Deconstruction

Alright my sister's lovely promotion of my blog over on her blog has been enough to shake me out of my non-blogging stupor (and maybe there are some new followers out there? Comment so i know you exist!). Time to get back down to business, people.

If you read the text above my awesome stomach drawing in the last post you'll realize i haven't managed to cook anything in the last month. That remains true, but Cohort Communion waits for no scholar. So though i couldn't find time to feed myself, i was compelled to create a new cocktail for my cohort's monthly gathering. I'm very sorry to say i once again have NO pictures (grad student! papers! self loathing! these things take a lot of time!) but i am awfully proud of this one, so here goes.

Deconstruction

• Coffee infused whiskey
• Kahlua
• Coffee simple syrup
• Vanilla vodka whipped cream

This drink is cool both flavor-wise and conceptually (it's like a deconstructed Irish coffee if Irish coffee went to the spa and had a bunch of treatments to make it prettier and more loveable). It's also excellent for parties since people can (and are expected to) mix their own, so less pressure on you as bartender!

Coffee Whiskey

Infuse your whiskey by combining a fifth of good whiskey bourbon (i use Buffalo Trace or Maker's Mark) and between 1/4 to 1/2 cup dark roast whole coffee beans in a tightly sealed jar. Let that go for about 4 days (probably ok up to 6 days but the coffee flavor is good and strong after 3-4 and too much more you risk picking up a lot of oil from the beans). When you're ready to serve, strain out beans (keep them to make boozey chocolate covered coffee beans!) and add four ounces of Kahlua. This is the "coffee."

Coffee Simple Syrup

This is a total cinch. Brew (or buy) 4 ounces hot coffee and combine with 3 ounces white sugar. Stir until dissolved, microwaving to a boil as necessary to dissolve sugar. This is the "sugar."

Vodka Whipped Cream

Combine a pint of heavy whipping cream with 1 TBS white sugar, 1 TSP vanilla extract and about 4 ounces of vanilla vodka (i use Stoli Vanil) in a mixing bowl. Whip with electric beaters until thick. This is a little tricky - because of the addition of the vodka the mixture is thinner than is should be and thus doesn't get as whipped as normal whipped cream  (i.e. no peaks; i tried balancing this with more sugar but i think my understanding of chemistry is a little lacking). If you make this ahead of time, be prepared to re-whip it for just a few minutes before you serve it or else it can separate a little. This is the "cream" (hence why it's ok that it's not totally firm whipped).

Serve the components in serving dishes rather than mixing them as individual drinks (i used my cream and sugar dishes for the "cream" and "sugar" and a little pitcher for the "coffee") and allow people to mix them to their taste - just as they would a normal cup of coffee! Pretty cool, no? It makes for a great "dessert" or after dinner drink that's not too sweet (though people can make it really sweet if they want) and is bursting with delicious coffee flavor.

YUM!

This is why i haven't been posting

Hey everyone (and by "everyone" i mean my future self desperately re-reading this in 10 minutes for errors, my sister and... maybe my dad? Are you still out there dad?) - sorry for my total absence lately.

I promise i haven't been holding out on you. Nope, believe it or not, i've actually not cooked A SINGLE THING in the month that has transpired since Thanksgiving. Due to a combination of ridiculous amounts of school work, soul-crushing anxiety about said school work and general laziness, i've managed to go an entire month subsisting on fast food, take out, and scraps of non-food edible items that do not require me to go to the grocery store (i.e. that one night where i ate 7 slices of American cheese just because it would probably stop the hunger pains so i could sleep. Or that afternoon where i found some pudding in the clinic fridge and hovered over it shoveling it into my face like a feral animal).

Anyway here's a picture i drew of my stomach so you'll forgive me (click to enlarge if you want):

Thanksgiving two (or perhaps, Thanksgiving too): the liquid edition

Alright, so on the one hand this will be a rather boring post as it will contain precisely zero pictures. On the other hand, this will be a fascinating and intoxicating post (ha ha) as it revolves entirely around everyone's favorite imbibable (not a real word): booze.

