eat make read

I finally found a way that I can drink whisky without wincing, mix it with a little iced tea. I’ve been really into iced tea this summer, in fact I’ve had way more in this one summer than I have in my whole life. I’d dabbled in Thai iced tea, but I’d never been really interested in it otherwise. Then I tried this minted iced tea at the greenmarket that was sweetened with maple syrup. That’s how I got hooked.

This was my first attempt at making iced tea at home, and I have to say it turned really well, although I didn’t try the maple syrup version. Once I’d taken the tea bags out, I poured my tea in a little tea pot that has a built in infuser and stuck some fresh mint leaves in it, then let it sit in the fridge for a bit. When I was ready for a cool beverage I poured myself a glass added a shot of whisky. The sweetness of the whisky really lends itself to the minted tea.

Cheers to it already being Friday! I have a fun event lined up this weekend that I can’t wait to share with you.

whisky iced tea

4 cups water
6 tea bags of black tea
1/2 cup sugar
4-5 fresh mint leaves
whisky

1
Bring water to a boil in small saucepan.
2
Add tea bags and sugar. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
3
Remove tea bags and pour into pitcher or tea pot.
4
If your tea pot has an infuser, stuff the mint leaves in it. Otherwise use a loose tea infuser and let it hang out in the pitcher. Let it cool in the refrigerator for a few hours.
5
Pour yourself a glass, add a shot of whisky and relax.

 

Mint’s been on my mind lately. There’s something about the fresh kick that you get from mint leaves that has me dreaming about ways to use it. Last year I made some fresh mint ice cream that was really, really good and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. The thing is, making ice cream takes so much time and effort and sometimes that just seems a little exhausting. Then I thought of a genius idea that would take less time and give me similar satisfaction. Mint pudding!

I pulled out some fresh mint, ground it with some sugar in my mortar and pestle and I was on my way to some tasty pudding. I also added a few sprigs of mint into my milk mixture so it would further infuse into the flavor. In less than a half hour, I had the lovely scent of mint wafting through my kitchen and homemade pudding at my fingertips. I ran the mixture through a fine sieve and put it in the fridge to chill. A bit later I tried it out and to my satisfaction, my little idea turned out great. The pudding was creamy and minty with hints of vanilla, although I wish it would have been just a tad silkier. But when I told Aaron that, he said the texture let you know it was homemade. He knows how to make me feel better.

mint pudding

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vanilla sugar*
4 sprigs of mint
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups milk
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*vanilla sugar is not necessary, it just adds a little more flavor. if you don’t have it just use regular sugar.

1
Place a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl; set aside.
2
Mix 1/3 sugar and 2 sprigs of mint in your mortar and pestle and grind until mint is finely incorporated.
3
In a medium saucepan, off heat, whisk together sugars, cornstarch, and salt. Very gradually (a few tablespoons at a time) whisk in milk, taking care to dissolve cornstarch. Whisk in egg yolks.
4
Whisking constantly, cook over medium heat until the first large bubble forms and sputters, about 10-15 minutes.
5
Reduce heat to low; still whisking, cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; immediately pour through sieve into bowl.
6
Stir butter and vanilla into hot pudding.
7
Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding (to prevent skin from forming); chill at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Before serving, whisk pudding until smooth.

Three day weekends are so dreamy. We took advantage of the extra day by taking a trip to Boston to visit some of our best friends, Ari and Jillian. They led us to some great food that I’ll be sharing later this week. Before we left, I whipped up my first ever batch of caramels. Oh. Boy. Bad news my friends, bad news. Not because they turned out a disaster, but because they were so dang good it was hard to keep my hands off them. I’ve dabbled in caramel sauce before, sometimes it turns out good, other times it takes a wrong turn and turns into a burnt sugar mess; so I was prepared for whatever came my way. But with a little patience, this recipe turned out perfect.

