Monthly Archives: July 2010

July 29, 2010 · 12:42 pm

Fauxjitos, Fizzy Lavender Lemonade, and Lavender Simple Syrup

Only 2 (gulp) weeks of Summer vacation left until I have to join the workforce again like everyone else.  Couldn’t you feel the least bit sorry for me?  A head tilt to the side and a simple “awwww” will do.  Now is the time to ramp up all things Summer.  I intend to make the most of my time, which is why I’ve been thinking…

…about Summer drinks.  You may not believe me, but you need a jar of lavender simple syrup in your fridge, for Summer drink emergencies.  I have time to think of such things, so that you don’t have to.  Come Fall, I’ll need your help coming up with genius ideas.

Call them sodas, call them mock-tails, call them whatever you’d like. Both drinks can be made with ingredients you can pronounce; limes, lemons, sparkling water, mint from the garden, and lavender simple syrup, which are all Summer staples in the Spoon With Me household.  I whip up these special drinks in no time for dinner guests, girls nights, or backyard BBQs.  A big step up from H.F.C.S- laced sodas (sorry, Dr. Pepper).

You won’t believe me until you try it, but the lavender syrup disguises itself as rum in the Faux-jito (a fizzy minted lime soda), and if you add a little lavender syrup to a real mojito, it tastes more mojito-like (probably sacrilege to serious bartenders.  I won’t tell if you won’t).

Lavender simple syrup plays together with fresh lemon juice and sparkling water to make a sparkling lemonade with just a hint of lavender.

If you’re feeling more “Mo-” than “faux”, here is a great recipe for the real thing, written by a guy with the same last name as me. Jeffrey Morgenthaler is a serious bartender who knows his stuff, so just don’t tell him about the lavender simple syrup, capeesh?

Lavender Simple Syrup

One simple syrup, with at least two uses.  Stir into Sparkling Lavender Lemonade, or in a Fauxjito.  Sit outside on a warm Summer night, sip, and ponder other uses…(and let me know what you come up with!)

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 tablespoons dried lavender flowers

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat.  Immediately remove from the heat, stir in the lavender flowers, and allow to sit until cooled to room temperature.  Strain, pressing the lavender flowers to release oils, and refrigerate in a clean jar for up to two weeks.

Fauxjitos

Inspired by the muddling methods of Jeffrey Morgenthaler

For each 16-oz glass:

  • 1 sprig mint, plus 2 leaves for garnish
  • 3 tablespoons lavender simple syrup (or to taste)
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (hulls reserved)
  • 8 oz (1 cup) sparkling mineral water
  • crushed ice

In the bottom of your glass, gently muddle together the sprig of mint with the simple syrup.  Add the lime hull and sparkling water.  Top with crushed ice, and stir to mix.  Garnish with the mint leaves.

Sparkling Lavender Lemonade

Inspired by the lovely lavender lemonade at Native Foods, a California chain of yummy organic vegan restaurants.

This recipe will make one pitcher of lemonade, to serve around 4 people.

  • 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 quart sparkling mineral water
  • Lavender simple syrup to taste (anywhere from 1/4 cup to 3/4 cups, depending on how sweet you like your lemonade).
  • Ice

Stir all ingredients together  in a pitcher.  Serve over crushed ice.

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Filed under Cocktails and Beverages

July 17, 2010 · 4:55 pm

Southwest Quinoa Salad with Chile-Lime Vinaigrette

Some recipes are good because you know you shouldn’t eat them very often, which makes them a treat.  Others are good because you can eat them as often as you’d like, with no guilt whatsoever. My food life is filled with foods from category two, and polka-dotted with treats from the first category.  Food should always be a delight, no matter from the first or second category, don’t you agree?

My favorite kind of cooking happens when categories one and two collide.  Making this quinoa salad is an indulgence in itself, and feels more like an art project than a chore.

The art project begins at the garden…or the farmers market…or at your favorite grocery store. Pretend you are reaching into your deluxe box of Crayons, and have fun choosing your colors.  My Crayola box is filled with black bean, limey green, purple power onion, electric habañero orange, and sweet corn yellow.  What about you?

Cooked and cooled quinoa (prounounced “keen-wah”)  is the perfect background to splash colors upon.  Not only does this little seed have a light nutty flavor and crunchy texture, but it is packed with all sorts of things that are good for you, like protein, iron,  and amino acids.  Lets suffice to say that if Popeye the Sailor Man were around today, he’d probably choose quinoa over spinach.

