I didn't get a lot of cookies growing up. My mother was a believer in fruit and cheese as snack food, not sugary stuff. Of course there was the time that I discovered her Mallomar stash in a high up cupboard.
"What's this I asked."
"Oh, that's not good for kids. It's adult, you wouldn't like the taste. Gimme that." It was quickly snatched back and put up even higher.
Of course by the time I did get my mitts on a Mallomar, I knew she'd been lying to me. But, it's true I never developed a personal taste for really sweet stuff. When my mother did bake, she made "butter" cookies always featuring this stuff...
...and baked to the size and consistency of poker chips. I was the kid no one wanted to swap with at lunch time.
My grandmothers were a different story. Both of them were excellent cooks and bakers, and they knew cookies! Butter cookies, meringues, those ladies knew treats. By far my favorite of all the things either of them made were macaroons. Italian macaroons aka Amaretti. I loved those little cookies that my relatives served with cups of espresso. Until I moved to LA and started hitting the delis, I didn't know about macaroons made with coconut. Italian macaroons are an almond based cookie, so when I first sampled the coconut variety, wow! I was hooked. But as hooked as I was, it had never occurred to me to attempt baking them.
Most macaroon recipes call for sweetened coconut, which makes them extra rich and gooey. Something that sweet was not something that I was particularly crazy about keeping in the house. Also some macaroons, have a tendency to be sticky and greasy. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not what I was looking for. Then I stumbled on a recipe from the oldest continually operating confectionary in Paris, A la mere de Famille This place has been churning out the sweet stuff for the last 250 years. They have to know what they're doing. Their recipe for macaroons looked amazing, and surprisingly did not call for sweetened coconut. I knew I had to give these cookies a try.
So, yesterday I set out to make my first batch of coconut macaroons. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. There is a minimum of ingredients here, and just about the only time consuming part is the 2 hours one has to wait for the macaroons to "dry" before putting them into the oven. Aside from that, it's a really easy recipe, and one that's going into my permanent file.
Coconut Macaroons
Here's What You Need:
3 egg whites
1 cup plus 2 Tbs sugar
2 1/2 cups of shredded unsweetened coconut
Here's What To Do:
Put the egg whites in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
Add in the sugar.
Heat a sauce pan filled with one inch water on the stove at medium heat.
Place the bowl or the stand mixer bowl in the water.
Heat the egg whites and the sugar whisking constantly.
Keep an instant read thermometer nearby, as you want to get the mixture you're whisking up to 115 degrees.
Not there yet. Keep whisking.
As soon as the egg whites and sugar reach 115, take your bowl or your stand mixer bowl and using a beater with a whisk attachment at high speed, start whipping the stuff up.
You want to get the mixture fluffy, voluminous and cool to the touch. This takes about 10 minutes, so this is where a stand mixer really comes in handy as I discovered.
When your egg white sugar mixture is ready, add the shredded coconut.
Fold it in gently with a spatula.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Drop 1 Tbs. size mounds of batter onto the cookie sheets.
Now the waiting period. Set the macaroons out to "dry" at room temperature for 2 hours.
When you're about ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Bake the macaroons, one tray at a time for 4 minutes.
When they're lightly browned, they're done.
Take them put and set them on a cooling rack and pop the next batch in.
We've been invited to a Chanukah dinner with friends on Tuesday so I was giving these cookies a test run. Needless to say, they made the cut.
This started out being a LOT more macaroons. More like this. Store these macaroons in an airtight container for up to 2 days. But the odds of being able to keep them around for that long.... fuggedaboutit.
So there it is. Macaroons don't have to be tricky to be good, and these are damn good, otherwise those guys over in Paris wouldn't have been in business for so long. Coming up next, some Christmas cookies, and if it's cold and rainy outside, it's Idilli and sambar time inside! Follow along on Twitter at @kathygori
Temperatures are crazy hot here in Sonoma as I write this. We're in the middle of a heat wave that's swamping the West. Don't get me wrong, we do have heat in our Wine Country Summers but it's usually heat during the day and cool evenings, perfect weather for The Grapes. When we do have a hot spell it normally lasts for about three days. That's a typical Sonoma heat wave, 3 hot days and out. Now, with the new weather, things have changed and records are being broken.