This year my new super-awesome friend Celeste started a holiday tradition that i can truly get behind - Gobble Goblet. Basically, she had the fabulous idea that as much as we all love our families and as much as we love Thanksgiving it can be a little, well, stressful. Why not arrange for a little post-dinner cocktail party where we can all kick back, see our friends for the holiday, and swap crazy family stories over the rims of our martini glasses?

I totally failed on bringing the camera but here are a few of the delicious concoctions that got mixed up in my time tending bar.

Differance

• 2 parts pumpkin vodka (see previous post)
• 1 part ginger liqueur
• Small dollop (half a spoon) pumpkin butter
• Small dollop (half a spoon) real maple syrup

Shake vigorously for a full 40 shakes (important to blend the pumpkin butter and maple syrup properly so they act as a thickening/emulsifying agent) and serve straight up.


The Pleasure Principle

• 1.5 parts cinnamon apple vodka (see previous post)
• 1.5 parts ginger liqueur (or goldschlager - the two will produce different tastes, but both are good)
• Marinated cranberries from cinnamon apple vodka jar
• Splash of apple juice

Take some of the cranberries out of your jar of cinnamon apple vodka and muddle them in the bottom of your martini glass. This can be a little tricky and i was tempted to muddle them mortar and pestle style, but you really want to tangy cranberry-vodka inside the berries so resist the temptation! Pour remaining ingredients (preferably chilled) into the glass and stir. Serve with one of the apples from your jar on the rim.


By this time the dark liquor drinkers were getting a little restless so i deviated from my previously contrived cocktails (those two come straight from November Cohort Communion) and mixed up some new stars.

Persons Unknown

• (Ri) 
• Courvouisier
• Ginger liqueur

Combine equal parts of all and shake vigorously; serve over ice in a highball glass.

This is a variation on my 'house drink' The Draper which is 1.5 parts bourbon to 1 part ginger liqueur served over ice. It was a nicely sweet variant, but a little boozey for my friend Sarah, who added a few squeezes of lime juice and was delighted with the result.

All are good but watch out, all are also very strong! So, though it was a morning-after rather than a night-of, i offer this final recipe for anyone who needs a little post-party pick-me-up (i'm no doctor, but my colloquial sense is that best cures for a hangover are water, vitamins, and/or a little bit more alcohol and this one features good doses of all three!)

Eye Opener

2 parts carrot puree (steam or boil carrots and then puree in a blender until fine)
2 parts orange juice (fresh squeezed is always best)
1 part ginger liqueur

Shake vigorously for a full 40 shakes (because of the pulpiness of the carrot and orange you want to be sure to fuse them so you don't have a separated drink); strain and serve in a juice glass.

Happy (and careful) holiday drinking everyone!

Thanksgiving Brunch

Ah, the holidays: when cooking, eating, and drinking really get their chance to shine. Being the youngest in my family, however, i am always the hosted and never the host when it comes time for festive nomming. For the most part i'm delighted to not be in charge of all the cooking and (especially) cleaning, but it does mean i rarely get to exercise my culinary muscles in some holiday cross training.

We headed to Jordan's family for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but in honor of the most eating-focused and calorically decadent of all the holidays, I decided to whip something up brunch-wise for just the two of us.

The Menu:

• Country french toast with lemon curd and fresh blackberries
• Berry and pomegranate salad
• Potato apple pancakes

(Aw yeah, here comes the feast, y'all)

Neither of us are egg people so the combination of fruit and carbs seemed just perfect to gird our stomachs for the coming debauchery and keep us from starving all day and gorging all night. Please re-create this luscious, sweet brunch whenever you need a special morning (bonus: the curd can be kept for dessert and the whole meal, all prep and active time included, probably took about 50 minutes to make)

Lemon curd:

Ever the academic, i must cite my sources and say  100% jacked the skeleton recipe for this curd from Inn at the Crossroads (originally sourced from Offbeat Home).

