Fun with food and beverages: recipes and opinions about what, how, and why we eat.
Limoncello, Week 11
Almost there, friends!
Only 1 more week until we strain out the zest and any other impurities that may have formed over the course of our 12-week odyssey.
I can hardly stand it!
We’re still 2 weeks, minimum, from our first official tasting, though. Still, so close!
I’m honestly amazed that I might actually finish a project that would have been so easy to just forget about–it’s reason to celebrate on it’s own!
Last week we talked about dining out and splitting the check, but what about that alternative–staying in? If you’ve got a group of like-minded individuals and want to get more bang for your entertainment buck, a supper club scenario may be just the thing!
At it’s heart, a supper club is like a book club only your sharing food instead of literary opinions–okay, you can certainly do both (after all, you’ve got to have something to talk about between bites). Each person takes a turn at hosting, but from there you can choose between a couple of approaches.
How the meals are organized, beyond the hostess, can get pretty creative, too. A particular cookbook could be the source for the group for a single meal or several, the better to vet a new book by a favorite author. Themes could be arranged (or chosen from a hat) for each. Less experienced cooks could pair up with those with more–like my Kitchen Day–and joint meals presented. Or, like a group I once participated in, a single ingredient can be chose for each meeting and each person brings something (not necessarily a full course) that best uses the ingredient with information to share.
Most important, of course, is to have fun. It’s not, after all, about the size of your dining room (have an indoor picnic in the living room if that’s where you’ve got the most space!) or getting out the fine china (though, by all means, use it if you’ve got it!) but hanging out with good food and good friends, or those on their way to becoming them.
Goldrush
The 31st state, California, was ceded to the US as a result of the Mexican-American war and became a state on September 9, 1850.
I had the opportunity to visit The Golden State a few years ago but there are places there still on my list to visit.. When I got back from San Diego and realized I was a scant hour or two drive from the original Mouse House (Disneyland) I was crestfallen. Napa is also on the list but mainly I want to see San Francisco–I’ve had my work on display, there, but still haven’t been able to visit in person!
In honor of the early Spanish and Portuguese settlers, the local viniculture and the early Gold Rush days that gave the state it’s motto, I present
The Goldrush
1 oz White Wine
1 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Goldschlagger
splash of Orange Flower WaterCombine over ice and shake as a prospector panning for gold in Sierra Nevada. Strain into a chilled cordial glass.
Similar to a quickie Sangria, this fruity drink uses gold-flecked cinnamon liqueur instead of the traditional brandy. Orange flower water can be found in specialty or international food stores and you really only need a touch–more than anything it adds a delightful perfume to the drink without the added acidity of straight orange juice. Obviously you want to use a California wine, here, but if you should choose to go with a red instead of the white, call it a Golden Gate.
After missing out last month due to a crowded schedule, it’s nice to be hanging out with the cooks of the Indian Cooking Challenge again! This month’s recipe is for a sweet treat, Manoharam, which started out very similar to the Kara Sev I made in July but with a finishing twist that makes me think this batch won’t last the week!
Manoharam
I did some liberal rewriting of this particular recipe (shared by Lataji), namely skipping the encouragement to grind your own flour bit–not going to happen at this time. Instead, I did some substitutions based on the Kara Sev recipe and added some spices based on the finished product:
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Manoharam 1 c Rice Flour |
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Combine dry ingredients and mix until spices are spread out among the flour.
Make a well and pour the olive oil into it. Mix until dough is clumpy and then add water a little at a time until the dough starts to hold together. Knead gently until the dough is smooth. Divide the dough into 4 parts and roll into balls. |
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Heat about 2 quarts of frying oil in a pot or deep fryer to 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Oil a murukku press or (as in my case) a potato ricer fitted with a large die and load the first ball of dough into the press. Press out long strings into the hot oil, using a knife to carefully cut the strings away from the press, if necessary. |
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Frying should only take a minute or two, depending on the thickness of your strings. Drain on paper towels until cool.
Place the fried sticks into a gallon-size plastic bag and crush–but don’t pulverize–the sticks. I could be nice and say it looks somewhat like bran cereal about now but it really looks like kitty kibble. Measure the resulting pieces. I came up with right around 20 oz, dry volume. According to the original instructions, the powdered sugar used in the next step should be approximately a quarter of the volume crumbled murukku. I call foul, here, as that was nowhere near enough to coat it all. I think the major issue is that while it says volume on one line, it actually goes between grams (weight) and Liters (volume) in another. |
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Instead, make a sugar syrup of
2 c Powdered Sugar and cook to hard ball stage (250-265 degrees Fahrenheit). Generally you want to stir the mixture while the sugar is dissolving but not stir once it comes to a boil. Washing the sides of the pot as it boils will keep the sugar from collecting on the walls while the syrup comes to temperature. |
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Remove from the heat (carefully–this can do serious damage so no sudden moves and no sloshing!) and carefully pour over the crushed murukku bits.
Oil your hands and, once the mixture is cool enough to handle, form the sticky bits into 1-inch balls. This may or may not really work, all depending on your sugar mixture and how quickly it cools. It might not be as pretty, but just breaking up the large brick-o-manoharam works just as well and is still just as tasty! |
Before the sugar syrup was applied they were perfectly serviceable snacks on their own–much better than the last batch of Kara Sev which suffered from a lack of flavor. After the sugar, those, these little bits of brittle keep calling us back into the kitchen for continued snacking. As I suspected, it’s similar to pretzel or popcorn balls (though obviously without the airiness of the latter) and a nice candy to have around.
Limoncello, Week 10
Color-wise we’re back to where we were before adding the sugar syrup–the mixture seems to have lost it’s murkiness and is back to a dark yellow color.
Two weeks until straining! I’ve read that it’s even better after a week to sit and mellow, so 3 weeks until the official tasting.
It’s so close… I can almost taste it!