Category Archives: Food

The History Stopper

The History Stopper

[credit: B. Wacks]

So we had another big release so there’s another .0 celebration at work. The Fingerprint from the last one was such a success, I got to develop a new one for THIS time too. Now, was I asked or did I volunteer? Hmm …

I wanted to work with gin this time — I really love the botanical notes and it works so well with many edibles. I know there are LOTS of people who say they don’t like gin, so I wanted to develop a gin drink for them. I played with the Bombay Sapphire East last summer — it’s not an aggressive gin — not so much juniper-forward — with definite notes of citrus. Might be the lemongrass? I’d found that I really loved gin with cucumber, so that was my starting point. As to why I got inspired to throw in the kiwi — who knows. But it REALLY works with the gin and cukes.

So the Culinary Guinea Pig totally signed off on this. But sometimes I like a little extra verification, so I had my neighbor John try a little. John is more into super dry gin martinis over “craft cocktails” — so I felt he could provide some constructive criticism on balance — especially if it was too sweet. His response? “Why aren’t you a bartender?”  LOL   So I think you can serve this one without worry!

So, a sidebar before we get to the drinking. As I am developing a cocktail, I frequently start out using teaspoons and tablespoons of the syrups, liqueurs and liquors to check the flavor profiles. Then I ramp it up to a serving. Then, as needed, I up the proportions for a pitcher. I don’t take pictures until I think I’m final — makes sense, right? So I JUST NOW realize, as I’m about to upload the pictures — I FORGOT THE MINT in the final pitcher at home for the photos!! It’s KILLING ME — the drink is incomplete without the mint! Don’t be like me — get the mint in there. And of course this means I have to go buy another cucumber and more kiwi and take the pics all over again. Because I’m slightly obsessed that way.

The History Stopper
Yield: 6

IMG_20160422_2044401/3c to 1/2c Cucumber-Kiwi syrup (recipe below)
1/4c lime juice (no shame in using bottled Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice)
1c Bombay Sapphire East
12oz seltzer (unsweetened)
Mint leaves
Lime, cucumber, or kiwi for garnish

Add the cucumber-kiwi syrup and lime juice to a pitcher. Stir well. Add the gin and stir again. Add the seltzer and stir gently. Fill a rocks glass with lots of ice. Place two leaves of mint in one palm and SPANK the mint with your other hand. Drop those leaves in the ice. Pour in the drink and garnish with a lime wedge and/or a cucumber wheel and/or a kiwi wheel.

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Now, for a crowd, I was making a double batch in EACH of my two party pitchers — doubling all the measurements above. I got more than 12 servings out of each double batch because we were using pretty small cups.

This sizes down nicely as well — it’s a 2:1:4:6 ratio, for you math geeks. For other people, it’s 2 tablespoons of the syrup, 1 tablespoon of lime juice, 1/4c of gin, and 1/4 of the can of seltzer.

 

IMG_20160423_113544Cucumber-Kiwi Syrup
Yield: 12 to 16 ounces

1/2 English cucumber, unpeeled, chopped into a medium dice
2 kiwis, peeled, chopped into a medium dice
water
sugar

Place the cucumber and kiwi in a saucepan. Add just enough water to cover. Bring to a bare simmer and cook gently until the cucumber and kiwi have softened and the water is a lovely green color. Strain through a fine mesh strainer, pressing and pushing the solids against the strainer to extract as much juice and puree as possible. Discard the seedy mush. Measure the remaining (strained) liquid and add just enough water to make an even measure (1 cup, 1.25 cups, 1.5 cups, etc). Pour this into a clean pan (or the same pan rinsed out). Add an equal amount, by volume, of sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring often to ensure sugar is dissolved. Boil gently for 2 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Refrigerate. Should last two weeks — but not likely much longer, as there’s a fair amount of solids that push through the strainer.

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Use in cocktails.
Mix with seltzer for the pregnant lady in the office.
Drizzle over ice cream.

