Cucumber Gin Cooler

Cucumber Gin Cooler, originally uploaded by essgee51.

Now that spring is finally here and summer's fast approaching, I'm moving from brown liquor to clear and researching crisp, cool drinks. This one, from Saveur, turned out well - light and refreshing, though I may fiddle a bit with the proportion of lime juice. The lightly pickled cukes are good to munch on once the drink's done.

For two:

• 4 oz. Hendricks
• 4 T lime juice
• 1/4 c Kirby cucumbers, thinly sliced
• tonic water

Fill two glasses about halfway with ice.

Put some ice, gin, lime juice and cucumber slices in a shaker with a small amount of ice. Shake vigorously for 1-2 minutes.

Pour into glasses, dividing the cucumber slices evenly. Top off with tonic water.

Chicken and Potato Pesto Salad

I'm ashamed to admit that this was our first Nats game of the season, but hey - they blew out the Mets (Espinosa even hit a grand slam, I think the first I've seen in this park) and we had a delicious picnic lunch. Pesto recipe modified from der Bittman's. I've included the chicken cooking here, though ideally this would be made with leftovers.

• 1.5 lbs. chicken thighs
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• salt to taste

• 6 small potatoes, brushed (and peeled if you're so inclined) and cut into quarters

• 2 cups basil leaves, loosely packed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tbsp. - will use more next time though)
• 2 tbsp. chopped walnuts (will try more next time)
• about 1/4 + 1/8 cup olive oil
• salt to taste (I ended up using about a heaping 1/4 tsp.)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

If you aren't using leftover chicken, cook the thighs in water to cover with  garlic, onion, peppercorns and salt. When done(30-40 mins.), put the chicken in a bowl to cool; remove skin and shred chicken. Reserve chicken broth.

Cut potatoes into chunks and cook in the broth till done but still firm (8-12 minutes).

Combine basil, garlic, walnuts, 1/4 cup olive oil and salt in food processor. Pulse till saucy. Add more oil as necessary (I ended up using just another 2 tbsp. or so). Add cheese.

Toss chicken, potatoes and pesto till coated evenly. Adjust seasoning, then refrigerate.

Overlooked: Cucumber-Infused Vodka!

I blame our recently-concluded conference for my forgetting to post this recipe and pic. The above is about a heaping cup of peeled English cuke in 750-800ml of Svedka vodka. Though a few recipes advocated letting it sit for a mere four days, I waited a week and a half, and was rewarded with a cool, gentle, almost bite-less concoction. It's lovely over rocks or chilled by itself, but I'd like to think up some recipes for it. John's already put up another two jars, this time with more cucumber. We'll see how those turn out.

Happy spring, everyone!

On Repeat: Vietnamese Cabbage Salad

Not a new recipe, but one that I suspect we'll be making a lot this year - especially for taking to the baseball stadium. We just had some for dinner while watching the Yankees-BoSox season opener. More to the point, it looks yummy, and I hadn't yet posted a picture of it. Recipe here.

Brassica di Seville: Goi Ga Bap Cai (Vietnamese Chicken Cabbage Salad)

So that seven-plus pound cabbage from a couple of weeks ago? There's still some left after this latest recipe. The salad, courtesy of Wandering Chopsticks, turned out to be a perfect dinner to bring to Nationals Stadium for this year's Opera in the Outfield (a wonderful production of The Barber of Seville, with a deft and assured Lawrence Brownlee as Count Almaviva). The full recipe - including sub-recipes - is reproduced below. Even with a bare 30 minutes to chill, it tasted wonderful - flavorful and filling, with a nicely varied texture.

• 2 scant cups shredded chicken (I boiled four small thighs; will use more next time)
• 1 bunch cilantro, stems removed and roughly chopped
• 1 small carrot, julienned
• 1 medium head of cabbage, sliced very thinly

• 1 red onion, sliced thinly
  
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tsp. sugar

• 1/4 cup patis
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• juice from 1 and 1/4 lime
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (substituted for 1 chile)
  

Prepare the hanh dam (Vietnamese vinegared onions). Dissolve 2 tsp. sugar in 1/4 cup of rice vinegar. Add thinly sliced red onion; use more vinegar if need be to cover. Leave for 15 minutes or till onions get soft.

Prepare the nuoc mam cham (Vietnamese fish dipping sauce) - I opted for the spicier version. Mince three cloves of garlic along with the juice of 1 and 1/4 lime, 1/4 cup patis and 2 tbsp. sugar; adjust flavors to taste. Set aside.