The recipe calls for fleur de sel, which is a fancy salt that may take a little looking to find. I haven’t done a taste test or anything, but something tells me that the caramels would still be delicious if you substituted sea salt for the other. Beyond that, there are only 5 other ingredients, heavy cream, butter, sugar, corn syrup and water. It always amazes me that something so deliciously good is so simple. As I mentioned before, patience is key to this recipe. You need to be able to stand over the stove top and wait for the syrup mixture to turn golden, then for the cream and syrup to hit the right temperature and finally for the whole thing to harden. So give yourself some time and get ready for a decadent treat.

fleur de sel caramels
via design sponge via gourmet
makes about 40 candies

1 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon fleur de sel
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water

1
Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then lightly oil parchment.
2
Bring cream, butter, and fleur de sel to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and set aside.
3
Boil sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring but gently swirling pan, until mixture is a light golden caramel.
4
Carefully stir in cream mixture (mixture will bubble up) and simmer, stirring frequently, until caramel registers 248°F on thermometer, 10 to 15 minutes.*
5
Pour into baking pan and cool at least 2 hours. Cut into 1-inch pieces, then wrap each piece in a 4-inch square of wax paper, twisting 2 ends to close.

*This actually took me about 25-30 minutes for some reason, so it seems to vary a bit.

Whew, that’s a mouthful, but this beer is amazing. It’s another from Bell’s Brewery in Michigan and unfortunately for us it’s the last one in the fridge. The best way to describe it is rich. Rich with cherry and hints of bourbon, but not overwhelming. It’s unlike any other dark beer I’ve had.

We’re off on an impromtu visit to Boston this weekend. I hope you have something fun lined up to celebrate the end of the summer.

Cheers!

I’m really intrigued by figs lately. I just love the way they look, plus they’re the perfect pairing with cheese. We all know any excuse I can find to bring a little cheese into my life is an excuse I’ll be using. There’s a recipe in my new cookbook, “How To Eat Supper” for figs with rosemary and honey that made my mouth water the second I saw it.

I didn’t follow the recipe to the T because I didn’t have fresh rosemary, but I did have my favorite crackers, Carr’s Rosemary Crackers. Time out for a second. Have you ever tasted these crackers? They are so, so delicious. I think it’s in your best interest to get a box the next time you’re at the store. Ok, back to the recipe. It’s super simple and only takes a few minutes to prepare this super lovely treat. I simply cut the figs in half, placed a half on a cracker, topped it off with a little goat cheese and drizzled honey over top. I mean, could it get any easier? Your tastebuds will go through a little journey of crispy, savory cracker to grainy fig to creamy cheese to sweet honey. Yum.

Rosemary Figs with Honeyed Fresh Cheese

8-10 oz ripe dark figs
4-5 ounces fresh goat, sheep or cow’s milk cheese
3-4 Tablespoons honey
1 box Carr’s rosemary crackers OR 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves

1
Halve the figs from top to bottom.
2
Smear each half gently with about a teaspoon of cheese.
3
Either place the figs on a rosemary cracker or arrange on a platter.
4
Drizzle with honey.

It was a super lovely weekend here in brooklyn, and like always, I’m sad to see it go. We veered away from our normal routine and headed into the city to visit the Union Square Greenmarket, which is about 3 times the size of our usual market in Brooklyn and full of goodies. I made a list before we left home so I wouldn’t buy every pretty fruit or vegetable I saw… I was pretty good about sticking to it, until I saw the cutest little watermelon. Weird, I know, but it was just a little bigger than my fist, the perfect city-size, plus it was yellow… something new to try.

I brought it home and cut it open for an afternoon snack and it was oh-so-lovely. I wanted to jazz it up with a little something, so I mixed some sugar and fresh mint in my mortar and pestle. The result? Awesomely delicious. You might think that it sounds silly to add sugar to watermelon, but in fact it not only added a touch of sweetness, it also provided a nice textural contrast. It’s a hit my friends, try it out and you will see.

watermelon with sugar and mint

1 Tablespoon sugar
4-5 mint leaves
1 watermelon, cut in little chunks

1
In a mortar and pestle, combine sugar and mint leaves. Crush leaves until mixture becomes greenish and leaves are well integrated into sugar.
2
Cut melon into small, dippable chunks, about and inch square.
3
Dip and eat!

This week’s happy hour is an excellent recommendation from my friend erik. After seeing my post on vanilla sugar earlier this week, he clued me in on a recipe for pomegranate mojitos that’s pretty dang tasty. And I have to say, sometimes I get really frustrated with mixing drinks that seem fancy, but this one was easy and came out tasting delightful. Maybe that’s because I made Aaron use his muscles and muddle the mint, but whatever the case, this is definitely worth trying out.