 

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The Fingerprint

So I work for a pretty cool company called WealthEngine. We had a major product release a couple of weeks ago — WE Analyze — a point-and-click web-based solution that harnesses the power of one of the largest consumer data sets ever created. It’s been balls-to-the-wall for an extended period, with multiple parallel release sprints and, forget it, this is where everyone’s eyes to start to roll. Let’s just say it’s been intense.

After a major release or product launch, we throw ourselves a big party. So a couple of days before the celebration, I got called into a conference room by one of my VPs. Since the summons came on the tail of a conference call where I got snotty about a potential publicity stunt I wasn’t thrilled about, I assumed I was about to get a dressing down. To my relief and surprise, the VPs asked if I would create and serve a signature cocktail for the celebration — to be named The Fingerprint. Color me THRILLED!

We’ve had a few nice days (the flipflops have made an appearance!!), so I knew I wanted to go with something lighter and reminiscent of spring. So a clear liquor, not brown. And something fruity with a herbal or botanical accent. This is a tough time of year — the citrus has started to taper off and we don’t have a fruit in season yet. Many frozen fruits rival fresh fruit, in quality, so I had no worries about turning to the freezer for raspberries. I had a general sense of proportion of liquor to seltzer to citrus to sweet after years of mixing these, so I just need to experiment with the right liqueur and tweak the proportions. Of course, it needed to translate to a pitcher — we are a drinking crowd!

The Fingerprint

Yield: 6

IMG_20160322_1831221/4c Raspberry-Ginger puree (recipe below)
1/4c ginger liqueur (I like Domaine de Canton)
1/4c lime juice (no shame in using bottled Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice)
1c silver rum (the cheap stuff is fine)
12oz seltzer (unsweetened)
Lime wedges
Fresh raspberries

Add the berry puree, ginger liqueur, and lime juice to a pitcher. Stir well. Add the rum and stir again. Add the seltzer and stir gently. Serve over lots of ice, garnished with a lime wedge and/or fresh raspberry.

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Now, for a crowd, I was making a double batch in EACH of my two party pitchers — doubling all the measurements above. I got more than 12 servings out of each double batch because we were using pretty small cups.

This sizes down nicely as well — it’s a 1:1:1:4:6 ratio, for you math geeks. For other people, it’s 1 tablespoon each of the puree, liqueur, and lime juice, 1/4c of the rum, and 1/4 of the can of seltzer.

On party day, I used a raspberry-lime seltzer. It’s just as good with lime seltzer or even plain seltzer. The key is that it is unsweetened seltzer.

For you tequila lovers — feel free to sub in silver tequila in the same proportions as the rum. Really lovely.

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Raspberry Ginger Puree
Yield: ~ 16oz

1 12-oz package of frozen raspberries
3/4″ ginger, peeled and sliced into “coins”
water
sugar

Place the frozen berries and ginger coins in a saucepan. Add just enough water to cover the berries. Bring to a bare simmer and cook gently until the raspberries are mush and the water is a lovely deep berry color. Strain through a fine mesh strainer, pressing and pushing the solids against the strainer to extract as much juice and puree as possible. Discard the seedy mush. Measure the remaining (strained) liquid and add enough water to make an even measure (1 cup, 1.25 cups, 1.5 cups, etc). Pour this into a clean pan (or the same pan rinsed out). Add an equal amount, by volume, of sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring often to ensure sugar is dissolved. Boil gently for 2 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Refrigerate. Should last two weeks — but not likely much longer, as there’s a fair amount of berry solids that push through the strainer.

Use in cocktails.
Mix with seltzer for a refreshing soft drink.
Drizzle over pistachio ice cream.

AAFCS_FCSDAYlogo_sticker_nodate

I’m “Dining In” on Wednesday, December 3rd

American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) is the only professional association dedicated to family and consumer sciences students and professionals. You know, that stuff we used to call Home Economics. Stop laughing. “Family and consumer sciences is the comprehensive body of skills, research, and knowledge that helps people make informed decisions about their well being, relationships, and resources to achieve optimal quality of life. The field represents many areas, including human development, personal and family finance, housing and interior design, food science, nutrition, and wellness, textiles and apparel, and consumer issues.” [logo and quote from http://www.aafcs.org]

AAFCS was founded by Ellen Swallow Richards, the first woman to graduate from MIT. AAFCS has designated her birthday, December 3rd, as their first annual Family & Consumer Sciences Day. The premise is simple – they just ask that families prepare and eat a healthy meal together on December 3rd.

