Cocktails, Schmocktails! Cucumber-Lime-Mint Elixir and Tarragon-Meyer Lemon Syrup

Refreshing Beverage of the Week
Lately, I find more people are looking for non-alcoholic options at cocktail hour. There are many options out there which include alcohol-free spirits as well as vegetable and fruit mixers. Most of them are simply awful, so I started making my own. I work with a client who has to monitor her glucose intake, so most fruit concoctions are out. Which leaves delicious vegetables and citrus! I have 2 recipes to share which are great mixed with tonic, ginger ale, or plain old seltzer. And if you aren't avoiding booze, I suggest hitting them with vodka, tequila, or gin.

  

Cucumber-Lime-Mint Elixir

Ingredients
2 3-inch pieces lemongrass, crushed with a hammer or meat pounder (or a squeeze of lemongrass paste)
2 large English cucumbers, rinsed
2 large bunches mint, leaves only
2 whole limes, rinsed
7-10 large basil leaves
2 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar (or sugar substitute like Swerve)
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Procedure
Cut up cucumber and limes (skin and all) and throw into blender along with everything else. Purée till smooth and then strain. Mix with ginger ale, tonic or lemon lime mixer over ice.

Tarragon-Meyer Lemon Syrup

Ingredients
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons honey
1 small bunch tarragon, plus some for garnish
1 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 cup sparkling or still water, divided

Procedure
Combine the sugar, water, vanilla, honey, and thyme into a pot and stir over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Strain to remove tarragon and allow to cool. Stir in lemon juice. Pour the syrup and lemon mixture into a glass with ice and top with 1/4 cup soda water. Garnish with a sprig of tarragon.

What's your favorite mocktal?

Vegetable Galettes and Herbal Infusions

 

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
As my summer garden's harvest dwindles down to the stuff the rabbits and squirrels didn't think was good enough, it's time to access the usable bits and try to make them last through the winter. I have a few tomatoes, some eggplant, lemongrass, shiso, basil and lots of green herbs. So here is a recipe for a veggie galette, a whole wheat crust folded over a bed of vegetables cheese and fresh herbs — perfect vegetarian main dish with a salad. The other fun thing to do to save summer is infuse vinegars and make herbal simple syrup.

Vegetable Galette

Ingredients for whole wheat crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup ice water

Procedure for crust
Pulse all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining.
Dump mixture to a large bowl; drizzle with vinegar and ¼ cup ice water. Mix with a fork, adding more ice water by the tablespoonful if needed, just until a shaggy dough comes together; lightly knead until no dry spots remain (do not overwork). Form a disk and wrap in plastic. Chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

Ingredients for galette filling
1 cup cheese (Ricotta, Gruyere, Asiago, or whatever)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 ounces sautéed mushrooms, thinly sliced (maitake, crimini, shitake, etc.)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 bunch large Swiss chard, or spinach ribs and stems removed, leaves cut into bite-size pieces
1 large egg, beaten to blend to brush crust
1 cup mixed fresh tender herbs (such as flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, dill, and/or chives)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Sea salt

Procedure for galette
Preheat oven to 400°. Shred up your cheese and set aside. Sauté your greens or vegetables and season with fresh herbs. Squeeze out extra liquid from greens, and set aside. Roll out dough on a lightly floured sheet of parchment to a 14” round about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer on parchment to a baking sheet. Brush crust with egg wash leaving a 2 inch border dry and sprinkle with Panko to help absorb extra moisture. Then layer in your ingredients. Bring edges of dough up and over filling, overlapping as needed, to create a 1 1/2-inch border; brush with egg and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh herbs. Bake galette, rotating once, until crust is golden brown and cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly on baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature.
 

Infused vinegars

To make flavored vinegars, start with good quality organic apple cider vinegar and some clean glass bottles with tops. Stuff bottles with an assortment of herbs then fill with vinegar. I made four bottles of Salad Burnett infused vinegar (which tastes like celery) and one bottle of lemongrass vinegar using the long beautiful leaves. You just need to store it in a dark, cool place for 3 weeks, shaking it up occasionally. Then you can remove herbs or leave them in place.

Herbal simple syrups

As you all know, a simple syrup is made of equal parts of sugar and water boiled for 3 to 5 minutes until it is clear. Then you remove the syrup from the heat, add the herb and let it sit in syrup 30 minutes, strain out, and refrigerate. Great with seltzer, or in a cocktail. Some of my favorites syrups are bay leaf, rosemary, lemon verbena, tarragon (great in limeade).

Thai Shrimp Cakes

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I love Thai food because it’s so flavorful and complex. This recipe for Thai shrimp cakes is really easy to make and it’s from one of my all-time favorite chefs named Jean George Vongerichten. Maybe Geronimo’s should check out some of the ways he combines French and Asian cuisine. Just a suggestion.

Ingredients for cakes
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped
1 cup boiling water
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons slice scallions
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Ingredients for sauce
1/4 cup Thai fish sauce
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons chopped raw peanuts
1/4 cup seeded and dice cucumber
1 medium Serrano Chile seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons peanut oil

What you fry in
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons canola oil

Sliced scallions and chopped cilantro for garnish

Procedure
Put the lemongrass in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let infuse for 10 minutes and then strain out the liquid and save. In the bowl of your food processor, combine the shrimp with 1/2 cup of the infused water, and process 'til nearly smooth but with a few chunks still in it. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add scallions and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Combine the remaining ingredients except butter and oil for frying and garnish ingredients. What's left will be your sauce, just mix it together.

