Cocktails from The Spir.it

I don't know if any of you subscribe to Snooth, or their sister publication The Spir.it, but if you like to drink, you should.  I do, but I almost never ever ever have time to actually read them so they pile up in my inbox (I currently have over 1700 emails from various mailing lists that I have not yet filed away or dealt with).  Then, every once in a while, when you've been in Mexico for an eternity, and your boyfriend is still asleep but you are dreadfully awake, you can find the time and space needed to deal with some of those things.  Here I bring you some of the more fun cocktails The Spirit has sent over (I think these cosmo thingies or something similar might be showing up at Halloween. . . maybe a layered shot as well. . . )

Edible Cosmopolitans
1 cup Cranberry juice
1 cup Vodka
1/4 cup Lime juice
1 Tsp Simple syrup
1/4 cup Cointreau
2 1/2 packages of Knox Gelatine 

In a medium saucepan, combine cranberry and lime juice, and simple syrup (add additional syrup to taste). Stir in gelatin. Place over low heat, stirring rapidly, until gelatin fully dissolves. Stir in Cointreau and vodka. Remove from heat. Pour mixture into a parchment-lined pan or individual cups (depending on the desire depth of the completed edible cocktail). Chill overnight. To serve, cut into small cubes. Garnish with coarse sugar or lime zest.

Tip: You can turn just about any single spirit or cocktail recipe into a shot by combining one package of Knox gelatine (7 grams) to every 8 oz of liquid spirit or mixture.

Green Tea Infused Vodka
Combine 1 teaspoon organic green tea leaves or 1 tea bag of organic green tea with 1 cup organic vodka and let steep for two hours. Strain or remove the tea bag; the vodka will keep in an airtight container in a cool place or the fridge for up to 6 months.

Pear Tea Martini
2 oz Green tea-infused organic vodka
2 oz Pear cider
1 slice Pear, unpeeled
Combine the infused vodka and cider in an ice-cube filled cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously, then strain the mixture into a chilled martini glass. Gently drop in the pear slice.

Earl Grey Infused Rum
Combine 1 tea bag Earl Grey tea and 8 oz of rum and let steep for 1 hour. Remove the tea bag, then pour the mixture into an airtight container. The infused rum can be stored in a cool place or refrigerated for up to 6 months.

Earl Grey Boxcar
1 1/2 oz Earl Grey infused Rum
1/2 oz Punt e Mes Italian vermouth
1/2 oz fresh organic pineapple juice
1/2 oz freshly squeezed organic lemon juice
1/2 oz freshly squeezed organic lime juice
1/4 oz apricot brandy
Dash of Angostura bitters
1 thin slice of organic lemon
Pour the infused rum, vermouth, fruit juices, brandy, and bitters into an ice cube-filled cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously, then strain the mixture into a martini glass and garnish with the lemon slice.

Green Tea Simple Syrup

1/2 cup Jasmine green tea

1/2 cup Organic sugar 

Brew the Jasmine green tea. In a small saucepan, combine the tea with the sugar, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer until sugar is fully dissolved. Let cool to room temperature, then store in an airtight container.

I know some folks that'll probably be getting this for Christmas this year. . . 

Coffee Liqueur (aka homemade Kahlua)
4 cups Water
4 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Instant coffee
1 quart vodka
1 vanilla bean, sliced in half.
Place water and sugar in a medium saucepan over high heat, boil until dissolved. Stir in instant coffee. Remove from heat. Add vodka and vanilla bean. Pour into individual bottles and leave in a dark place (a closet works nicely) for three weeks.   

Cucumber Gimlet
Adapted from Epicurious
2 large cucumbers
1/2 cup gin
4 teaspoons lime juice
1 tablespoon simple syrup
Lime wedges, for garnish
Peel and cut cucumbers, place in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Mix 1 cup cucumber juice, lime juice, and simple sugar in a shaker filed 3/4 with cracked ice. Shake vigorously, double strain into chilled cocktail glasses.

