Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Two Cucumber Side Dishes for Spring, plus a Pimm’s Cup Recipe

Cocktail Buzz’s Cookbook Challenge Continues . . . 

Our Cookbook Challenge has yielded tasty results, including Stuffed Cucumbers with Green Mayonnaise, above.

Last month we challenged you to pour through your cookbooks, both dog-eared and pristine, every time you needed inspiration for ingredients you had lying around. Throughout the month of April, we continued to be inspired by Culinary Artistry and The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book when we had some cucumbers that were in desperate need of a makeover. We present you the following results.

Stuffed Cucumbers with Green Mayonnaise
(adapted from The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book)
Serves 2–4

Cucumbers are low in calories, have a goodly amount of antioxidants, and are very high in vitamin K, which has been found to increase bone strength. They are also quite tasty in this side dish that celebrates the greenness of spring, incorporating peas, string beans, and a host of fresh greens and herbs. It takes a little time to make, but is well worth the effort, especially if you want to double up the recipe for a spring dinner party or brunch.

Ingredients
2 long cucumbers
4–6 ounces frozen or fresh peas
4–6 ounces (handful) string beans, stems removed
chives, minutely cut
large handful cress (any kind), stems removed
large handful spinach (not baby), stems removed
large handful fresh chervil, stems removed
large handful fresh tarragon, stems removed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6–8 ounces mayonnaise
juice 1/2 lemon

Method
Cut unpeeled cucumbers in half lengthwise. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and place cucumbers in an ice bath until cooled. Dry thoroughly and chill. With water still boiling, add string beans and cook until desired tenderness. Remove from heat and place beans in an ice bath until cooled. Dry and chill. In the same water, boil peas until desired tenderness. Remove from heat and place peas in an ice bath until cooled. Dry and chill. Boil cress, spinach, tarragon, and chervil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and place herbs in an ice bath until cooled. Drain using a colander, pressing as much liquid out as you can. Then wrap herbs in cheese cloth and squeeze out the remaining liquid. Chop finely and mix in mayonnaise with the juice of half a lemon. Set aside.

Remove vegetables from refrigerator. Take cucumbers and hollow out by removing seeds with a 1/2 teaspoon or other rounded spoon, within 1/4 inch of the skin. Set aside on a tray. Dice beans. Fill cucumbers with beans and peas. Dollop with green mayonnaise. Sprinkle with chives.

Notes
Sometimes fresh chervil, a lightly green-flavored and delicate herb, can be difficult to find (it’s notoriously difficult to grow, as well). You can use some curly parsley instead, or eliminate altogether.

Quick Pickled Cucumber Slices
(inspired by Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page)

Paul looked up “Cucumbers” in Culinary Artistry for some flavor-pairing inspiration for a quick pickle. The results will keep you stealing them from the jar. They are perfect as a sweet and tart side dish, or as a topper for sandwiches.

Ingredients
1 long cucumber, peeled and sliced thinly into circles (a mandoline at 1.5 or 2.0 makes this easy)
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried spearmint
1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill
1 teaspoon dried urfa pepper flakes, or some other smoky slightly hot dried pepper, such as aleppo
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large shallot, thinly sliced

Method
Place cucumbers in a bowl. Meanwhile, dissolve sugar in both vinegars in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining ingredients. Remove from heat. Allow to cool uncovered.  Pour over cucumber slices. Transfer to a sterile jar and refrigerate.


Pimm’s Cup
(adapted by Cocktail Buzz from the traditional recipe)

Nothing says “It’s warm enough to have a drink outdoors” like a Pimm’s Cup, a bittersweet elixir that originated in England as a gin-based, herbal-infused digestive aid, and is now a traditional seasonal drink for many American tipplers who enjoy yachting, horseshoes, and an excuse to have a cocktail before Happy Hour. We also use Pimm’s in our Zul Mule, another tasty concoction that lets the one-of-a-kind flavor of Pimm’s shine.

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Pimm’s No. 1
3 ounces lemon-lime soda (you can substitute ginger ale)
cucumber and lemon slices, as garnish
ice

Method
Fill a highball or collins glass with ice. Add Pimm’s and top with soda. Stir until slightly chilled. Garnish with slices of cucumber and lemon.

Notes
Borage flowers
If you have some borage growing in your garden, do add a bloom to the glass as you would a mint spring. Borage was originally used, along with the leaves, as a Pimm’s Cup garnish. The blooms are edible and taste a little like cucumbers.

