seasonal

the C. D. Rocktail

A customer at work recently asked me what my favorite gin was.

I was struck at first by the thought that this was a sort of strange question. People who like gin tend to really like gin, and usually already know what brands they like, and people who don’t like gin usually avoid it like the plague and couldn’t give half a crap what someone else’s favorite brand might be.

Once I answered her though, and explained why I liked that brand, I was struck by another thought. I haven’t had gin in a good long time.

Before I started drinking whiskey, gin was usually my liquor of choice. Even after I became a whiskey boy I still tended to drink gin in warmer summer months. Gin gimlets used to be my favorite easy summer cocktail, but that all changed when I developed a taste for tequila and discovered the Paloma.

This is making me sound like a terrible lush. I’m not. Moderation. It’s all about moderation… Also, variety is the spice of life, so there.

The answer to the favorite gin question, for those of you who might be wondering, is Hendrick’s. While it’s not the only gin I like, if I have to choose a favorite this would be it. Hendrick’s is a small batch gin made from a variety of herbs and botanicals, and along with the traditional juniper that gives gin its distinctive piney flavor, this gin is infused with rose petals and cucumber. The resulting gin is smooth and mild with a subtle juniper flavor, pleasant aromatics notes, and hints of cool cucumber and floral rose.

The use of high quality ingredients also prevents you from feeling like you’ve pickled your insides if you drink one (or two) too many cocktails.

With Hendrick’s on my mind I started thinking about the best gin cocktail I’ve ever had.

Right after college I moved to Ithaca, New York, and took a job waiting tables at a hip & modern restaurant called Olivia. Olivia’s sister restaurant, Stella’s, was a trendy late-night cocktail lounge in Ithaca’s “college town” neighborhood. My coworkers and I would frequently head to Stella’s for a drink after Olivia had closed for the night. Sometimes there’s nothing like a good drink with other waiters to help you wind down after a busy night.

One of my favorite and most frequently consumed cocktails was called the C.D. Rocktail, which was named after the bartender who created it. (Her initials are C.D.) I was no stranger to gin even then, but I was not familiar with Hendrick’s and had never tasted such a wonderfully refreshing gin cocktail before. Back then the craft cocktail trend was still in it’s formative years, and most of upstate New York hadn’t yet caught on. The mixologists at Stella’s knew what was up though and came up with more than a handful of recipes for some seriously tasty tipple.

The C.D. Rocktail was made by muddling cucumber & basil with lime juice and simple syrup, and topping it all off with gin and soda water. This potent potable is unbelievably fresh, summery, & refreshing; with a subtle sweetness and just a hint of effervescence. The cucumber helps to mellow out the gin’s bite, the basil imparts a pleasant herbal freshness, and lime sweetens and brightens everything up and ties the whole thing together.

I mean, this was almost ten years ago and I’m still thinking about this cocktail. It’s a Stellar (har har har) drink, and I’m sure you’re going to love it just as much as I do. Even if you’re not a huge gin lover, you should give this a try. The juniper piney flavor of gin is extremely subtle in this drink and only adds to it’s bright green summeriness.

When that customer asked about the gin and jolted my memory, I knew I had to try to recreate this cocktail. It’s been a looooong time since I’ve had one and I’d almost forgotten how much I loved them. The problem though, was that I couldn’t remember exactly what went into it. I knew it was Hendrick’s and I knew there were cucumbers and lime, but my memory failed me and I thought it was mint instead of basil, and forgot about the soda water. I also wasn’t sure how it all came together as, at the time, I was paying more attention to how they went down than how they were made. Although Olivia has since gone out of business, Stella’s is still open, but unfortunately, the C.D. Rocktail is no longer on the menu.

I’m still good friends with a lot of my former coworkers though, so I started asking around. No one had the recipe, but one of them is still in touch with the bartender who dreamed up this dreamy drink. So, she asked and a few days later the recipe was in my inbox. Or, at least, a list of ingredients was. Quantities and directions weren’t provided, so it took me a few tries to get it right, but if memory serves me this is pretty damn close to the way the original recipe tasted.

So, you should totally make this. I went to sooo much trouble to find and recreate the recipe for you. I had to drink multiple cocktails to get it right. This is the cross I bear in the name of blogging, so the least you can do it try it for yourself. And besides, the C.D. Rocktail is an unbelievably summery and refreshing drink and you’d be crazy not to make it.

the C.D. Rocktail

Servings: makes one 8oz cocktail
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3 slices cucumber, halved (about 1/4″ thick)
1/2 oz lime juice
4 – 5 fresh basil leaves
1/2 oz simple syrup *see note
2 oz good quality gin, preferably Hendrick’s
2 oz soda water

Muddle cucumber & basil in a cocktail shaker with lime juice & simple syrup. Take your time and get them real good and mashed up. Top with gin, add ice, and shake well. Strain into an 8- 10 oz glass filled with ice, and top with 2oz soda water.
Garnish with a slice of cucumber, if desired.