So that’s what I’m suggesting — dine in tonight. Make a homemade meal. Even if all you do is boil up some (whole wheat) pasta and heat the sauce up in the microwave, be generous with the pre-shredded parm (I do). Maybe pour a glass of wine too? I’m hoping to make gumbo with the duck stock I made over the weekend. A little turkey kielbasa, some shrimp and fish and okra from the freezer — it’s pretty easy to pull together. But yes, we’ll feel like we are Dining In.

#FCSday

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Giving Tuesday, December 2, 2014

I’m proud to be a food blogger. An abundance of wholesome, organic, nutritious foodstuff is at my fingertips or a just a quick trip to the grocer away. If I run out of something, whether basic or artisan, I Just Buy More. Food insecurity, a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food [USDA definition], is not part of my daily reality. I live on a nice street in a nice house with nice neighbors in affluent Fairfax County. But get this: last school year, over 50% of the children in my neighborhood’s elementary school were eligible for free or reduced meals. And in an elementary school whose boundary is adjacent to mine, 78% of the children were eligible for free or reduced meals. Food insecurity is likely a daily reality for those children.

Food insecurity is separate from hunger, although hunger is a very real consequence of food insecurity. According to the USDA, households with food insecurity regularly experience some or all of the following:

  • Worry that their food would run out before they got money to buy more.
  • Could not afford to eat balanced meals.
  • Cut the size of meals or skipped meals, or did not eat for a whole day, because there was not enough money for food.
  • Were hungry but did not eat because they could not afford enough food.

The Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) is the hub for food sourcing, food distribution, and nutrition education in the Washington metro area, serving those struggling with hunger. Through direct service and a network of 500 nonprofit partners, the CAFB distributes 45 million pounds of food annually, half of which is fresh produce. The CAFB service area includes: Washington DC; Montgomery County, MD; Prince George’s County, MD; Fairfax County, VA; Prince William County, VA; Arlington County, VA; and The City of Alexandria, VA. 92 cents of every $1 donated is used for food distribution, transportation, and programs.

For Giving Tuesday, I am launching a food drive at my office to collect non-perishable food donations and I will personally deliver those to CAFB later this month. The Capital Area Food Bank receives over a million pounds of nourishing food throughout the year from food drives like these. By their calculations, 1.2 pounds of food equals one meal, so I asked my colleagues to let that guide their contribution. The CAFB is committed to providing food to our community that is high in fiber, low in salt, and low in sugar. The “Most Wanted” items include:

  • Canned Tuna, Salmon, or Chicken
  • Canned Vegetables (low sodium, no salt added)
  • Canned Fruits (in light syrup or its own juices)
  • Canned or Dry Beans
  • Grains (brown & white rice, pasta, macaroni & cheese)
  • Hot and Cold Cereal (oatmeal, cheerios, corn-flakes, raisin bran)
  • Healthy Snacks (apple sauce cups, raisins, granola bars)
  • Peanut Butter
  • 100% Juice (non-refrigerated, all sizes, including juice boxes)

If you were so moved to make a financial donation, I direct you here: http://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/givingtuesday/. For every $1 donated, the CAFB can provide 2.5 meals!

#GivingTuesday
#WEGivesBack

logo source: www.92Y.org

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Using up the stash …

See that picture above? That’s my jam stash. The various jams, jelly, preserves, sauces, and fruit butter I made over the summer. More than 15 jars. It’s crazy. I hardly ever buy jam. But something about the kind I MADE myself — I got a little obsessed.  **shrugs**  I have been stirring my stuff into cottage cheese and yogurt. The occasional peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Even more rarely scones and biscuits. I’m thinking there will be more biscuits now that the weather’s turned cool. I stumbled on a website that uses jams in cocktails — so I might play around with that a bit too.

