Rhubarb + Gin

I am terrible at making cocktails. When I'm at home, I have wine mostly because I don't know how to make anything fun or fancy on my own and without the skilled knowledge of a bartender. Case in point: I ordered a whiskey smash the other night and the bartender didn't know how to make it. So I explained what was in it: whiskey, mint leaves, and lemon, thinking it would jog is memory. In reality, there's also simple syrup which serves as the non-alcoholic component of this drink. So I ended up with a glass of whiskey on the rocks with some mint leaves in the bottom. Not my forte.

Stewing the rhubarb

However, I would like to be able to wow my guests with a signature drink here and there. Continuing with our rhubarb theme, I made some rhubarb syrup which is surprisingly versatile. It can be used in cocktails, as a dessert topping, or even to flavor ice cream or sorbet. First things first: how to make the syrup.

The perfect lighting for rhubarb sauce

Similar to when we made the coffee cake and pie, rhubarb is chopped into pieces and added to a pot of hot water that has equal parts water and sugar. Once the rhubarb is cooked and squishy, it is strained into a jar with the rhubarb compote saved for future consumption on its own.

Happy Hour starts now

Taking equal parts rhubarb syrup and gin, combined with lemon juice, lime juice and one egg white in a cocktail shaker. I know the egg white sounds strange but it gives the drink a nice foamy texture and a hint of meringue flavor. Many cocktails with a layer of foam on top are a result of egg white usage. Vigorously shake the ingredients and then pour into a glass with ice. Garnish with a stalk of rhubarb if desired. Ideally the rhubarb syrup will be a nice pink color but as we learned in Rhubarb 101, not all rhubarb is pink so you can end up with a greener syrup (which is okay).

Ice cream maker all geared up

If you are making sorbet, you follow a similar process to making the syrup but you do not need to strain the rhubarb pieces out. You simply add the entire mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Once the ingredients are blended evenly, transfer the blender to the fridge to chill thoroughly. When the mixture is chilled, add it to an ice cream attachment and set it to the lowest stir setting. Add in two tablespoons of gin, if desired, to complete the rhubarb gin theme. I used an ice cream maker attachment for the Kitchen Aid mixer to complete the sorbet process. The churning will solidify the mixture and slowly turn it from liquid to slush. Once the sorbet resembles a thick slushy, transfer the contents of the bowl into a container and place in the freezer until you're ready to serve.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for sorbet! 

Recipes adapted from Food52

Gin Rhubarb Fizz

Rhubarb Syrup

• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 cups of chopped rhubarb

Cocktail

• 2 ounces of gin
• 2 ounces of rhubarb syrup
• 1/2 ounce each of lemon and lime juice
• Soda water
• Ice

1. To make the simple syrup, boil 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add 2 cups of chopped rhubarb and cook until tender and slightly squishy. Fit a strainer over a jar to catch the syrup but leave the rhubarb pieces to the side.
2. Combine 2 ounces of gin, 2 ounces of rhubarb syrup, 1/2 ounce of lemon juice, 1/2 ounce of lime juice and one egg white in a cocktail shaker (or mason jar). Shake vigorously for 30 seconds.
3. Add ice and continue to shake for 30 seconds.
4. Pour the mixture into a glass and top off with soda water.
5. Garnish with stalk of rhubarb, if desired.

Gin Rhubarb Sorbet

• 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of sugar (a little less than a full cup)
• 2 Tablespoons of lime juice
• 2 cups of chopped rhubarb
• 2 Tablespoons of gin

1. Follow the steps to make rhubarb syrup but retain the rhubarb pieces at the end. Instead of straining the mixture, add the rhubarb, water and sugar to a blender. 
2. Add 2 Tablespoons of light corn syrup and blend until smooth.
3. Place the mixture in the fridge until it has cooled completely.
4. Following the instructions on your ice cream maker, mix the rhubarb mixture with 2 Tablespoons of gin. If you add too much gin, the mixture won't solidify.
5. Freeze the slushy mixture for 3 hours before serving (continuing to follow the instructions for your ice cream maker).
6. Serve cold with fresh berries or plain. 
7. Enjoy!

Coconut Shrimp

Until a couple of years ago, the extent of my shrimp knowledge was to remove the tail and dip directly in cocktail sauce. Oh how far we've come. I have since had peanut shrimp, coconut shrimp, jumbo shrimp, all the shrimps! Coconut is a favorite though so that along with the coconut oil frosting success inspired me to try making healthier coconut shrimp.

