Strawberry Fields Forever (an inevitability)

Spring is here. Normally, for me, it would be planting season. However so much of what I planted last year has returned, better than ever. My perennials - raspberries, strawberries, chives, oregano, mint, and sage - are all bigger and more delicious than last year. Some of the annuals, such as the tomatoes, have even propagated themselves by way of squirrel poop. For the strawberries, it is as if the plants know when June 1st is, regardless of weather conditions, and they begin growing, spreading, and fruiting anew. I think I've already harvested more strawberries this season than in all of last season. Surely, the best is yet to come. Naturally, when confronted with lush, perfect produce, I transform it into cocktails.

To preface this cocktail, a bit about them. I am a fan of Martinis. A Martini is a specific cocktail made using gin and vermouth. There is some wiggle room regarding ingredient choice but there is a point at which the "Martini" appellation no longer applies. Vodka and apple pucker is not a martini of any sort. That the "-tini" suffix is so frequently attached to any drink served "up" in a cocktail glass is a source of great frustration. Typically, drinks served up, that is, shaken or stirred with ice and strained into a glass, are presented in a cocktail glass - a stemmed vessel with an obtuse conical bowl. That said, with a sense of tradition, one can adapt classic cocktails to include quality ingredients and end up with a fine beverage. Here, then, is the Strawberry Mango Gimlet. (as always, I will accept naming ideas.)

A Gimlet is a derivative drink of the Martini where the vermouth is replaced with fresh lime juice. Simple syrup is usually added to balance the lime, and an orange liqueur like Cointreau is often included for depth. Included in this variant is North Shore Distillery's Alphonso Mango gin. North Shore Distillery, located in Lake Bluff, IL is one of the top small-batch distilleries in the country, with the top rated gin in the United States. Every year, they concoct a specialty spirit using rare ingredients (Israeli dates, Indian mangoes, etc.). Of the mango gin, there were only about two dozen cases produced; bottles are hand numbered out of 256.

Above is the setup and a close-up of the gin bottle. You can see that the strawberries are tiny but very red. They are quite full of flavor unlike their store-brand counterparts. The equipment needed is a cobbler (or Boston) shaker, a citrus juicer, a muddler (not pictured) and a cocktail glass, iced to protect the drink's chill.

Strawberry Mango Gimlet

• 1-3 small strawberries
• Juice of 1/2 small lime, about 3/4 fl oz
• 1 3/4 oz North Shore Mango Gin
• Dash simple syrup

Muddle the strawberries in the bottom of the shaker with the lime juice and simple syrup until well mashed.

Add gin and shake gently to combine. Strain into cocktail glass.

The drink also makes a fine Fizz or Collins when poured over ice into a highball glass and topped with soda water.

Prost.

Lamb Bacon II: Reloaded

Today I return to where I started. Lamb Bacon. It makes chilis, stuffings, stews, braised collard greens, hashes, and, and, and, and, and... really delicious. I swear to you, with lamb bacon in your arsenal, you will have no need for pork bacon in your cooking. Keep it around for your lumberjack breakfasts, though, if you're into that sort of thing. Lamb bacon is not seen to frequently for several reasons, practical and economic. It certainly isn't traded on commodities exchanges. Nor is it particularly easy to produce. Except that it is. If you're Wylie Dufresne, and need perfectly consistent slices of lamb bacon, it's certainly a challenge, but for the home user, it's quite simple.

I was pleased with my first attempt at lamb bacon, but it was nothing compared to the second batch. Here's how I improved it:

• I made a stronger cure using more spices, toasting them for added deliciousness

Mustard, black pepper, fennel, coriander, cumin, dried herbs, garlic and onion powders, salt and sugar make up the cure.


Curing the lamb bellies in a dish, stacked together.

• I used Activa TransGlutaminase GS, following the company instructions and making sure to glove up, to seal the meat. TG essentially acts as a meat glue, binding the muscle fibers to each other. This is important because, when removing the bones from the lamb breast, it gets all flappy. TG seals the flaps, making a much more contiguous product.

The meat glue package. Note all the warnings.


The meat glue powder activated with water.


Brushing the meat glue onto the flappy lamb breast to create a cohesive bacon mass.

