All posts by Angela G.

I'm a (pretty) good girl who says (pretty) bad words and makes (pretty effin') delicious dishes. Foodie for life. Delicious to death.
Baked Goods, Cakes, Pies and Tarts, Desserts, Easy to Prepare, Recipes, Vegetarian Dishes

Sweet Tomato Tart

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Tomato lovers rejoice, for now you can celebrate these delicious orbs of sweet majesty at all meals.  This is truly the ultimate tomato dessert given that a) there aren’t too many others in competition and b) it is as simple as it is wondrous.  “Tomatoes for dessert?!?” you scoff.  What better way to enjoy the sweetness of a tomato than in a simple tart brushed with currant jam until a rich, garnet color and then baked just enough to release the natural juices and crisp up the delicious tart crust?  You’re welcome.

Sweet Tomato Tart © Spice or Die

I first had this dessert with my mom at the restaurant Tosca in DC, and after the first bite, we totally understood how commonsensical it was to use tomatoes for dessert, particularly heirlooms.  For those that don’t know – there are two main types of tomatoes: heirlooms and hybrids.  Hybrids are the most common – they grown all year round and produce several crops of tomatoes throughout the growing season.  The tomatoes (and sorry if I am getting dorky here) are created through self-pollination, meaning that a farmer/scientist/botanist/whatever can control what specific traits that the tomato’s offspring will harbor.  This has resulted in hardy, disease-fighting tomatoes that can be enjoyed whenever and wherever.

The rarer heirloom tomato is created through open-pollination, as occurs in nature – bees and other pollinators pass on genetic traits from various types of tomatoes, resulting in wild cross breeds that are hard to genetically track and control.  The tomatoes come in wild arrays of colors, shapes and sizes, and typically only give off a single crop per growing season.  They can be bumpy, even ugly on the outside (some grocery stores actually call them “ugly tomatoes”, but cut into one and you’ll find the juiciest, sweetest flesh that you could possibly imagine.  These are the tomatoes that make people fall in love with them.  They are our oldest tomatoes as well – many of the strains were grown by the indigenous peoples of not only the continent of North America, but also around the world.

For this recipe, I encourage you to go out and find some heirloom tomatoes that look special to you – pick a fun color like the dark purple of a Black Krim, or the sunshine bright Brandywine Yellow.  You could even try one of the striped varieties for a best-of-both-worlds situation.  They’re really worth a trip to the Farmer’s Market just to check them out.  Of course, if you can’t find heirlooms, you can absolutely make this tart with a juicy, meaty hybrid tomato – just find the best ones available and treat them lovingly when assembling the tart.  It’s all good at the end of the day!

 

Sweet Tomato Tart

1 pie crust (can also use puff pastry)
2 medium-sized heirloom tomatoes (any color, can also use hybrid)
5 tbs. of red currant jam
4 tbs. of raw sugar (can substitute light brown sugar)

Preheat your oven to 400°.

Slice tomatoes as paper-thin as possible (thick tomatoes won’t cook properly) and carefully lay them on a paper towel to dry them a bit.  You’ll want enough slices to cover the pie crust in one even, semi-overlapping layer.

In a small saucepan over medium low heat, melt the currant jam.  If the jam has pieces of currants in it, strain them out.  You can actually save these little currant pieces as a topping for ice cream or a sweet treat.  I actually use them like caviar (ha!) on top of a cracker spread with my mock boursin cheese recipe for a little taste of sweet and savory combined.

Roll your pie crust out into a 9″ tart pan, making sure not to tear any holes.  Lay your tomatoes out on the crust in overlapping concentric circles, making sure that the whole thing is pretty and even.  Using a pastry brush, apply a generous layer of the melted currant jam over the tomatoes.  Sprinkle the sugar on top.

Place the tart in the oven and bake until the crust is golden and the tomatoes are bubbly and a lovely red, about 15-20 minutes.  Let rest until warm and serve with ice cream – maybe a lovely scoop of basil gelato?