Melting coconut oil

Instead of using vegetable or canola oil to fry these puppies, I used the ever-abundant tub of coconut oil. The rest of the process remains the same with the thawing and de-tailing of the shrimp. I keep frozen shrimp in my freezer for quick dinners but it requires defrosting them which means they are ice cold when you remove the tails. Riddle me this: why would you leave the tails on when you're putting the shrimp into a bowl of pasta, for example? This is my new pet peeve: getting shrimp at a restaurant in a mixture of hot goodness but then having to take off the tails myself. Why yes, I would love to stick my hands in my curry soup to remove the shells of my shellfish. Rant over. No it's not, I also don't want to de-tail shrimp in my fajita.

Stop, in the name of shrimp!

Okay, now I'm done. The de-tailed (deveined?) shrimp are placed in flour and then bathed in egg before being covered in bread crumbs. I used panko bread crumbs for an extra crispy result. Panko bread crumbs are often used in sushi or other Asian cuisines. They're much lighter than straight up bread crumbs. The shrimp are then gently placed in the heated oil (avoid splashing!) and turned over when golden brown.

Close up of panko

One thing I learned from this process is once the oil is heated, it's best to reduce the heat. Otherwise you end up with golden brown shrimps on the outside and not so cooked shrimp on the inside (or cooked shrimp on the inside and burned panko on the outside).

Bubble, bubble, boil and bubble

I was hoping there would be a stronger coconut flavor to these, resembling coconut shrimp without the coconut mixture. But there was really only a hint. So if you don't like coconut, this would be a healthy alternative to vegetable oil but if you dooo like coconut shrimp, I feel that mixing coconut with the bread crumbs would give it more flavor. 

This is definitely not the end of my shrimp experimenting. Nor is it the beginning, pineapple shrimp kabobs weren't so great so not very blog worthy. Overall, shrimp on the barby is a great idea though!

With a side of chipotle mustard, this was delicious

Recipe

• Shrimp (uncooked, de-tailed)
• Flour
• Eggs
• Panko bread crumbs (or regular ones)
• Coconut Oil

1. Once the shrimp have been thawed, carefully remove the shells and tails. Set raw shrimp aside and discard the shells.
2. In three small bowls, add flour, eggs and bread crumbs to each (separately). The amount you use will vary depending on how many shrimp you make but you can always add more if you run out.
3. Add a lump of coconut oil to a skillet and begin to heat until the oil has melted. Again, the amount you need will depend on how much shrimp you make and can always be increased.
4. While the oil is melting and heating, dip one shrimp at a time in the flour. Once coated, transfer to the egg wash to completely coat. Allow any excess egg to run off into the bowl before dipping in bread crumbs.
5. Once coated in bread crumbs, carefully add the shrimp to the oil. Avoid splashing the oil as it will be very hot. Allow to cook until golden brown.
6. Using tongs, remove the cooked shrimp from the pan and lay on a plate covered in a paper towel to absorb any extra oil.
7. Repeat with each shrimp. You may need to lower your burner heat as the oil becomes hot to prevent the bread crumbs from burning before the shrimp is cooked.
8. Serve with your desired sauce-- tartar sauce, mustard, cocktail sauce, etc. 

White Wine Poached Salmon

This past week, I was on a glorious beach vacation. I try to go to a new place every year and frequently travel with or to visit my college friends around the country. This year we were fortunate enough to reunite at the beach together where we rented a house and I did absolutely 0% of the cooking.

Day 1: excellent

What I lacked in culinary participation, I made up for in dish washing and promises to blog some of our dinners which were quite amazing. Might I also add that I was traveling with all men so no gender stereotypes were upheld in the making of these meals.

Such a gorgeous sunset

One of the first nights we were at the beach, we decided to have salmon, broccoli and rice for a well rounded and seafood meal. The grocery store was a little short on salmon but we made it work. Salmon is my favorite fish to cook due to its simplicity in preparation yet dynamic and not fishy flavor.

Step 1: Take slab of salmon and season with salt, pepper and dill

Let's proceed....



Using a one inch deep pan, the fresh salmon fillets are placed in the pan and seasoned with salt, pepper and dill. Strict instructions: no lemon juice!! Next, the salmon is drowned in a dry white wine. We used a Riesling to completely cover the fillets. Cooked in an oven at 450 for 20-30 minutes and you have perfectly cooked salmon that's still full of moisture and flavor.

In the midst of making this meal, I was hanging out next top the oven (of course I was) when flames erupted from the oven, popping the door ajar before quickly slamming shut again. We're not sure what caused the flames since it was an electric oven but I somehow managed to not get burned. Small miracles! However, this did distract me from taking pictures at the time so I recreated the recipe when I got home, this time pairing the fish with green beans instead.

On a completely unrelated but kind of related note, the master chef looks a bit like Seth Rogan and people have said I look a bit like Katherine Heigl and so we did this, totally normal. Please also find it on Twitter where I hope to attract the attention of the aforementioned actors and become famous...almost...