*note- simple syrup is crazy easy to make. Heat an equal amount of sugar and water, until sugar is completely dissolved. Cool. You’re done.

roasted peach and creamy vanilla pudding ice pops

I love homemade ice pops.

I mean, let’s be honest here, I also love homemade ice cream and all things sweet and frozen, especially in the summer. Hot weather basically ushers in the season of icy frozen sweet treats for me. There’s something about a homemade ice pop though that just really hits the spot on a hot day. They also happen to hit the spot on a cool day, or a rough day, a stressful day, or a great day, a lonely day, or a day spent with friends.

Making ice pops at home tends to be much easier than making ice cream and doesn’t require such an investment in special equipment. They’re also the perfect single-serving-size. Where eating ice cream requires a certain level of self control, you know you’re done with an ice pop when all that’s left is a clean wooden stick. Ice pops generally tend to be a little bit healthier too, featuring milk, yogurt, or fruit juice rather than heavy cream. So if you go back in for a second one, it’s okay, I won’t tell.

Since milk, on it’s own, isn’t as creamy as the custardy base of ice cream, I think that transforming the milk into a pudding before freezing really improves the texture. I recently did this with chocolate ice pops with great results, so when I was trying to think of what to pair with peaches this time around I thought I’d give it a shot. Worked like a charm!

I infused the creamy pudding with a healthy dose of vanilla bean and thickened it slightly with egg yolk to give it a rich French vanilla custard flavor. It makes the whole thing taste just as rich and decadent as homemade ice cream, and it’s a perfect compliment to the deep summery roasted peaches.

Roasting the peaches heightens and concentrates their flavor and gives them a toasty caramelized depth. It also helps to soften them and make them easier to peel and puree, which is especially great if your peaches aren’t exactly 100% ripe. Pouring the different flavors in alternating layers ensures that each slurp of these pops is a totally fun and refreshing experience.

What more can I say about these? They’re creamy, rich, decadent, & custardy. Their amazing vanilla cream flavor is the star of the show, and it pairs perfectly with the sweet roasted peaches. Just right for summer!

roasted peach and creamy vanilla pudding ice pops

Servings: ten 3oz ice pops
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1 lb fresh peaches (about 2 to 3 large or 3 to 4 small)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons of sugar, divided
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch, divided
pinch salt
2 cups milk
1/2 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 450. Wash peaches and cut them into quarters, discarding the pit. Toss in a bowl with lemon juice and 3 tablespoons sugar. Arrange, cut side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet. Pour any leftover liquid over the peach pieces. Roast for about 20 minutes or until peaches release their syrupy juices and begin to brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool, remove the skin from each slice, which should peel off easily. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, whisk remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, and salt. Add milk and whisk smooth. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean and whisk into milk along with scraped bean. Heat slowly over a medium flame, whisking regularly. Once slightly thickened and bubbling, cook for one to two minutes more before removing from heat. Place egg yolks in a small bowl, and ladle in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of pudding. Whisk together, and return to pan. Whisk smooth, return to heat, and bring back to a simmer. Simmer for one or two minutes more and whisk in vanilla extract.

Pour a little more than half of the mixture (probably about 1 1/2 cups) off into a measuring cup or heatproof bowl. Add peaches and remaining teaspoon of cornstarch to remaining pudding mixture. Puree in the pan with an immersion blender or in the pitcher of a blender. Return pan to heat, bring to a simmer, and cook for one or two minutes more. Cool slightly before proceeding.

Layer vanilla pudding and peach pudding mixtures in ice pop molds. I use a mold with ten 3 oz pops, and alternated two layers of each flavor. Try to be slightly more stingy with vanilla pudding, and more generous with peach as you’ll have just a bit more of that.

Cover molds, add sticks about half way into pops, and freeze for a minimum of 4 hours, or until completely frozen through. Remove pops by running each mold under warm water for about 10 or 15 seconds.

caramelized peach cornmeal skillet cake with bourbon whipped cream

So this was supposed to be a simple summer dessert.

I’ve been seeing fresh local peaches making their way into the market, so they’ve been on my mind a lot lately. One of my favorite ways to eat a peach is to hold it in your hand and devour it. Eating a fresh ripe peach is an experience unlike that of most other fruit. When you bite into a peach it’s soft fleshy interior barely puts up a fight. You’re forced to slurp and lick between bites to catch the river of drippy golden juices trying to escape down your chin and wrist. A perfectly ripe peach is sweet and jammy and eating one is an almost vulgar exercise.