Now, it’s chop-chop time.  Here’s where a sharp knife will be your best buddy.  Layer your colorful veggies over your quinoa, drizzle your chile-lime vinaigrette, toss it all together, and then stand back to look at your work–a piece of (albeit abstract) art.

I’ll bet your mom would display it on her fridge if she could.  I think my mom will eat it instead.

Southwest Quinoa Salad

This is a Summer salad, through and through.  Choose an array of peppers, taking into consideration level of heat, sweetness and color.  I like to keep a big bowl of this salad in the fridge to eat for lunches.  Refresh with a splash of lime and a pinch of salt the day after you make it.

Salad Ingredients:

  • 1 cup quinoa (any color), cooked and cooled (see instructions below)
  • 1 or 2 avocados, peeled, pit removed, diced
  • 1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed
  • kernels from 1 cob corn, or 3/4 cup thawed frozen corn
  • About 1 1/2 cups diced mildly spicy peppers (a mix of bell peppers, anaheim, etc…)
  • 1/2 to 1 jalapeno
  • 1/2 to 1 small habanero, minced (or less to taste)
  • 2 tomatoes, diced
  • 1 small red onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Chile Lime Vinaigrette:

  • 1/3 cup grapeseed oil or canola oil
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  • 3/4 tsp ground cayenne
  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp vinegar

For the Quinoa:

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly  in cold water and drain.  Place 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until all all of the water has been absorbed.  When fully cooked, the germ ring will be visible along the outside edge of each seed (a white circle).

If the water has evaporated, but the germ ring is not yet visible, add a splash of water, and simmer for a few more minutes.  Set aside until cool.

For the Vinaigrette:

Place all vinaigrette ingredients in a jar and shake until combined, or whisk in a small bowl.

For the Salad:

Put all of the salad ingredients into a large bowl.  Drizzle with the vinaigrette, and gently toss to combine.

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July 13, 2010 · 3:57 pm

Heavenly Ginger Apricot Muffins

I had a moment with an apricot this weekend–well, more than one apricot, actually, and more than one moment as well.  We met at the Cherry Creek Farmers market on Saturday.  They blushed at me from their little cardboard box and set my heart a-flutter.  I strategized about how to convince the fruit-stand owner to let me have them.

“You mean, I can actually buy these?  I can pay you and you will give them to me?”

I filled a white lunch sack with the prettiest, most colorful apricots, and headed home with new plans for the afternoon.  They were very photogenic.

Three hours and a hundred photographs later, it occurred to me that these little beauties could taste as good as they look…

Upon first bite, I had an epiphany.  Birds chirped, and I could swear I heard a Hallelujah chorus. So this is how an apricot really tastes.  The pink blushed skin stretched tightly around juicy orange flesh.  At first taste, sweetness.  Then, a transformation in my mouth, ending on a bright note.  I think I saw a fast forward of the entire life of the apricot, from the perfect balance of Western Slope sunshine and afternoon rainstorms to the observant grower who waited for the exact right moment to pluck it from the tree, not a moment too soon.

Of course, I’d eaten apricots before, but knew that I had not yet met the epitome…until now.

As it turns out, I met two ideals this weekend; the second of which nestled within the pages of my most recent cookbook acquisition, Good to the Grain, by Kim Boyce  (which I won from Bon Appetit Magazine!).  I first started coveting this cookbook when Deb from Smitten Kitchen featured not one, but two recipes on her blog–a rustic rhubarb tart and oatmeal pancakes.  Boyce uses an assortment of whole grain flours, from the more common whole wheat and oat, to the exotic amaranth.

In the past, I’ve met whole grain baked goods with hesitation.  Does anybody really enjoy eating a dense dry muffin, even if it’s good for you?  Well, I was convinced as soon as I laid eyes on the beautifully photographed Cheddar Biscuits, and converted when I baked my own version of the Ginger Peach Muffins (using apricots, first, then peaches on the second batch).  Kim Boyce will change the way you think about whole grain baking.

Oat flour, whole wheat flour and all purpose flour band together with sour cream, milk and butter to into a fluffy, moist muffin, unlike any other whole grain muffin I have ever tasted.  They come out of the oven scented with ginger and topped with a ginger and honey glazed apricot.