Of course though, i made some changes: I used 5 lemons instead of 4 and somehow wound up with about a full cup's worth of zest and juice (not sure what kind of tiny lemons were producing not even a 1/3 of a cup in the recipe). I added about 1/4 cup more sugar to account for the difference, but kept the yolks at 5 (be sure to save the whites for the french toast). I also found my curd needed more like 12-13 minutes in the impromptu double boiler before achieving that nice, thick consistency and I skipped most of the butter. I tasted it right off the double boiler and thought it was phenomenal; only after adding about 2-3 TBS of butter did i think to myself 'wait, what am i doing? Tastes good? It's done.' I LOVE butter, but there's no sense adding a whole stick of the stuff if you can help it, no?

(keep a close eye on your curd: while you don't have to whisk it constantly, it needs pretty steady attention to keep from sticking to the sides)

Mixed berry and pomegranate salad


Listen, this is so easy but it's SO yummy. It's good by itself, it's good on the french toast, it's good later in the night with a little curd for dessert! Combine the seeds of one whole pomegranate, two pints of blackberries, one pint of blackberries, and one pint of strawberries (tops removed and sliced in half) in a medium sized serving bowl. DONE.

Apple and potato pancakes


I love potato pancakes with applesauce so i thought why not combine the apples with the pancake?

Preheat oven to 225. Grate one full granny smith apple and one russet potato (scrubbed). Once grated, take the shredded apple in your hand (should be about a fistful) and squeeze out any excess moisture over the sink; do the same with the potato and repeat for each.

(VERY IMPORTANT to get as much moisture as you can out of your grated material - mine was too wet and i had to add a lot of flour which affected the taste.)

Combine grated apple, potato, one egg, and about 1 TBS of flour in a mixing bowl. I couldn't really decide whether i wanted to go sweet or savory on these so i only lightly salt and peppered which was a mistake. Next time i would generously salt and pepper, and add a little cayenne pepper and 1 TBS of honey.

Heat about 1 TBS of olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Take pancake mixture by the handful and flatten into 1/2 inch thick patties (should be about 4 pancakes worth).  Fry pancakes over medium heat until golden brown, adding oil if the pan looks dry, about 5 minutes. Flip once and fry for an additional 5 minutes. Transfer entire pan to the oven while you make the french toast.

(yum, already getting crispy)

These came out so-so for me - couldn't taste much of the apple but the flour was also overwhelming so i don't know if it just overpowered. Since i couldn't decide sweet or savory i also wasn't sure what to serve them with (sour cream? pumpkin butter?) and potato pancakes always need a little sauce in my opinion. If you're making these be sure to squeeze out the extra moisture, add the cayenne and honey, serve them with applesauce and let me know how it goes!

French toast


Take the reserved egg whites from making the curd and pour them into a shallow dish; combine with a couple dashes of vanilla extract and couple dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk with fork until smooth. Slice a crusty loaf of bread into 1 and 1/2 inch thick slices.

(You two: get ready to get all delicious and sexy with each other)

Heat several tablespoons of butter in a large pan, dredge bread slices generously in egg mix and lay flat in the pan. Fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes each side.

And of course, what holiday breakfast would be complete without a little after meal digestif? Sorry, i got lazy and full and failed to snap pictures but try this lovely cuppa for a cloudy morning. Boil a cup of water and steep three good sized pieces of shaved lemon zest in it for several minutes to produce a lovely lemony tea. Add a TSP of honey and an ounce of Buffalo Trace bourbon for a perfect end to a delicious brunch.

(Happy Thanksgiving everyone!)

The easiest and most delicious soup in the f-ing world.

Let me say first that "easy" does not necessarily register high on my list of important things about cooking. Truth be told, i'm happy to spend hours, even days in the kitchen for worthier traits like "delicious," "healthy," and "able to be packed into lunches." Those matter to me. A lot. But easy? I don't really care if it's easy.

That being said, i nearly passed out at how insanely easy this (also) delicious, healthy, and packable soup is.