No one is very interested in spending a lot of time cooking and the easiest things seem to be things that can be cooked out on a grill, though even grilling in this weather means braving extremely hot temperatures. The less time one spends around any heat source the better, which is why I'm featuring Indian Roast Spiced Corn.
Roast spiced corn is a standard of street /beachside vendors in India as this photo from the Times of India shows.
Of course roasting corn on a foggy beach is a lot cooler than cooking in 100+ degree heat here in Sonoma, but it cooks up very quickly and around here is going to be a new "must do" recipe for Summer Barbeques. Short, sweet, sour and spicy, this classic corn's got everything.
Indian Spiced Roast Corn
Here's What You Need:
2 ears of fresh corn
1 tsp Kashmiri chili (or 1/2 tsp cayenne and 1/2 tsp paprika mixed together)
2 fresh limes, halved
1 tsp kosher salt
Here's What To Do:
Shuck, wash and dry 4 ears of corn.
Cut each ear in half.
Fire up the grill.
When the grill is hot, place the ears of corn on the grill, roll them around and start roasting.
Roast them until they're browned all around. Be careful they don't burn, fresh corn has a lot of sugar in it, just sayin.....
When the corn is roasted take it off the grill.
Mix together the chili and the salt.
Dip each lime half in the salt chili mixture.
Rub the chilied lime half all over the corn while squeezing it.
Eat and enjoy!
It's a great mixture of sweet and tangy, and grilled corn without butter? Yes, it is possible and not only possible but after trying this, preferable. Coming up next, smokey eggplant done on the grill and jazzed up with chili and local honey follow along on Twitter @kathygori
One of the first signs of Spring up here in Sonoma are the blossoms. We've had a cold Spring this year marked by some sudden rain storms, last weekend the hottest weather of the year and last night a thunderstorm, dry lightning and heavy rain. As I write this today, the skies are dark, but last week I managed a taste of Spring even though it was already June. For me I always know Spring is officially here when I start eating flowers. Blossoms. Zucchini blossoms to be exact.
Growing up, I'll never forget my first zucchini flower. They say you always remember your first. It was the last day of school, the year I finished 4th grade. It also was the day I first tasted Nestles Strawberry Quik.
Usually Summers in San Francisco are not exactly warm, but this happened to be a very warm June day and I went tearing out of the school yard in my Sailor Moon uniform and over to a friends house wild with the idea of no more school for 3 whole months. My friend was also of Italian ancestry and unlike my family where Italian was spoken by the parents but it was English only for the kids, the whole family spoke Italian at home. They cooked Italian too (except for the Nestles Quik part). My friend's mom grew her own vegetables in the back yard and while we were running through sprinklers she was out picking flowers. Zucchini flowers.
I started to get a little nervous when I figured out this was what we were having for lunch, but I was assured I'd love them. I watched the blossoms being cleaned, dipped in an egg batter, and fried. They smelled and looked good. Maybe it was partially the novelty of eating "flowers" and partially the fact that they were washed down with Quik ( I do not recommend this) but I loved them!!!
Of course the next time I had them years later, I wasn't drinking Quik and I was cooking them for myself. Every time I'd see a big bunch at the Sonoma Farmers Market I couldn't resist picking them up. Of course I'd always fry them, dust them with a bit of sea salt and have at it. Of course there was the accompanying guilt of eating fried stuff. But that started me thinking. I wondered if there was another way. I wanted to see it it was true that anything fried could also be baked. I saw the zucchini flowers at the market last week and I just had to try them. About 2 years ago I experimented with baking one of my favorite Indian snack foods Pakoras I had to try the same experiment with zucchini flowers. So I did.
