Brussel Sprouts with Romano Cheese and Lentils

This is the only thing I've cooked in at least a week and I'm not sure it really counts as cooking. Just a little steaming, boiling and grating and lunch (or dinner) is ready. You see, I have a new job. Have I told you about my new job? WHAT!? I haven't? Oh my. 
I'm also moving. I haven't told you about that yet either? Oh wow. We have some catching up to do.

[New boots for a new job and a new Autumn]

Sunday was my first day working for the New Amsterdam Market in South Street Seaport (downtown Manhattan). I'm an intern so I set up the market in the morning (bright and early which explains the 6am sunrise pictures) and hang out for a few hours during the market helping out vendors and milling around. If you are in the area you should definitely come down and check it out. Right now it's market season until december 19th which means we are there every Sunday (except November 28th), rain, snow, sun whatever. We're there. I'm doing some other work for them during the week as well but the job is not what's taking up all my time - at least not yet. It's the moving. Mostly because I don't know where I'm moving to. However the search may be coming to a close this week (so let's all cross our fingers that it goes smoothly). In which case I'll have some actual packing and moving to do and hope to be settled as soon as possible. After all, fall is my favorite season (in case you haven't figured that out) and I want to make apple sauce, brisket, apple crisp, butternut squash soup, chicken soup, braised mushrooms, apple pie, pumpkin pie and lots of things with prune plums - in no specific order (although prune plum season is coming to an end). 

[Jack's Coffee Shop, South Street Seaport]

Right now I've been dragging home all these wonderful fruits, vegetables, breads, meats and of course apple cider from the Market and eating them as close to their natural form as possible. Like these brussel sprouts for instance; steamed and tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and Romano. The little baby ones are my favorite. 

Brussel Sprouts with Romano Cheese and Lentils

Serves 1

1/4 cup green lentils (dry measure) - I like sprouted but regular work fine

175g brussel sprouts (about 1 1/2 cups), with the base trimmed off

1 tsp olive oil

Juice from half of a lemon

Salt and pepper

Freshly grated romano cheese

Cook the lentils according to the directions. Toss with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Steam the trimmed brussel sprouts until cooked through but still firm. Length of time will vary depending on size, mine took about 7 minutes.

Toss with oil, salt and pepper. Pour on top of lentils.

Sprinkle with freshly grated Romano and serve with a cold glass of apple cider.

Old Fashioned Pink Lemonade

Old Fashioned Pink Lemonade

Do as I did and add a shot of homemade limoncello or enjoy it straight. A shot of vodka would also give it a kick.

3 cups fresh lemon juice (about 16 lemons)*

12 cups of water

3 cups natural cane sugar

12oz. raspberries

Combine the sugar and 3 cups of water in saucepan and bring to a boil.

Simmer for a few minutes until sugar dissolves.

Add raspberries and simmer 1 minute more. 

Turn off heat and and let raspberries seep for 30 minutes or so.

Strain the syrup discarding the raspberries (or saving them if you like... they would be delicious with yogurt).Mix the lemon juice, remaining 9 cups of water and raspberry syrup in a pitcher and chill for at least 1 hour.

Serve over ice on a hot summer day.

*I used a power juicer extract my juice so if you are juicing by hand you may need more lemons to achieve 3 cups.

Simple Sangria

A summer thursday night includes bar-b-que, friends and Sangria. I got this recipe last weekend from a friend (Hi Lauren!) and couldn't wait to make it. I made Sangria a few times last summer but never really settled on a recipe that I liked. This one is fruity and so simple to make. 

I planned to replace the Diet Sprite with seltzer to cut down on the sweetness (and ditch the aspartame) but in the end I forgot to add it at all. It was delicious anyway, but if you want some bubbles without the added sugar just add 1-2 cups of seltzer or splash some right into your glass. 

Simple Sangria 

I used an inexpensive Argentinian Carmenere but a Malbec, Rioja or really any red wine would be fine. Don't waste anything expensive since you're mixing it with juice and fruit anyway. That being, said an inexpensive wine is different than a bad wine. There are plenty of decent wines out there that won't break the bank but if your wine has gone bad you will taste that in the Sangria. 

Adapted from Lauren Lichtenstein / Makes 1 1/2 litres 

4 cups Red Wine (see headnote) 

1/2-1 cup Peach Schnapps 

2 cups Orange Juice (no pulp) 

Splash of seltzer (optional) 

Lot's of cut up fruit. 