I got a bit of a sweet tooth the other night, and got to thinking about making something with one of these jars of loveliness. I considered thumbprint cookies or linzer cookies — but those were hours away, between softening butter, refrigerating dough, and the sheer labor involved in rolling dozens of balls or rolling out and cutting dough. I thought about layered bars. I haven’t made too many of them in the past — the whole crust production followed by filling(s) followed by toppings — just seemed like a lot of work and dirty dishes. And some of those crusts are just dry and tasteless. And the fillings overly sweet. And the toppings overly complicated. I knew I could do better.

So here was my goal — come up with a single concoction that would serve as BOTH crust and topping. I wanted something that was a cross between shortbread and cookie. As for the filling — oh my word — my own blackberry preserves! Not nearly as sweet as a commercial jam, and a bit looser — so it could firm up as it cooked. Because my blackberry jam was made with cinnamon and star anise, I thought a little anise seed in the dough might be nice. The food processor made short work of this dough — it all came together lickety-split. And the CGP thoroughly approved.

Blackberry Jam Layer Bars
Makes 16 tiny squares

SAMSUNG1/3 cup white sugar
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons anise seed (optional)
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg, separated
1/2 pint loose jam or preserves

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare an 8″ by 8″ baking pan with overlapping foil pieces to make a sling — spray well with baking spray.

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Put the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and anise seed into a food processor and pulse a few times until combined. Drop in the cubed butter and egg yolk. Pulse a few times until it looks like fine damp sand. Add the egg white. Pulse a few times until it looks like coarse wet sand.

 

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Loosely scoop out about one cup of these crumbs and set aside. Press the remainder into the bottom of your prepared pan, pressing into the corners and making it as smooth as possible. Bake this about 10 to 12 minutes just until set.

 

Spread the jam or preserves over the bottom crust (try to remember that the pan is hot and not burn yourself). Loosely sow the remaining cup of crumbs across the top.

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Bake 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the preserves are all bubbly at the edges and the top is light golden brown. Here’s the tough part — you gotta let them cool to room temp before you can lift them out and cut them into little squares!

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Comfortable favorites …

So if you are flipping through the channels at 10p at night, not really sleepy enough to walk back to the bedroom, but not really awake enough to do anything productive, and it’s between so-called “seasons” so it’s all reruns anyway, what show are you most likely to watch? For me, it’s the Big Bang Theory or Law and Order. I think I’ve seen nearly all episodes of each, but watching one is like putting on a favorite pair of pajamas, comfortable and familiar. I’ve got some blogs I follow the same way:

Heather Christo, Sharing the love of food with friends and family: Her recipe for Lemon Summer Squash Bread is one of the Best Things I’ve Ever Made. I think it’s how I found her blog. She’s recently had a wide and unusual (to me) number of food allergies identified for herself and her kids, so this is a good resource for xxxx-free recipes! And her photos really do qualify as food porn.

The Pioneer Woman, Plowing through life in the country … one calf nut at a time: I think I probably saw her on TV before I realized there was an accompanying blog. Her recipes feel down-to-earth and rely on normal grocery store stuff. She lives out in the country so c’mon, she can’t run over to Wegman’s if she needs some fancy unique ingredient! She has ALOT of good giveways (I’m a sucker for a giveaway). And she’s funny.

Food In Jars: You can blame Marisa for my on-going obsession with canning. I had NO IDEA how easy and fun it was to make my own shelf-stable small-batch jams. She’s very very good at explaining how you can’t kill anyone as long as you stick with high-acid fruits. She’s amazingly good at responding to specific questions in replies to her posts.

Smitten Kitchen: This one is just fun to visit. Deb has been blogging an impressively LOOOONG time. I’ll admit, she uses puff pastry a little more than me (which is like, never). But many of her baked goodies are very approachable. She provided the inspiration for my Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins.

