Scorpion Punch

R. loves mezcal, which I’d describe as tequila-plus-campfire…very smoky. So when he saw this bottle of Scorpion Mezcal on super sale at the local liquor store ($50 $18 ) he bought it, not knowing anything about the brand other than it featured a scorpion at the bottom instead of the usual worm (see him up there?). At the register the salesperson told him that that bottle had been on the shelf so long the employees had a betting pool on who would finally buy it and when. They asked to take R’s picture so they could show the others

R. might like sipping this stuff straight, but I’m not there yet. So we googled “mezcal cocktails” and found something to try. We took a house trip to the liquor store again and then started measuring and pouring into our makeshift cocktail mixer. Here’s Aj pouring in the agave syrup…

What’s in this stuff? Besides mezcal there’s Averna, agave, ginger beer, lemon juice, and grapefruit juice. The recipe we found was for a whole punchbowl’s worth of drink, so we cut it into fifths. 

I liked it a lot. But it’s really strong. The carbonation meant it needed to be consumed in one sitting, which we managed as a group of three but just barely. We made it again this past week and just put everything into the mason jar except the ginger beer so that it’s like a readymade mix in the fridge. That way it can be spread out over a few days…just mix it up with some ginger beer as you go. 

Pear, Goat Cheese, & Honey Tart

Another fave coworker has flown the coop Last time this happened I sewed a dress in sadness. This time we took personal days together and drove all over town so C. could experience her Boston Bucket List. I feel both are good plans, it’s just a matter of whether you want a garment or a cannoli at the end of the day. The Bucket List included (from top to bottom), the lookout at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Paul Revere in the North End, and Mike’s Pastry for some florentine cannolis. C. has moved to Seattle and made me promise to visit when we go back to Oregon.

For Thanksgiving we stuck around Boston…our third annual friendsgiving. I whipped up this Pear, Goat Cheese, & Honey Tart. I looked at some things online and then just kind of winged it. Nothing quite so delicious as honey whipped into goat cheese.

 

Pear, Goat Cheese, & Honey Tart
by Foxflat

8-10 oz. of plain goat cheese
1/2 cup honey (reserve a few tablespoons for drizzling)
4-5 ripe pears
1 piecrust (I used premade but click here for my go-to homemade recipe)
1 tart pan

Preheat the oven to 375F. Press the crust into the tart pan. Cream the goat cheese and the honey until smooth, then spread to the edges of the piecrust in a thin layer. Peel and slice the pears and arrange on top of the honeyed cheese. Start with the outside ring of pears, and then arrange an inner ring. Drizzle the reserved tablespoons of honey on top. Bake until golden brown (30-40 min). Let cool and remove from the tart pan for serving.

Ombre cake and oreo cakeballs

I destroyed the kitchen yesterday making two new desserts for a friend’s 30th house party. First a four-layer purple ombre cake and then some oreo cakeballs. Both things that had been showing up on pinterest and I wanted to try…

I’ll start with the cakeballs. I used this recipe but with sprinkles (obviously needed!) and Trader Joe’s oreos and lowfat cream cheese. A cakeball is still a cakeball – these are not healthy – but the swaps help a little bit (no hydrogenated oil, etc.) and even more importantly, I don’t think the swaps make a noticeable difference in taste or texture.

As I was packing up the plate to go home a woman ran up and yelled, “OMG did you make those?!” And then when I said yes she gave me a great big bear hug. Haha. Always fun to get unsolicited tipsy hugs from strangers for your party contribution.

Next, the ombre cake. This required:
- 2 boxes of Duncan Hines white cake mix
- a jar of raspberry preserves (to spread between the layers)
-  4 cake pans (I own 3, so I had to bake in two stages)
- one homemade chocolate frosting recipe taken from the back of the cocoa tin

I made the double cake mix in one big bowl, added a couple drops of coloring, stirred, and filled the first pan. Then I added more coloring to the bowl and repeated the process. I had to eyeball how much to pour in each pan…and as you can see not all of the layers are the same height, but at that point I didn’t have enough clean dishes to spread the batter between four bowls.

Here’s the layers all stacked together with raspberry jam in between:

Then the frosting! Someone who likes cake more than me might want to argue about the merits of homemade cake, but me, I can’t really tell the difference between it and the boxed stuff. I don’t think most people can. Homemade frosting, on the other hand, is 100% worth the time. People go bonkers for it.

The birthday girl was soooo excited to see the color layers. She had also had a few gin cocktails by then, but hey, regardless the cake was a hit. I couldn’t do all that work and not have a picture of the layers, so while she kept most of the leftovers I did squirrel one slice home at the end of the night so I could photograph it.

