Sorrel-Lime Cooler - May 9, 2013

I made this delightful concoction from a recipe included in the newsletter from our CSA farm.   It's interesting ingredient list caught my attention.  A soda made from sorrel leaves?  I'm in.



The recipe instructs to blend together sorrel leaves, lime juice, water and maple syrup in a blender and puree until smooth.  I opted not to strain it, but you could if you wanted.  To make up your cooler, simply add a bit of sorrel-lime juice to a glass and top with soda water. 

This was really fresh and bright.  I enjoyed mine straight-up, but it would also be lovely as a mixer for a summery cocktail (have you figured out my coping mechanism over these last few frozen weeks here in Minneapolis?).  Gin would be my first choice, but it would be fun to try other combinations as well.

Homemade Irish Cream - March 17, 2013

For St. Patrick's Day this year, in addition to our home-cured corned beef, I made some Irish cream.  My mom has made this recipe for years, although oddly, usually at Christmas, instead of St. Patrick's Day.  My Irish heritage that I proudly claim every March 17th (and every other day of the year), comes from mom.  She even has a suitably Irish name, Colleen.  Because of this, in my family we refer to this as Colleen's Irish Cream.




This is a full two weeks late, I realize, but you've come to expect that from me by now.  In fact, I'm jumping ahead here, as I still have my Christmas baking to post.  Oh well, this doesn't have to be a one day per year indulgence, although after you see the ingredients, you may want to limit it to that.  Nick's parents and Aunt Judy were visiting us over the St. Patrick's Day weekend this year, so we all enjoyed a glass of this after our dinner.

Here's the recipe straight from Colleen, with a few Jess tweaks:

Irish Cream

4 eggs*
1 15oz  can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 C Irish whiskey
1 1/2 C half and half
1/4 C brewed espresso
3 Tbsp chocolate syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp coconut extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

Place all ingredients in blender (warning, this didn't all fit in my blender, so I omitted the whiskey and mixed it in later) and blend to combine.  Place in a bottle and keep chilled.  Shake before serving.

*yes, raw eggs, so use at your own risk.  These help to emulsify all the ingredients and make it thicker and richer, like ice cream.  If you are squeamish about this ingredient, you can omit it and still have a delicious, if slightly thinner, Irish cream. 

Labor Day Weekend - Sept 1-3, 2012

Labor Day weekend always brings with it the warm glow of nostalgia for a summer almost past.  I always have an increased urgency to enjoy each sunny moment, knowing that it will all end soon.  Little twinges of regret sink in when I realize how many summer plans, made during the hopeful days of early spring, didn't happen. Sadly, I think this is my first Pimm's Cup of the season.  I made it count, though, and enjoyed it on our porch, which was glowing with late summer sunlight.



Despite, or perhaps because of, these feelings, Nick and I enjoyed a particularly socially packed weekend, at least for us.  We had a mini, non-quorum Dinner Club reunion, getting to see Anna (in town for a few hours on her way home to Wisconsin) on Thursday, and Matt and Nikki (in town for a friend's wedding) on Friday.  Saturday brought us to our first Minnesota State Fair.  That's right, Nick and I are now "experienced" in the great Minnesota get together.  Sunday we met up with local friends for brunch.



That left us with Monday to relax and reflect on the summer of 2012.  We grilled out and I made this melon and cucumber salad with mint-coconut dressing.  It seemed an appropriate way to say good bye to the season.

Mint Coconut Dressing

2 T apple cider vinegar or lime juice
1 T coconut oil
1 T olive oil
1 T sugar
2 T chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste 

Here's looking forward to fall!

Spiced Rhubarb-Ginger Nectar - May 20, 2012

Usually, the rhubarb Nick and I get in our CSA share gets used for beverages.  While I like rhubarb's taste, I don't care for it's texture and it's tendency to make baked goods really soggy.  I find infusing it into assorted liquids is the best way for me to enjoy the tart flavor and fleeting season.  In the past, I've infused vodka and gin, custard for making rhubarb ice cream, and simple syrup for homemade sodas.  Of this list, I've found the simple syrup gets the most use due to it's versatility.  I briefly considered making rhubarb iced tea and rhubarb-ade (via A to Z), but in the end, the syrup won out. 