• I slow smoked the cured lamb breasts over hickory wood. Apple is better, but you take what you can get.

The final product is much more baconey than the previous batch. I think you should try making some lamb bacon and let me know how it came out/how you improved my recipe and method/what you used it for.

In the Garden of Eatin', Honey

Though the herbs were the longest lasting and most practical selections in the garden, there were quite a few other treats.

Tomatoes:
When you buy tomatoes at the grocery store, they are usually either pink and hard, or mealy and nasty. In either case, they typically lack much in the way of flavor. I'm certain that I've mentioned before the reasons for this, involving highways, cheap fuel, and hyper-growth varieties. Heirloom tomatoes are essentially the exact opposite of these grocery store ones. There are countless varieties that come in every color of the rainbow (except blue; there is no blue food), with many different flavor profiles. Additionally, different varieties produce fruit at different times of the year, so using several varieties will allow you to have a constant supply. For my garden, I purchased four varieties of tomato saplings from the local farmer's market.

The Orange Blossom variety produced earliest in the season. Its fruit was also the sweetest of the bunch. Slightly smaller than racquetballs, they were perfect for making salsa. As you know, I'm not that crazy about recipes, as each person has their own tastes. Salsa is a perfect medium for expressing your culinary ideas while still maintaining the flavors of the produce. I finely diced the tomatoes and combined with mixed shallots, chopped cilantro, a hint of garlic, and salt. That's all it needs to be the best dip your tortilla chips could dream of. Make sure you have enough, though; it goes fast. Regrettably, I had but one orange blossom plant.




In terms of numbers, the Green Zebra tomatoes were the most prolific, producing dozens of fruits on each of two plants. Their flavor is lighter and more citrusy than other varieties. They're great on salads, especially as the centerpiece of an Insalata Caprese. Even better is to use them to make Gazpacho Verde. Tasty. Here are the tomatoes, unripe and attached to the vine on the left. To the right, the yellowing of the stripes indicates ripeness.



The other two varieties were Purple Cherokee and Brandywine. The PCs are similar in flavor to standard tomatoes, albeit much fuller and fruitier. They're great in sandwiches, add nicely to salads, and provide a great visual and textural counterpart in ceviches. Brandywine tomatoes are redder than anything you've ever seen, incredibly richly flavored, and aromatic like flowers. A couple of them grew to about the size of a softball for added visual effect. Few varieties of tomato existing outside the backyards of Southern Italy are better for making sauces or for canning than these. The internal structure is also a tighter, more complex lattice meaning more meat, less juice, and a striking presentation.


The problem with berries is that there are never enough. I would gladly sit down and eat a pint of blueberries for lunch every day. Blueberry plants are more of an investment than others. You buy some scrawny, bare twigs and, given a few years, it turns into a fifteen foot bush producing enough fruit for you and your neighbors. The raspberries and blackberries are similar, though not expanding as much with age. They all taste as good as anything you'd find in a farmer's market and require very little maintenance.



Strawberries are fantastic. There really isn't much to say about them. The plants are perennial and spread like crazy. They also stay low to the ground so they can be mixed in with other, taller plants like basil (together in ice cream = perfection), tomatoes, and berry bushes. Harvesting them can be a bit like Where's Waldo. And beware of ants. Some types of strawberries produce only during a certain time of year, and are classified as such, such as "Junebearing". These typically have better tasting fruit, a tradeoff for the brief growing season. Others will produce as long as the temperature is warm enough and are referred to as "everbearing". Using a planter, you can even grow them inside during the winter. Delicious local strawberries in Chicago in winter? Yes we can.

In the Garden of Eatin', Baby (Apologies for the trite pun)

Anybody who says that local, organic, or sustainable produce is too expensive needs to be smacked. Okay, I don't typically condone violence of this sort, so maybe they just need to do be learned about the truths. For the low price of a few seeds or saplings, you can grow your own foodstuffs with minimal effort. In early spring 2008, I started clearing out patches of the back yard of weeds, vines, roots, and other purposeless florae. With several patches cleared, I needed to decide what to plant.

