Mind in the Butter

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Holiday Edition: Evie’s Festive Punch

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cocktailtime

I would be lying if I said I didn’t obsess trying to find THE perfect cocktail for this Christmas season. After many hours of googling and deep, personal reflection (at the liquor store), I landed on a Pear and Ginger Rum Punch, laced with a nutty spank of amaretto.

The drink is strong (hello, it has dark rum in it…), it’s nutty from the amaretto, sweet from the pear juice and spicy from the fresh grated ginger. I test-drove the recipe among friends at a cocktail party the other night and it went over well.  I added a seltzer water floater to ensure it didn’t taste too sweet, and added a cranberry and crystallized ginger skewer as garnish (too cute, I know!)

cocktailtime2

Here’s the approximate recipe for this lil’ festive drank.

Makes 1 crazy strong cocktail:

  • 1.5 oz dark rum (Meyers, Mount gay)
  • 3/4 oz amaretto (go for Luxardo, not Disaronno. It’s cheaper and made with 100% almond)
  • 2 oz pear juice (Ceres brand preferred)
  • 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger (peel away skin and use a micro plane/ fine zester.)
  • Ice
  • Soda/seltzer water
  • Garnish: crystallized ginger and dried cranberry on a toothpick
1. Fill low ball glass with ice
2. Grate fresh ginger directly into glass
3. Pour in rum, amaretto and pear juice
4. Add a splash of soda water on top
5. Stir well and serve!
If you’re going to do a large batch of pre-made punch (recommended) , just make sure  to do 1 part rum, 1.5 parts pear juice and slightly less than 1/2 part amaretto. Grate in a generous amount of ginger and adjust flavors accordingly. For extra credit you can freeze the pear juice in ice cub trays beforehand, then add to the punch bowl so it stays cold.

Heaven is a South African Kitchen

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***This is the third and final post from my trip to South Africa. The previous posts are here and here***

Heaven on a plate

Heaven on a plate

On our final morning at the whimsical Miner’s compound, something amazing happened – I met the Miner’s wife, Jackie, who had been in the city during our drunken escapades the day before. We bumped into her at the back door of her kitchen in our efforts to say goodbye to our host and friends. She was directing a platoon of housemaids, with a voice so sensational  it was like the Cheshire Cat or an Afrikaans Miranda Priestly were yelling orders from behind a buzzing fan.  She had fiery red hair in a coif that Marge Simpson’s sisters might request at the hair salon and gorgeous bright eyes that will keep her looking youthful even when she turns 100. Just amazing.

“Come, come, come. You must have something to eat!” She said in same breath as her introduction.

Instead of staging our departure,  Stingray and I let Jackie take us  hostage (rather willingly) onto the back porch to enjoy a decadent breakfast of fruit salad, fresh yogurt, charcuterie and her homemade preserves (umm…is this real?!). We ended up staying so late that it was already time to enjoy lunch which we did, at the very same table.

I was gorged, spoiled and feeling rather useless so Jackie was gracious enough to let me cook with her in her amazing kitchen. She and I whipped up a Tuscan-style tuna salad with cannellini beans, fried eggplant with cilantro, a simple salad with a vino cotto vinaigrette, and a caprese salad with olive oil so rich it looked like gasoline.

table 2

As I chopped, (she and I in matching aprons) she told me the story of her gorgeous Chinese linens, her fruit trees, herbs and spices from her travels to the Middle East, and the painting class she’ll take in France later in the Summer.   So intimated by her amazingness, I interrupted her a few times to ask,  “How do you want this chopped? What else should I add to this? Am I doing this right?” “Dahling, everything you’re doing is just perfect, simply perfect.  Add whatever you’d like!” My only thought was: Eva, burn your passport so you can live with Jackie forever!…Do it, burn it now!

Once I finished shaking up my vinaigrette and the meal was almost ready, I started to chop a littler slower in attempts savor this moment with her.  When I go to Heaven, I know that the cafeteria will look just like Jackie’s gorgeous kitchen.

