Infused tequila and vodka (yeep!)

Back in March I spent a few days in the wonderful city of San Antonio.  I love that city, and man do they love their food.  While there, I learned how to make infused spirits from the good folks at The Fruteria.  Although I am still working out the spirits-to-mixers ratio, I thought I would share what I've learned so far, so that you can get a jump on your summer cocktail planning.

Alcohol: Vodka or tequila, a full bottle.  Now, I was afraid to use the super cheap stuff, so I went mid-range and chose Sky Vodka and Sauza Silver Tequila.  Sky has a simple clean flavor, and I've always trusted Sauza.

Fruit: You can use any fruit combination you want, or single fruits.  Following the recommendations from The Fruteria and my own concoctions so far, here's a few to start you off with:

• 1 pint strawberries/ 2 bananas/ 2 cinnamon sticks (tequila)
• 1/2 pint strawberries/4 plums (vodka or tequila)
• 1 english cucumber (vodka)
• 1/2 cantaloupe/ 1/2 honeydew melon (tequila)

(I've got a lemon infused vodka infusing away in my kitchen right now.  I'll let you know how it turns out)
Make sure your fruit is washed, scrubbed, chopped, and peeled/pitted/stems removed.  Also, you will need a large jar (I use a 1/2 gallon mason jar) that has either been run through the dishwasher or sanitized with boiling water.  Put your fruit in the jar, then fill it up with the alcohol--making sure you add enough alcohol to completely cover the fruit so it's swimming around a bit.  Some will float to the top, but that's ok.  Put a tight fitting lid on the jar, and put it in a corner in the kitchen--away from heat or kids.

After 4-5 days, strain the liquid into another jar and discard the fruit.  Well, you could eat the fruit, but just be sure you are staying in for the night and don't have to drive or do anything responsible.
At this point, you can repeat the whole process and let steep for another 4-5 days if you want the alcohol to have a nice strong flavor.  I usually am too lazy to do that, so my alcohol has a light flavor.  It will keep beautifully in the fridge for a long time.

You really need to put some thought into the drink you are going to mix with this stuff.  The Fruteria told me they only use fresh squeezed fruit juices, tons of ice, and NO syrups, added sugars, or anything artificial.  I think they are right, it would ruin the flavor.  Usually, you can just fill a margarita glass with a lot of ice, squeeze a few oranges and a lime or 2 in, and then add your shot.  If you have a juicer, fresh pineapple juice adds a nice balance to the orange and lime.

For the cucumber vodka--mix it with seltzer water, fresh mint leaves, and a small squeeze of lime.
I think when my lemon vodka is done, I am either going to mix it with pineapple juice, or break some rules: seltzer and (gasp!) raw agave nectar.

Greatest (and easiest) cooked salsa ever.

I saw my sis-in-law make this a few months ago, and I was blown away by how good and easy it is.  For the record, I'm not sure I am making it exactly the same way she did, but who cares!  It's really yummy, and isn't that all that matters?  Now let's get to it:

•   1 container grape or cherry tomatoes (I think the orange ones taste the best) or 1 pint fresh from your garden
•   1 clove garlic
•   1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (from the can--I freeze the leftovers)
•  A little olive oil
•  salt, to taste

Turn the heat to medium-high on the stove, and throw a non-stick pan on the burner.  Drizzle a little olive oil in the pan (or use broth if you are avoiding oil/extra fat) just to coat the bottom.  Throw the garlic clove in.  When the garlic is fragrant, add all the tomatoes at once (don't burn yourself!) and toss around the pan a bit.  Keep the heat up pretty high while you cook the tomatoes, remembering to shake the pan here and there so they don't stick.  When the tomatoes start to look roasted (browning a bit here and there), salt them and turn off the heat.  Throw everything in your pan directly into the blender, and add the chipotle pepper too.  Turn that blender on high till the salsa is smoooooooooth.  Done.
(NOTE: If you are spice-sensitive, you may want to use 1/4 or 1/2 a pepper instead)

I LOVE this salsa with baked corn chips, or as a sauce with burritos, avocados, or on wraps.
It will keep in the fridge for about 4 days, but it won't last that long because you will eat it quick.
My dude puts it in fish tacos with a vinegary cabbage slaw and sliced avocados.

Green Salsa

Over the years I've become a big fan of tomaillos.  Funny, because I planted one when I first moved here.  The thing grew wild and produced so many tomatillos--but I had no idea what to do with them!  Oh how I wish I had that plant now, because if I did, I would just make jars and jars of this delicious green salsa.

Take 1 cup red wine vinegar and bring it to the boil in a saucepan.  Reduce heat, and add 1 small diced red onion.  Simmer 1 minute longer, then remove from heat.  Add 6 (peeled & washed) chopped tomatillos, and stir to make sure they are all covered in the vinegar.  Let stand one hour.

Once the hour is up, throw everything into the blender and add the following:
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
salt to taste

Blend on high till smooth.  Of course, you may alter the amounts of the herbs/spices to suit your tastes.  Play around!

Serve at room temp.  This will keep in the fridge for 5 days.
Yummy over tacos, eggs, or just plain with tortilla chips.

NOTE:  I actually add the tumeric AFTER everything comes out of the blender, because it has a tendency to stain the plastic blender cup.

Leeks!!