This go around, I wanted to make the syrup more complex, inspired by my favorite Thyme-Pink Peppercorn Soda that Jaime just posted about, and decided to use a combination of rhubarb, fresh ginger, and lemon juice.  I seasoned this with an assortment of toasted spices.  Here's my recipe:

Spiced Rhubarb-Ginger Nectar

1 lb fresh rhubarb, chopped in 1/2 in pieces
2-3 inch piece fresh ginger, chopped finely
Juice of two lemons
2 1/2 C sugar
3-4 C water
1 T coriander seeds
1 T pink peppercorns
3 whole white cardamom pods
1 whole star anise

Lightly toast the last four ingredients in a pan over med-high heat, until just fragrant (60-90 sec).  Transfer to a mortar and pestle and tap the spices firmly three to four times to lightly crush, and release more flavor.  Secure the spices in cheese cloth.  Put cheese cloth-wrapped spices in a large pot with all other ingredients and heat to a gentle simmer.  Simmer 5-10 minutes and remove from heat.  Cover pot and let steep for 30 minutes to an hour (mine actually steeped a bit longer since I got wrapped up in watching Star Wars Episode III on TV...oops).  Strain through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheese cloth.  Transfer to a storage container and chill.



It turned out just how I wanted it, spicy and complex.  I feel like all of the flavors are nicely balanced, with no one being overly assertive.  The rhubarb hits the palate first, followed closely by ginger, and then the lovely, mysterious flavor of the spice blend finishes the sip. 

I've used this syrup to make Spicy Rhubarb-Ginger Sodas by adding a quarter cup of syrup to a glass and topping it with soda water.  Nick and I also made cocktails last night using equal parts rhubarb syrup and liquor (Nick used Tito's Vodka and I used Old Sugar Factory's Honey Liqueur), crushed ice, and soda water to fill the glass.

Weekend Project: Home Brew - March 10, 2012

Well, well, well, it seems Nick and I have finally jumped on the home brewing bandwagon.  Or, if truth be told, jumped back up on it after a botched attempt about 10 years ago where Nick created a very light and refreshing celery flavored beer in his Madison apartment.  For his birthday, I got Nick the *Deluxe* Brewing Starter Kit with Glass Carboys from Northern Brewer, since he had failed to win the one offered as the grand prize drawing at the Northern Brewer kiosk at Snowgrade.  Armed with his super-fancy starter kit, excellent advice from his brother Greg (an experienced home brewer), a 'Smashing Pumpkin Ale' kit, and me as his "sous brew," he got to work on Saturday.

Why the decidedly not seasonal pumpkin ale?  Because Nick lovingly and nostalgically speaks of a pumpkin ale we enjoyed, sitting out in the sun, at Elysian's Tangletown Pub in Rima's Seattle neighborhood a couple of autumns ago.  And, because for your birthday you should get whatever the hell you want, no questions asked. That said, I'd like to thank the guys at Northern Brewer for making this kit up for me specially, since, understandably, it wasn't currently stocked on their shelves.

After the initial flurry of work, the beer is now sitting in it's first carboy, happily fermenting away.  It will remain here for about two more weeks before we transfer it to carboy number two for secondary fermentation, which should take about another two weeks.  After that we will bottle it, where it will condition for one to two more weeks.  Then, assuming all goes well, we will raise chilled glasses of pumpkin ale in a toast to spring!

Homemade Celery Salt - Sept 11, 2011

A few CSA deliveries ago, Nick and I got a beautiful bunch of celery, complete with lots of leaves. I had seen a post over on Heidi Swanson's inspirational blog, 101 Cookbooks, months back, which I mentally bookmarked, about making one's own celery salt. The Harmony Valley newsletter reminded me of this particular post. It was time to give it a try.



I diligently followed the directions, washing and drying the celery leaves and roasting them in the oven. I actually ended up roasting them a bit longer than Heidi recommended, as when I first pulled them out of the oven they weren't crispy enough. I'm sure the time varies depending on numerous factors.



I ended up with a little jar of delightful looking celery salt. We used this for Bloody Marys at a brunch we hosted last weekend for some family and friends who were in town. It was a fun experiment and I am looking forward to trying it out in some of the other dishes that Heidi recommends.