Rarely do I make the same recipe more than once in a single week, but I’ve made these muffins twice; once with apricots, and once using peaches.  Once alone, and once tag-team style with my good friend Karissa.  They disappeared quickly both times. Plain-Jane white flour muffins will never be the same again.

Heavenly Ginger-Apricot Muffins

adapted from Good to the Grain, by Kim Boyce

Use your imagination and feel free to substitute the best in-season fruit you can find.  Here in Denver at elevation 5280, baking can be tricky.  If you’re way up high like me, adjust for high altitude using the notes below.  For a pretty presentation and muffins that are easy to eat, cut 5 1/2 inch squares of parchment paper to form into muffin cups.

Fruit Topping:

  • 12 small apricots, ripe but firm, sliced in half (or quartered), pit removed (or any type of stone fruit or berry you desire)
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger

Dry Mix:

  • 1 cup oat flour (I made mine by grinding oats in a coffee grinder)
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Wet Mix:

  • 3/4 stick of butter (6 tablespoons), melted and cooled a bit
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
  • 2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger

Materials Needed:

  • muffin tin (to hold one dozen)
  • 11  5 1/2 inch squares parchment paper (or rub muffin tins with butter)

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350˚F.

Make the topping:

Place the butter, honey and 1 teaspoon ginger in a medium skillet over medium heat to melt the mixture.  Cook until the mixture begins to bubble, then add the apricots and stir gently to coat.  Set aside.

Make the dry and wet mixes:

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring the ingredients remaining in the sifter back into the bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients until combined.  Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently to combine.

Fill the muffin cups:

Place a square of parchment paper on the palm of one hand.  Scoop some batter onto the middle of the parchment paper, then place in a muffin cup.  Add another spoonful of batter if needed so that the muffin cup is generously filled.  Toss the apricots in the syrup to coat them once again.  Tuck one apricot slice into the batter, and lay a second slice over top.  Glaze each apricot with additional syrup.

Bake:

Bake for 24 to 28 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.  The muffins are ready when they smell nutty and their bottoms are golden in color.  Remove the muffins to a cooling rack, and allow them to cool slightly before eating.  They are best when eaten the same day, but may be kept in an airtight container for up to two days.

High Altitude Notes:

I made high-altitude adaptations using Susan Purdy’s guide on Epicurious.com as a reference.  These adaptations will work for elevation 5280.

  • Decrease baking soda to 3/4 tsp
  • Add 1 tablespoon plain yogurt to the wet mix
  • Use slightly less sugar (as in, a scant 1/4 cup)


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Filed under Baked Goods, Breads, Breakfast and Brunch

July 2, 2010 · 10:31 pm

Two Days of Food and Light

I’d like to say that I’ve got it all together; that my ducks are all in a row…that I’ve minded my P’s and Q’s…all my i’s are dotted and my t’s crossed.  Wouldn’t it be lovely to always walk around with a glowing halo of originality?  The truth is, sometimes we all need a little inspiration.

This week, inspiration came just in time, at the Food and Light food photography and food styling workshop.  What better place than Rembrandt Yard art gallery Boulder, filled with 24 eager participants, and brimming with soft, natural light?

The setting alone would have made for good photography, but when you add Todd and Diane from White on Rice, Jen of Use Real Butter, and Helen, a.k.a: Tartelette to the equation, magic happens.

The topics ranged from practical to fanciful.  Exposures and shutter speed, mood and story…natural light and bounce…and my favorite, a food styling demonstration by Helen.  If heaven were made of food, I would like to bask in the light of Tartlette’s photographs.  In a particularly amusing demonstration, Helen managed to style bean dip and baguettes into a spread that made my mouth water, even knowing the ingredients.

After each lecture, my 23 peers and I were set free to put our new knowledge to practice, with the guidance of our instructors.  Jen gave us only one rule, which she re-iterated twice:  Do not eat the food–Do NOT eat the food, or else you will have nothing to photograph!  Easier said than done…just look at this!  Jen eventually broke down and gave us the okay to cut into the chocolate espresso cake (and yes, it tasted as good as it looked!)

At the end of the workshop, we all uploaded our best work to a flickr page and viewed each others’ work.  We voted on our favorites, and I was ecstatic to have been voted “most original” by my peers for my floating cupcake picture.

Needless to say, I feel like I’m finding my dots again, thanks to a little art gallery, beautiful food, and the inspirational mentors and peers at Food and Light.

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