Tuesday, April 28, 2020

That rum and cynar drink

2 mint sprigs
1oz Cynar
1oz rum - book says white but I used Smith & Cross
1/4 oz absinthe, or less (book says Chartreuse
1/8 oz simple syrup
1/8 oz lime juice
1 dash Angostura bitters

Muddle 1 mint sprig. Add everything else, stir, strain into glass with other mint sprig for garnish. Also you can batch this.
Source: Amaro by Brad Thomas Parsons, called "the art of the choke" but edited

Scarecrow

1 1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro
1 1/4 oz bourbon
1/4 oz Fernet Branca
dash orange bitters
orange peel
Stir with ice, strain, garnish with orange.
Source: I don't know.

Corpse reviver #2

1oz gin
1oz Cointreau
1oz Lillet blanc (or Cocchi Americano, or Kina Lillet)
1oz lemon juice
dash absinthe
orange peel garnish

Rinse the glass with absinthe, toss. Shake everything else with ice, strain into that glass. Garnish with orange peel.
source: the internet somewhere, maybe here: https://www.thespruceeats.com/corpse-reviver-no-2-recipe-760015

Friday, April 17, 2020

Shakshuka

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3/4 cup olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
4 bell peppers, in strips
4 tsp muscovado sugar
2 bay leaves
6 thyme sprigs
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
6 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tsp saffron threads
cayenne, salt, and pepper
8 eggs

Roast cumin seeds for 2 minutes, add oil and onions and saute 5 minutes. Add peppers, sugar, and herbs; cook 5-10 minutes. Add tomatoes, saffron, cayenne, salt and pepper. Cook on low 15 minutes. Keep adding water so it's a pasta sauce consistency. You can stop here ands ave this mix until later.

Fry two eggs in a pan and add a bunch of sauce. If you're fancy you can like make a hole in the middle of the sauce and cook the eggs in there with a covered lid for 10-12 minutes.

Source: Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Beet, orange, and black olive salad

5 small or 2 large beets
2 oranges
1 treviso (red chicory) or endive or whatever bitter leaf
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp parlsey
5 tbsp black olives, pitted and halved. (book says Greek wrinkly ones.)
3 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 tsp orange flower water (or orange juice? I don't know)
1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar

Boil beets for 1-2 hours or until a knife goes in smoothly. Cool. Cut into small bits similar to like half the size of an orange segment.
Segment the oranges. Chop them in a couple pieces.
Cut the chicory into 1/2 inch slices.
Combine everything.

Source: Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Roast eggplant with tahini

1 large eggplant
1/3 cup tahini
1/4 cup water
2 tsp pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper
3 mini cucumbers and 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, optional
seeds from half a pomegranate, optional

Either burn the eggplant over a flame (grill?) or slice into slices and roast in the oven for like 25 minutes. I didn't have any luck with the flame on my stove. Anyway, remove the skin and chop the cooked eggplant flesh roughly. Add tahini, water, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix. If you stop there you've got something like baba ganoush, or you can add the cucumbers and tomatoes and then you've got more of a salad. Scatter pomegranate seeds on top.

Source: Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Simla Mirch Kadhi

or, Spicy-tart bell peppers

1 cup yogurt
1 tbsp chickpea flour

1/2 tsp rock salt
1 tsp sugar
4 fresh chilies, stems removed, coarsely chopped
2 slices ginger (2 inches long, 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick) coarsely chopped

1 cup frozen green peas
1 tbsp cilantro
1 tsp ground Deggi chiles, or 1/2 tsp cayenne and 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric

oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 bell peppers, finely chopped
10-12 curry leaves
1 tbsp ghee, optional

Mix yogurt and chickpea flour; whisk so it's not lumpy.
Mortar and pestle the salt and sugar, then add chilies and ginger; add to the yogurt. Then add peas, cilantro, deggi, cumin, coriander, turmeric.
Heat oil, add mustard and cumin seeds until they pop, add bell peppers and curry leaves, fry 8-10 minutes. Add yogurt mixture, stir, simmer 15-20 minutes. Add ghee and serve.

Source: 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Lentils with roasted tomatoes

5 plum tomatoes
thyme sprigs
olive oil
balsamic vinegar

1 red onion, very thinly sliced
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup lentils (Castelluccio, it says, or whatever brown/green lentils)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tbsp chopped chervil or parsley
3 tbsp chopped chives
4 tbsp chopped dill
3oz mild Gorgonzola, crumbled

Dice tomatoes, drizzle with thyme, oil, and balsamic, roast at 275 for 1 1/2 hours or until semi-dried.
Put the onion in a bowl, pour salt and vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes.
Boil lentils in excess water for 20-30 minutes. Drain, add everything.

Source: Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

"a smoky tree" amaro

5g angelica root
3g wild cherry bark
1g juniper berries
10g fresh mint
2g fennel
10g coffee seeds
3g dried ancho chile
half a vanilla bean
5g fresh thyme

Steep in alcohol, dilute with syrup and water. I did about 250g 120 proof, 250g water, 200g syrup. Next time I might do a little less syrup; it's like a Meletti or something, good with soda water but not on its own. Also, I used a whole vanilla bean and that was too much vanilla, I think.

source: started with this amaro recipe developer: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AhiRiem8g8Quiu_OruYpW2sxqpdqvNajwGk9833c734/edit#gid=627802162

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Irish soda bread

1 3/4 cups (420ml) buttermilk (or milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice; whisk, let sit 5 min)
1 large egg
4 and 1/4 cups (515g) all-purpose flour (plus more for your hands and counter)
3 Tablespoons (38g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
optional: 1 cup (150g) raisins

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Whisk the buttermilk and egg together. Set aside.
Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers. Work the dough until into coarse crumbs, then stir in the raisins. Pour in the buttermilk/egg mixture.
Gently fold the dough together until dough it is too stiff to stir. With floured hands on a lightly floured surface, work the dough into an (approximately) 8 or 9 inch round loaf as best you can. (Or use a loaf pan, that works ok too, though it gets a little denser.) Knead the dough for about 30 seconds or until all the flour is moistened. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.
Transfer the dough to the pan. Using a very sharp knife, score an X into the top. Bake until the bread is golden brown and center appears cooked through, about 45 minutes. Loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil if you notice heavy browning on top. I usually place foil on top halfway through bake time.
Remove from the oven and allow bread to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm, at room temperature, or toasted with desired toppings/spreads.

Source: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/grandmas-irish-soda-bread/