This is an important decision to make. Many gardening books suggest certain lettuces or summer squashes because they are easy to grow, but surely the most important guidance, regardless of difficulty, has to be to plant what you love. One of the greatest pains of grocery store shopping is the purchase of herbs. Why must I buy a bushel of parsley if I only need a sprinkle? Worse yet, why when buying other herbs is the cost so exorbitant for such a small quantity? I am a well-known Mojito fiend. I can't get enough of them. Of course, the distinctive flavoring of that delightful Cuban cocktail is mint. Funny, though, how you usually can't really taste the mint in a Julep or Mojito. Why is this? When most restaurants and grocery stores buy mint, it comes from gigantic farms whose sole purpose is to produce vast QUANTITIES of a product as quickly as possible. Agribusinesses use selective breeding and genetic manipulation to achieve these ends, usually at the expense of flavor and aroma. Note, this is the same reason that a rose today indeed does not smell as sweet. So with dilute or flavorless mint, one cannot make a fine beverage (or jerked chicken). The best way to guarantee good flavor, short of complicated soil testing, analysis, and rebalancing, is to start with good genes. Internet stores provide heirloom (unadulterated) seeds and local garden shops typically carry specialty varieties. Additionally, many farmer's market vendors will sell their surplus plants to the public. I planted several types of mint from several sources and it sure did grow like a weed. Plus, when it flowers, it produces beautiful conical shoots. Having a constant and huge supply of herbs makes spur-of-the-moment cooking and cocktailing a pleasure. All together, I grew marjoram, oregano, sorrel, chives, sage, basil, and seven varieties of mint. Despite my poor soil, they grew well, producing interesting and delightful flavors. Enjoy some photos.


Common Mint


Lemon Thyme (perfect for chicken, sauces, and cocktails)


Top Left: Greek Oregano, a peppery treat
Center: Marjoram, unique, fruity, citrusy, and... herbal


Sorrel, a sour lettuce-like leaf


Basil. A must for anything pretending to be Italiano

Oh Right, Garlic Scapes...

I previously promised an entry on garlic scapes, but have not yet gotten around to producing anything particularly photogenic at home with them. So here's a text-only account of the scape.

Available only for a few weeks during late spring and early summer, garlic scapes are part of the stem portion of the garlic plant. There are two parts to the scape, the stem and the blossom. The stem is green and crunchy, almost like a green bean, but very smooth and cylindrical. They can be a couple inches to a couple feet long, but are usually trimmed down to several inches when sold. (Sometimes the entire garlic plant is sold whole, from bulb to leaves to stem to blossom. Very cool but usually not the best value) As the season progresses, the blossom grows from a small nub to a golf ball sized cluster of hominy-esque garlic kernels. When peeled of its outer skin, it is a fairly attractive flower, as long as you don't mind the Dracula busting aroma.

The stem section has a very strong bite raw or cooked and makes a fine addition to risottos and vegetable sautes, but by far my favorite application is tempura fried. I made it a few times with varying success, and I don't recall the key to success, but I do know that very hot oil is crucial. The blossom is slightly subtler in flavor and kick, with a creamy texture when cooked. Tonight, I used them in lentil soup, sweating them with the aromatics (and lamb bacon v2.0...). It was a nice textural contrast. My favorite preparation would have to be caramelization, though. In a small amount of oil over low heat, cook the separated blossoms until they are very soft and uniformly dark golden brown. Most recently, I used this application at work, in the one-week absence of my chef, on the special I ran.

Tuna Watermelon Salad

• Prepare garlic blossom kernels as directed above
  
• Remove the rind from a whole watermelon and carve so that cross-sections are uniform circles
• Thinly slice the watermelon into friendly, manageable circles. (Don't forget to collect the juices to add to sparkling water, pop, or prosecco)
  
• Rub down a small (4 oz) tuna steak with salt and ground coriander (or seasonings of your choice)
• Sear on both sides in a screaming hot (cast iron, ideally) pan, making sure not to overcook the fish. (Center should be 1/2-2/3 rare/raw)
• While tuna is resting, compose the salad, beginning with the watermelon on the plate.
• Toss a handful of arugula with the mild flavored vinaigrette of your choice and mound with maximum elevation atop the watermelon.
• Thinly and uniformly slice the tuna, then arrange around the base of the watermelon and salad, forming a single ring, discarding (read: consuming) the ends.
• Garnish with garlic kernels atop the salad and herb oil and watermelon granita on the side of the plate.
• Sell like crazy because it rocks!