Curried Chicken Rice Salad

I hate packing a lunch in the morning – it seems there’s never time for it no matter how early I get up. As my mom would say, “you get that honest.” Granted my mom was trying to get ready for work with two kids around, but after a certain age that also meant we could help. I remember many mornings with her tethered to the curling iron and shouting, “Katie can you make me a sandwich for lunch?” It was always the same: raisin bagel, ham, and farmers cheese, wrapped in a paper towel. (Mom, if you’re reading, did you like eating the same thing every day?)

Repetition…I must get that honest too. I don’t eat the same thing every day, but I do eat the same thing for a week. The lunch-making solution I’ve come to is cooking up a colossal amount of something over the weekend and separating it into meal-sized pyrex dishes. Each morning I grab a container as I run out the door.

This Curried Chicken Rice Salad is one of my favorite lunches. It has a little bit of everything…sweet, spice, cilantro, carbs, veggies, and protein. It keeps well (the flavors actually get better as they sit) and is interesting enough to eat for a week. I like it with pita bread or crackers. The recipe below makes a lot, so if you’re not going to a potluck, cooking for a crowd, or wanting to eat it for a week, cut it in half.

Curried Chicken Rice Salad - adapted from Kitchen Sense by Mitchell Davis
This is a tangy curried dish best served cold.  I use supermarket rotisserie chicken because it’s quick, affordable, and (let’s be honest) delicious, but cooked chicken breast would work just as well. Once you’ve made the recipe as is, try experimenting with other veggies and proteins. It’s a great way to clean out the fridge and/or use up leftover cooked rice.

2/3 cup cider vinegar
2/3 cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
1 cooked supermarket rotisserie chicken, with the chicken removed and cubed
3-4 cups cooked rice, cooled to room temperature
4 large carrots, grated
4 scallions, chopped
1 to 2 cups of cooked corn (frozen or fresh, not canned)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper

Combine vinegar and raisins in a small bowl and microwave for 2 minutes, then let sit. Mix curry powder and 3 tablespoons water to make a runny paste, set aside. In a cast-iron or frying pan, heat oil over med/high heat, add onion and chicken, and cook until the onions start to soften. Add the garlic and ginger, then cook a few minutes longer, stirring often. Stir in the curry paste and cook until the water has evaporated and you can smell the spices. Turn off the heat, then pour in the raisin/vinegar mixture and use a wooden spoon to stir it in, scraping the spices off the bottom of the pan. Let this mixture cool to room temperature.

While the chicken mixture cools, start chopping and grating! Mix the rice, carrots, scallions, corn, and cilantro in a large bowl. Once the mixture is cool, pour it into the large bowl and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

2011 in review

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Last night we were musing that since the world ends in 2012, we might as well live the next 12 months like there won’t be any after. But before we go wild, it’s fun to look back on the last 12 months…

There was the cooking. For the first time I tried tamales, scape pesto, fried green tomatoes, and fried rice balls. The best were the rice balls.

There was knitting and sewing. A few firsts: knitting a shawl, trying 2-color stranded, publishing a sewing pattern, and publishing a knitting pattern. In total, 19 finished objects, the 19th being a bear hat sent to Colorado for a very cute baby Nels…

Even more important than making objects and meals though, this year we worked at making Boston our home. Looking at a year’s worth of photos reminded me of all our explorations, adventures, friends, and visitors.

All of this making and adventuring wouldn’t be the same without a certain tall blond student and a graying hound dog….

…and without YOU! Thank you for reading, commenting, and offering advice, insight, and encouragement. I’m so thankful for the community created here and I look forward to another year.

Deep Dish Pumpkin Pecan Pie

I don’t like pumpkin pie for the same reason I don’t especially like yogurt, mashed potatoes, pudding, or creamed soups. No textural interest. I don’t think I was ever that keen on smooshy food, but my freshman year of college my jaw was surgically broken and then banded shut for 8 weeks. I got sick of foods that didn’t require chewing. If you served me one of these mushy things at your dinner table, I would eat it. No problem. But I wouldn’t choose it from a buffet line.

Searching recipes for Thanksgiving a couple years ago, I stumbled upon the remedy for pumpkin pie: covering it in a layer of pecan pie. The pecans add punch – sweetness, saltiness, crunch. The pumpkin, which always had a lovely flavor, lends a smooth heartiness.

I concocted a deep dish version of this pie for Thanksgiving this year. It took a loooong time to bake, but was worth the wait.

This was our second Thanksgiving in Boston. Last year our friends from Oregon came to visit, and this year we walked down the street to a classmate’s house. They put together a great “Friendsgiving,” with ham, turkey, all the trimmings, and approximately one pie per person.