Labor Day Sangria - Sept 5, 2011

Nick and I celebrated Labor Day this year at a cookout at our good friends'. We were on board to bring a potato salad and some sangria. This is the sangria:

1 bottle dry white wine
1 bottle sweet white wine (we used a local Minnesota plum honey wine)
1/2 cup blackberry brandy
1/4 cup amaretto
1 cup fresh raspberries
2 sprigs Thai basil
2 dashes of cherry bark vanilla bitters
1 liter club soda for serving

I let everything but the soda macerate overnight to give the flavors all sorts of time to mingle and get to know one another. Right before serving, I mixed in a one liter bottle of club soda. This was a delicious patio pounder served over ice. Our only problem was a malfunctioning Coleman thermos spigot (which we later discovered was due to the lid being on too tightly...had we just unscrewed it the balance would have been restored and the sangria free-flowing). Oh well, that meant lots of leftover sangria for Nick and I to consume at home, which we did.

Door County 'Maraschino' Cherries - Aug 8, 2011

Nick and I made our last visit to Madison for the summer this past weekend. I know, I'm choked up about it too. It's a good thing that we have our Madison Dinner Club reunion to look forward to in October or I'd be in a deep state of depression. Among the many pleasantly unexpected things that happened over the weekend, including bumping into fellow Madison Dinner Club alumni Matt and Nikki at Memorial Union (I squealed in delight!), we happened to luck out and find local Door County cherries at the Dane County Farmers' Market. Vendors were selling both the sweet and tart varieties and so I loaded up on a pint of each. The sweet cherries were consumed while sitting in a lovely patch of shade on the Capitol Square, watching our fellow market goers pass by, and revelling in summer time in Madison. The tart cherries travelled home with us and on Monday I made up a batch of Maraschino cherries for use in future Old Fashioneds.



Except, I didn't actually use Maraschino liqueur. I substituted amaretto, which we've had around for ages (I only bought it because I loved the colorful tin that it came in). Despite my love of all things almond, I am not a big amaretto drinker, and neither, it turns out, is Nick. I toyed around with using brandy, but ultimately the amaretto won out because I really wanted to find a use for it.

I haven't yet tried these, as they are still curing in our refrigerator, but I believe Old Fashioneds are in order for the weekend, so I'll have a report for you all soon.

Cucumber Mint Cooler - July 22, 2011

Great minds think alike! As part of my self-pampering and birthday celebration, I decided to make myself a rare cocktail. This is my attempt to recreate a refreshing (and paradoxically light) drink I had at the Melt Bar and Grilled in Cleveland called a "Cucumber Cooler." My version consisted of one of my home grown cucumbers - peeled and chopped, a handful of mint leaves, the juice of one lime, and a few ice cubes thrown in a blender and pureed. I then added a healthy shot of gin and poured it over ice. I realized it was missing something, so I topped off the glass with some tonic (seltzer water would have been a better choice but I didn't have any).

It was a delicious drink, especially on a day when the outside temperatures in the DC area hit an all-time record high of 105 degrees.

Happy Weekend - July 22, 2011

Nothing new here, Dinner Clubbers. Just another Pimm's Number One Cup, this time garnished with my very first borage flower. I planted borage specifically because I read that it is used to flavor Pimm's cups. Nick and I like to joke that we have a 'cocktail garden.'

The heat has broken (kind of) here in Minneapolis and I am looking forward to a weekend at home, utilizing my newly functioning oven and getting to some long overdue household tasks. In between this, I will of course be enjoying some deliciously cool and herbaceous beverages on the porch. I hope you all will be doing something you similarly enjoy.

A special greeting to all my loved ones that celebrate birthdays this week. There are quite a few of you and rest assured, Nick and I will raise a toast to each of you!