Baked Zucchini Pakoras
Here's What You Need:
2 bunches of zucchini flowers
1 cup Chickpea flour (aka besan)
1 Tbs black mustard seeds
1 Tbs ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Kashmiri chili or 1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp baking powder
7/8 cups of sparkling water
1 tsp peanut oil
1 cup ricotta cheese
salt to taste
Here's What To Do:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl mix together the chickpea flour with 1 Tbs black mustard seeds.
Add in 1/2 tsp turmeric.
Add in the cayenne or Kashmiri chili, the baking powder, cumin and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl whip together the ricotta cheese and salt to taste. Set it aside.
Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set it aside.
Prepare the zucchini blossoms.
Remove the innards. Not to get too technical, I'm talking about your basic stamens here.
Pull the petals apart gently. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty with a little pollen.
Stuff the side of each flower with the whipped ricotta.
Seal the flower and its' filling by twisting the top closed.
Set the filled blossoms aside and get back to that bowl of chickpea flower and spices.
Add in the sparkling water. This gives the batter some added fizz and lightness.
Add in 1 Tbs of peanut or other vegetable oil.
Mix everything together well.
Check for proper consistency. It should be thick enough to coat your WASHED pinky finger.
Take the blossoms and dip them gently into the batter.
Lay each batter dipped blossom on the parchment paper-covered cookie sheet, and pop them into the oven.
Bake them for about 15 minutes or so until the batter starts to turn golden. Take them out and enjoy with the chutney or raita of your choice.
I served them with a mint cilantro chutney and a cooling yogurt raita.
So how did this work, exactly? They were not the light, crispy, zucchini blossoms one gets when one fries, but they were satisfying as a savory unfried snack, and had the added advantage of no guilt. Coming up next plunging into the full array of summer cooking here in Sonoma.
First Times are never supposed to be very good. Awkward, messy, never living up to expectations, it's the reason they make so many movies about them. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Superbad, American Pie and of course this guy.
First times are something one is supposed to laugh and cry about years later usually at a drunken high school reunion. But here I am loud and proud, bragging about my first time just days after the fact.
When ever I tell people I live in Sonoma almost the first thing they ask me is "Have you eaten at The French Laundry?" For years I've been able to dodge the answer.
"Well, it's in Younteville and we live in Sonoma. That's the other side of the Myacamas" (actually about 12 miles away.) Lame answer.
"It's really, really, really, hard to get reservations, nearly impossible." (doubly lame.) That's like "I really, really, like you and of course want you to meet my parents and tell them about us but their schedule is soooo busy."
"Those places are really never all they're cracked up to be. It's actually mostly hype." Yeah sure.
Well, finally I can say "Yes, I've done it. Finally, I've eaten at the French Laundry and yes, it was amazing."
We've eaten at a lot of restaurants over the years, the usual suspects in the usual places. Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Santa Fe, Sonoma, Santa Barbara. We came, we saw, we ate, and yes I will admit to being a chef groupie. If open kitchens are Woodstock, I'm the one dancing down front with the body paint on X.
After eating at a lot of places, over the years I know that I'm not comfortable in hotsy totsy snooty places. I don't need to feel like I'm dining with the Hapsburg emperor in 1897 with waiters hovering around like the Secret Service. I've actually eaten in the restaurant featured in this clip and I felt like I was going to be sent to my room if I made the slightest etiquette error.
So, I was nervous when our friends invited us to join them that night. I was nervous. This was a grown up, dress up place. Guys wear ties, girls wear pearls, or at least something nice. I would have to leave my jeans and boots at home. Alan would have to wear a jacket and tie. In LA the only place they really make you wear a jacket and tie is when they're burying you, and sometimes not even then. Most places there are grateful if you're wearing flipflops. This was scary. I was nervous. Not normal nervous, I'm talking Junior Prom nervous. I was afraid that I'd be intimidated by the service, that the staff would make me feel self conscious and that they'd be watching me eat every bite. I was sure I'd feel as though I were an intruder in the palace. I couldn't have been more wrong.