As much as I can urge and encourage you to take advantage of peach season before it’s too late, I can’t very well post a recipe titled, “eat a damned peach”. I mean, I guess I could, but it would be weird.

So, the plan was to come up with the perfect recipe to be a vehicle for this quintessential summer stone fruit.

At first I kept thinking of going in the bundt cake direction, but you and I both know I’ve been pumping out plenty of bundts lately. I wanted something a little simpler and more rustic. Something that would highlight and compliment the peaches. So I started brainstorming. For the next few days I was going over all the options I could think of. Cobblers and crumbles, buckles and slumps, pies and galettes, cupcakes and ice cream. Then, suddenly, it dawned on me. Skillet cake! Buttermilk skillet cake! Cornmeal buttermilk skillet cake! Brown butter cornmeal buttermilk skillet cake! Boom. Boom. Boom.

It’s funny the way the mind works. Days of thought and then POW! I had my answer, in detail, in less than 30 seconds.

The recipe is actually pretty simple to make too. You need little more than a skillet, a bowl & a spatula. Oh and maybe a knife for the peaches. Making homemade whipped cream is the only part that really requires any specialty tools.

The only “extra” steps I took to build layers of flavor in this cake were caramelizing the peaches and browning the butter. If you wanted to simplify things you could certainly skip one or both of these steps, but I really think that taking the extra few minutes makes all the difference in making this cake so amazing. Both steps help build a richness and depth of flavor, and I think its worth it in the end.

So like I said before, this was supposed to be an ordinary summer dessert. Something simple that would highlight the perfect peach and its perfect peachiness. Before I even started I knew that it would be good, and that the flavors here were right up my alley, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so different. So extraordinary. So perfect. I simply didn’t expect this to be so wonderful. I didn’t expect it to end up being my favorite dessert of 2014. But… It is.

Before this went into the oven I thought I should probably make sure it wasn’t poison If I was going to go forward with the baking process. So, I stole a little spoonful of batter. Then, I had to have another. And maybe one more after that. Oh my god. Something about this was just soooo good.

Once it had cooled, and I’d gone ahead and photographed it, I sat down and picked up one of the slices I’d cut and staged for the photo. I took a bite.

Whoa. It was perfect. Warm and homey and simple and summery, the perfect dessert.

I am a total sucker for desserts that are rustic, un-fussy, and old-fashioned. While I do sometimes love fancy over-the-top desserts, I’d take a rustic galette or a bubbling crumble over a fussy french pastry any day of the week. I think that’s why I love this cake so much. It’s everything I look for in a dessert. Comfort food at it’s finest.

Baking this in cast iron means the outside edge has a cornbread crustiness, while the interior is soft and delicate. The cornmeal in this cake gives it a bit of texture and bite, but it’s somehow also tender and moist at the same time. The jammy caramelized peaches are soft and gooey and rich. The combination of nutty brown butter, tangy buttermilk, and earthy cornmeal, along with the caramelized sweetness and vibrant summariness of the peaches is unbelievable.

This cake is phenomenal on its own, warm out of the oven or served at room temperature. If you want to, you can serve it with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream. I think that might be overkill though, and recommend you opt for a hearty dollop of bourbon scented whipped cream.

Caramelized Peach Cornmeal Skillet Cake

Servings: 8-12
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adapted from Martha Stewart

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 lb fresh peaches
1/4 cup brown sugar
pinch salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a 9″ or 10″ cast iron skillet (*see note), brown 1 stick unsalted butter over medium high heat. Brown until butter smells nutty and looks golden. Pour off into a medium heatproof bowl to cool.

Peel peaches (**see note) and slice each into thick wedges. Melt remaining butter in skillet and add peaches, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium high for about 10 minutes or until juices are bubbling and thick. If the peaches are especially ripe and juicy, you can spoon the slices out and continue reducing the juice for another 5 minutes or so. Remove to a heatproof bowl to cool. Wipe out skillet, return 1 tablespoon of browned butter, and swirl to coat.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and sugar. In bowl with remaining cooled brown butter, add buttermilk and eggs and whisk to combine. Pour wet mixture over flour mixture and mix until just combined. Gently stir in about half of the caramelized peaches and juice.
Pour batter into prepared skillet and spoon remaining peaches and juice evenly over the top.

Bake, with a baking sheet on rack below (to catch any potential drips), until top is evenly browned and a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool slightly, about 30 minutes. If necessary, run a knife around the edge to loosen. Slice into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature, with bourbon whipped cream if desired (recipe below)

Cooks notes:
*You can use another type of ovenproof skillet if you don’t have cast iron, but I think cast iron will give you the best texture. Also, the original recipe called for a 10″ skillet but I didn’t have one and used a 9″ without a single drop spilling over in the oven.
** To peel peaches you can shock them in a pot of boiling water and transfer to an ice bath. Very ripe peaches will usually peel easily without this method. You can also use a vegetable peeler.