A True Wisconsin Old Fashioned - July 9th, 2011

 
Homemade Old Fashioneds

What have Nick and I done with all that booze we brought back from Madison, you ask?  Well, over the weekend I tried my hand at mixing an Old Fashioned the way they do at The Old Fashioned.  I should clarify that I like to have my Old Fashioned made to order for me off the 'Build your Own' menu.  I take mine with Old Sugar Honey Liqueur, Bittercube Cherry-Bark Vanilla bitters, fruit garnish, and finished with a 'press,' which I understand to be half soda water and half soda pop, but I'm not exactly sure.  I personally call it the 'Jess.'  Here at home, with the supplies I had on hand, the best I could do was this:

2 oz Old Sugar Cane & Abe rum
3 dashes Bittercube Cherry-Bark Vanilla bitters
2 tsp turbinado sugar
1 maraschino cherry, 1 sour cherry, and a wedge of blood orange
soda water
1 tbsp simple syrup

I muddled the fruit with the sugar and bitters in the bottom of the glass; poured in the rum; added crushed ice, simple syrup, and soda water to fill the glass.

These were very tasty, but they were no 'Jess.'  Oh well, another reason to go back and visit Madison.

Pimm's Cup - June 26, 2011

The Pimm's Cup is the official potable of Wimbledon, much like the Mint Julep is to the Kentucky Derby. We are well into the second week of this year's Wimbledon tournament and if you haven't enjoyed one of these yet, now's the time. I sucked back a couple of these babies over the weekend while taking in some tennis matches. Here's my recipe, which is in no way the official recipe. I do believe there are as many ways to make a Pimm's Cup as there are seats at Centre Court.

Pimm's Cup (makes 1)

1/4 cup Pimm's No. 1
2 cucumber slices
1 - 2 lemon slices
small bunch of mint

Put these ingredients in a tall glass and add ice. Fill the remainder with ginger ale (I use homemade ginger soda).

Rhubarb Infusions - May 27, 2011

No surprises here, right Dinner Clubbers? I used our first batch of rhubarb to make infused simple syrup and vodka, left and right respectively. I've done both before. This year I changed up the vodka recipe a bit and used a combination of rhubarb and strawberries. I did this for a number of reasons. First, rhubarb and strawberries taste great together. Second, I wanted to make sure the vodka turned a really lovely pink color, and my rhubarb was a little green. Third, I have a freezer full of strawberries that I picked last summer and have yet to work my way through. Since berry season is fast approaching here in Minnesota, I needed to clear out some space. And, lastly, I wanted to share something that was at least slightly new with you, Dinner Clubbers.



My plan is to use these to make up some tasty Memorial weekend cocktails, which perhaps I will share with you all in collage format next week. In case you all need some ideas for your holiday picnics and cookouts, I'll share what I've been doing so far.

My current favorite is a Rhubarb Julep:

One part rhubarb simple syrup
One part bourbon
Charged water, optional

Fill glass with crushed ice and add your syrup and bourbon. Top with charged water (soda water) if desired.

Rhubarb simple syrup:

2 cups sugar
2-3 cups water
One bunch of chopped rhubarb (3-4 stems)

Combine all ingredients in a pot and place over med-high heat on the stove. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for 30 min to an hour, covered. Strain out rhubarb and chill.  (This is a great idea if you want to add rhubarb flavor to any beverage, alcoholic and non, and you don't have the 4 or 5 days needed to let your spirits infuse).

Here are a few other ideas:

The Wiscosmopolitan
The Rhuby-Q

or, if you prefer gin:

The Rhubarb-Sage Gin and Tonic

Have a very delicious Holiday weekend Friends!  Be safe and eat well.

The Big Texan - May 15, 2011

Bourbon and Grapefruit Cocktail

We haven't posted a Homemade Happy Hour in awhile. This recipe in the June 2011 issue of Food & Wine magazine is the perfect remedy for that. Bourbon, check. Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, check. Simple syrup, check. Homemade maraschino cherries from our cherry tree, check. The only thing we didn't have on hand was the fresh basil, so I subbed in some fresh rosemary instead. The herbaceous-ness was subtle and when I do this again, I will make sure have fresh basil, and perhaps even use some of it to make an infused simple syrup to amp up the flavor a bit. Despite the lack of basil, this was delicious!