I used: 1 green apple, 1 large orange, 3 nectarines 

Lauren and I also recommend: cherries, mango, pineapple, plums and grapes 

Combine wine, schnapps, juice, fruit and seltzer in a pitcher. Serve over ice and be ready to make several more batches throughout the night ;) 

To make ahead of time: combine everything but the seltzer and store in the fridge up to 8 hours. 

Lauren's Original Sangria 

4 cups Merlot 

1 cup Peach Brandy 

2 cups Orange juice (no pulp) 

2 cups Diet Sprite 

Lot's of cut up fruit.

See above for instructions.

Lucky Star

Last week, while I was in South Carolina, my Dad and my Stepmom (Vivian) visited my sister (Melissa) in Florence. Since they obviously know about my blog and slight obsession with food they started sending me pictures of everything they ate and requested a place on my blog. Here's a couple pictures from their trip. I apologize for the poor picture quality, Blackberry's built in camera isn't quite up to DSLR quality yet ;).


They stopped first in Paris for a few days and made friends with the bartender. Her name is Aurelie and the drink in her hand is a Lucky Star. It's an official recipe for the hotel George V but she was kind enough to share it with the promise of a place on my blog.

Aurelie holding a Lucky Star at the bar. Picture courtesy of Vivian Sterling

Picture courtesy of Vivian Sterling

Next stop? Florence.

A cafe in the Piazza della Republica

Picture courtesy of Vivian Sterling

Melissa in front of her apartment. Look at those GORGEOUS doors! 

Picture courtesy of Vivian Sterling

They also went to my favorite restaurant in Florence (without me!?) and sent some pictures to make me drool. 

Picture Courtesy of Gary Fischoff

Picture courtesy of Gary Fischoff

Lucky Star

From the Four Seasons George V Paris/Serves 1.

In a glass tumbler add:

8 crushed mint leaves and  hand full of ice cubes

Fill half of the glass with cranberry juice and the rest with Perrier or other soda water

Add fresh red berries (1 strawberry cut into pieces,3 raspberries and 1 or 2 black currants)

Stir add a piece of mint for garnish.

Enjoy!!!

I made one this afternoon, a little light on the cranberry, with strawberries in it. I didn't have mint but it was still good. Next time I will definitely add the mint and some black currants (I love currants!)

My Lucky Star was not nearly as pretty as Aurelie's

One Walnut Short of A Nutcase

I had to force myself to stop making cookie dough. After four batches, I had to stop making cookie dough, for no reason other than I'm out of containers to store it in. 

It was after 1AM but I was on a roll.

I only planned on starting a batch of ice cream, but after my late night run to the store for heavy cream (and back again for buttermilk), I worked myself into a little ball of anxiety thinking about how I would get everything done this week.

I spent all day obsessively planning my schedule for the next couple days; writing and rewriting, organizing and reorganizing my days, my recipes, my lists, my schoolwork, my thoughts. With each new edition I remembered something previously forgotten.

I'm going have a house full of out-of-town guests this weekend, a 5K to bake for/setup/clean up/race, 2 birthdays to bake for/celebrate, a post-race party at my house and of course that nagging 10 page term paper that must get done before I trot off to South Carolina for spring training. I was quickly running out of days and with Tuesday rapidly coming to a close; I sat on my kitchen floor, surrounded by groceries, overwhelmed. That’s when it hit me. The only way I was going to calm myself down was to knock some things off my list. After sitting in class all day that paper was not happening, instead, I set to baking.
3 hours, 3 pounds of butter, 3 pounds of sugar, 3 pounds of flour, a quart of heavy cream and some whiskey later, I emerged from my little kitchen covered in flour, with a small glass of homemade Irish cream on ice. 

Well, I was definitely less anxious. Although, that may have had more to do with the Irish cream then the cookies. Now, you all probably think I’m one walnut short of a nutcase, and I'm sure to receive a concerned phone call from my mother, so let's get to the recipe I wanted to share today shall we?

Last year a friend of mine gave me his family’s recipe for Irish cream. It’s cool and creamy with a bit of a kick. This year, it’s been so warm that I decided to make ice cream out of it. You could even take it one step further and make some big chewy snickerdoodle cookies to go with it like I did. 