I love Friendsgiving.

We finished up our leftover pie for lunch today. You’re probably all pied out after your own Thanksgiving, but bookmark this one for next year….

DEEP DISH PUMPKIN PECAN PIE

• 4 eggs, divided
• 2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch nutmeg and ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup light or dark corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• (optional) whole pecans for decorating
• 1 prepared deep dish pie crust

Preheat oven to 350°

In a medium bowl, combine: 2  of the eggs, pumpkin, 1/2 cup of the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Spread in prepared pie crust.

In  a medium bowl, beat remaining 2 eggs slightly. Stir in corn syrup and remaining 1/2 cup sugar, then butter and vanilla. Stir in chopped pecans. Carefully spoon over pumpkin mixture and use spatula to spread evenly.

Place 5 whole pecans on top of the pecan mixture, evenly spaced in a circle at the pie’s center. Continue placing whole pecans in a radial pattern all the way to the edge of the pie.

Bake 70 to 90 minutes or until filling is set around edge. Cool pie completely on wire rack.

Can you re-use container garden soil?

Yesterday we winterized the balcony garden. Here it was in its prime:

Here it is now:

There was a lot of soil to deal with. Can you re-use container garden soil? Most of what I’ve read online advocates for starting fresh each year, but that’s expensive. And I don’t know how we would dispose of this year’s piles (I’m imagining some kind of illegal midnight dirt-dump at the edge of Fresh Pond).

I was encouraged by this chat thread and this website to try recycling our soil. Mixing in new organic matter (manure, compost, etc.) replenishes the minerals and improves the drainage, so I emptied our backyard composter and refilled it with alternating layers of maple leaves and container soil.

The (mostly) composted kitchen scraps from last year got added to the potato box. I sandwiched them between layers of soil and then threw all of the pulled garden plants on top with another layer of maple leaves. We’re going to buy soil amendments next year, but that’s still cheaper than starting from scratch.

The winterizing project left us with a clean porch, dirty hands, and a little container of tiny green tomatoes.

I’ve always wanted to make fried green tomatoes. The film of the same name is one of the first PG13 movies my mom let me watch. Some of the plot points escaped me then…like the fact that Frank was actually turned into BBQ for the whistlestop patrons, or that Ruth and Idgie were in a loving lesbian relationship…but I came away from it loving Jessica Tandy. And wondering what fried green tomatoes tasted like.

Turns out they don’t taste like a heck of a lot. That was our initial impression anyway.

I salted the slices, waited 15 min, then blotted off the extra moisture with a towel. They got a dip in beaten egg, then dry Jiffy cornbread mix (cheap, tasty, and self-rising). I fried them in the iron skillet and laid them out on paper towels to drain.

The cornbread mix gave them a great crunchy texture, it’s just the taste that was under-whelming. They need something to help draw out the tang of the tomatoes. I mixed up a little dip for them that was 1 part plain yogurt and 1 part Tapatio hot sauce. WHA-BAM they came alive! Much, much better.

Mini Apple Pies for a Picnic on the Charles

This weekend was Head of the Charles, a great big regatta on the Charles River. Prior to this, my only experience as a rowing spectator was in 4th grade, watching my best friend demonstrate how the rowing machine worked in her dad’s home office. So on Saturday I was a clueless fan, enjoying the weather and people-watching, but unaware of what good rowing even looks like.

Our friends asked us to join them at the regatta as part of their pledge to “be tourists in their own city.” You know…do all the Boston-y stuff that you’d typically just make an effort to do if friends were visiting. I like that. What would you do as a tourist in your own city?

Our friends also suggested bringing a picnic to the regatta. Very smart. With the whole spread laid out on the banks of the Charles, we got a lot of wistful glances from passersby.

I wanted to use up the last of the Macoun apples from our trip to the orchard a few weeks ago, but in something more portable than a pie or crisp. I was inspired by Soup Addict’s Apple Pear Honey Creme Tiny Pies to pull out the muffin tin and try some mini pies….

Ohhhh and they did not disappoint. We ate one warm from the oven with ice cream before leaving for the regatta, which was the best. But I ate the final one today for breakfast, and even two days old (and cold) it was tasty.

Mini Apple Pies
Crust: Click for my family’s no-fail crust recipe. I was out of shortening and used all butter…super rich and tasty. Cut out circles of dough with a water glass, then press them into a greased muffin tin. Press the dough upwards with your thumb so that it just rises above the edge of the muffin cup.

Filling: Peel and slice 5-6 tart(ish) apples. Add 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and the juice from half a lemon. Mix, then fill each muffin cup 3/4 full.