Our next Cookbook Challenge

Follow us as we channel creative vibes from our next three cookbooks, picked totally at random: Knives Cook Love from Sur la Table, Feast by Nigella Lawson, and Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson (yes, two Nigella books!).

photos © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Sunday, April 21, 2013

May We Present You The Most Esoteric Cocktail You Will Never Make

MxMo LLXXII: Drink Your Vegetables
Hosted by Fogged In Lounge

The Logan 5: Parsnips and Carrots in a way you’ve never seen them before.

Cocktails, like fashion, follow trends. One day you’re sipping classics, like a Daiquiri or Manhattan, while sporting steampunk regalia; the next, you’ve back-closeted these for something trendier, perhaps a barrel-aged mastic-infused brandy cocktail that looks great on you along with your latest flight of sartorial fancy. This month, for Mixology Monday, a monthly online cocktail challenge that has been known to follow such trends, we are invited to create a new, or extol the virtues of an extant, drink that shines because of its vegetable matter.

Parsnips infusing in moonshine
A year or so ago we started infusing spirits like crazy, and many of our mad scientist experiments have paid off. One cocktail that we have not yet shared with our readers for obvious reasons involves three infused spirits. This one-off would be ideal for a bar or restaurant that can highlight this on its menu, but for home? Who, besides a total cocktail geek, is going to wait a week or so for all these infusions to reach their peak flavor profiles? Patience, one of the most difficult virtues for us 21-centurists to follow, is needed.

Parsnips in moonshine
 (closeup)
We had infused some Korean soju over a year ago with carrots for a Korean barbecue fest, and also some clean moonshine with parsnips for God knows what reason. Combined with some ginger tincture we had brewing, along with some Quebecois maple liqueur and Vermont maple syrup, this seemingly ill-conceived concoction actually tasted great. Especially with the addition of some organic egg white to give the libation a silky mouthfeel. The entire affair tasted like springtime, so we started riffing and free-associating on this fact to come up with a name we liked. Spring’s Bounty led to Spring Meadow, which made us think of Easter, and then the godawful Renewal. But it was Renewal that led us to Logan 5. Science fiction aficionados will get the reference, but for those of you who do not remember the 1976 film Logan’s Run (we will not discuss the remake), the lead character’s name is Logan 5. He is a Sandman, or rather, an officer of the futuristic domed city, charged with preventing people who are 30 years old from trying to escape their fate: Carrousel. You see, Carrousel is a bullshit event whereby 30-year-olds are destined to achieve Renewal, i.e., the afterlife. Just watch the movie with one of these. It will all make sense.

Logan 5
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces parsnip-infused moonshine*
1 ounce carrot-infused soju**
1/2 ounce maple liqueur (such as Sortilège)
1/2 egg white
1/2–1 teaspoon ginger tincture***
1/2–1 teaspoon maple syrup

* Infuse 1/4 cup shredded parsnip in 1 1/2 cups clear moonshine (you can substitute vodka) for up to a week, shaking once or twice every day. Strain into a clean jar or bottle. Label.

** Infuse 3 to 4 carrots, cut into pieces, in 2 cups soju (at about 20% abv) for up to a month, shaking once or twice every day. Strain into a clean jar or bottle. Label.

* Infuse 1 large knob of ginger, peeled and cut into pieces, in 1 cup clear moonshine (you can substitute vodka) for up to 2 weeks, shaking once or twice every day. Strain into a clean jar or bottle. Label.

Method
In a Boston shaker, add all the ingredients except ice and shake vigorously for about 30seconds. Then add ice and shake vigorously for another 15–30 seconds. Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Variations
If you don’t want to use egg white, you can shake all the other ingredients in ice, strain into an ice-filled highball glass, and top with soda. Add a brandied cherry, or something akin to that, cupped in a half-moon orange slice, and speared with a pick. We’ll call this one the Jessica 6.

Further Exploration 
And, if you’ve caught the creativity bug, start your own infusions. Just walk around the produce aisle of your local grocery store for some inspiration. Then make a beeline to the liquor store for the perfect vehicle for whatever produce you just bought. Soju or some clear moonshine are a good start.

❤ ❤ ❤

Now, the next time you have a Manhattan, you’ll hit your forehead with the palm of your hand and exclaim, “Wow, I could’ve had a Logan 5.”


Other cocktails that use veggies:
Adam and Srirachacha (tomatoes)
Gibson (onions)
Ruby (beets)
Zul Mule (cucumbers)
Clear and The Wink (celery)
Martini (olives)