But first, credit where credit is due - this recipe comes to you from the wonderful and personable head chef at Caffe Mona, Jen. Caffe Mona (formely J'eet) is a lovely little creperie a few blocks from my house where many a graduate paper has been born as i agonize for hours over lattes and the intricacies of being. When we're both bored, Jen sometimes comes out to chat cooking and bring me treats from the kitchen. As i sat slurping on a recent Lacan reading trip, she asked me how i liked the new menu item i had ordered: tomato chevre bisque.

"Amazing," I exclaimed "it's SO good!" (and i meant it).
"Psh," she replied, "it's SO easy - canned tomatoes, chevre, salt and pepper and garlic. Seriously."

Well, i thought, we'll just see about that won't we?

So on my next trip to the store, after a baffling few minutes spent staring at rows of canned tomatoes (i've never really figured out all the fine details), i opted for 4 large cans of crushed tomatoes. Turns out this was just the right decision - they retained the crunchy seeds and texture i had loved in my Caffe Mona bowful AND i didn't even end up needing to use my immersion blender. I was similarly perplexed as to how much chevre to get (realizing i had failed to ask Jen any semblance of proportions) so i just grabbed 16 oz and called it a night. After all, this was supposed to be easy.

(Alright, i had already opened one can when i realized i had to snap some pics for y'all so there's only 3 here. You should use one more)

Back home, i cracked my cans into my largest stew pot, spooned about 10 oz of chevre in, and turned the heat on medium low. I pounded in hefty doses of salt, pepper, and garlic power (note: i ended up having to do this two or three more times; taste as you go but be aware this one can really handle a good deal of spice) and stirred regularly for the first four minutes or so as the chevre melted in and the red mix became rosy. Then... i didn't know what to do.

(Okaaay, ready! Make magic soup go NOW!)

I mean how the hell does this even work? Just put five things in a pot and a delicious soup emerges? Surely not!

Impatient, i decided to throw in some fresh thyme (about 5 sprigs) and about a tablespoon or two of dehydrated minced onion.

(Thyme and parsley down, rosemary and sage recipes up next)

Then i simply set the timer for 15 minutes, turned the heat to low, and busied my idle hands making some garlic cheesy bread.

Lo and behold, 15 minutes later, a hearty, tasty bisque was born. Yup. Seriously.

(ok, so it still looks like regular old tomato soup. But i swear to you, it tastes incredible)

Try this at home, nonexistent followers, you'll have to experience the ease and the deliciousness yourself to believe it...

Hello there (fall).

This week marks November Cohort Communion.

In my tiny Ph.D. program there are only 5 people total in my cohort (class) and truthfully, they are some of the most awesome people ever. Being graduate students, however, we can often let months lapse in the library, failing to make human contact or see the light of day. Anticipating this, my cohort decided this year to set aside one Friday every month to get together, connect, and relax. Embedded in this friendly show of hospitality (aptly named Cohort Communion) i saw an opportunity to use my friends as human subjects for my latest cocktail recipes...

This being November i thought i'd go with a Thanksgiving theme for this month's communion cocktail and so i've been infusing these two babies for about three weeks now:

(autumnal vodkas)

 Each jar also had 4-5 cinnamon sticks in it that i pulled out after a week or so to prevent the brew from getting overly cinnamon-y. Truthfully the mixtures are definitely drinkable at 1-2 weeks, but the flavors continue to evolve nicely in the 3-4 range.

(makes for a sweet dessert cocktail without any juice or cream)

Apple cinnamon cranberry vodka - throw one full apple (thinly sliced), 5 cinnamon sticks, and about two handfuls of cranberries into your handy Ball or mason jar and top with a decent vodka (you can go with a Smirnoff level for this one as it sweetens as it goes). This is great with apple juice, a little sweet liqueur (cinnamon schnapps or ginger liqueur would be great) or just by itself. Stay tuned for the full recipe i'll be using this vodka in - a lovely little lady i call The Pleasure Principle


(we're psychology grad students so all the drinks have psychology/philosophy names. Deal with it.)

