jamesons, at the moment Waitrose’s own.

Could we call it a Manhattan-ish? Whatever you call it, it doesn’t involve washing up more than one glass. Sometimes on a Friday night, that’s just perfect.

What

Ice

2 dashes Angostura bitters

2oz whiskey

1 oz sweet vermouth

Maraschino cherry

How

1) Put the ice in the glass

2) Add bitters, whiskey and vermouth

3) Stir and add cherry if using.

4) Drink!