Basil Gimlet
2 oz gin
4 pieces fresh basil
2/3 oz fresh lime juice
Cracked ice
In a mixing glass, muddle basil in lime juice. Add ice and gin. Shake vigorously, strain into chilled cocktail glasses.

Ginger Gimlet
Adapted from Ming Tsai
3 oz vodka
2 oz fresh lime juice
2 oz ginger syrup
Cracked ice
In a shaker half-filled with ice, combine all ingredients. Shake vigorously, strain into chilled cocktail glasses. To make your own ginger syrup, combine two parts raw sugar and one part water. Grate a piece of fresh ginger into the mix (to taste), and boil for 2 minutes. Lower heat and simmer for 3 minutes, then cool. Reserve the fresh ginger, it can be grated directly into the drink, or sliced as a garnish. 

The Sake’d Saint
4 star fruit slices
2 lemon wheels
Ice cubes
3 oz Junmai or extra dry sake
3 oz St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1/2 ounce apricot brandy
1. Add 2 star fruit slices and the lemon wheels to a cocktail shaker. Using a muddler or a wooden tiger, muddle well.
2. Fill the cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the sake, St-Germain, and apricot brandy. Shake extra well.
3. Strain equally into 2 cocktail glasses. Garnish each with a star fruit slice and serve.


The Gong
Ice cubes
5 oz sake
3 oz pomegranate liqueur
Chilled ginger ale
2 orange slices for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the sake and pomegranate liqueur. Shake well (as if you feared being gonged).
2. Fill two highball or comparable glasses with ice cubes. Strain the sake-pomegranate mixture over the ice into the glasses (carefully, again as if you feared gonging).
3. Top off each glass with ginger ale, filling the glass almost to the top. Stir briefly with a thin mallet or long spoon. Garnish each with an orange slice and serve.

The B52

1/2 oz Coffee liqueur
1/2 oz Irish cream
1/2 oz Grand Marnier

In a shot glass, layer the coffee liqueur, Irish cream, and Grand Marnier in that order.

Check out The Spir.it's alcohol by density chart for more layering fun! 

I sense a little Mexican (tequila) twist on sangria for my homecoming from Mexico party could be in order:

1800 Tequila Sunrise Sangria

1 Orange
1 Lime
1 full bottle of Prosecco
1 cup Tequila
2 cups Ginger ale
1/2 pint Raspberries

Slice half the oranges and limes into circles, then slice in half to form half moons. Squeeze the other halves of both fruits into a large pitcher filled with ice. Add the Prosecco, ginger ale, and tequila. Stir, adding whole raspberries and remaining orange and lemon pieces. 

Attempt #1 at Thai Food

I awoke Tuesday morning CRAVING Thai. Like, I had been dreaming about it and then it was all I could think about. Mmmm, Thai food. I had some extra lean ground turkey in the fridge and I thought it could potentially make some kick ass gai pad gra pow.
I found a couple of recipes that inspired me, and ruminated for a couple of days, and finally, tonight (Thursday), I went for it. It was okay, but it tasted NOTHING like the pad grapow you'll get at a Thai joint. Not even a little bit. It was probably way healthier, but. . . . I think if I hadn't been thinking about and craving the real deal, I may have been able to appreciate it a little more.
Did I need more fish sauce? More Tamari? I don't think I needed more oil, I used way more than I normally do. Do I need to go sit at the counter at Bang San and watch those ladies make it?
In any case, if you have some ground bird meat and some basil, and you're craving something spicy, give this a whirl, but don't expect it to replace your favorite takeout - deal?