Topping: Mix 2/3 cup each of brown sugar, flour, and old-fashioned oats, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cut in 1/3 cup butter with a pastry cutter (or two knives) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Spoon topping over each mini pie.

Bake 350 degrees until bubbly and topping is slightly browned.

DIY Easy Italian Giardiniera

One of the first places recommended to us when we moved to Boston was Russo’s – a top grocery destination in Watertown. They have every piece of produce you can think of, as well as homemade breads, local cheeses, and prepared desserts. And the prices are very reasonable.

This spring at Russo’s I picked up a tub of something called Giardiniera because it looked like pickled veggies, and hey, I love anything pickles. This stuff was awesome! Sour and spicy and crisp. A little googling and I found a description:

Giardiniera is an Italian or Italian-American relish of pickled vegetables in vinegar or oil. Italian giardiniera is also called “sotto aceti”, which means “under vinegar”, a common term for pickled foods. It is typically eaten as an antipasto or with salads.

I guess there’s a Chicago version that’s spicier and oilier and used as a sandwich condiment. Read’s tried it and says it’s good. I wanted to make the Russo’s kind though, so I found a recipe for homemade giardiniera on The Parsley Thief.

I changed the recipe slightly by adding more hot peppers and by boiling the vinegar/water/salt solution prior to pouring it into the jars. The pre-boiling is how I make fridge pickles, and I think it helps give the veggies an extra infusion of flavor without sacrificing crispness.

Easy Italian Giardiniera
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 bunch of fresh carrots
1 head of cauliflower
1 onion
2 cucumbers
1 bunch fresh dill
8 cloves garlic
a dozen small dried hot peppers
3 cups white vinegar
3 cups water
6 tablespoons pickling salt

1. Chop up and wash assorted veggies.
2. Wash and dry 8 pint mason jars (I reused a couple Claussen jars too). Drop 1 clove of garlic, a couple sprigs of dill, and 2-3 dried hot peppers into each jar.
3. Pack jars full of chopped veggies.
4. Boil vinegar, water, and salt over the stove. Ladle into jars and seal. Let the jars cool and then store them in the fridge.

We were supposed to wait a week before breaking into the stash, but I only lasted 12 hours. Mmmm this stuff is really tasty! I just eat it out of the jar. I think it would be good alongside something hot and oily like french fries, but then again, I think about everything is good with french fries.

I will sign off here with some furry cuteness. It’s cooled off enough that we can rely on box fans and open windows again. Edith watches the neighbors’ comings and goings from the kitchen.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Today the NYTimes reported that 1,400 heat records were broken across the country. As a kid this would’ve been the kind of week where we played in the basement and then slept on the porch. My coworker said they used to stick their feet in buckets of cold water and go to the movies (not at the same time). What’s your tactic for sticking out a heat wave?

My rule is NO KITCHEN HEAT. Maybe some flame for the morning coffeepot, but definitely no dinnertime stove or oven. This week we got two bunches of garlic scapes in our CSA, and after googling them to find out what they were, I set about finding a heat-less recipe for them.

Pesto seemed to be the big winner. Most recipes called for blending the scapes with basil, and guess what else came in the CSA? Perfect. My pesto is an amalgamation of recipes from Soup Addict, The Hungry Mouse, and SkinnyTaste.

1 bunch of basil, washed and patted dry

12-15 garlic scapes, flower buds cut off and roughly chopped

1/2 cup of olive oil

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/2 – 1 cup shredded parmigiano cheese

salt to taste

The food processor I used isn’t big or powerful, so this is as smooth as I could get. A better processor could provide a creamier consistency. Just blend the basil and scapes until they’re paste-like, slowly add the oil so it emulsifies, then add the pine nuts and cheese and pulse til smooth. Salt to taste.

As we ate I surveyed the heat’s toll on our balcony garden. There’s bad news and good news. I’ll start with the bad news first: I’ve thrown in the towel on the pallet garden. It’s been a long slow demise, and this heat is the final nail in the coffin. I don’t think I made a good soil choice; the plants have remained stunted and the flowers that do emerge wither and die instead of bear fruit. Also – and I’ve complained about this before – it’s very difficult to water. I about have to lay it flat every time I want to give it a good soak. Goodbye pallet garden

The other containers are better. I harvested several bowls full of peas before replacing the plants with a cucumber start and it’s spreading along the railing. Tomatoes are ripening. Basil is getting taller. The potatoes are still going bonkers, but I’m a little nervous because when I dig around in the box I can’t seem to locate any baby potatoes. Am I right to be worried?