In a large frying pan, combine butter and oil over medium high heat. Carefully drop large tablespoons of the shrimp mixture and flatten slightly into cakes while in the oil. Cook about 30 seconds each side. Serve with dipping sauce, on a bed of shredded cabbage.

Lemongrass Fishcake Skewers with Tart Lime Aioli

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I love food on a stick. Easy to eat, it looks good, and it just says festive to me. So here is an interesting recipe for Lemongrass fishcake skewers with a tart lime Aioli.

Ingredients
2 cups Panko crumbs
3 tablespoons fresh chopped Cilantro
1/2 cup dried unsweetened coconut flakes
8 stalks fresh lemongrass
1 lb. White fish filets (tilapia, cod, halibut), boned and skinned
1 small red Serrano Chile, seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 scallions finely chopped
3 eggs
2 teaspoons corn starch
Zest of one lime
A little flour for dipping
4 tablespoons canola oil for frying

Procedure
In a bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, cilantro, and coconut flakes set aside. Clean the lemongrass and remove the tough outer casing. Finely chop two of the stalks and leave the other 6 intact. Cut the fish pieces into large chunks and put them in the food processor along with the chopped lemon grass, Serrano Chile, soy sauce, scallions and two eggs. Process till you have a smooth paste. Spoon this mixture into a bowl and add the cornstarch and lime zest. Form mixture into 12 flattened balls.

One at a time dip each one into a little flour, then the remaining egg (which you have lightly beaten), and then the panko, coconut, and cilantro mixture. Carefully thread 2 fish cakes onto each lemongrass skewer. This might take a little creative molding. Now fry them in the hot canola oil in a frying pan for about 2 minutes on each side, until golden and crispy. Serve hot with lime aioli.

To make a quick cheater’s Aioli: in the food processor, to 6 tablespoons of mayo, add the juice of 1 lime, 1 clove garlic crushed, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard and 1/4 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated.

Tofu and Sugar Snap Peas in Lemongrass Broth

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
Okay, don’t laugh, we are doing a tofu recipe. Prepared correctly, tofu is delicious; handled poorly, it's useless, tasteless, and not worth eating. Deborah Madison knows how to do it right, and here is her recipe for Tofu and sugar snap peas in a lemongrass broth from Vegetarian Suppers which is very easy and delicious. I have added some options to make it Weight Watchers-appropriate. If this is not an issue for you, ignore those parts.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons fresh chopped lemongrass (available with the fresh herbs in most supermarkets)
2 slices fresh ginger
Grated zest of 1 lime
2 cilantro sprigs, plus some extra leaves for garnish
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon soy sauce or Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar, maple syrup, or sugar-free maple syrup
1 carton of soft packed tofu, drained
1 teaspoon peanut oil or olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 scallions, sliced thinly on the diagonal
1/2 Jalapeno pepper, diced
A handful of sugar snap peas or asparagus tips
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup noodles or rice optional (brown rice or buckwheat noodles are “core”)
Lime wedges for garnish

Procedure
Put the first 4 broth ingredients in a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups water and a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Now simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, or until mixture is reduced to about 3/4 of a cup (about by half). Now strain out the flavoring solids and add the soy sauce and the maple or sugar. Taste to make sure you like the flavor. While the broth is simmering, drain the tofu and cut into cubes. Next, in a sauté pan, add the little bit of oil and get it hot. Add the garlic, onion, scallion and chile. Cook over high heat for 30 seconds, then add the sugar snap peas and the turmeric and the tofu. Pour in the reserved broth and simmer till the peas are bright green and tender. This will just take a few minutes. Taste for salt. If using, add the rice and or noodles now, personally I just leave them out. Pour into warmed bowls and garnish with cilantro leaves and a lime wedge. A tasty, healthy treat with all kinds of flavors — thank you, Deborah!

Lemongrass Sorbet and Bittersweet Cocoa Sorbet

The Altitude Adjustment Section
When it gets hot, I want frozen treats. And now that I'm restricting my fat intake, I am especially drawn to sorbets. Here are two from Simple Cuisine by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, one of my favorite superstar chefs.

Lemongrass Sorbet

Ingredients
2 cups fresh lemon juice
2 cups dry white wine
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cups sugar
7 stalks lemon grass, crushed and coarsely chopped

Procedure
In a medium stainless saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to the boil and then cover and let sit for 1 hour to infuse flavors. Strain out solids, and if you have an ice cream maker, proceed as usual. But if you don’t, do it this way. Pour liquid into a stainless, rectangular pan and freeze till firm — overnight. Take out of the freezer and let sit at room temp for 10 minutes then chop up mixture and put in food processor and puree till smooth. Then refreeze. If it still seems too icy, process again and refreeze. Done!

Bitter Cocoa Sorbet

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
Grated zest of one medium orange
1/2 cup good quality cocoa powder
3 1/2 cups unsweetened melted chocolate

Procedure
In a medium bowl, combine water, sugar and zest. Bring to the boil and whisk in the cocoa powder and melted chocolate. When the mixture returns to the boil, remove from heat and strain to remove any lumps. Refrigerate till cool and then use ice cream maker if you have one, or use same method as above.