Cheers! To good friends and and a great weekend!

erik’s fancy pomegranate mojito

2 oz pomegranate juice
2 oz white rum
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
4 oz club soda
6 mint sprigs
cracked ice

1
In a cocktail shaker, combine all ingredients except the mint and shake well.
2
Mull the mint in the bottom of a cocktail glass.
3
Strain the pomegranate mixture into the glass with the muddled mint, and serve.

I kind of fell in love with Lynne Rossetto Kasper on our Midwest trip. If you’re not familiar, visit The Splendid Table or iTunes and subscribe to her podcasts, they’re a great treat. She talks about food in a holistic way, so there are recipes, interviews with chefs and farmers and producers, tips on utensils, restaurant recommendations and lots more.

Lucky for me, now you can not only can you listen to the show, but Lynne and her producer Sally Swift just came out with a book called “How to Eat Supper“. It’s not your ordinary cookbook, oh no. In fact, the description of content reads “Recipes, Stories and Opinions”. I’ve just done my first skim through the book and with every page turn it gets better. The book concentrates on dishes that are easy, use fresh ingredients and are doable after a hard days work. In between recipes, there are interesting stories about how to season a wok or the man who had synesthesia. On top of that, it’s a really beautiful book. The design is well thought out and easy to read with lovely photographs to accompany each recipe.

Basically it’s a dreamy, dreamy book. In fact, I’ve decided to that I’m going to cook a recipe a week from it for the next month, so be on the look out for some tasty dishes coming your way.

Growing up I practically lived on macaroni and cheese. It was one of a handful of foods I actually liked, but then to make matters worse, I only liked the stuff that came in a box. When my mom tried to lure me away with the homemade variety, I’d just turn up my nose and whine about how mushy it was. What a silly child I was.

Now I’ve done a 180. Awhile back ago I was craving the boxed stuff and made it at home. The thing was, I didn’t like it. Nothing about it had changed, it was that my tastebuds had done some growing up. I must say I was a little disappointed, but then when I thought about it a little more, it was exciting to think my palette maturing. Sure it’s a decade late, but hey, I guess I’m a late bloomer. Just because I’m not into the boxed stuff anymore doesn’t mean I don’t still get a craving for some cheesy goodness every now and then.

I picked up a few cheeses from Cato Corner and brought them home to search for the perfect recipe. I found this one that called for panko crumbs over top and it sounded like just the right thing. I divided the recipe in half because the last thing I need is 20 servings of mac and cheese sitting around the house. I kind of loosely followed the recipe by using 3 different cheeses, a gouda style, a manchego and a cheddar, and a different kind of pasta called Cavatappi, which is kind of like a cross between spiral and elbow. The cheese combination made for a delightfully smooth flavor that was cheesy without being overwhelming and the pasta kept a nice firmness yet still grabbed onto the sauce well. And I have to say, I’ve never totally understood the whole breadcrumbs over macaroni thing, but the panko crumbs won me over. They added a perfect, golden crunch to contrast the creamy and rich interior.

Next time you need a little comfort, reach for this recipe to give you a little love.

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
adapted from this recipe from epicurious

makes a hefty 9×9 pan

For topping
1/4 stick unsalted butter
1 cup panko (coarse Japanese bread crumbs)
1/4 pound coarsely grated Cheddar (1 1/2 cups)
For macaroni and sauce
1/2 stick unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups 2% milk
3 cups gouda cheese, shredded
1 cup manchego
1/2 cup cheddar
1/2 pound cavatappi pasta (or spiral or elbow)
Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.

1: Topping
Melt butter, then stir together with panko and topping cheeses in a bowl until combined well, set aside.
2: Make sauce:
Melt butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in flour.
3
Cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes, then whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, then simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes.
4
Stir in cheeses, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until smooth. Remove from heat.
5: Make Macaroni:
Cook macaroni in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 4 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water and drain macaroni in a colander. Stir together macaroni, reserved cooking water, and sauce in a large bowl.
6
Transfer to 9×9 baking dish.
7
Sprinkle topping evenly over macaroni and bake until golden and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.

Here’s something simple to jazz up your baked goods, vanilla sugar. It’s super simple to make and adds a lovely hint of vanilla to recipes that call for sugar.

Vanilla Sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise
2 cups sugar

1
Pour sugar into air-tight jar.
2
Scrape the insides of the vanilla bean into the sugar, then toss the bean in the sugar.
3
Close the lid and give the sugar a good shake.
4
Let the sugar and vanilla sit for a week or two and tada, you’ve got yourself vanilla sugar.