First of all, the building is warm and inviting from the outside. After all it was a freaking laundry not Buckingham Palace!
We were seated in the upstairs dining room. It's a clean, cool room. Elegantly simple. The experience is one of dining in someones' lovely French country house. Not that I'd know anything about that experience but I've seen enough Bunuel movies.
So okay, lovely surroundings, calm and soothing. The perfect setting for the perfect dinner with friends. What could possibly go wrong? Turns out nothing. The evening was perfection.
The way The French Laundry works is two 9 course prixe fixe tasting menues every day. One vegetarian, one not. The menues are different every day. Many of the ingredients are grown in the garden across the road that one sees from the windows of the restaurant. One of our hosts for the evening is a vegetarian who is also piscatarian, that is, he will eat fish. No problem, they adapted the vegetarian menu to give him a few fish courses for variety. His wife has a gluten allergy and here is where my mind was officially blown. She informed the restaurant about her needs when making the reservation and they came through like champs.
Every time we were served something that had gluten in it she was served the very same thing, only the gluten-free version. No fuss, no muss. She was not made to feel "different" because of a food allergy. The creativity and care they took in meeting her dietary needs was extraordinary. I've never seen anything like it. If you have a gluten allergy, you need not fear. You will get great treatment here.
I wish I had some pictures to share but the idea of whipping out my iPhone and snapping away at every course set before me just didn't seem right. I just couldn't do it. Of course that didn't seem to stop the couple at the table next to us who seemed to be shooting a virtual photo essay of the evening. The food, the plates, the wine, selfies, each other. The restaurant seemed to be cool with it. Nobody stopped them and I got the idea that it certainly happens often there. After all it is The French Laundry, one of the top 50 restaurants in the world.
Dining at the French Laundry is not a hurried affair. Prepare to spend about 3 hours at table. The menu is a delight to read. The origins of the ingredients are sourced and any questions one needs answered are capably handled by the waitstaff. I'd give you a menu link but it since changes every day I can only tell you what I had on Monday evening.
Oysters and Pearls Sabayon of pearl tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and White Sturgeon Caviar
Salade De Chou-Fleur Fava Beans, Poached Bing Cherries and Watercress
Sauteed Fillet of Pacific Yellowtail Globe Artichokes, Niscoise Olives,Sun Gold Tomatoes, and Petite Basil
Sweet Butter-Poached Maine Lobster Hen egg emulsion,Sacramento Delta Green Asparagus, Red Radishes, and Black Winter Truffle Vinegarette
Four Story Hill Farm Poularde Rillette Arrowleaf Spinach, Corn Cake, Cipollini Onions and Poularde Jus
After that, the next plate is an individual choice. I selected,
Bacon Wrapped Marcho Farm Nature-Fed Veal Fingerling Potatoes, Spring Onions,Nantes Carrots, and Sauce Bordelaise
We moved through the various courses, each small plates exquisitely prepared. Of course wine was ordered. I don't drink, but Alan and our friends enjoyed a
bottle each of Domaine Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
and Domaine Meo-Camuzet Les Chaumes, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru. Okay
, I have no idea what any of that is but let me say they were all very
well pleased with their selections. I can highly recommend the sparkling
water.
After all of that food, I expected to receive the dessert that we had each selected before the meal started. Not so fast, the fun wasn't even close to over.
