Punch for Independence Day

My husband and I spent some of the holiday weekend in Cleveland, and part of our visit included a get-together at his father's house.  We supplied the punch.

Our original goal was to make a festive red punch, but this recipe was so intriguing to us, we had to give it a try.  It is a pretty amber color instead.  This punch was a hit even with folks who don't like the taste of alcohol.

Independence Day Punch

375 mL rye
750 mL sherry
2 2-liter bottles of ginger ale
orange, sliced

The night before your party, you need to put together the ice ring.  Use one 2 liter bottle of ginger ale to make an ice ring.  Pour half the bottle into a Bundt pan and place in freezer to firm up for a few hours.  Once the liquid is somewhat firm, but not solid, remove the pan and arrange orange slices in a pretty pattern.  Then pour the remainder of the ginger ale bottle into the Bundt pan and place back in freezer.  Leave it be until firm.

Once you are ready to serve, pour rye and sherry into punch bowl, and slightly stir.  Unmold the ice ring and place in the punch bowl.  Open second 2 liter bottle of ginger ale and pour into bowl.   Your punch bowl may not be able to hold the entire bottle of ginger ale, so be careful.

Now it is ready to serve.  The punch becomes smoother as the ginger ale ice ring melts, but some folks may want to add a bit more ginger ale to their glass early in the festivities.   You could also make your ice ring a bit smaller and pour the ginger ale directly into the punch bowl.  We wanted the punch to stay colder longer and therefore preferred a larger ice ring.

Toast with a Tenderloin

While we were in Cleveland last weekend, my husband and I hosted an outdoor party for his family and friends who were not able to join us in Texas for our wedding.  We were joined by some of our good friends from Washington, DC, too.

It was a whirlwind trip - lots of fun, but not really relaxing.  We really didn't have a chance to truly appreciate all the well wishes and special conversations that we had while we were there.  Both of us feel so lucky to have so many fun and considerate people in our life, and we worry they don't realize the depth of our gratitude.

Because of that we decided to plan a relaxing evening at home to go through the congratulatory cards and presents we received and share our thoughts about the success of the party.  I wanted to make something special for the two of us, but nothing too taxing.  We were both still tired and we wanted time to sit back and absorb what we just experienced.

I decided on a pork tenderloin from Niman Ranch and I was inspired by a bottle of tequila sitting on our bar.  I made a margarita-like marinade, let the pork soak it in for a couple of hours, and tossed it on the grill.  I served it with chipotle-spiced beans and rice with green onions.  Then, we toasted our good fortune with a couple of beers.

Margarita Marinated Pork Tenderloin
Makes 3 to 4 servings

2 green onions, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
2 Tbsp flat parsley, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
juice of 1 lime
2 Tbsp tequila
2 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 lb pork tenderloin

Place all ingredients, but pork into a large zip-top plastic bag and combine.  I dropped the limes in after squeezing to enhance the citrus flavor.

Add pork to mixture in bag and seal.   Using your hands work the marinade around and rub it into the pork.

Let it marinate for at least one hour, but not more than 5 hours in the refrigerator.

When ready to grill, remove the pork from the marinade and discard the marinade.

Grill, with grill lid closed, over high heat.  It will likely take not more than 5 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of your tenderloin.

Orangette's Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger

My husband and I are now celebrating a long weekend in his hometown of Cleveland.  To show my appreciation for my in-laws, I decided to bring some banana bread.  While I have a favorite recipe, I thought it would be nice to try out the recipes from Molly Wizenberg's (aka Orangette) book, A Homemade Life, that I recently finished and reviewed.

I modified it slightly to our taste, and we are definitely enjoying it.  We had another slice for breakfast this morning with our coffee.

Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger
Makes 1 standard-size loaf

6 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 oz of chocolate chips
2.5 oz of chopped crystallized ginger
2 large eggs
2 large ripe bananas
1/4 cup low fat plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Set a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a standard-size (about 9 x 5 inches) loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, microwave the butter until just melted.  Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

Add the chocolate chips and crystallized ginger and whisk well to combine.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat eggs with a fork.  Add the mashed banana, yogurt, melted butter, and vanilla and stir to mix well.

Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir gently with a silicone spatula, scraping down the sides as needed, until just combined.  Do not overmix.  The batter will be thick and somewhat lumpy, but there should be no unincorporated flour.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top.

Bake until the loaf is a deep shade of golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  It took me an hour, but I covered it with aluminum foil after about 50 minutes.

Cool the loaf in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes.  Then tip it out onto the rack, and let it cool completely before slicing.

According to the recipe, this bread freezes well when fully cooled.  We started scarfing it down immediately.