One Week Closer, Steadily gaining on retirement seven days at a time: This one is written by my friend Beverly. She’s blogged Every Single Week this summer about what she’s doing with her CSA share. Broadly, her blog is about moving toward retirement, but the summer series has been great. I try to chime in if I’ve got something to contribute.

What are some of the blogs you find yourself returning to time and time again?

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Grillin’ some wings …

I’m not the biggest fan of buffalo wings. Too much vinegar … one note spiciness. Just not my thing. If we’re out and someone orders a plate, I’ll have one, but I don’t order them for myself. They are also incredibly greasy and messy — I get the stuff all over face and up my arms. Or maybe I’m just a slob.

But throw some wings on our Big Green Egg– well — that’s a different story altogether. First of all, a slow moderate roast in the BGE renders off all the fat, leaving the meat moist but not flabby. Secondly, I can toss the hot wings in my own sauce — whether that’s a sweet and spicy tomato-based barbecue sauce (like Sweet Baby Ray’s!), or a mustard-based barbecue sauce, or even a Thai sweet chili sauce! And I don’t have to drown them — a little goes a long way (and keeps my arms clean, right?).

Smoked Chicken Wings
Serves a crowd

Enough “party wings” to cover your grill grate without crowding [*]
Barbecue rub [**]
Barbecue sauce

Lay your wings out on a cookie sheet or two. Pat them dry if they are super wet. Liberally dust both sides with barbecue rub of your choice. Let them set out for the 30 to 45 minutes it will take to set up your grill and get the fire going. This rest period is important for seasoning — the salt will draw moisture out of the meat and then the salt gets drawn back INTO the meat.

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Set up your grill for indirect grilling — on the BGE, we set up for indirect grilling with a plate setter. Aim for about 350F.

Once the grill has reached temp, lay out the wings out on the grate. Shut the lid and let it go about 45 minutes. No peeking!

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At the 45 minute mark, flip the wings, rearranging if you are seeing hot spots. Shut the lid and let it go another 30 to 45 minutes. You may peek at the 30 minute mark to see if they are done. They should be evenly browned/charred and pulling away from the bone a bit. Poke one with your finger — should be fairly firm.

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Pull them from the grill and immediately put in a large bowl and pour your favorite sauce over them. Toss gently, adding more sauce sparingly. It’s important to do it the moment they come off the grill — so the oh-so-crisp skin will soak up the sauce. But not drown in it!

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Eat immediately!

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[*]  “Party wings” means the first two joints of the wing, separated, and the wing tip discarded. Feel free to buy full wings and separate yourself. For me, it was more efficient to buy them ready to go. Our BGE holds about 40 pieces — I think that was 5 or 6 pounds worth.

[**]  We usually make our own rub. Salt, fresh ground black pepper, smoked paprika, ground cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, ground coriander, ground chipotle, I’d skip the brown sugar for these wings. But a purchased barbecue rub will work just fine.

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Tea IN Cookies?

So we got a new coffee machine at work. Not exactly blogworthy, I know. For a host of reasons, we lease a machine that brews cups individually. It reduces waste — does anybody else remember That Person who would come into the office kitchen, decide the nearly-full-carafe of coffee wasn’t Quite Fresh Enough, and pour the whole thing out and make a new pot? **I** like this single-serve system because it reduces the opportunities for my co-workers to make a mess that they won’t clean up. I swear I’m going to set up a webcam and catch the lazy individual who keeps leaving dirty dishes in the sink for a week. And then publicly shame her/him.

The old coffee machine used envelopes of finely ground coffee/tea. The new one uses paper pods of finely ground coffee/tea. Not mechanically compatible with each other, clearly. So we had a bunch of leftover envelopes that were going to be thrown out. Now, I don’t like waste. But I also wasn’t going to tear open 100 envelopes of coffee to fill a basket filter to make ONE carafe of mediocre coffee. The tea, on the other hand, kinda tickled my fancy. I’d been drinking the chai fairly regularly and the Early Grey occasionally. So I decided to grab some of each to play with at home.