A Cheese Course came for each of us
Andante Dairy Legato Poached Field Rhubarb, Piedmont Hazelnut Crisp, Garden Mache, and Black Winter Truffle Coulis
A Fruit Course
Verjus Blanc Demi-Sec Grapes, Jasmine Tea Ice Cream, and Caramel Crisp
Finally the Dessert Course
Princess Cake Animal Farm Buttermilk, Navel Orange Marmalade, Toasted Marzipan, and Cara Cara Orange Sorbet
After dessert the staff asked us if we'd like coffee or tea. Strange I thought, usually coffee is served with dessert. Alan and Terri ordered Cappuccino, Chip and I ordered mint tea. A few minutes later the waitstaff appeared carrying trays of small cappuccino cups. I was about to announce that a mistake had been made I didn't order this cappu.....when what the hell.....it wasn't coffee at all. It was another dessert.
The French Laundrys' famous "Coffee and Donuts" a Cappuccino Semifreddo with Cinnamon-Sugar Doughnuts. Oh yes they did!
The mint tea arrived after that along with a wooden box that looked like a humidor, inside was a selection of amazing hand crafted chocolates. Quickly they were joined by a bowl of candied Macadamia nuts, and a bowl of wrapped chocolates.
The bill was settled; gratuity was included in the price. As we prepared to leave our servers gave each of us a small silvery box, filled with cinnamon shortbread cookies to take home "for later". Terri was given the cookies, to take home to the family and a packet of gluten free chocolates for herself.
And so we wandered out into the warm Spring evening, well fed, but not uncomfortably stuffed. Four totally blissed-out, contented diners hit the road back to Sonoma. I can truly say that the experience at the French Laundry is worth every penny. I have never, ever, had such a dining experience in my life. I'm very grateful to our friends Chip and Terri for treating us to this wonderful culinary experience. It was pay back for a culinary favor. Back in 2011 they happened to hit the crappy times jackpot. She was very seriously injured in a horseback riding accident just months after discovering she had a gluten allergy, and within two months of that he (a vegetarian) was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
Having been there myself 23 years ago, the cancer part not the horse part, I offered to do cooking for the both of them during their treatment. Since a lot of Indian food is gluten free, naturally that part was fairly simple. His treatment however was a bit trickier. Because of his treatment he had to abstain from anything containing iodine. I had no freaking idea how many things iodine was in. Dairy? Iodine. Fish? Iodine. Bread? Unless it's made with kosher salt, iodine. Iodine seemed to be everywhere. Following a booklet from his doctors at UCSF I developed a menu of vegan, iodine free Indian foods for him, and baked artisan bread for him weekly since that uses Kosher salt which is iodine free. I loved finding solutions to his food cravings during those months, and especially dishes which they both could enjoy.
2 Years later I'm glad to say that with everyone healthy and happy once again, we celebrated with this wonderful meal. I'm definitely planning on going to the French Laundry once more, because as James Bond used to say. once is not enough.
One thing I've learned living in Wine Country is that not everyone drinks. Or at least not everyone drinks all the time, everywhere. There are events, occasions, and reasons to want something cool, refreshing, and non-alcoholic. I always welcome a party that offers me something more than the conventional soft drink as an alternative. I drink a lot of water, and as I've mentioned before, I wasn't brought up with the soda habit so any soft drink I'm going to be interested in had better bring the tart and tamp down the sweet. Which brings me to my final quick fix for those hot weather holiday parties. A Pom Anti-Cocktail.
I might call it the Anti Cocktail because it's a virgin (blush blush) that is, no alcohol. Or I might call it an Antioxidant Cocktail because pure pomegranate juice is packed with antioxidants. Either way this one hits the spot, and when there are all those random traffic checkpoints on The Fourth of July weekend, you'll be glad you chose this.
Non Alcoholic Pomegranate Cocktail
Here's What You Need:
A bottle of PomWonderful pure pomegranate juice
1 or 2 Tbs of Kaffir Lime Simple Syrup use one to start with and check for sweetness
Ice cubes
Plain mineral water
Lime wedge (optional)
Here's What To Do:
Pour about 1 inch of pomegranate juice into a tall glass.
Add in the Karffir Lime syrup.
Drop in some ice cubes.
Gently pour in the mineral water.
Top with a lime wedge.