Desserts, Ice Cream and Sorbet, Impressive Dishes, Recipes, Vegetarian Dishes

Basil Ice Cream (Basil Gelato)

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I feel like we all need more awe-inspiring, eyes of wonder moments in our lives.  Moments when, on a total leap of faith, our handiwork comes together in majestic ways.  I have to say that, for me, making ice cream for the first time was a blissful moment of awe.  I trusted that my uber-creamy, eggy base would taste good.  I trusted that I had left my ice cream maker attachment in the freezer long enough.  I even trusted that I made the right decision to simply get a KitchenAid mixer attachment rather than a CuisineArt ICE50BS Supreme Ice Cream Maker for a whopping $200+ dollars, as per David Lebovitz.  A little pricey, mister.  And my KitchenAid attachment has yet to fail me.  Case in point, my recipe for Strawberry Frozen Yogurt was a KILLER – so good that I can’t post it yet because my darling husband ate every last bit of it before I could snap a picture.  In the words of Ron Burgundy, “How’d you do that? I’m not even mad…that’s amazing.”

Basil Gelato © Spice or Die

I decided to make a batch of basil ice cream because I am a fan of not only the glory of the celebration of the sweetness of basil, but mainly because of the polarizing nature of this dessert.  It’s a love it or hate it kind of thing.  Maybe for the folks that try it and hate it (my best friend Kate’s mom, Dennis eating Strawberry Fro-Yo and leaving all of this behind in the freezer), they’d need to give it a few chances.  It’s different, yes.  But it is so so very good. Eyes of wonder good.

I first tasted basil ice cream at a special birthday dinner with my mom – I decided to take her to Tosca in DC for her celebration, just the two of us.  She had fallen in love with the place after we took my sister there for her graduation celebration.  The place is gorgeous – uber-minimalist and luxe, bringing your focus directly to the food.  My mom is an August baby, so when we went, they were serving a special tomato menu, celebrating the glorious heirlooms available during that small window of time in the summer that you feast like a king, nay, a tomato demi-god.  So what do they close the meal with?  A sweet tomato tart with basil gelato.  Go through the mental checklist with me: tomatoes and basil go together? Check.  Tomatoes can be sweet? Check. Basil can be sweet? Check.  It was a go on all counts.  And kids, the final result was one etched in my brain on the short list of tastes I’ll never, ever forget.  I swoon just remembering that very first bite.

It was inevitable that I’d make it for myself someday, and once again inevitable that I’d share it with you.  Definitely tuck into this with the tomato tart as well, if you want the full experience, but know that this is a treat all by itself.

Basil Ice Cream (Basil Gelato)

3 c. of basil leaves
2 c. of heavy cream
2 c. of whole milk
1 c. of sugar
2 vanilla beans
1 pinch of kosher salt
12 egg yolks

Bring a small pot of water to a boil.  While the water comes to a boil, take a large bowl and fill with cold water and 6-8 ice cubes.  Plunk the basil leaves into the boiling water and stir for about a minute and then drain and place into the ice bath to shock the leaves.  Let them hang out in the ice water for a bit while you prep the creamy good stuff.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the milk, heavy cream, sugar, and kosher salt.  Using a paring knife, carefully split the vanilla beans in half and scrape the black pasty goodness in the middle of the bean into the cream.  Add the whole beans to the milk as well once they’ve been scraped.  Bring the mixture to a slow simmer, making sure not to let it boil.  Once simmering, continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.

Drain the basil leaves and add to a blender along with a cup of the hot cream mixture, making sure not to include any of the vanilla bean pods.  Place the lid on the blender and a towel over the lid to prevent a hot, sticky splatter from the blended cream.  Blend on high until smooth and then strain mixture back into the rest of the cream using a fine strainer or chinois.

Set up a double boiler – you want a metal bowl for the top that fits over a pot on the bottom.  You want to add enough water to the bottom so that it will easily boil without touching the bottom of the top pot.  Wikipedia has a diagram of it that hilariously looks like it was drawn in MS Paint, but gets the point across.

While the bottom pot of the double boiler is coming to a boil, work off the heat and take your top pot and separate 12 egg yolks into the bowl.  Beat until pale golden and smooth and then slowly add a cup of the hot cream, whisking the entire time to keep the mixture smooth and prevent the egg from scrambling.  Set the pot over the now boiling water and continuously whisk in the rest of the cream.  Discard the vanilla pods, or clean them off and reuse them to flavor sugar or coffee – Marx Foods actually has a huge list of suggestions of what to do with the pods.  Keep on whisking until the mixture thickens and the ice cream base can coat the back of a spoon.  Turn off the heat.  Strain the mixture into a large bowl and let the base cool in the fridge.