Bacon Bourbon - Jan 21, 2011

The Rise and Shine

Last week I made mention of a project in the works involving bacon fat. Well, this was it. Nick had borrowed a book from the library called 'Cooking for Geeks' a couple weeks ago (and there's a blog). Now, you Dinner Clubbers can pretty well guess that would be a book we would find appealing. Although, in the interest of full disclosure, I would actually consider myself to fall more into the 'dork' category, but of course there's overlap. Basically, if I can mix together chemistry, cooking, and the Scientific Method I'm a happy camper. Needless to say, I was delighted to find a section in the book devoted to 'fat washing.' Fat washing was a new term to me, and it was described in the book as a way of using fat to remove undesirable molecules from alcohol as a means of refining or distilling, if you will. A fun way to apply this in the home kitchen is to use fat washing to infuse oil soluble compounds into alcohol. The book suggests bacon infused bourbon (yes please!) and butter infused rum.

Now, I have been pondering exactly how to make a bacon infused beverage for some time but have never been quite sure how to go about it. That is, until now. Thanks to this handy-dandy new technique I've added to my repertoire, the possibilities are endless. I decided to start with the aforementioned bacon bourbon and I added a bacon vodka into the mix as well.


'Fat Washing'

I used the ratio of 2 tsp of filtered bacon fat per 1 cup of alcohol recommended in the book. I let the mix sit out on the counter for 24 -48 hours, then popped the jars in the freezer for a couple hours to make sure all the fat was solidified. Then I simply used a coffee filter and strained the fat out of the alcohol. I find that my little melita coffee funnel works perfectly for this task. Now all I had to to was mix up a tasty cocktail and test the effectiveness of this experiment.

The Rise and Shine:

1/4 C bacon infused bourbon
1 Tbsp maple syrup
dash of orange bitters
soda water
crushed ice

Shake first three ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice.
Strain into a low ball glass filled with crushed ice.
Top with soda water.

Success!

New Year's Champagne Cocktail - Jan 1, 2011

West Indian Orange Champagne Cocktail

No, it has not taken me the better part of two weeks to recover from drinking too many of these on New Year's Eve. I can only explain my absence from this blog for all of 2011 as laziness, combined with some computer malfunctions. Nick (my number one IT guy) seems to have things back up and running, so I thought it was high time I posted our New Year's cocktail. We used these delicious West Indian Orange bitters that Natalie and Jamie sent us for Christmas (finally available in Minneapolis at Surdyk's!) and made these fun bubbly cocktails. They are simple as pie, too. Just toss a sugar cube in the bottom of a champagne flute, throw a dash or two of orange bitters on it, fill the remainder of the glass with something sparkly, and garnish with orange zest.

We've also been using our orange bitters to make lovely Old Fashioneds and fun gin and vodka tonics using some of our stash of infused spirits (Orange-Ginger Vodka from my mom and Earl Grey Gin that I whipped up). So yummy! I hope 2011 is off to a good start for you all. My goal is to be back to my regular blogging schedule starting next week.

Cheers!

Elderflower Ginger Ale - Aug 13, 2010

Elderflower Ginger Ale

How's this for a Friday treat...Anna is visiting from Portland! To celebrate we mixed up these cocktails, sans alcohol, for a fun afternoon libation. Instead of my usual homemade ginger ale (one part ginger simple syrup to 3 parts soda water) I tried a fermented recipe that can be found here (via Craftzine.com). The result definitely has a different taste from my usual...it's less sweet, more tangy. Anna says it tastes like kombucha, and I think it has a slight vinegar flavor. It's definitely a grown up ginger ale. For our drinks we used half ginger ale and half soda water with a tablespoon of elderflower syrup added, along with a lemon slice. Very refreshing. Cheers!

Rhubarb-Sage Gin and Tonic - Aug 6, 2010

Rhubarb and Sage Infused Gin and Tonic

I didn't bake anything this week due to the oppressive heat and humidity. I did, however, want to share a treat nonetheless. Matt and Nikki brought us a huge bunch of lovely rhubarb from their yard last week. By now, Dinner Clubbers, you know my favorite thing to do with rhubarb is to use it for infusing vodka. Since that's old hat, I thought I'd try something slightly new and use gin as my base liquor. Also, I thought it time to experiment with layering some flavors along with the rhubarb. Sage got the nod due to the fact that it is overtaking my yard and I don't have many other uses for it. I followed the same procedure as the vodka, just replacing it with gin. I grabbed a handful of fresh sage leaves and chopped them roughly, throwing them into the rhubarb mix after removing it from the heat. The combination turned out great and we enjoyed a homemade happy hour last night.