It's kind of cool to serve it this way as I like that blend of colors from dark to clear, but definitely stir it up before you drink it.
Tall, cool, not too sweet, and it'll definitely keep you out of trouble this holiday weekend.
Wishing my fellow USA'ers a Happy National Birthday and I hope everybody who's celebrating this week has a great time. I know we will.
Coming up next , a very fast, gluten free, Indian alternative to the usual pasta or potato salad served at Summer Cookouts. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori
I don't know how it happened so fast, but it seems like the 4th has just come up out of nowhere ready to bite me on the ass! We've been working hard to get the revisions on our pilot script turned in before all the stuff that's going to hit the fan next week involving my mom's surgery and assorted parent wrangling. I've actually found myself wondering what day it is. Not like" is it the 29th or the 30th," but like in days of the week. Monday Tuesday, Friday. That sort of thing. This usually happens when work gets intense and we're burrowing away.
What also happens at those times is I go on a simpler cooking schedule. I look for things I can do quickly and easily to pep up plain cooking, always welcome since when work gets hectic, the first thing to suffer can be the menu. I cook lunch which is our main daily meal, about 6 days out of 7. Cooking an Indian menu, there are endless variations and twists, but sometimes (like now) there's not always time for that.
It's been hot around here too after a relatively cool summer, so there's that to take into consideration. Who wants to run a hot stove,which leads to running air conditioning. So even though I've got about 5 or 6 new Indian recipes I'm eager to write about, I figured I'd share these very simple things one can do with just a few seasonal ingredients and almost no cooking.
Now this is a movie that's definitely not for everyone, and I include myself in that category. But Fran for some perverse reason, loves it. Here's a sample.
I love most of the films of Peter Greenaway, and of course anything with Helen Mirren, but I've just never been able to dock with this one. Fran thinks it's freaking hysterical. Maybe I need to give it another shot. After all, what can you say about a film whos costumes were designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. It'll take you right back to those late 80's Madonna, Grace Jones videos. What I do love about it though is the title, which I'm lifting here, and why I'm calling this little excursion into fast dishes The Mango, The Avocado, and the Pom.
Part 1.
Balsamic Mango Salsa
Here's What You Need:
1 large mango or 2 small mangos
1 jalapeno pepper finely diced
3 Tbs of chopped fresh cilantro
I small red onion finely chopped
3 Tbs of Mango White Balsamic Vinegar
Salt to taste.
Here's What To Do:
Peel and cut the mango into bite size cubes.
Mix it together with the other ingredients.
Let it sit for a bit before serving.
That's it.
Now if you've never heard of Mango White Balsamic Vinegar before, you're not the only one. Neither had I before I ran into one of the guys from this local company Sonoma Harvest at coffee one morning. He had a bottle of coconut oil with him, and of course anybody carrying a bottle of coconut oil around Sonoma is definitely gonna get a look see from me. We got talking and he ran out to his car and started bringing in stuff for me to taste. There were some unusual and interesting flavors and he gave me some products to take home and play with.
I loved the idea of some of the flavors I use in my Indian cooking turning up in vinegars. The salsa was the first time I used it, and it added a nice, acidic layer to the sweet mango and hot chili. I'm definitely going to be doing further experiments. I also love the idea of supporting a local business. Some of our neighbors up here in Sonoma make some of the best edible, drinkable stuff you'll find anywhere. Right now these products are available in RL only on the shelves of Sonoma Market here in town or online, but they tell me they may be coming to a town near you soon. If you can get your hands on some I recommend it as a change from regular balsamic.
Coming up next I move along to the avocado as dessert. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori
Last week was a pretty difficult one dealing with my Mom's cancer diagnosis and her obsession with parking in San Francisco. Thankfully, everything now seems to be under control. She's had all her tests, and is cleared for surgery. She's got her date with the doctor booked for July 6th and is planning some sort of awesome revenge appearance at some sort of dinner dance party set for 2 weeks after the surgery. Seems she's having a feud with some friend of hers about who's sitting at what table, with whom. Something about tickets bought in advance, and my mom feels dissed.