Purple Haze

This is a cocktail entry. There is already a cocktail named "Purple Haze", and every other conceivable title using the world "purple" but they all involve blue curacao (aka HFCS [high fructose corn syrup] and blue dye) and either grenadine (aka HFCS and red dye) or cranberry juice. Alternate naming suggestions will be accepted though.

Therefore, for the sake of natural, quality drink making, the type that would be found in a respectable bar, I am hijacking the name and using it for my own. Why the need for purple? Seeing a big bin of cactus pears (also known as prickly pears, being the fruit of any cactus of the genus Opuntia) at H-Mart, I instantly thought of using them in a cocktail. They are bad for eating straight because they have large, hard seeds within which can either be swallowed whole or spit out. They also have a very thick skin. Here they are whole.

To prepare them, slice off both ends, just under 1/4 inch from the edge.
Make a shallow slit down the longitude of the fruit.

Peel away the skin to reveal the fruit within.

Dice and puree the fruit, then strain out the seeds and fibers. The resulting puree is thick, full flavored, and richly colored.


So here it is, the Purple Haze

• 1/2 oz sake or soju (I actually used sake and my galangal infused soju)
• 3/4 oz cactus pear puree
• 1 oz clear rum (as you'll recall, cruzan is my choice of the mainstream brands

• Combine ingredients in a shaker full of (cubed, not disk) ice and shake vigorously until you can barely handle the cold
• Pour into a rocks glass of fresh ice or a chilled cocktail (read: martini for the less-informed) glass

If you felt inclined, and lack any knowledge of mixology, you could call it a -tini, Opuntini, perhaps. But that wouldn't sell well. And it's not a martini, despite its pretty color...

The flavor was quite interesting. Reminiscent of a warmer-climate, chardonnay. It had the tropical fruit flavors such as banana and pineapple from the cactus pear and the butteriness from the sake, aside from other characteristics which are too many to detail. This was paired with the sushi appetizer I made tonight. Prost (or should I say Kampai?)

Popcorn Ice Cream

Having a gigantic sack of popcorn and not a lot on my prep list, I made some popcorn ice cream at work.

You'll need:

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 C sugar
• 2 c heavy cream
• 2 c milk
• 2 quarts of prepared buttered popcorn
• (Normally, I add salt to every ice cream recipe to enhance the sweetness and flavors, but the popcorn ought to take care of it)

Method:

• Combine eggs and 1/2 sugar in a large bowl and whisk to Ribbon Stage
• Combine cream, milk, popcorn, and remaining sugar in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil, then remove from heat (take care not to boil over)
• Let it sit for about 20 minutes, until the popcorn has thoroughly infused its flavor into the cream. (Using a heavy pan will maintain enough heat so that the eggs are properly cooked by tempering)
  
• Strain through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer (see: Appendix D)
  
• Whisk a very small amount of the cream mixture into the eggs, continue whisking and adding cream in larger increments until you have a smooth ice cream base.

--This process is called "Tempering". It is done in order to prevent the eggs from curdling. If the eggs do curdle, you could try just straining the mix.
--If you heat this mix on a double boiler until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (nappe), you have "Creme Anglaise", aka pastry cream (though that also involves the addition of vanilla).

• You can use an ice cream machine to produce the final product, or just put it in your freezer (once cooled to 40F) and stir about every half hour to incorporate air and ensure even freezing
  

(Recipe adapted from Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book)



Appendix D
The "D" stands for "Delicious"

The strained out popcorn is delicious and creamy, but not quite suitable for snacking and desserting. I'd recommend making a bread pudding out of it. Combine an egg, a splash of milk, a dash of vanilla, and a half pony of bourbon and whisk. Add the reserved popcorn (which hopefully has dried out a bit since being removed from the ice cream base), and more fresh popcorn if needed. Pour into an appropriately sized, greased baking dish and bake at 350F until set and a bit brown and crisp. Now play around with the recipe until you make something even cooler.