K-Tripp’s Irish Cream

You can find cream of coconut in the supermarket wherever they keep their margarita mixes and other bar mixers. It’s full of all kinds of chemicals and I had to buy a whole can that I’ll never use for anything else, so next time I will probably try using coconut milk instead. If you decide to go that route let me know how it works out. Makes about 750ml. 

3 large eggs*
1 can condensed milk (I used fat-free)
1 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 Tablespoons chocolate syrup
1 1/2 Tablespoons cream of coconut
1/4 cup whole milk (I used 1%)
1 1/4 cup rye or Irish whiskey (I used the scotch pictured because it's what I had at home)
Put everything in a blender and send it for a spin. Store in the fridge for up to 3 months.

*I buy my eggs from a local farm and I'm not worried about salmonella. The salmonella bacteria is actually on the shell and not in the egg anyway. As long as you wash your hands after handling the shells and before touching anything else, you should be okay. Did you know that farm fresh eggs don't actually need to be refrigerated unless you keep them for longer than a few days? I do want to point out however, this is a topic of contention among some and I'm not recommending you leave your eggs on your kitchen counter and then slurp a raw one down for breakfast. I do also want to add, you should make your own informed decision on whether or not you will eat raw eggs. This is simply my opinion and I take no responsibility if you eat a bad egg. Just sayin' ;).

Irish Cream Ice Cream
I don't like my ice cream too sweet but you can easily adjust the sugar to taste. I also just wanted a hint of Irish cream flavor use up to a 1/2 cup for a real kick. I wouldn't suggest anymore than that or it might not freeze well. The way it is now it freezes alright but melts quite fast. Makes about 6 cups.

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups 1% milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar (I used a very generous 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup Irish cream

Heat the cream and sugar in a pot just to dissolve. Turn the heat off and add the milk, vanilla, and Irish cream. Pour in a bowl and chill comepletely (overnight works best). Freeze according to you ice cream maker's instructions.

Snickerdoodles

I used Smitten Kitchen's recipe with no alterations so you can just head on over there for the recipe.

I made them large with a 3T cookie scoop and flattened them before baking.

Homemade Limoncello and Eighteen Bald Lemons

Flashback to September of 2007. Unpasteurized apple cider aplenty at the farmer's market and me with too much time on my hands. The idea dawned on me to make my own hard apple cider. Why on earth did I want to make 5 gallons of hard cider? I don't drink very often and I don't particularly like carbonated alcohol (beer etc). None the less, I set to work in the cold dark basement of my friends' house and 2 months later I was rewarded with just over 50 bottles of nothing-special hard cider. The next time I want a bottle of hard cider I'm sticking to Woodchuck. Lesson learned - or so I thought.

I thought I was done with my little foray into making alcohol but then pictures and stories of homemade limoncello began popping up all over my google reader. The seed was planted and I began some casual research into the idea. I read about it, thought about it, mulled over some prices, and looked into the availability of Everclear in NYS (none). It turns out it would be cheaper and more readily available to just buy a bottle of limoncello at the liquor store - but what fun is that? It was too late, I decided to make my own.

Since you can't buy Everclear in New York I bought a bottle of Devil Springs Vodka. It's the highest proof (160) legal in the state and I can understand why. Just smelling it burned my nose a bit.

I spent the better part of an hour peeling lemons and Max helped me scrape the pith (white part) off of the skins. It was a slightly time consuming process but the pith absolutely must come off or your final product will be bitter and unpleasant.

All those lovely bright peals went into a liter and a half mason jar with 750ml of grain alcohol where they will remain sealed for the next 8 weeks or until the peels are no longer yellow. At that point I'll mix in some simple syrup and let it sit for another week. After that is through a strainer and into the freezer, ready to be enjoyed in the warm spring air.

Now what to do with eighteen bald lemons.

Get your juicers ready, I see a plethora of lemon recipes in the near future.

Camtini

Alexis' family introduced me to the camtini. I'm pretty sure it's named for her mother Camille (correct me if I'm wrong, Alexis.) It's a vodka based martini with pineapple juice, cranberry juice, and champagne and it is definitely my drink of choice at her house.

Fill a shaker with ice cubes, add 3oz vodka, 1oz pineapple juice, 1oz cranberry juice and shake well. Pour a splash of champagne into the bottom of a martini glass and pour the vodka/cran/pineapple mixer on top. Enjoy!