Spicy Basil Chicken
4 - 5 tbsp oil; I wanted to use peanut oil but only had veg
7-8 cloves of garlic
2 shallots
6 peppers (I used 2 jalapenos, 2 serranos, and 2 uh, red ones) - if you can find Thai chilies I'd go for those though you'll probably need several more (the first recipe calls for 12-20!)
1 lb of bird meat - either finely chopped or ground
A generous drizzling of Tamari (maybe 2-3 tbsp)
Fish sauce to taste (and I have no idea what the correct amount is; I used maybe 1 tbsp)
1 cup of basil (again, go for Thai basil if you can find it, or holy basil if you're lucky enough to run across it - this is, after all the gra pow this dish is named for!)
brown rice
Sriracha
Gewurztraminer or other sweet white (Riesling or maybe a Pinot Gris if you don't like your wine quite as sweet)

Get your mise en place ready to go -
pulverize your peppers with your garlic (we tried the mortar and pestle route and failed, so it went into the food processor or got smashed on the cutting board) and set aside. Finely chop your shallots and set aside. Prep your basil (wash and remove stems). Get out your bird meat.

Heat a large pan or wok until it's smoking hot, then get ready to move quickly. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan and heat the oil quickly. Stir in the garlic and pepper mix just long enough to get it coated and spread around and then add the shallots. Stir for 10-15 seconds to combine and then add the chicken. Stir fry (breaking up the larger slab if you dumped a container of ground meat into your pan like I did) until the meat is "browned" on the outside. I say "browned" because it doesn't really go brown so much as it goes. . . I dunno, less pink.

Sprinkle 1 tbsp or so of Tamari and stir in. Season "to taste" with fish sauce. I have no idea what this means even for my own tastebuds as this was my first time being brave enough to deal with fish sauce on my own because, hello, ew. I suppose it was about a tbsp.

Add in the basil and keep stirring and cooking until the basil is wilted. Give the meat a taste - add more Tamari or fish sauce as needed. We added another tbsp or 2 of Tamari.

Serve over brown rice if you're trying to be healthy. Taste before dousing in Sriracha - your chilies might be plenty hot. Maybe a squeeze of lime juice over the top would be lovely as well.

Drink with a nice cold, sweet white wine. Enjoy the fact that your entire house smells amazing (way better than dinner tasted if you ask me) for the rest of the evening. I really wish I had a fan/vent in my kitchen.

This would serve four if you were serving with other dishes or apps (or all skinny chicks watching their waistlines); or maybe three if it was the only course or you're sharing with boys.

Tomato, Basil & Garlic Halibut

I stumbled across this recipe (yeah, it's from ConAgra, hence the brand names) and thought it looked easy and healthy and tasty. What more do you need really?


Tomato, Basil & Garlic Halibut
1 Teaspoon Ground black pepper
1 Cup Fresh basil leaves chopped
1 Can Hunt's Tomato Paste (6 oz ea)
1 Cup Water
1 Teaspoon Garlic powder
1 Teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 Pounds halibut fillets
1 Tablespoon Fleischmann's Original Margarine
1 Can Hunt's Tomato Sauce (15 oz ea)

Combine garlic powder, thyme and pepper in small bowl; sprinkle evenly over both sides of fish.
Set aside.
Melt Fleischmann's in large skillet over medium heat. Add fish; cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned on both sides. Remove from skillet; cover to keep warm.
Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil and water to same skillet; mix well. Carefully return fish to skillet, being careful not to allow sauce to cover tops of fish fillets; cover skillet with lid. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with fork and sauce is heated through. Serve fish with the sauce.

There were only two of us so I halved this recipe (except the margarine - I didn't want the fish to stick). It was pretty one note so I think I'll have to tweak it a bit before it's a keeper.

Olive Oil Poached Halibut

I was just recently in New York and had a five star dining experience at a spot called Dovetail on the Upper West Side. I had the most amazing piece of fish I think I've ever had in my life (aside from my scallops maybe). It was halibut, poached in olive oil, with tomatoes, peas, mint, and those little itty bitty mushrooms I think are so cute (shimeji or clamshell maybe?). It was heaven.
I have only ever cooked a piece of fish once in my life I think (not counting shellfish), and I have never poached anything on purpose - only when overcrowding a pan.
That said, I am quite sure that I am capable enough of following directions to poach halibut successfully in olive oil. I found a great recipe from epicurious, but I'm not that wild about the caper/lemon/parsley pairing. Meh. I found another recipe with a pistou of summer veggies which sounds much more interesting, but still. . . . I dunno. And it's so many steps! Maybe I'll go French on its ass? Or hi, what about this? Hey video recipe! Nice to see you.
So now I'm definitely thinking tomato basil - maybe with some capers as well. Oh, I have some great sundried tomatoes I need to use up, those could be fab.
Or something somewhat corn based? Corn, peas and tomatoes could be nice as well. Decisions, decisions.

