Gin Sipping and Porch Sitting

My husband and I are trying to institute a regular cocktail hour in the evenings to transition out of the work day.  It helps us connect and unwind, and I find it especially important as I work from home.

Last night, we took advantage of the pleasant weather and had happy hour on our front porch.  We snacked on tortilla chips with guacamole and imbibed gin cocktails as we were entertained by our noisy neighbors.

One of my favorite warm weather drinks is gin lemonade.  I got this recipe in a supper club several years ago from a lovely woman named Maida. She prepared it with a picnic theme menu while we sat on pillows in her living room.   It was a fun evening that I remember fondly.

Gin Lemonade

Buy a can of Minute Maid frozen lemonade concentrate. Follow directions for preparation, except replace one can of water, with one can of gin. Mix well. Serve over ice. Delicious!

I make this mostly with gin (because I love it), but you could replace it with vodka or bourbon, if you prefer. Don't change the proportions, however. Just stick with replacing one can of water with one can of alcohol. My husband tried to use more and not only did it not taste as good, and he got drunk very quickly.

We drink this all season long. It is very refreshing and so easy. It is also handy to bring on picnics, even in public areas where alcohol is discouraged since it appears you are drinking just lemonade.

To Market, To Market...

I've been jonesing for fresh spring produce, but it is still a bit early here in the DC area. Relief will come soon, though. We are planning a trip down to Texas next week when I'll get to raid my parents' garden and eat things that we won't get here for a few more months. In the meantime, I thought perhaps I could somewhat satisfy my craving by visiting a farmer's market and seeing what they had on tap.

You can find a farmer's market in your area by visiting the US Department of Agriculture's website. http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/

I decided to investigate a market that I had not yet seen on our side of town. (Yep, even out here on the east side...) Well, it is was rather slim pickings with one farm represented, but they were friendly and they brought some good stuff. It was mainly the tail end of winter vegetable harvest, but I know more is on the way.

Check out some of what I got...

I believe the variety of winter spinach I got is Bloomsdale; it is dark-green and crinkled, not like the pointed, smooth-leafed kind I usually see in bags at the supermarket. I felt it would not keep that long, so I wanted to use it right away.

I sought inspiration from Jacques Pepin, (Shout-out to fellow fan and friend, Andrea!) and decided to make a potato and spinach galette. The word galette denotes a flattish, disk-shaped pancake. It has garlic flavored spinach sandwiched between panfried potatoes. (It reminds me a bit of Potatoes Anna that my brother loves, so I will post that recipe another time in the future.)

I made this galette as a side dish with meatloaf (which I turned into sandwiches this morning with vidalia onion slices, see above), but it is hearty enough to be a main course with a green salad or could be included in a brunch. You want to use a nonstick skillet or omelet pan (make sure they are oven-safe) or a cast-iron skillet as I did.

Here's the how-to...

Potato and Spinach Galette

1 pound spinach

1 1/2 pounds potatoes

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

garlic, to taste (my husband and I usually like more garlic than the average person so I won't trouble you with our measurements, but you want to start with at least 1 Tbsp)

salt and pepper

If you plan to bake the galette right away, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. I removed the stems from the spinach and threw away any leaves that were wilted. I also needed to thoroughly wash the spinach. The crinkles were pretty sandy.

I washed and peeled the potatoes, then sliced them thinly with my mandolin. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) I washed the slices, drained them, and patted them dry with paper towels.

In the 10-inch skillet, I heated 1 Tbsp of the oil with the butter until hot. I added the potatoes, and seasoned them with salt and pepper. Saute over medium high heat until all slices are coated with oil and butter and they are becoming transparent. I kept stirring to move the potatoes, but next time I might put the potato slices into the skillet in two batches. I transferred them to a plate and put them aside so I could use the skillet for the spinach.

Put another tablespoon of oil in the pan, add garlic and quickly add the spinach. The garlic will cook really fast and you don't want to burn it. I added a little more salt and pepper and sauted until the spinach was wilted. It was not more than 2 minutes. Take it out of the skillet and set aside.

I then turned off the heat, but I didn't take the skillet off the burner. Add the last tablespoon of oil, and arrange a layer of potato slices across the bottom of the pan. Make two layers of potatoes, using half of the slices. Spread the spinach across the potatoes, and then cover it with the remaining potatoes. You could can prepare the dish up to the point several hours ahead. Just cover the skillet and keep in refrigerator. I wouldn't recommend making it more than 6 or 8 hours ahead of time, though.

Put the skillet in the 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. With the dark, cast-iron skillet, this wasn't necessary, but you may want to put the skillet back on the stove top after baking. If you put it on a burner over medium high for 2 or 3 minutes you can ensure the bottom layer is browned.