Tuscan-style Tuna Salad

tuna salad

Ingredients

  • 1 can of good  albacore
  • 1 can of canellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 shallot or small red onion, diced
  • 1-2  garlic cloves, grated
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 cup chopped cilantro
  • Olive oil
  • S and P to taste

Toss all ingredients together, in a beautiful bowl, except for tuna.  Add tuna and incorporate gently to try to keep it from breaking up too much.  Taste, adjust flavors accordingly.

Fried Eggplant with Cilantro

2 salads

  • 1 large eggplant
  • 1 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1-2 garlic cloves
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • Pepper to taste
  • maldon salt

Chop eggplant into 2 inch “pegs” and fry in olive oil until crispy and tender.  In the meantime, mix the lemon juice, grated garlic and pepper in a large bowl. Once the eggplant is done,  put directly in bowl with lemon juice mixture.  The olive oil absorbed in the eggplant will naturally balance out the acid.  Sprinkle maldon salt or another large-grained salt right before serving.

Caprese salad (everybody knows this one, right?)

Tomatoes, mozzarella and basil with high quality olive oil (lemon juice or balsamic were not added to the version pictured)

Green Salad with Vino Cotto Vinaigrette

green salad

  • 1/2 cup walnut oil
  • 1 pinch sugar
  • 1-2 T vino cotto (Italian sweet wine syrup)
  • 1 heaping T dijon mustard
  • 1/2 clove garlic, pressed or grated (optional)
  • S and P to taste

Shake all ingredients in a jar. Too sweet add more dijon, too thick add more oil. I served this with arugula and butter lettuce, some red onion left over from the other salads, a ripe avocado and some paprika for color.

Spiced, Wine-Poached Pears with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

In case I wasn’t already in food ecstasy at the end of our lunch, Jackie brought out some of her spiced, wine-poached pears and homemade vanilla ice cream and served it drizzled with grappa. It’s a miracle I didn’t implode into stardust after that.

Spiced, wine-poached pears with homemade ice cream

Spiced, wine-poached pears with homemade ice cream

lemons

A  diptych of her lemon tree…why not?

Dinner Party Meal Planning

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I’ve had several friends ask me about determining portion size for dinner parties, an essential part of hosting a successful one. I sketched the drawing above as a simple snapshot of the “trifecta” I use when meal planning for large parties. It’s totally unscientific but I think it’s really helpful.  The idea is simple — dinner is made up of 3 parts: starch, veggie, protein. Once you pick your recipes remember these rules before heading to the grocery store:

  • 1 cup of dry starch (risotto, rice, polenta etc.) = 4 servings. If you are using potatoes: 1 russet for 2 people, 2-3 red potatoes for 1 person, 3-4 fingerlings for 1 person.
  • 1 cup of veggie = 1 serving. 1 zucchini= 2 servings, 1 bunch of asparagus = 4 servings. One carton or head of lettuce =4 people for simple salad, 6 people if you drag it through the garden
  • 6 oz/ 1 fist of protein= 1 serving. I think I learned this from Richard Simmons so I can’t take credit, but idea is to serve 6 oz. (size when uncooked) of protein which is about the size of your fist. The butcher or fish guy can easily help with this too since they normally weigh everything for you.  I could recommend rounding to the next 1/2 lb for good measure. So, for a 6 person dinner party: 6 people x 6 oz = 36 oz or 2.25lbs —> ask the counter for 2.5lbs. For shrimp and scallops: 4 scallops=1 serving, 4 colossal shrimp= 1 serving, 6 jumbo shrimp= 1 serving
  • Add an “Elijah” serving e.g. always add 1 more person to the meal planning for leftovers/in case something burns/someone arrives who didn’t RSVP (gasp!).

I’ve kept the post short so you can print and post onto the fridge or add to your recipe book for easy reference. This is how I meal plan but would love to hear other tips and tricks!