Once cooled, pour the ice cream base into your ice cream maker and follow your manufacturer’s instructions.  When finished, remove to a tupperware and freeze for a little bit to allow the ice cream to solidify a bit more.  Serve to people with curious palettes looking to try a little something special.

Appetizers and Small Plates, Recipes, Sauces and Condiments, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Rosemary Chili Oil

Bread and butter is really a lot more elegant than we treat it as, kids.  It’s a fine marriage between savory, sweet, crusty, doughy, chewy, pliable goodness.  It comes in infinite permutations, such as a few of my favorites – poblano cheddar bread (from Best Buns in Arlington, VA) with Normandy beurre, or a crusty baguette with a slathering of lavender infused oil and butter.  Both are divine, but require a trip to DC or Marseille (the restaurant in NYC, not the city, although I wouldn’t mind…)  For my money, and for the sheer ease to reward ratio, I’m a fan of the infused oil with whatever artisan bread I can get my hands on easily.

Infused oils aren’t complicated – cheap oil works and just about any dry herb or spice can be used.  Just make sure to follow a few rules.  One – really and truly don’t include garlic in making your homemade oils unless you are going to consume them immediately.  Garlic, being a lovely root that grows in the earth, harbors tons of bacteria that would love to thrive in a bath of olive oil.  And voilá, you’ve got some botulism on your hands.  No es frio.  Some folks say that if you acidulate the oil and refrigerate it, you are in business.  I don’t leave my tummy up to fate.  If you want your oil to be garlicky, try muddling your finished oil with fresh or roasted garlic before serving.  Or, for the true infused garlic oil experience, just buy some from a licensed supplier who will guarantee you a botulism-free experience.  This is just a reminder that all cooking is chemistry, and while most chemistry mistakes in the kitchen will result in bad tasting food, some will actually result in illness.  Improperly infused garlic oil is one of those mistakes.

Secondly, as much as it looks gorgeous to store your oil on the counter, I’d advise you to keep it in the fridge.  It’ll last longer, stay fresher, and again, no risk of contaminants.

Lastly, I call for thai chilies in this recipe, that when you grind them, create a bit of pepper dust.  This in turn, if inhaled, will give you a few coughs.  Be careful with that.  Don’t breath in too much when you are transferring the pepper to the oil.  If you want to play it safe, use a milder chili like an ancho or pasilla.  Or use pre-crushed red pepper and avoid the dust altogether.  Likewise, you can go hotter as well – habanero or ghost chilies even.  Just be careful as you work with them, because they can be vicious.

This oil is lovely as the preface for a rustic italian meal – mix a few tablespoons of oil with a pinch of kosher salt and some chopped garlic and use it as a dip for focaccia or ciabatta.  You can also use a few tablespoons as the basis for sauces and dressings.

Recipe for

Rosemary Chili Oil

Ingredients
16.9 oz. bottle of olive oil
1/3 c. of thai chilies
3 sprigs of rosemary
1 sprig of thyme

In a spice grinder or food processor, grind chilies and herbs together.  I like to use a food processor so that everything gets a rather rough chop.  Using a cooking thermometer, heat oil in a heavy pan until 200°.  Carefully pour the chilies into the oil and let cook at 200° for 4-5 minutes.  Turn the heat off and let the herbs and chilies continue to infuse the oil as it cools to room temperature.

Pour into a clean bottle and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Beverages and Cocktails, Recipes

Sleepy Arnold Palmers (Lemonade and Valerian Iced Tea)

Maybe it’s because I live in the city that never sleeps (where the night owls feel an exceptional need to shout at each other from under my window), but I’m becoming a big fan of dreamless sleep.  My favorite, in lieu of a nightcap of Tylenol PM, is a soothing cup of Celestial Seasonings Sleepy Time Tea.  I usually don’t touch CS tea – it’s like the Dinty Moore Beef Stew of the tea aisle.  Sleepy Time, though, is a whole ‘nother story.  Enriched with chamomile and valerian extract, it manages to tuck me in at night and mute the sounds of the city outside.  It’s rather glorious – especially coming from a girl of the suburbs who remembers fireflies and crickets as harbingers of night, not sirens and car alarms.