I paired the chai with white chocolate in a fairly traditional CCC recipe. The spices were subtle and the tea flavor more so — but both were there. Next time I’d probably use two envelopes of the chai — it was almost too subtle. I liked the visual effect of the flecks of tea in the cookie. I chose to let the chai infuse the butter since those spices usually need heat+fat to really bloom.

Earl Grey is pretty strong so I decided to pair it with chocolate. I also used two envelopes because I wanted to ensure the flavor came thru. I chose to steep the leaves in gin and leave out vanilla — trying to reinforce the herbal notes more so than sweet. I tasted NO gin in the final product — so not entirely sure if that was necessary :).

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 Tasters gave both cookies a solid thumbs-up!

*****

White Chocolate Chai Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

SAMSUNG1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 envelope (~ 1 1/2 teaspoon) finely ground Chai-spiced Tea
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Gently melt the butter. I like to use a 2-cup Pyrex cup in the microwave: 30 seconds @ 50% power, swirl, 20 seconds @ 40% power, another round at 40% power if needed, remove. Add the chai. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Pour the butter/chai over the sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low for about a minute. Scrape the paddle and sides, then let the butter and sugar hang out for about five minutes to better dissolve. Then, beat on medium-low for a couple of minutes until fully mixed. Add the egg, mix until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla, mix until fully incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients slowly with mixer on low (I added in three increments), scraping frequently. Don’t overmix! Add the chocolate chips. Mix with the mixer about 3 rotations of the bowl — then stop and finish by hand.

Refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes. Use a cookie scoop (mine is a generous tablespoon — probably about four teaspoons) to place eight scoops on a parchment- or silpat-lined cookie sheet. You need some room for spread. Put ONE cookie sheet in the oven, cook 6 minutes (set the timer!), rotate the pan, and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove to wax paper to cool.

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Chocolate Earl Grey Cookies
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

SAMSUNG1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
2 envelopes (~ 1 tablespoon) finely ground Earl Grey Tea
1 tablespoon gin
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Gently melt the butter. I like to use a 2-cup Pyrex cup in the microwave: 30 seconds @ 50% power, swirl, 20 seconds @ 40% power, another round at 40% power if needed, remove. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Mix the tea and the gin together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Pour the butter over the sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low for about a minute. Scrape the paddle and sides, then let the butter and sugar hang out for about five minutes to better dissolve. Then, beat on medium-low for a couple of minutes until fully mixed. Add the egg, mix until fully incorporated. Add the gin-chai and mix until fully incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients slowly with mixer on low (I added in three increments), scraping frequently. Don’t overmix! Add the chocolate chips. Mix with the mixer about 3 rotations of the bowl — then stop and finish by hand.

Refrigerate the dough for about an hour. Use a cookie scoop (mine is a generous tablespoon — probably about four teaspoons) to place eight scoops on a parchment- or silpat-lined cookie sheet. You need some room for spread. Put ONE cookie sheet in the oven, cook 6 minutes (set the timer!), rotate the pan, and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove to wax paper to cool.

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Fried okra with an Indian twist

So the following post is edited (slightly) from a comment I made on my friend Beverly’s blog, OneWeekCloser. Bev has been posting weekly about what she’s doing with her CSA box. Unlike wimpy me, Bev subscribes to a full-share in a more traditional CSA — The Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative. So she has a bounty of vegetables to deal with every week — whether eating, freezing, or giving away. I’m quite impressed with her industriousness! I’m reposting here because after I read the whole thing, I realized I had gotten carried away and it was standalone post on its own!

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Growing up in a Southern home (not always physically located in the South, but always there from a culinary perspective), fried okra was my absolute favorite vegetable. Ever. I still love it. When I visit my folks in the Ozarks of Mo, I try to get my fill and request Mom to cook hers and if we’re eating out, I noodge us towards restaurants that might serve it. No Shame.

I can find fresh okra occasionally in the grocer’s produce bin, but the quality can be a bit iffy (oversized and tough or dried out). I can find it reliably in the frozen section – which is fine for gumbo … not so good for the fried stuff of my childhood. So Bev’s offer of some fresh organic red okra got me drooling.