Boston Local Food Festival- Michele's Gourmet Popcorn

I'm a huge popcorn fan. Movies must be accompanied by both popcorn and a popcorn buddy so I don't eat loads and loads of buttered popcorn. I completely blame my mother for this trait as I've watched her consume large quantities of Smartfood popcorn for years (not a bad thing!). Sometimes we just have to accept these things about ourselves and move forward with buttery fingers.

My attempt at fancy popcorn

As you might recall, I made some coconut caramel popcorn treats as holiday gifts back in December. I thought it was a pretty delicious and adventurous task having never made homemade popcorn outside of a microwave. When I lived in Pittsburgh, I discovered the Pittsburgh Popcorn Company which makes all kinds of flavors and delicious concoctions. This is not your Boy Scout popcorn tin.

I'm happy to say that I have found a popcorn vendor closer to home to fuel my vice. Michele's Gourmet Popcorn is the primary, and popular, product of Michele's Sweet Shoppe in New Hampshire. Through the Boston Local Food Festival, Michele and I were put in touch to chat about sweets and treats. While she originally set out to make whoopie pies, her white chocolate popcorn was such a hit among her friends that they decided to run a popcorn business. Now with 20+ flavors, including Pupcorn for your furry friend, Michele's business is hoppin'--poppin' (I couldn't resist)!

Michele's Gourmet Popcorn

You can read the full review on the BLFF website (unless you already subscribed in which case you already saw it!). It's definitely given me some ideas for this holiday season and those ideas involve candy canes and chocolate (duh). 

Hard Rock Cafe Menu Tasting

You know how there are people who want to visit every Disney park or travel the Oregon Trail? I'm sure there are also people who want to visit every Hard Rock Cafe and I would have to support this endeavor and possibly add this to my bucket list. Normally I search for non-chain restaurants when I visit different cities because how different can they be? But realistically, the Hard Rock Cafe has different tributes to rock 'n roll in every location, not to mention amazing food.

Add caption

I honestly don't remember the food I've had at Hard Rock before attending a recent menu tasting in Boston. Thinking back, I've been to the Hard Rock Cafes in Orlando, Munich, and Foxwoods (CT) but this was the most memorable eating experience. As a local blogger, I was invited to sample the revamped menu at the Boston location with several other bloggers.

Just a fraction of the food

Upon arrival, we were immediately treated to sangria and a view at a vast table of food. I'm so glad I skipped breakfast that morning because we sampled a little bit of every course on the menu! Their new menu has a variety of choices for the barbecue lovers (ribs, chicken or brisket sandwich), the burger kings (vegetable, veggie, fiesta or barbecue), the sweets lovers (apple cobbler, brownie sundaes, Oreo cheesecake) and even the health-conscious (walnut salad, veggie sandwich). Not to mention, adult beverages to match them all! Here were some of my favorites:

The blogger gang after we ate all that food!

Grilled Chicken Arugula Salad

Rightfully a small portion of salad

I would eat this salad on the regular, and I just might throughout the summer! In addition to goat cheese and cranberries, there are citrus slices to add a summer touch of flavor. If only I knew the secret to their lemon vinaigrette.

Red Berry Press

Personally I do not understand the whole French press coffee situation but French pressed lemonade, I can wrap my brain around. This just might be enough to add a press to my kitchen. The lemonade is infused with fruit before your very eyes fresh at the table.

A sample of freshness

Bloggers can be models too

Hickory Smoked Ribs

The barbecue platter

The ribs were part of the barbecue sampler which also had barbecue chicken and a brisket sandwich. The chef was kind enough to de-bone these ribs for us to keep our hands photo ready but boy were they good! Extremely tender and well seasoned, I could go for a rack of these.

Fiesta Burger

I claim this burger in the name of rock and roll!

Holy sriracha, this sauce was gooood. Although we got a flight of burger sliders, my favorite was the fiesta burger which included guacamole. The fries came with a spicy sriracha sauce but duh, I dipped my burger right on in that orange goodness.

Grilled Norwegian Salmon & Cowboy Rib Eye

That rib-eye is a huge hunk of meat

At this point in the meal, we all knew the end was in site but that end was delicious dessert so we made the decision to save the rib eye for later. Instead, I munched on the salmon fillet with lemon and garlic potatoes. Words cannot describe how full I was.

Dessert Flight

No idea where to start!

Normal people would order one of the desserts: brownie sundae, apple cobbler or Oreo cheesecake. However, my sweet tooth knows no bounds and with a sample of each, I enjoyed all three! I have to say I loved them all and would totally make my date choose if I return.

This reminds me of that giant sculpture in Minneapolis

Needless to say, I did not go home hungry. Actually, I went home and took a serious nap. I'm happy to add this to my list of restaurants to take Boston visitors, maybe I can even look extra cool and drop some manager names for extra attention....

Kitty was ready for a nap and snuggles too