Sleepy Arnold Palmers (Lemonade and Valerian Iced Tea) © Spice or Die

This is my summertime ode to the dreamless sleep – a deliciously crisp and cool cocktail that blends fresh lemonade and iced Sleepy Time.  A glass or two, and you’ll feel like you’re swinging away in a hammock without a care in the world.  And yes, it works, so please drink this after the chores are done.  Like most of my drinks, this one is sweetened with a simple syrup – it makes the drink blend together so perfectly, it’s really worth the extra effort.  This particular syrup gets its glory from a mint infusion – yet another layer of flavor before naptime.

Recipe for

Sleepy Arnold Palmers (Lemonade and Valerian Iced Tea)

Ingredients
1 c. of mint simple syrup (recipe below)
4 bags of Celestial Seasoning Sleepytime Tea
2 c. of water
6 lemons
more water

Heat the two cups of water to a boil and then pour into a pitcher.  Add the tea bags, cover, and let steep for a half an hour.  Remove bags and let tea sit until at room temperature.  Squeeze in the juice of six lemons and add water to make 2 quarts.  Sweeten with a cup of simple syrup (adding more or less to taste).  Stir well and chill.  Serve with lemon wheels and enjoy the restful time that ensues.

Mint Simple Syrup
1 c. of water
1 c. of sugar
1 bunch of mint

Bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Turn off and strain into a tupperware.  Pop in the fridge to chill before using.

Appetizers and Small Plates, Cheese Dishes, Recipes, Vegetarian Dishes

Creamy Feta Spread

Looking back on my cooking proclivities, I realize that many of my best recipes were created in that tender moment when you curse the heavens at your lack of preparation and guests on the way.  What the hell are you gonna make?  A couple of weeks ago, our good buddy Chris came over to pre-game before he and Dennis went to the Yankee game.  I don’t know what it is, but I feel strange having people in my house without at least a nibble or a treat to offer them.  Tough stuff when there is pretty much nothing awesome in the fridge.  This was born of a surplus of cream cheese (after buying double by accident for a batch of cupcakes) and a pack of feta cheese.  I decided to whip the two together with garlic and herbs and serve the whole mess on Triscuits.  Majesty.

Creamy Feta Spread © Spice or Die

Similar to my fake-me-out Boursin recipe, this dip is a lot more impressive in taste than it’s humble ingredients.  Lemon zest and garlic and depth of flavor and brightness, and olive oil smooths everything into a spreadable delight.  Serve this with crackers, toast points or crudité.  Or slice grilled chicken breasts in half and slather a bit in the middle for a yummy dinner.  Whatever you do, don’t fuss too much because I certainly didn’t when I put it together the first time.

Creamy Feta Spread

1 pkg. of cream cheese (or neufchatel)
4 oz. of feta
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of white pepper
1/2 tbs. of herbes des provence
1 tsp of lemon zest
1 tbs. of olive oil

Put garlic, pepper, herbs, zest and olive oil in the food processor and blend until finely chopped.  Add feta and blend until crumbled.  Add cream cheese and blend until smooth.  Transfer to a bowl and chill in the fridge.  Serve.

Main Courses, Poultry Dishes, Recipes, Rice Dishes

Chicken Burritos

This burrito recipe comes from one of my all time favorite hole-in-the-wall joints, El Toro Partido, in Hamilton Heights.  Down the hill from where I work at City College, this bustling Mexican outpost dishes out sumptuous and authentic plates that are as gorgeous as the decor is not.  Probably my favorite dish on the menu (aside from the spicily divine green sauce and corny tortilla chips) is the chicken burrito.  I know, I know – you’re saying right now what could be so glamorous about this burrito?  For me, above all of the other perfectly seasoned toppings, is the inclusion of savory shreds of oaxaca cheese.  Almost like a Mexican mozzarella, oaxaca is nutty and stretchy and delicious – kind of the same consistency of Polly-O string cheese, but high brow.  If you’ve not tried it before, you definitely need to get on some. Continue reading Chicken Burritos →

Appetizers and Small Plates, Meat Dishes, Recipes

Sweet Potato Croquettes

There’s something to be said for the beauty of a small bite – as an eater, you are (hopefully) treated to a microcosm of flavors all combined in a single tasty morsel.  As the chef, you are tasked with creating a complex body of flavors, carefully melded together to treat the diner with a one-punch knock out sensation.  It’s goodness.  Nay, the bestness.  Unlike my grammar.