In keeping with the dinner in courses theme, I've been looking around for simple veggie ideas.  One of my current favorites is a classic french dish of boiled leeks in vinegarette.  Here's what you do:

leeks--1 or slightly less per person (depends on how big the leeks are)
Trim, wash, and prep your leeks according to this video: LEEKS!  (follow the 1st set of instructions she gives for preparing leeks for a recipe that calls for the entire leek)

Next, let's make the dressing:
Remembering from earlier posts that we always want to keep our dressing ratio of 2 parts oil to 1 part acid (vinegar, lemon juice, etc), our dressing would look something like this:
8 TB olive oil
4 TB red wine vinegar
1 TB dijon mustard
However, if you are trying to cut back on the fat, you can replace the oil with vegetable stock.  Usually I make mine like this:
7 TB stock
1 TB olive oil
4 TB red wine vinegar
1 TB mustard
salt & pepper to taste

Shake it up in a mason jar and set aside.  Now let's get back to those leeks:

Boil a pot of water, making sure the water is at least 3-4" deep.  Carefully place the leeks in the pot, cover, and gently boil for 6 minutes. 
Remove leeks from the pot and put them in a bowl of ice water so they stop cooking.  Remove from the bowl after 30 seconds so they don't get too cold.
Finish cutting the leeks lengthwise in half, and place on a rimmed plate or serving dish.  Pour the dressing over them, and serve.
NOTE:  I love dressing.  You may want to reduce the amount used if you are not dressing-crazy like me.

Uncle Jim's Olive Tapenade

For my daughter's 4th birthday this year, I kept the menu simple by just putting out tons of amazing breads and spreads.  One of the biggest hits was Uncle Jim's olive tapenade.  He made it when we were in NYC a few weeks ago, and I was so excited to learn that this was a homemade item (as they are expensive to buy already prepared).

Here is the super simple recipe:
3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I just used one clove)
1 Tablespoon drained capers

Zip them up in the food processor.  While it's going, drizzle in about 2 TB olive oil (the original recipe called for 1/4 cup!  but Jim says he never uses that much) and 1 TB fresh parsley.
That's it!!
This needs to be served at room temp. 
I made a double batch, and it kept nicely in the fridge for a few days.

Revamped Banana Bread!

Oh how I love banana bread!  And I have finally tweaked my mom's recipe to modernize it.  Bye-bye Crisco!  Here we go:

1/3 c. applesauce
3/4 c. sugar or 1/2 c. agave nectar
1/2 T. oil (I use safflower generally, but grapeseed or canola works fine)
2 eggs or egg replacer
1 tsp vanilla
2 to 3 ripe bananas (the blacker the skin, the better)
2 c. all purpose flour (or K.A.'s white wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 c. soymilk + 1 T white vinegar (aka "buttermilk")
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Mix your wets (except for the soymilk/vinegar), and add mashed bananas.  Mix your drys separately.  Add your wets to your drys, mix.  Gradually add the soymilk/vinegar and mix well.

Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour in a 350 degree oven.  Check with a toothpick for doneness (doneness?).  Cool 5 min in pan, then flip out and cool 5 min upside down.  When completely cool, eat it, or wrap it up and freeze it.  Mom used to make a double batch and freeze one for later.

Oh and by the way...if you use that egg replacer, it's VEGAN!!!  :)

Dinner in courses? Yep!

So if you haven't read the book French Kids Eat Everything, and you have a picky eater at home--it's time to Amazon it, asap.  This book shows a great philosophy to eating in general, but especially where kids are concerned.  After trying some of the author's ideas, I've found a pretty good system for busy weeknight meals at home.
Serve meals in courses.  I know it sounds long and annoying and totally impractical--but it will actually SAVE YOU TIME.  And time is a resource we all need more of.
     a) 1st course: vegetables.  Keep it simple--raw or lightly steamed veg.  Just one variety, whatever is on sale and is seasonal/local.  Examples: lightly steamed broccoli with red wine vinegar, sliced avacado, sliced radishes w/ sea salt, boiled/mashed sweet potatoes with a drizzle of maple syrup, artichoke hearts with lemon juice, etc.  Something that does not take long to prepare.
     b) 2nd course: main.  Keep your weeknight main courses VERY simple--hearty soup/stew (can be made on Sunday and eaten later in the week) with bread, pasta with vegetables/pesto/tomato sauce, flatbread baked in the oven with sliced peppers/squash/mushrooms or other seasonal veggies.  That's it. If there are folks in your house that get cranky without a hunk of protein for their main course, you can add a side of protein: baked chicken thighs, baked tofu, sausage, etc.  Again--keep it very, very simple.
     c) 3rd course: dessert (sort of).  In our house, you have 3 options for your final course: yogurt (or soy yogurt), a small amount of cheese, or fruit.  I let the kinds spoon some homemade jam or honey into their plain yogurt (this has way less sugar than store-bought flavored yogurts).

The rules with dinner are simple: you can't move on to your 2nd course until you have had a significant amount of your 1st course.  The same is true in moving from course 2 to course 3.  Tantrums are not allowed.  Neither is gagging and pretending that you will throw up if you eat something you don't like.  Or actually throwing up.  Dinner table manners are mandatory.  If any of the above happens, we calmly excuse you from dinner and you are sent up to bed.  I know this sounds harsh, but it took about 3 nights for my kids to figure out that we were not going to budge on the rules, and now they just eat.  AND now that the dinner-table-wars are over, we laugh and have fun at the table--which is what family dinners should be about!

I still love to cook long, involved, complicated meals, but now I save this for the weekends.