This year has been full of vegetables and all sorts of things that are good for me, so I decided it was high time to bake something. Enter the most delicious, incredibly light and grown-up cookies that I found in Breakfast Lunch Tea, the Rose Bakery cookbook. Seriously, these little cookies are melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
This little number is one of the cocktails I created for the Supper Club, which we had last weekend. This drink takes a bit of preparation (I promise it’s worth it) and works splendidly if you’re looking for a special drink for a dinner party. Roasted pear, ginger and rosemary spice and rye… you know it’s going to be a good one!
Cheers! To a lovely, snowy weekend!
perfect pear
makes 1 cocktail
1 oz roasted pear purée
1/2 oz rosemary and ginger syrup
1 1/2 rye, like Rittenhouse Rye
dash of bitters
rosemary sprig, for garnish
1
In cocktail shaker, combine 2 cubes of ice with the pear purée, syrup, rye and bitters.
2
Shake well for about 10 seconds.
3
Strain into a lowball glass and garnish with a sprig of rosemary.
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-prep-
roasted pear purée
5 pears, peeled and cut in half
water
1
Roast the pears, flat side down for about half an hour, or until they start to get juicy and soft.
2
Let cool, remove any remaining seeds and run through a food processor.
3
Add 1/4 cup and up to 1/2 cup water to purée until it’s thinned out enough that it pours well.
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ginger and rosemary syrup
makes about 1 1/2 cups
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 sprigs of rosemary
1
Stir water and sugar until disolved over medium heat.
2
Add ginger and rosemary and simmer for about 30 minutes.
3
Remove from heat, strain out the ginger and rosemary. Store in the refrigerator.
There are very few benefits of growing up picky. I mean, being a picky adult is just kind of embarrassing. However, there’s one good thing about turning up my nose to vegetables for most of my life… that’s discovery. I love discovering a “new” vegetable! It’s like getting a new toy… I just want to play with them. Hence the second butternut squash recipe in two weeks. Seriously, I can’t believe I spent the first 30 years of my life not eating butternut squash! Winters from here on out will not be the bleak season between pears and rhubarb, instead there’s now something to look forward to. I love it!
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of welcoming BUST magazine into my kitchen for a little photo shoot and interview. I had a blast eating doughnuts (from Dough in Clinton Hill), reminiscing about some of my favorite food memories and talking about what inspires me in my kitchen. If you get a chance, pick up the latest copy of BUST (feb/march), on newsstands now.
Oh boy, not only is it Friday, but blood oranges are in stores now! They are one of my favorite fruits, partly because they make great cocktails. I whipped up this new take on a classic by adding a splash of sweet and tangy blood orange juice to it. It’s not for the weak at heart, whew these puppies are strong! But sometimes that’s what you need.
Cheers! To a great weekend and to remembering Mr. Martin Luther King Jr.
new old fashioned
makes 1 cocktail
2 ounces Rye
1 sugar cube
a few splashes of orange bitters
1/2 oz blood orange juice
1 large ice cube
2 inch piece of blood orange rind
1
Using a vegetable peeler, cut a 2 inch piece of the blood orange rind.
2
Place a sugar cube, bitters and blood orange juice in a short glass. Muddle until sugar is dissolved.
3
Add ice cube, then the rye. Gently swirl the drink together.
4
Fold the piece of orange rind and squeeze together over drink, letting the essence fall into the drink. (You may not be able to see the essence, but it’s there, I promise) Drop the rind in the beverage.
5
Cheers!
I’ve had this squash sitting on my counter for what must be nearly a month now. People kept telling me that squash is delicious, but after trying it a few times, a few different ways, I just couldn’t get into it. That dang squash on the counter was taunting me so I finally decided to do something about it. I flipped through a couple of my cookbooks and inspiration struck when I saw maple-roasted butternut squash in Ina Garten’s Back to Basics. This was my turning point, when I finally discovered what people were talking about… squash is delicious!
Alright, did you make it through the first week of work? Did it strangely seem like that string of days off was a month ago? I’m with you. So let’s have a drink!
I think this might be one of the prettiest drinks I’ve made in a while. It’s got a few sprigs of thyme, some sugar and lime and a good helping of gin to round things out. Speaking of gin, Aaron and I stocked up our liquor cabinet with a few staples and along the way picked up some of that new fangled Breuckelen Gin. We’re both suckers for a) Brooklyn-made goods and b) beautiful packaging which this bottle of booze has. We were delightfully surprised to taste how delicious it is! It’s not super heavy on the juniper (which I prefer) and it has nice citrus notes too. Yum!
Cheers! To the start of a new year and many good things to come!
lime thyme
inspired by hang thyme from mix shake stir
makes 1 cocktail
ice
5 sprigs of thyme
2 oz gin, like Breuckelen Gin
1 oz lime juice
1 T sugar
1
Fill a rocks glass with ice and set aside.
2
In a cocktail shaker, muddle 4 sprigs of thyme until it starts to smell nice and lovely.
3
Add ice and the remaining ingredients to the shaker and shake vigorously.
4
Strain into the glass and garnish with the remaining sprig of thyme.
When we went to Paris, one of my favorite meals was a simple lunch at Rose Bakery. It was totally unfancy, but you could taste the care that was put into each dish, which meant every morsel that hit my tongue was incredible. One of the most surprising things I had was a really simple carrot salad that I’ve been dreaming of it ever since. Lucky for me, Aaron gave me the Rose Bakery cookbook, Breakfast, Lunch, Tea which I immediately fell in love with. I took a stab at the salad, tweaking it slightly along the way, and I’m happy to say, it’s pretty darn tasty.
happy hour: blood orange martini
I’m back with more blood orange goodness to share! As I’ve professed before, they’re one of my favorite fruits and you just can’t beat them when it comes to cocktails. This week I thought I’d let them shine in this martini and whewwweee, it’s both delicious and strong. You may notice they’re not in the typical martini glass and that’s intentional… Martini glasses are one of my least favorite objects.
Alright friends, it’s the weekend again! I’ll be making the final touches on issue 4 of Remedy Quarterly, playing with Maude and staying warm. Cheers!
blood orange martini
makes 1 cocktail
1 oz blood orange juice
2 oz vodka
1/4 oz Cointreau
blood orange slice, to garnish
1
Combine ingredients along with a few cubes of ice in a cocktail shaker.
2
Give it a good shake for about 10 seconds, then strain into the glass of your choice.
3
Garnish with a blood orange slice and enjoy!