Boil the chicken (I did so in about a quart of water with a half a head of smashed garlic, some of which I added to the dipping sauce afterwards, and a chopped onion); set aside.

Slice the cabbage as thinly as you can. Julienne the carrots, then stem and roughly chop the cilantro.

Combine everything - veggies, vinegared onions and dressing - in a bowl and mix. Correct seasoning if necessary.

Chill for at least half an hour, longer if possible, to let flavors meld. Enjoy.

Summer Drinking: Mockquavit

While in Portland, I had a delicate, fresh-tasting version of a Bloody Mary - Pazzo's Bloody Dane (PDF warning): a combination of cucumber-infused Aquavit, tomato juice water, lemon and fresh dill. Alas, the local store didn't have any Aquavit, but this About.com post on infusing vodka inspired me to create an infused approximation. And now, finally, my third-ever attempt at infusion is ready - not quite as subtle and clean as the cucumber-infused Aquavit, but summery nonetheless.

Next time, I may invest in a wide-mouthed jar - I would have liked to strain and mash some more flavored spirits out of everything.

Herewith, my version of the recipe:

• 1 750 ml. bottle of vodka (I used plain Svedka)
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1-2 heaping tbsp. ginger, julienned
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• peel from 1/2 lemon

Stuff everything in the vodka bottle. Close the lid and keep the bottle in a cool, dark place for at least 1-2 weeks.

Taste periodically. When the flavor's to your liking (I bottled it on July 20 and, after one too-early taste test, finally deemed it ready today), strain the vodka through double layers of cheesecloth into another container.

Keep in the freezer and serve chilled.

Summer Drinking: Mint "Limonata"

First made these a couple of weeks ago, but kept forgetting to add the recipe (from CHOW). Substituted San Pellegrino for the soda water. Raves all around - a good combination of effervescence, sweetness and tartness (next time, I may add a squeeze or two of lemon juice to increase this).

• Crushed ice (we didn't have any, alas)
  
• 2 oz limoncello
• 1 oz. vodka
  
• 2 oz. soda water (used San Pellegrino mineral water instead)
  
• 2-3 medium mint leaves, torn in half

Put ice in a shaker-type container. Add limoncello and vodka; shake to combine.

Add soda water/sparkling mineral water to shaker and stir to combine. Pour into a rocks glass and serve topped with the torn mint leaves.

Wild Blossom

It's the first day of spring! That and the blooming cherry blossoms across the street put me in mind of this recipe, which won the New York Department of Consumer Affairs' third Sidewalk Cafe Drink Mix-Off (and which we drank a fair amount of last summer).

• 2 oz. Plymouth gin (I used Hendricks once and Tanqueray another time; both were fine)
• 3/4 oz. St. Germain elderflower liqueur
• 3/4 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1 oz. cranberry juice
• grapefruit twist or wedge, to garnish, optional

Combine all ingredients (save the optional garnish, of course) in an ice-filled cocktail shaker.

Shake well, then pour into a glass. Garnish, if you like.

Dreaming of Summer - Le Petit Hiboux

I first read about Lillet in Thomas Harris' Hannibal; the title character serves it with a slice of orange after dinner. It does make a nice aperitif - even when you haven't been dining on the brains of your beloved's enemy beforehand. This cocktail (via CHOW), the product of The Little Owl restaurant in Brooklyn, is a simple, easy but lovely drink. It was - and will probably be, once the weather warms up again - one of the staples of our weekend "lawn" lounging.

• 2 ounces Pinot Blanc or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
• 2 ounces Lillet Blanc
• 2 ounces apple juice

Pour all ingredients into an ice-filled glass and stir.

Dreaming of Summer - Poste's Basil Lemontini

After I discovered this drink while having oysters with John at Poste, it promptly became a mainstay of our weekend "lawn" (i.e., the park across from our apartment building) layabouts. I first found the recipe here (PDF warning!), but am reproducing it below for ease of reference.

• 3 oz. vodka (the original recipe calls for Absolut Citron, but Svedka Citron works just as well)
• 3 oz. lemonade
• 1 oz. sparkling wine
• 3 basil leaves

Muddle two basil leaves in the bottom of a cocktail shaker (or in the glass itself, if you're being low-ren efficient).

Add vodka and lemonade.

Strain into a glass (or not, if you're already there).

Top with sparkling wine and garnish with a basil leaf.