Once done, invert the galette onto a large plate and cut into wedges. This picture doesn't really do the dish justice. I promise to work on my picture-taking if you take my word that it looked as good as it tasted, and we enjoyed it.

The recipe is from the cookbook Jacques Pepin's Table.

Braised Short Ribs Equals Happy Husband

As I've mentioned before, my entire family loves to cook and most of our conversations are about what we are made for dinner or what we are about to make for dinner. A few weeks ago, my dad mentioned how he had convinced my mom to make him short ribs for dinner based on a recipe in Fine Cooking magazine. (Great food porn, by the way.) He said it was one of the best things he had tasted in a long while and he encouraged me to give them a try. He also assured me that my husband would love them.

Well, he was right.

I read through the article and studied the pictures, then ad-libbed my way to a delicious dinner. My husband and I were both very happy with the results.

Here is what I did...

Braised Beef Short Ribs

(serves 2)

2 3/4 lbs beef short ribs (4 ribs)

2 Tbsp canola oil

Salt and pepper

1/2 large onion, diced

1 1/2 carrots, diced

Garlic, finely chopped, to taste

Beer

Beef broth

14.5 oz can Rotel tomatoes

Spices, to taste - oregano, chili powder, cumin

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat the canola oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Season the ribs with salt and pepper, and cook, turning with tongs until nicely browned on all sides. This will probably take 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the ribs to a plate and pour off all but a thin layer of the fat from bottom of pan.

Add onions and carrots to pot. Cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bit from bottom of pan until soft and lightly browned, probably 6 or 7 minutes. Add garlic and spices, as you like, and cook, stirring, for another minute.

Deglaze the pot with beer. I used less than 1/2 cup. Pour it in, and cook, stirring to scrape up browned bits from the bottom until reduced. This took a little over a minute.

Transfer ribs back to pot. I made a mixture of beer and beef broth as my braising liquid. It was about 2 cups total and then I dumped in the can of Rotel tomatoes. Bring it all to a simmer, then cover, turn off burner, and put in the oven. Cook, turning the ribs about every 40 minutes, until they are fork tender. This took me just shy of three hours.

When it was done, transfer the ribs to a serving dish. Let the sauce and other solids sit in the pot for bit because you may need to skim off some fat. I didn't have much. Give the sauce a taste and add salt and pepper, if needed. If you like, thin the sauce with a finish of maybe 1 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar and stir. Then, spoon over ribs and serve. Mmmm...you will be quite full.

The Luck of the Irish

Continuing with the St. Patty's Day theme....

We enjoy holidays in our house, and I like to make special meals for each one. It is a tradition from my childhood that we eat corned beef and cabbage, and I'm continuing it with my husband. I crave this dish all year long.

I cook mine on the stove top, boiling it all (beef, cabbage, onions, carrots, and potatoes) in a big pot, but my brother prefers to braise it in the oven.

My husband is very keen on sauces, and because I couldn't bear to watch him dip corned beef in ketchup and hot sauce, I created some special sauces just for him.

Guinness Mustard

This is just what it sounds. I took a hearty brown mustard and added a bit of garlic and a few splashes of Guinness beer, and stirred briskly. Then, I sat down and drank the rest of the beer.

Horseradish Cream

Take one cup of sour cream, add prepared horseradish to taste (I used about 4 Tbsp.), and a splash of dill pickle juice, then stir briskly. Top with chopped dill and chives. Creamy and a little spicy...

I think next year I will try to create corned beef from scratch. Stay tuned...

Top O'the Morning To You...

I wanted to start our St. Patrick's Day off right, so I baked a loaf of lovely Irish Soda Bread.

This recipe was inspired by a friend's grandmother, and it makes one loaf.

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. butter

1 cup raisins

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 cups of buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.

Add the butter and use a pastry cutter to blend until it resembles coarse meal. Then, stir in raisins.

Add beaten egg and buttermilk and mix until it is stiff. You may need to add a bit more flour. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead slightly. Shape into a round loaf.

Transfer dough to a large, lightly greased cast-iron skillet. Score the top of the dough with an "X" shape. Bake the bread until golden and sounds hollow when tapped. It took at least 40 minutes.

I prefer it warm, so what we didn't eat right away, I toasted and spread with butter. Delicious!

Watermelon Agua Fresca

This is one of my favorite summer treats...so refreshing.

Process about 4 cups of cubed watermelon with about 1/4 cup of sugar in a blender. Seedless is best, but you will strain it later, so don't worry if you can't find a seedless melon. Blend until smooth. Pour mixture

through a fine mesh strainer, discarding solids. Stir in 2 cups of water.

Cover and chill until ready to serve. Serve over ice. I also like to add clear rum and lime slices. It makes about 5 cups.

We enjoyed drinking this several times over the summer while sitting on our porch and watching our crazy neighbors.