Summer Entertaining Cooking Class

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Roast Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille Vegetables

Stingray and I took a “Couples Summer Entertaining” cooking class at Culinaerie, back when we were living in Washington.  Despite our food snob status, neither of us had taken an actual cooking class, so this was a real treat (thanks, Mom!). Dressed for date night we marched to the front of the class kitchen (again, food snobs) to ensure optimal viewing and instruction by the school’s co-founder Susan Holt. On the menu was a Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tart, Roast Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille Vegetables and a Brulee of Summer Fruits. The menu was straightforward and accessible, but impressive enough that I was eager to add to our repertoire.  I would even argue it could be easily adapted for the winter months by swapping out seasonal vegetables in the ratatouille and replacing the lamb with beef.

The class was extremely well done with plenty of support staff, great instruction and endless wine.  We were obviously the most experienced couple, starring multiple times as the “example table.” Although, I suppose…upon further reflection we spent just as much time sizing up the competition as we did chopping mushrooms.  DC friends–try their classes and steal more delicious recipes for me!

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Exotic Mushroom and Chevre Tart

Mushroom and Chevre Tart

Ingredients

(Serves 8 as an appetizer, 4 as a main course)

  •  1 ½ cups exotic mushrooms, such as shiitake, crimini, Portobello, or oyster
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
  • Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or tarragon
  • 1 package frozen puff pastry dough, slightly defrosted
  • 8 ounces soft goat cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 cloves fresh garlic, very finely minced

Brush the mushrooms free of any dirt and trim rough parts of the stems; cut into ½” slices.  Heat a large sauté pan over high heat, add half the oil, then add half the mushrooms.  Sauté about 3 minutes, with very limited stirring, until mushrooms are golden brown; repeat with remaining oil and mushrooms.  Season cooked mushrooms with salt and pepper and add herbs.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Roll out pastry into a rough circle, about 14” in diameter, and place on large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread goat cheese over surface, stopping two inches short of the edge.  Distribute mushroom mixture evenly over top, then bring extra pastry over mushrooms to form a border.

Combine butter with garlic; using pastry brush, paint or drizzle the garlic butter on top of the mushrooms.  Bake in center of oven for approximately 30 minutes, until pastry is golden brown on top and bottom.  Allow to cool slightly then cut into wedges.

Roast Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille Vegetables

Seared Lamb

Ratatouille Vegetables

Ingredients 

(Serves 2)

  •  1 – 1½ pounds boneless lamb leg
  • 1 medium zucchini (about 1 pound), cut in 1” cubes
  • 1 medium red or yellow onion, cut in 1” cubes
  • 2 plum tomatoes or 1 heirloom tomato, quartered
  • 1 red pepper, cut in medium dice
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Handful of minced fresh basil leaves and/or 2 tablespoons good quality pesto
  • 4 – 5 Calamata or French Nyons olives, pitted and halved
  • 2 ounces Gruyere, grated

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Season lamb leg with salt and pepper, place on a rack over a sheet pan fat side up, and roast for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven.

 Toss together the zucchini, onion, tomatoes, pepper, olive oil, salt, sugar and lemon juice.  Roast in a large sauté pan for 15 – 20 minutes until vegetables start to soften and brown.   Remove from oven and stir in basil and/or pesto and olives.  Top with gruyere and return to oven for 10 minutes.  Remove and serve with thinly sliced lamb.

Brulee of Summer Fruits

Brulee of Summer Fruits

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

  •  ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 cups fresh raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, sliced peaches
  • 2 tablespoons demerara, turbinado or brown sugar

Beat the cream with a whip until soft peaks form.  Add sugar very slowly and continue beating until sugar is dissolved and the cream forms stiff peaks.

Gently fold in the fruit.  Transfer raspberries to 2 individual shallow oven-proof dishes, such as brulee dishes and sprinkle the demerara sugar over them.  Place dish under the oven broiler on the top rack on high and cook just until some of the sugar caramelizes (this will only take 30 seconds or so).  Alternately, use a blowtorch with cautious abandon.  Serve immediately.

Notice all the fearful eyes around me…