Sweet Potato Croquettes

This dish is a shout out to my love of Caribbean and Spanish flavors when combined and/or fried.  There’s something about spicy, salty, cool, crunchy and sweet that just makes me swoon big time.  One of my favorite examples of this is in this incredibly simple, savory croquette made with a combination of sweet potatoes and chorizo.  Based on the famous Spanish tapas, Croquetas con Picadillo, this dish is prepared under many names and with various flavor combinations (like the delicious Cuban twin, Papas Rellenas).  The potato/meat mixture is formed into small balls and then breaded and fried into a lovely golden morsel.  Play up the gorgeousness of sweet and salty by serving this with a light mango sauce, grilled pineapple or peach salsa.

Sweet Potato Croquettes

3 c. of mashed sweet potatoes
4 tbs. butter, melted
1/4 c. of milk
1 tsp. of pepper
2 tsp. of salt
2 eggs, lightly scrambled
4 tbs. of flour
pinch of nutmeg

1 lb. of fresh chorizo, removed from casing
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 c. of flour
1 egg, beaten
2 tbs. of water
1/2 c. of bread crumbs
oil for frying

Mix the mashed potatoes with the butter, salt, pepper, salt, beaten eggs and nutmeg.  Place in a fridge to chill.  In a large skillet, brown the chorizo well.  Once fully cooked, add the garlic and red pepper and continue to cook until fragrant.  Cool the chorizo filling and stir into the mashed potatoes.  Return mixture to the fridge to cool.

Scoop the mashed potatoes into portions 3 tablespoons each.  Wet your hands and form each of the portions into a smooth ball.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with a sheet of wax paper.  When you’ve rolled all of the croquettes, place in the freezer to allow them to solidify a bit.

While the  croquettes are cooling, break out 3 shallow dishes.  Add 1/2 c. of flour to one dish.  Scramble the egg and two tbs. of water together in the second dish.  Place the breadcrumbs in the third dish.  Take the croquettes out of the freezer and start an assembly line.  First dredge them in the flour, shaking off the excess.  Then, plunk them in the egg to wet them all over.  Lastly, dredge in the breadcrumbs and place on a clean dish or another cookie sheet lined with parchment.

Heat a pot of cooking oil to 340° and gently lower a batch of arancini into the hot oil (5 at a time is good).  Cook until beautifully golden on the outside, about 9 minutes.  Drain on paper towels and serve with a fat wedge of lime and a sweet dipping sauce of your choice.

Appetizers and Small Plates, Cheese Dishes, Impressive Dishes, Recipes, Rice Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Arancini (Sicilian Fried Rice Balls or Supplí)

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I get a kick out of dishes that manage to both impress folks and meet their requirement for comfort-food status.  Let’s face it, gooey mac and cheese or creamy mounds of mashed potatoes are not loved for their looks.  In fact, the massive piles of goodness only make the foodie centerfolds because they bring back atavistic longing of the food of our childhood.  Which is exactly what comfort food does  – it nourishes us and brings us to a place just like home.  But if you really think about the taste profile of comfort food in an of itself, it’s typically simple in nature, and oftentimes mild in flavor.  Color-wise, it’s oftentimes blah as well – fried chicken, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and meat loaf all hang out in the beige to brown arena.  Now, I’m not saying that this is a bad thing, or even that it’s the rule across the board – I just think it’s worth noting that the requirements of comfort food need only be that it’s tasty for the soul and consumable in huge quantities.  So, what if we celebrated the kinds of comfort food that not only felt good to eat, but also looked just as lovely.

Arancini © Spice or Die

Arancini are gorgeous – the name itself means “little orange” in Italian and is an homage to the glorious golden color of these tangerine-sized delights as they are removed from the fryer.  Crunchy and light on the outside, and creamy and luxe in the inside, these little babies are comfort food at its best.  Probably my favorite part about this recipe is that you start with leftovers – the base of the arancini is risotto, left to coagulate and thicken to a point that you can form it into mini balls.  For those of you that make risotto from scratch, you know that it’s not so good as leftovers – the distinct grains of arborio rice turn into a porridge of sorts that’s a far cry from the glory that is served fresh out of the pot.  So what better way to resurrect it than to wrap it around bits of mozzarella, bread them and fry until lovely.  I say ye.

