Making a Cocktail

Earlier this summer, I went on a liqueur making binge. Fruit was abundant. Vodka was cheap. I had some jars. I sort of admitted it was a binge when I wrote about it here.

Now, three-four-five months later, I have nearly full quart jars of sour cherry, apricot, peach and blackberry liqueurs and two quarts of limoncello. That's a lot of liqueur, and I've started to wonder what the heck I'm going to do with all this fruity sweet liqueur. (I've still got pear/star anise and apple/cinnamon brewing.)

And then, along came my hero, David Lebovitz, writing about sidecars.

Equal parts Citrus Juice, Cognac (i.e. booze), Triple Sec (sweet fruity liqueur) - shake and serve in a sugar coated glass.

Now, I'm ready to make some cool cocktails. How about Tequila and Apricot? Vokda and Sour Cherry? Rum and Peach?

Tonight, it was Lemon Juice, Peach Liqueur and Cognac. Delicious.

Limited only by your imagination.

In a pretty bottle, these fruit liqueurs make a great gift, especially when paired with a cocktail recipe. This year, I'll be suggesting the Sidecar.

Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans

The menu for Thanksgiving is finished.
The menus for the first set of houseguests (next week) is finished.
The menus for the second set of houseguests is finished.
The menu for the Tree Trimming party is finished.
I've made all the shopping lists.
I have no more words in me.
Blog entry is beyond my little brain.

For dinner I made Rancho Gordo's black beans, called Midnight beans. They were really delicious. Here's my sure fire method for cooking beans, requiring absolutely no soaking. If you have a slow cooker, it's even easier.

Rinse dried beans in a lot of cold water.
In a large stockpot, add rinsed beans, one medium onion, chopped, one tablespoon butter.
Pour boiling water over the beans to cover by about 2". Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer until done. White beans take about 1.5 hours. Black beans take about 3 hours. But the amount of time is directly related to the freshness of the bean. Salt the beans, to taste, about 30 minutes before they are done.

Beans can be frozen in ziplock bags.

Home Again Cookies

Time to own up.

I've decided to write a blog post every day in November. It's part of something called, alternately, NaBloPoMo or NaMoWriMo – a country cousin to the National Novel Writing Month. I don't know if I need to sign up somewhere, or if there is a website organizing the movement. All I know is, I'm going to try to blog every day. Just for the sheer exercise of writing on a daily basis.

I started this blog as a way to journal my way through a confusing year. The year of stepping into the kitchen in some sort of meaningful way. And I get lazy at times, or think I have nothing of interest. This daily-blogging for November will keep me moving. So, let me apologize now for some less-than-stellar posts that are likely to come from this activity. I missed one day, and already am wracked with guilt, but hope to have a two post day soon.

These cookies are delicious, and that seems reason enough to post.

We were away this weekend. I was so happy to see my kitchen tonight. Really, more than usual. From the moment I woke up in the hotel room early this morning, I thought about what I would make for tonight's dinner. Roasted sweet potato and chickpeas and grilled brussel sprouts - two fantastic, easy, tasty recipes I found on the internet this week.

The recipes were so easy, and I really wanted to spend more time in my kitchen, so dessert was in order. I was limited to what was in the pantry, as we had travelled much too much already, and I was not going to the grocery store.

I love oatmeal cookies - they feel almost healthy - whole grains, right? Tonight, I wanted a salty, sweet, soft cookie and I wanted chocolate, and this is what I put together.


Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook
makes 3 doz 2" cookies

4 oz butter, room temperature
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 c whole milk
1/3 c crystallized ginger, chopped
2/3 c golden raisins
2/3 c semi sweet chocolate chips
2/3 c salted peanuts

Line two baking sheets with parchment.
Preheat oven to 350•
Cream butter and sugar in the mixer.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add vanilla.
Whisk the dry ingredients together.
Add the dry ingredients in two additions, add the milk between the additions.
Stir in the fruit, nuts and chocolate.
Drop about 1 Tbls of the cookie dough out on the parchment, placing about 1" apart.
Bake 15 minutes, until just turning golden.
Cool on a rack.

List Making

I'm feeling the pressure of the holidays already. It's less than three weeks until Thanksgiving and I haven't started making my lists. I've got the menu pretty well figured out (considered an Ode to the last Gourmet magazine - cooking their entire Thanksgiving dinner, but can't give up my favorites.) Now, it's time to get organized.

There will be a list for grocery shopping, a list of serving dishes and utensils. Lists of table setting needs, flowers, vases. Lists outlining breakfast and dinner Tuesday and Wednesday, as we have houseguests. And a timeline of what must be done in the kitchen every day of that week.

Thanksgiving is relatively easy. Only seven at the table, all good friends and family.

Friday is a whole different animal. It's our annual party - The Dead Poultry Society. It's always a great get-together, with somewhere between 50 and 75 friends, friends' families, out of town guests, and, pretty much anyone who shows up at the door!