Bourbon Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon bourbon

In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip heavy cream to soft peaks. Add sugar and bourbon and whisk a minute or two more, until the cream reaches stiff peaks.

zucchini & mint soup

So we have some dirt, soil you might call it, in the back behind our apartment.

Many people who are lucky enough to have soil behind their homes like to grow things in said soil. Some people even try to grow edible things. I myself would love to grow edible things, but my soil has the unlucky fortune of residing beneath a big horrible mulberry tree that shades it and prevents much of anything green from ever seeing the bright rays of the sun. Hostas and Ivy do okay, but nothing edible wants to have anything to do with my crumby dirt. I have a few measly herbs in pots, but they do more in the way of surviving rather than thriving. A few years ago I put in some strawberry plants. I think that in the two summers that they were alive they produced exactly 3 berries between them. They’ve since given up and made way for weedy clumps of clover and moss.

It seems that the rest of you don’t have such problems. In the past few weeks I feel like everyone in the world (but me) has been whining about having too much zucchini. It would appear that your soil, and the edibles sustained within, are getting all the sunshine a patch of dirt could ask for.

“Oh look at all this zucchini!”, you say. “Whatever shall I do with all of it? Woe is me!” Oh you poor things! What a burden. I weep for you.

I should be so lucky. My soil wouldn’t spew forth a bounty of zucchini if its existence depended on it. If I want zucchini, I have to buy it at the market like a common chump. Can you even imagine?

My zucchini deficit doesn’t mean though, that I’m immune to the wiles of all the drool-inducing photos and recipes that have been popping up all over the internet lately. Even though I’m not actively trying to rid myself of any zucchini surplus, I’m still forced to watch as you struggle and strive to use up all of yours. I don’t have the ill fortune of all this bounty, but thanks to all of your efforts, I now crave zucchini just the same. Thanks a lot guys.

I thought a nice light soup would be a great way to satiate my appetite for those big green beauties. When I started looking for inspiration though, most of the recipes I found paired the zucchini with basil. I do have a small basil plant in the back, but as if the paltry sunlight wasn’t enough, a little green caterpillar decided to add insult to injury and make swiss cheese of my poor little plant. I was a little worried that basil would be too strong a flavor to pair with mild zucchini anyway, so I tried to think of something else. It didn’t take me long to remember the mint I was given as a birthday gift, which somehow seems to be leading a happyish and healthyish existence.

So, zucchini and mint soup it was, and boy did it deliver. The mint and zucchini pair perfectly together, and the resulting soup is subtle, delicate, and delicious. It’s an ideal light supper for summer nights and hot weather. It’s just hearty enough to be filling, but isn’t at all heavy and definitely won’t weigh you down.

This soup is unbelievably simple and takes no time to make, but somehow manages to taste rich and complex. I’d definitely recommend using the highest quality chicken stock you can find, and if you have some homemade stock in the freezer, now would be the time to use it. Since the other ingredients are so delicate and mild, the stock really adds something. A good vegetable stock would be great here too if you want to make this vegetarian, and leaving out the yogurt would make it vegan.

Whether you have a stockpile to use up, or you have to pay for it like me, this is the perfect way to satisfy your passion for zucchini. This soup is packed with bright, fresh, clean zucchini flavor that’s amplified and deepened with the addition of fresh mint. It literally could not be more summery. It’s smooth and creamy, and retains just a bit of texture when pureed with an immersion blender. Adding yogurt brings a nice hint of tanginess, but if you wanted to keep it dairy free you could substitute a squeeze of fresh lemon juice instead. Served with a nice crusty loaf of white bread, this soup is a summery little bowl of heaven.

Zucchini & Mint Soup

Servings: 4-ish
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adapted from Gourmet Traveler

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
4 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
1 large zucchini (about 6 cups), diced
4 cups chicken stock
½ cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed

To serve:
greek yogurt or fresh lemon, extra-virgin olive oil, and mint leaves

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or stockpot over medium heat. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and stir occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and zucchini and stir occasionally for another 5 minutes. Add stock, increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Add mint, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until zucchini is just tender, about another 5 minutes. Process with a hand-held blender until smooth. Alternately, pulse in a blender until smooth with no large chunks, but not completely pureed. Check seasoning and adjust to taste if necessary.
To serve, top with a dollop of greek yogurt (or a squeeze of lemon juice), a drizzle of olive oil, and a few fresh mint leaves.