"Fuck 'em " she said to me on the phone (her words not mine). "We're going to that party, if I have to crawl there. Rose can sit with her fancy friends... I don't give a shit. I'll show her"
Okay. If that's what it takes to get her through this, you go girl! I always thought laughter was the best medicine but evidently revenge really kicks ass. My mother is Italian after all, and if she wants to go swanning into some church benefit party two weeks after surgery like Michael Corleone, who am I to stop her? After all what can you say about somebody who thinks Mae Rose Prizzi is a role model?
I got a voice mail this morning. I picked it up and it was my mom reading me the Webster's definition of feisty, (her doctor called her feisty) and she wanted to know if I thought being called feisty was an insult.
"No", I explained. "Feisty is Shirley Mc Laine. Feisty is Betty White." She seemed happy with that definition. Plotting revenge, parsing the definition of feisty, wondering if her
doctor is dating anyone. It's going to be a busy next two weeks.
So far during the last week, there have been moments when I have just wanted to check out mentally and go for the buzz. That however, is not an option. When dealing with Fran, one must have one's wits about one, and it's important to live in the reality-based community 24/7. So when the real thing won't or can't do, I always say go for the illusion.
Which brings me to my quest for a tall, cool Summer cocktail that refreshes without altering any reality. A drink that allows you to put your feet up while still keeping a head on your shoulders for emergency revenge parties. I decided to experiment with some of the simple syrups I've been brewing and see if I could cook up a pleasing alternative to one of Alan's favorite Summer cocktails. I figured Alan would be the perfect subject to test my skills on (after all he grew up in Westport Connecticut, total Madmen G&T territory where they're born with swizzle sticks in hand). I wanted to see if I could make a fake cocktail just as tasty as a real one.
That brings me to my virgin G & T.
Virgin Gin and Tonic
What you need:
2 cups of water
1 cup of sugar
30 juniper berries
4 or 5 peppercorns
2 limes
tonic water
fizzy mineral water
fresh mint leaves
Here's What to Do:
Mix together 2 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar.
Bring the mix to a boil and take it off the fire. Add in the juniper berries and peppercorns.
Put a lid on the sugar water mixture and let everything steep for about 1 hour.
Pour the mixture through a strainer, leave out the juniper berries and peppercorns and pour the flavored simple syrup into a clean bottle and refrigerate until you're ready to use it.
Tear a few mint leaves up, and muddle them in the bottom of a tall slender glass.
Add in 3 Tbs of the juniper simple syrup.
Add 1 Tbs of fresh lime juice
Swizzle everything together.
Add ice.
Fill the rest of the glass with a mix of 1/2 tonic water, and 1/2 mineral water.
Mix well
Squeeze a wedge of fresh lime into the mix and pop the wedge on the edge of the glass.
So how did it work? Pretty damn good. We had a three day heatwave in Sonoma this weekend and we were in the middle of writing this pilot we're working on. He wanted something tall and cool and refreshing. If it wasn't a work day a G&T would have been perfect. So, I made him one of these.
"Whaddya think?"I asked him. "Is it okay?"
"Tastes great" he said. There was a pause. "I keep expecting the buzz"
Bingo!
So if you're looking for a non-alcoholic drink this Fourth of July weekend for whatever reason, you might try one of these. You won't be sorry.
I had some doubts the other day when I posted about what we were going through on the family front here, but I was so wrong about being worried. It really helps to share these things even though it goes against all my Italian and Hollywood omerta. I want to thank all of you who've reached out to me. I really, really, really appreciate all your good thoughts and wishes for my mom's recovery. I think the fact that she's "feisty" is going to go a long way. Now if I can just keep her from hiring a hitman to take out Rose, we'll be in good shape.
Coming up next, quick pickles for all your summer barbecues. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori
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