In a lot of these recipes that call for frying “until golden” I don’t ever mention the need for a thermometer – it’s silly given that a) I always use one and b) you should too.  A lot of the fear of frying comes from not getting the temperature just right – if the oil’s too hot, your food will burn on the outside before it cooks in the inside; cook too low and your food will come out greasy.  Remove the guessing game from the equation – buy a frying/candy thermometer and be precise.  You really don’t have an excuse as they are cheap and readily available (mine came from Bed, Bath and Beyond for like $7).  Besides, you are all about kitchen perfection. I know this for a fact.

I think that what sends this comfort food over the top is the brightness of presentation – beige is lightened up by bright, zesty marinara and basil.  It’s like a little Italian flag in every bite – a whole lot sexier than a mess of elbow macaroni.  Feel free to experiement with fillings and sauces – go decadent and dip them in a fontina funduta, or zesty with a nice basil pesto.  Stir spinach, peas or mushrooms into the risotto.  One of my favorite places in the whole wide world, La Fontanella, serves their supplíwith a savory meat ragu – they come as an appetizer but are just so filling, you could make a meal of them.  In the proverbial words of Humpty, “Dowhatchulike” and I am sure that you will be relishing in comfort-food majesty.

Arancini (Sicilian Fried Rice Balls or Supplí)

3 c. of leftover risotto
2 oz. of mozzarella, cut into 16 cubes
1/4 c. of flour
1 egg, beaten
2 tbs. of water
1/4 c. of bread crumbs
oil for frying

While your risotto is still cold, form into 16 small portions – sometimes I take a large bowl and put the risotto inside, and then score it like a pie into 8 slices.  I then take each “slice” and split it into two pieces.  Voilá – sixteen portions!  Wet your hands and form each of the portions into a smooth ball.  Push a cube of mozzarella into the risotto and roll again so that the cheese is completely covered by the risotto.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with a sheet of wax paper.  When you’ve rolled all of the arancini, place in the freezer to allow them to solidify a bit.

While the arancini are cooling, break out 3 shallow dishes.  Add 1/2 c. of flour to one dish.  Scramble the egg and two tbs. of water together in the second dish.  Place the breadcrumbs in the third dish.  Take the arancini out of the freezer and start an assembly line.  First dredge them in the flour, shaking off the excess.  Then, plunk them in the egg to wet them all over.  Lastly, dredge in the breadcrumbs and place on a clean dish or another cookie sheet lined with parchment.

Heat a pot of cooking oil to 320° and gently lower a batch of arancini into the hot oil (5 at a time is good).  Cook until beautifully golden on the outside, about 7 minutes.  If you don’t cook your arancini long enough, they will not be meltey goodness in the inside.  Drain on paper towels and serve with marinara for dipping.

Note

  • Use any risotto recipe you’d like to make these guys – just make sure that it’s good and cool when you start working with it.  My recipe for Rock Shrimp Risotto is a good starting point – just leave out the shrimp and you are in business.
  • After you dredge the shrimp in flour, egg and breadcrumbs, you can freeze the arancini.  They can be fried from frozen at 340° for 9 minutes.
Beverages and Cocktails, Recipes

Ginger Hibiscus Martini

5 Comments

Practice makes perfect, kids.  And lemme tell you, the difference between my first attempt at creating a recipe for a Ginger Hibiscus Martini is absolutely the best example of this.  Because, and I am not employing any hyperbole whatsover, it was out and out nasty. Too bitter, too spicy and too strong – it just didn’t work.

Mama didn’t raise no quitter, and back to the drawing board I went.  This time around, rather than steeping hibiscus in hot water, I infused a simple syrup with the rosy petals and rounds of ginger, creating a gorgeous, ruby-colored sweetener for the martini.  Tessa said tasting it made her feel like a hummingbird – I took this as a compliment 😉

Ginger Hibiscus Martini © Spice or Die

This martini is exotic, lovely and can be made stronger or weaker depending on your mood.  If you’re back on the wagon, you can mix this syrup with orange juice and sprite for a refreshing cocktail minus the potent potables.  And you SNL fans, feel free to insert your favorite Alec Trebek insult in your best Sean Connery voice.  “I’ll take the rapists for 500, Alex.”