The DPS was begun years ago by my parents and their Berkshire-weekend-home neighbors, who would have Thanksgiving at their own homes, and then gather on Friday sharing leftovers .

We've expanded the idea. While we encourage attendees to bring any leftovers they want to add to the table, mostly they bring wine. And, I plan the cooking with both days, and all those people, in mind.

Frankly, I'm so exhausted by the time dinner is on the table Thursday, I can barely taste anything. I enjoy the food so much more on Friday. Certainly, there are foods that are prepared just for Friday's get-together. Most specifically - the SANDWICH BAR. Who doesn't love a Thanksgiving leftover sandwich? I bake breads and rolls, put out the pickles, sauerkraut and chutneys put up over the summer, and we all belly up.

There's one other reason to host the Dead Poultry Society. Eight desserts. I can never decide between cherry pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pecan pie, cranberry tart, lemon meringue pie, and heaven knows what else.

Today, we're attending a family wedding in Michigan. We'll head home tomorrow and I intend to start those lists on the plane. While I have already ordered two turkeys, I'll place orders with my favorite farmers for fruit, vegetables, fish, and dairy, butter and cheeses this week. Sadly, this will be the last time I see most of the farmers until next Spring.

I love this time of year. And I love Thanksgiving most. It's such a nice holiday - no religious significance, no gift-exchanging awkwardness, nothing but the celebration of food. My kind of day.

Packing for a Trip

We're heading to Michigan tomorrow for a wedding. It's a very quick trip - we're both busy with work and life - so we'll be back on Sunday.

We've done these trips before, for other family functions, and it's always important to carry some snacks. Everybody's happier when there is something to munch on. Tonight, I did a little prep work and made some roasted almonds and some granola for the trip. And I bought some dark chocolate almonds at Trader Joes. This is our road food.

Sweet and Salty Almonds

1 lb. raw whole almonds, skin on
2 Tbls honey
2 tsp canola oil
3 Tbls tamari
2 Tbls turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 325
Roast almonds for 10-15 min, until they smell nutty and are toasted.
In a large heavy skillet, heat the honey, oil and tamari until bubbling, then toss in roasted almonds and cook until dry.
Toss into a bowl, sprinkle the sugar over and stir around until well and very lightly coated.
Spread on a parchment lined sheet pan to cool.

That's Fresh

I spent a great day today at Springfield Farm in Sparks, Maryland. I have a lot to say about the visit, but have to organize all my notes.


In the meantime, here's an amazingly cool thing that occurred. I was walking among the turkeys with Farmer David Smith, and there were two eggs, just lying on the ground. David picked them up and handed them to me. I slipped them in my pocket and brought them home.

I decided on that bistro favorite, salad with eggs. One of my favorite combinations. I had a bag of the most lovely arugula (from Red Bud Farm), tossed it with fig vinegar, olive oil, shallot, pepper and fleur de sel, then fried the two turkey eggs in olive oil until the edges were crispy and browned. Add a few baguette slices with aged goat cheese, toasted - chevre chaud. It was heavenly.

Eating Like A Peasant - Onion Soup

I've not really been in the mood to cook the last two days. When I feel this way, I turn to the old stand-bys and onion soup is certainly one of the easiest, cheapest, tastiest dinners around. Here's an quick, incredibly easy, dinner using one of those 6c bags of stock in your freezer.

I started making this recipe back in college, when I was living on a very tight food budget. Tonight, I supplemented with an arugula salad with crispy bacon, minced shallot, olive oil and lemon juice. And a lovely fresh baguette baked up earlier today. Oh, and a Cote de Rhone. That was critical.


It's renewed my zip and I'm going to be ready to cook dinner again tomorrow.

French Onion Soup a la Julia
Serves 4

2 lbs. onion
4 Tbls butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbls flour
1/2 c white wine
6 c rich chicken stock
2-3 Tbls Cognac
8 Baguette slices
1/4 lb. Parmesian Cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler (shredded will work here, but grated will not)

Equipment: four oven-proof bowls

Cut the onions in half vertically. Lay the onion halves down on the cutting board and slice across the onion, into half-moons, as thinly as possible.

Heat the butter in a large, heavy stock pan. Add the onions and get them sweating and breaking down. Sprinkle salt, pepper and sugar over the onions, toss and allow them to caramelize.

Add the flour and cook until everything turns nice and brown - about five minutes.

Add the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up the good bits.

Add the chicken stock and allow the soup to simmer for 45 minutes.

Add the cognac and bring back to a simmer.

Preheat the broiler.

Slice a baguette and put two pieces of bread in the bottom of each bowl. Place the bowls on a sheet pan lined in parchment paper.

Fill the bowls with the soup and place the shaved cheese across the surface of the soup/bread.

Slip under the broiler for two or three minutes, watching carefully, until the cheese bubbles.