********Update:
I found this great recipe that I think will work perfectly for this fish, and probably tons of other stuff.
Basil Mint Oil
1 cup packed fresh mint leaves
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon coarse salt (preferably sea salt)

Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water. In a saucepan of boiling water blanch herbs 5 seconds and with a slotted spoon immediately transfer to ice water to stop cooking. Drain herbs well and pat dry. In a blender purée herbs with remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour oil through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids, and discard solids. Oil may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring oil to room temperature before using.

I think I will use tomatoes, peas and corn as a succotash of sorts, and then finish the fish with the basil mint oil. Quinn will love me forever and forgive that one time when I drunkenly called him controlling.

****************Update:
It was by no means as life changing as the fish at Dovetail, but I think for my first try I did alright. I may have poached the fish a bit too long, I'll keep a better eye on it next time. I served it on a bed of tomato, sugar snap pea, and white corn succotash with basil mint oil. It could have been a little saucier. . . maybe next time I'll include a beurre blanc type sauce? I'm sure this way was healthier though!

Oven Poached Halibut with Succotash of Summer Vegetables
serves 3-4
1 lb halibut fillets (this was two fillets in my case) - pick the sustainable kind!
3 ears of corn
3 big handfuls of sugar snap peas - maybe a pound?
cherry tomatoes - halved if small, quartered if large
shallot - finely minced (about 2 tbsp)
2-3 cups of olive oil (don't use your priciest evoo here; the regular olive oil will do)
salt and pepper


Basil & Mint Olive Oil (see recipe above)

Preheat your oven to 250.
Pat the halibut dry and season both sides with Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper. Place fillets into a glass baking dish and poured in enough oil to come half way up the sides of the fish (perhaps this is where my texture problem came from; maybe I need to cover the fish completely as some other recipes suggest, but that's a lot of oil).
Put on a large pot of water to boil for the corn.
Make the Basil & Mint Olive Oil.
Put the corn in the boiling water for 5 minutes or until done. (some people say 3 minutes, some say 15) Allow to cool and then cut corn kernels away from the cob.
Shell some of the peas - I shelled the big fat ones and snapped the smaller ones into 3/4" pieces.

Heat up a tbsp of oil in a large saute pan and add shallot. Add the peas and sautee for a couple of minutes til crisp tender. Add corn back into pan to heat up, add tomatoes and stir together.

Plate a large scoop of succotash onto the plate and nestle fish on top. Drizzle with basil mint oil.

Nom.

Melon and feta salad

After the tequila soaked watermelon at a recent party and DC's yummy "compressed watermelon" with acacia honey and Filipino sea salt the other night, I've been reconsidering my aversion to watermelon. I don't hate watermelon or anything, it just doesn't really get me going. But, when it's paired with salt and vinegary goodness (or booze), I find I like it much better. This weekend I had a similar salad with cantaloupe and cucumber instead of watermelon and it was just as good - fresh, light, and fantastic.
Now I'm envisioning a beautiful salad of honeydew, watermelon & cantaloupe with thinly sliced red onions, feta or cotija cheese, and either mint or basil with some sort of light vinaigrette. I'm going to do it as a built salad, not a tossed one - I don't like how it looks when the cheese starts breaking down; I like it sprinkled over the top.
I don't even know how to write a recipe for this, I just know what it needs to look and taste like. Give it a shot yourself if you're reading this (anyone?).