So what did I do with it? My own crazy delicious riff on bhindi masala, which is India’s take on fried okra. It had the texture of my childhood okra — some crisp some tender some slippery — but the flavors were Indian.  Here’s what I did:

  • Wash the okra. Watch out for the hairs that can be rather prickly!
  • Trim and discard the stem. Slice thru vertically from the pointy end, leaving the stem end attached. Kinda like a V shape. If you cut a couple all the way thru — no worries — just cook ‘em anyway.
  • Heat a wide skillet (mine is 10″) over medium heat and add a glug or two (2 – 3 tablespoons?) of oil. I used a blended vegetable oil.
  • Add the okra. Let it cook down, stirring occasionally. You will NOT get super crisp okra with this method (you have to deep fry it), but you will have some crispiness. When it is cooked to your desired tenderness, remove it to a heatproof plate or bowl.

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  • Finely slice a large shallot into rounds. Add it to the remaining oil in the skillet — you may need to add a teaspoon or two more oil. Fry it until it starts to brown a bit.
  • Add a pinch of salt, some freshly ground black pepper, ground chipotle powder (or other chile-only powder) to taste, and a couple tablespoons of your favorite curry. I used a madras curry powder that had cumin, coriander, garlic, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, and about 10 other things. Use a curry blend that you like! Cook the onions a couple more minutes with spices — they need the oil and the heat to fully bloom.

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  • Put the okra and any accumulated oil back in the skillet. Turn off the heat and stir everything together gently — just until the okra is warmed back up. Serve as a side to just about anything!

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As it was date night, I served it with a panko-crusted plaice (skinny white fish labelled origin SE Asia) and some prosecco. And Top Chef. I also bought more okra the next day so I can make it again RSN!

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Selfie Fail

Back in the saddle …

SAMSUNGSo even though the blog was on hiatus for over a month (a month ?!?), I was still hobbling around the kitchen. Sourcing ingredients (shopping) is still a challenge — I just don’t have it in me to walk up and down every aisle in the store, or to visit multiple stores in a day (I have to pace myself). The CGP has done most of the marketing, but I’ve been trying to keep it pretty basic for his sake. But there was ONE thing that kept me from regularly ordering take-out or subsisting on Pop-Tarts: Fresh produce every Wednesday from Backyard Produce. I talked about this several months ago in a previous post, and it really did come in handy. It’s all familiar produce — things like kale and summer squash that are always welcome in our house. Knowing a few days ahead of time what was coming helped me plan upcoming meals and direct the CGP’s unsupervised trips to the grocer.

SAMSUNGIt also let him help out in a major way by cooking entire meals on the grill. Yes, grilling the meat is a no-brainer. But we made an effort to cook ALL the sides on there as well. I would do the prep work inside and just hand it all over to him for execution. We put diced new potatoes with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary in a foil packet and cooked it alongside the meat. We did something similar with beets (no rosemary). Try eggplant, thinly sliced length-wise (I use a mandoline at 1/4″ or 5/16″) and brushed with olive oil. Corn in the husk. Baby tapas peppers on a rosemary skewer. Zucchini sliced length-wise into quarters (less likely to fall into the fire!).

So, a friend-of-a-friend is an established chef and cookbook author (as well as a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier). I had the honor of testing five recipes for her upcoming cookbook. So there were a couple of weekends in there that I was working on those. This cookbook will be geared to a specific dietary/health concern, so my testing was very analytical. I had to weigh my vegetables beforehand (just how much DOES a medium zucchini weigh?) as well as measure volumes (cups/tablespoons) of the finished product, so they can do nutritional analyses and describe serving/portion sizes. It was a blast and a very different style of cooking for me, because I had to follow the recipes to a “T”. I’ll keep you posted when the cookbook comes out — for now — I have to keep it all Top Secret :).

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I also managed to put up a couple more small batches of jam. The blueberries and blackberries are really awesome this year. Shout-out to Twin Springs Fruit Farm and Westmoreland Berry Farm for my berries!