Ginger Hibiscus Martini

1 part ginger hibiscus simple syrup (see recipe below)
1 part cranberry juice
2 parts vodka

Fill a martini shaker with ice.  Combine 1/3 c. of syrup, 1/3 c. of cranberry, and 2/3 c. of vodka.  Squeeze in half a lime.  Shake and strain into martini glasses.  Garnish with lime rounds.

Ginger Hibiscus Simple Syrup
1 c. of water
1 c. of sugar
3 in. of fresh ginger, sliced in 1/4 in. rounds
1/4 c. of hibiscus flowers

Bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Turn off and strain into a tupperware.  Pop in the fridge to chill before using.

Baked Goods, Desserts, Friends Recipes and Hacks, Recipes

Nyquil-Induced Trishy Lou Brownies

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Say, What’s in These Brownies? Um, Deliciousness…

Nyquil brownies…yeah, I said it.  You look a little sick and also a little skinny, so I thought I would do you a favor.  You’re welcome.

This recipe is actually a hack of the clutch recipe of my best friend Kate’s mom’s brownie recipe, combined with the idea of Nyquil Brownies as featured on Bittersweet Blog.  Let me tell you this, if ever there were two recipes that were meant to be combined, it’s these two.  I stumbled upon the Nyquil Brownie recipe on FoodBuzz and laughed my ass off – they were touted as a way to get rid of unwanted house guests, but for me, they proved a way to get rid of the noxious green swill in my medicine cabinet.  I hate that shit with a passion and yet it still ends up next to the Mucinex every winter.  WTF, Nyquil?  Bittersweet has you whip up a lovely cheesecake topping for boxed brownie mix, and spikes the creamy goodness with a shot of the mint Nyquil.  Genius, I thought, and I immediately tucked the recipe away.

Nyquil Brownie © Spice or Die

Though I’m no baker, I recently fell in love with Pat O’Malley’s super fudgy, failproof brownie recipe.  They taste like gourmet, are easier than box brownies and satisfy an addict’s level of chocolate craving.  I don’t know why I just thought of the song Constant Craving, but if K.D. Lang came over, I’d serve these brownies.  But I digress – these brownies deserved some sort of crowning glory, and I decided what-the-hell, how about Bittersweet’s Nyquil topping.

I liken them to Thin Mints in taste.  The hubby said they remind him of Andes Mints.  I didn’t really get a definitive response from my other buddies munching with me other than “mmmmmmmm”.  Best of all, they didn’t make us sleepy so much as blissfully happy that we thought to put all of the goodness together in a pan.  So I’m sorry if you’re looking for a way to kick people out of your house – this doesn’t seem to work as quickly as I had hoped.  But it does seem to work to make some culinary excellence, so I’m fucking fine with it.

The cream cheese topping was thick for me, so rather than bake in a rectangular pan, I cooked mine in a 9 in. round pan (3 in. tall) just like a cake.  This works REALLY well and looks gorgeous when you cut into it – like a giant chocolate mint cheesecake.  If, however, you’d like to go with traditional brownie squares, use a 13×9 pan and cut the cooking time down a bit to keep the brownies moist – about 10 minutes.

Nyquil-Induced Trishy Lou Brownies

Ingredients
1 package cream cheese softened
1/2 c. of sugar
1 egg
1 shot of green Nyquil (or 1 tbs. of creme de menthe, or 1 tsp of peppermint extract plus 4 drops of green food coloring)

1 stick plus 3 tbs. of butter (11 tbs.)
4 oz. of baking chocolate (4 squares)
1 1/3 c. of flour
1 tsp. of baking powder
1/2 tsp. of salt
2 tsp. of vanilla
1 tsp. of peppermint extract
4 eggs
2 c. of sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

Using a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer and a bowl), cream together the sugar, cream cheese and Nyquil (or mint flavor of choice) until smooth.  Add egg and blend until creamy.  Set aside.

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, add butter and then the chocolate on top.  Microwave until melted (about 1 1/2 minutes) in 30 second intervals, taking mixture out to stir in between.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar over the melted chocolate.  Stir.  Add the vanilla, peppermint extract and eggs and stir.  Do not overmix.

Pour brownie batter into a buttered (or cooking sprayed) 9 in. round baking pan.  Pour the cream cheese mixture on top and spread evenly to cover the brownie batter.  Bake for 45 minutes until the edges are cooked through and the middle of the brownies are just set.  When cooled, cut into wedges and serve.