(looking for something to do with that old jack o'lantern? Carve 'er up and soak 'er in vodka)

Pumpkin vodka - stay with me; the resultant drink is actually quite sweet and delicious. Carve a pumpkin into chunks and rub brown sugar on the flesh side; arrange skin side down in a casserole dish with a quarter inch of water in the bottom and roast at 450 until tender. Cram in a jar and pour vodka to cover, but be advised it's best to let this one go two weeks - the gourd-y flavor goes out and it starts to get a bit sweeter after the first week.

I thought i would prefer the apple-cinnamon vodka but actually the pumpkin ended up being the winner of the two for me - quite complex and delicious straight out of the jar. However, it's also lovely tossed up with some ginger liqueur and other fall accouterments. Look for a coming post with recipe for the Differance (yes with an 'a' - go read your Derrida) where i'll put this pumpkiner to good use.

Mmmmm. Tastes like fall.

Welcome foodies

Well, I thought for my first post in this novice gourmand's cooking blog I better include a recipe with at least one of the herbs implicated in my attempt at a blog name. So here goes, everybody, ready? Let's dive in together...

There are some flavor combinations I just can't get enough of. Lemon and garlic happen to be one such combination. Throw in some parsley and it's amazing on, um, food. Pretty much all food. So when I discovered a lemon oil at my market's fill your own oil station and a sale on parsley? Yes please.

A friend invited me over to her house this afternoon for a dissertation chat but as i wiled the morning away on my new (decade old) treadmill, i realized i'd run out of time to go to the store. Never fear; i decided to wing it out of the pantry and simply throw my number one combo on some popcorn for a snazzy snack. My dad always made delicious popcorn on the stove when i was growing up, so this dressed up version is an ode to him.

Parsley Popcorn

Start by heating 3 TBS of oil* in a large, heavy bottom pan over medium high heat. Do take care with the heat and using a suitable pot, my first attempt as a 12 year old (with dad advising on the phone) ended in a wee little kitchen fire. Drop three kernels into the oil and cover with the lid slightly askance; pour an additional 1/2 cup of kernels out and set aside.

* tasty lemon oil in this case but just use canola or regular olive oil if you don't have lemon oil and throw some extra zest in the topping

 (More popcorn advice from my dad? Go for the good stuff - apparently he broke a crown on cheap, generic popcorn once)

When the test kernels have popped you know your oil is hot enough and can pour the remaining 1/2 cup of kernels into the pot. Leave the lid off kilter to allow steam to escape and shake up the kernels every few minutes as the kernels continue to pop. When 2-3 seconds are elapsing between pops you're all set (just don't make the mistake of remarking, "oh, like the microwave popcorn rule?" to my dad who may then grouse at you: "you know, it used to just be the popcorn rule"). Remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.

(popping on the stove - unlike microwaving - usually yields few if any unpopped or burnt kernels. Win.)

Prepare your lemony, garlicky, cheesy, herby topping:

(topping time: shredded pecorino romano, lemon zest, butter, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper)

Mince parsley very finely, aiming to yield about 3 TBS of mince. Microwave 2 TBS butter until melted and zest half a lemon into the butter (that measuring cup hiding in the back contains the butter and zest)

Drizzle 1/3 of the butter over popcorn, toss in 1/3 of the parsley, and sprinkle with pecorino romano (mine's in the giant tub - bless you Costco), garlic powder, salt, and pepper. I didn't think of it at the time but lemon pepper would also be a delicious addition. Mix popcorn with a large spoon and repeat until you're out of topping.

Next time i would probably heat the butter in a small skillet and add finely minced garlic, zest, and the parsley right in to eliminate having to do so much mixing in the bowl. All in all quite tasty and easy though; enjoy!

(soon to be devoured)

[EDITOR'S UPDATE: I did make this again, and i followed my heart in heating the butter up in a small sauce pan, adding a generous sprinkling of garlic powder, lemon zest and a little lemon juice, heating until the butter melted and adding the parsley after removing from heat. It was indeed even more delicious and less labor intensive in the bowl. I also found the flavor deepened such that i only needed 1-2 TBS of cheese - less - and the tastes really popped]