Red, White and Black Bean Salad
Posted on 29 May 2009 | No responses
After all the meat and beer of the Memorial Day weekend, I was longing for something else to get me going. I decided to adopt a Bob Folse recipe for this tasty salad (which, c’mon, can really serve as a meal). Who doesn’t love beans? And an almost patriotic grouping of beans at that? And yes, I served it in martini glasses. What else would you expect?
the lineup
You know you want it. Tasty, filling and good for you…nice.
Red, White and Black Bean Salad 1 cup red kidney beans 1 cup great northern white beans 1 cup black beans 1/4 cup chopped parsley 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 tbsp creole mustard 2 tbsp sour cream 1/4 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup salad oil (use your favorite dressing) 1/4 cup olive oil salt and pepper to taste hot sauce (tabasco) to taste 1 small red onion, sliced 2 roma tomatoes, diced 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced Soak beans in individual containers overnight. Drain and rinse. Boil beans in separate pans for 45 minutes or until tender, but not mushy. Meanwhile, whisk together the parsley, garlic, mustard and sour cream. Add wine and oils and continue whisking. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce to your liking. When beans are done, drain and rinse under cold water. When ready, toss the beans with the onion, pepper, tomatoes in a bowl with the dressing. Let sit at least 1 hour. Serve. Eat. Enjoy.
Old Fashioned?
Posted on 22 May 2009 | No responses
Here I was, with a bunch of blood oranges I recently picked up from my CSA. What to do? In my wonderings about drinks, I thought about the Old Fashioned. Now, I know there is a debate about whether to muddle some fruit or to not muddle. I find myself in the middle. I like to muddle a bit of fruit to help the flavor, but not to much as to make it overwhelming. I don’t want to claim sides…I actually see the merits of both. But in this post, there will be fruit.
I find the blood orange to give an added taste to the old fashioned. In addition to the taste, the blood orange gives this drink a decidedly stronger color. While slightly darker and more intense, this drink does well after the ice has gotten to know the liquor. I like this cocktail…but hey, give it a try. Let me know what you think.
Blood Orange Old Fashioned 1 tsp of sugar 3 dashes Angostora bitters 1 wheel of blood orange 3 oz of Bourbon Whiskey Muddle the blood orange wheel, sugar and bitters in a double old fashioned glass. Add some crushed ice, bourbon and stir. Add more ice and stir until glass is full. Garnish with a blood orange twist.Loquats: The Cocktails
Posted on 20 May 2009 | No responses
I’ve been wanting to incorporate the loquats in my backyard into cocktails for a while now. Since they are in season, now is my chance. Although slightly high in acidity, they are also high in sugar and and have a nice, sweet crisp taste. Here’s the first one.
2 teaspoons of sugar 10 mint leaves 2 oz light rum club soda Muddle the lime wedges, sugar, loquats and mint in a mixing glass until the sugar is completely dissolved and all juice extracted. Add ice and rum to mixing glass. Shake and double strain into a collins glass filled with crushed ice. Top with club soda and add 1-2 mint sprigs for the garnish.
I found this drink to be incredibly refreshing. The sugar along with the sweetness of the loquats combined well to offset the limes for a clean flavor allowing the mint to express itself in good form with the rum. A bit more subtle than the usual mojito with the addition of the loquat juice, but with an added taste and a slightly different texture (along with a lovely orange color). Perfect for an afternoon cocktail in the backyard.
I continued along a similar path for the next cocktail…using Dale DeGroff as an influence here while staying with the mint to help move things along. Loquats just seem destined to be paired with whiskey…and so be it.
I found this to be one hell of a drink. The multiple flavors just really fly at you from the first sip. The curacao and lemon work together well giving a base balance while the loquat adds a taste and texture that works spectacularly with the sweetness of the bourbon. The mint is always a pleasure, elevating the drink both in taste and scent. This is definitely on my list of go to cocktails (at least until the fall when my tree becomes dormant for another six months).
Loquats
Posted on 19 May 2009 | No responses
Loquats aren’t the most widely known fruit. In fact, most people, if asked, wouldn’t even be able to recognize them. Since I lucked out and happen to have a ginormous loquat tree in my backyard, I figured it was on my shoulders to help spread the word. A loquat is a small yellow/orange fruit that grows in clusters on trees. Each fruit is about 5cm long and are generally oval in shape. Supposedly they are a distant relative to the apple, but they taste like a combination apricot/peach/plum.
Loquats are native to China, although it has been grown in Japan for over a thousand years (a common loquat nickname is the “japanese plum”). It has been grown for over a century here in America, although mostly in sunny and warm climates such as California and Texas. Loquats are high in pectin and acid content and fairly high in sugar content. This makes them well suited for jellies and jams, but also lends to mixing well in cocktails (as I have found out).
My dog, Emma, loves them and if I can’t find her in the house during spring or summer, she is usually out back happily eating whatever ripened fruit has fallen to the ground. My dog aside, each fruit contains about 4-5 stones (seeds) inside that must be discarded as they contain a small amount of cyanide and should not be eaten…unless you feel lucky. Truth be told, they are a lot of work for such little fruit…but damn if they aren’t tasty.
While loquats may be hard to find in farmer’s markets or supermarkets you can try to find them in (if you have one) Chinatown or Chinese groceries where they show themselves often. Since I have about a gazillion loquats on my tree right now, I figured I’d post a few things to get rid of do with them.
First, I wanted to jump to dessert, because why not. These things are just crying out for a cobbler and that’s what I did. First thing you need to do is get 2lbs of loquats (yeah, I measured it on a bathroom scale…so what?). The hard part is that you have to cut off both ends, remove the seeds/stones and surrounding membrane. **warning–this takes waaayyyyyy longer than you think (2 f’ing pounds worth). Quarter the loquats and toss with the rest of the filling in a 9×9 inch glass pan. Let all that set for about 30 minutes while you whip together the topping. Go ahead and preheat the oven to a toasty 400 degrees.
you try making this picture look good
Combine all the topping ingredients except for butter and buttermilk. Add butter and mix (I did it with my hands) until it is somewhat smooth. Stir in the buttermilk until combined…but don’t over mix to a point of smoothness. Use a large spoon to drop spoonfuls of dough over the filling, leaving some space between drops to allow dough to expand when baking. I sprinkled a couple teaspoons of sugar on top just before putting it in the oven.
pre-oven
Voila! This desert tastes amazing…especially topped with vanilla ice cream. I didn’t have time to get a pic of it on a plate as it was devoured by a pack of wolves before I had the chance, but take my word for it. Make this if you can. Here are the details.
Loquat Cobbler
Filling: 2 lbs loquats, seeded and quartered
7 TBS Sugar
1 TB All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
1/4 teaspoon Orgeat Syrup
1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Topping: 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour 3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons sugar (reserved)
4 TBS unsalted butter cut into bits
1/2 cup Buttermilk well shaken
Toss all filling ingredients together in a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie plate and let stand until juicy, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F.
Mix together flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and 1 teaspoon sugar in a bowl. Blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture is roughly smooth. Stir in buttermilk with a fork just until combined.
Drop rounded spoonfuls of dough over filling, leaving spaces in between to allow topping to expand.
Sprinkle topping with remaining 2 teaspoons sugar. Bake cobbler in middle of oven until the topping is golden brown and hopefully the fruit is tender, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly, about 15 minutes, and serve warm. Best with ice cream.