Kat on Thyme

So Simple the Syrup

Summer has arrived in Seattle on the fast train. I was doing some laundry this weekend and in my laundry basket was a crazy mix of polypropylene long underwear, fleecy things, tank tops, and shorts. It’s June in Seattle!

Being from Sacramento, and spending much of the last 15 years in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, one would think I should be accustomed to hot weather. A few years in Seattle and I’m melting in the mid-80 degree heat. Most of the year, I shun iced drinks in favor of room temperature beverages, but on Friday night, I dumped the igloo that had formed in my ice bin and got a whole new batch of ice going to cool my summer drinks. Ice ice, baby.

I’ve been seeing in the gourmet stores lately big, expensive bottles of simple syrup for making summer drinks. Simple syrup is just that, though. Simple. No need to buy it. I’ve been experimenting with steeping herbs in the syrup to make my own flavored syrups. But there’s no reason to stop at herbs, syrups can be infused with anything! Tea, spices, roots like ginger, citrus zest, reduced fruit juices, flowers, and there is no limit to the combinations you could create.

Simple syrups are handy to have around in the summer (they should be kept in the fridge) because they work better than granulated sugar for sweetening cold beverages. For sweetening hot coffee, granulated sugar works just fine because the heat from the coffee dissolves the sugar. But in an iced coffee drink, granulated sugar just falls to the bottom and doesn’t do much to sweeten the bulk of the liquid. (Although I love the sugary ice cube crystals left in the glass!) Simple syrups can be used to make cocktails, iced coffee drinks, lemon and limeades, and Italian sodas. In addition, they can be used for all sorts of summer preparations- syrups can sweeten sorbets and granitas, they can be mixed with fruit and drizzled over desserts, or colored syrups could be dabbled onto white plates for a simple plate garnish. It’s easy to get creative with flavored syrups if you have them made and chilled in your fridge.

Herb Infused Simple Syrup

Equal parts sugar and water (I used 2/3 cup of each)
Sprigs of fresh herbs- I used 4 large sprigs of lemon verbena. I also made one with mint and one with rose geranium leaves.

Dissolve the sugar in the water over medium heat in a small saucepan on the stove. Once the sugar has dissolved, turn off the heat and add the herbs, crushing them in your hands to release their oils. Submerge them into the liquid and cover. Let them steep for about 30 minutes. Drain into bottles pushing on the herbs to extract a bit more flavor. Cap and refrigerate.

Herban Lemonade

1 ounce citron Vodka
½ ounce lemon verbena syrup (more if you like sweeter drinks)
Sprig of verbena for garnish
Ice to fill glass
4 ounces soda water
Wedge of lemon

Mix the vodka and syrup in a glass with the ice. Add the verbena and crush lightly with a spoon or muddler. Add soda water and stir to blend. Squeeze the lemon into the drink and then drop it into the mix. Stir again and adjust taste to suit your preferences.

Seis de Mayo

I guess I was too tired from doing Cinco de Mayo to write about Cinco de Mayo yesterday. It was a long day. This year the proximity of Cinco de Mayo to the immigration protests, in which the Mexican community has been extremely active, made me think a little more about the contribution of the Latino culture to our food culture here in the Northwest. There is no link in the chain of food distribution in America that is untouched by Mexican hands. And here in the Northwest, we are especially dependent on migratory labor because so much of what makes Washington’s economy strong comes from the sweat and demanding physical work of Mexican immigrants. Washington is one of the few states with a trade surplus with China- we are still an economy of production rather than consumption. On Tuesday at Whole Foods there were no bakery products from Essential Baking Company (my favorite Seattle bread bakers), likely due to the absence of workers on Monday, the day of the protest. No immigrant labor, no bread. And that’s about the sum of it.

So yesterday, I wanted to make something different, and more traditional for our Cinco de Mayo dinner. I went to Zarela Martinez’ cookbook Food from my Heart, which is a fun, if unorganized, cookbook and memoir of Mexican food and culture. I chose a recipe called Alcaparrado de Pollo, which is a traditional Oaxacan chicken dish with a sauce of capers, toasted pepitas, saffron, and aromatic spices. The chicken was supposed to be browned and then baked in the sauce, but at the end of the recipe a note mentioned that the sauce was also a great accompaniment to grilled fish, so I thought I’d grill the chicken instead of baking it, since it was such a lovely day.
 
I won’t bore you with the details of the recipe, since it was actually rather disappointing as written, but I did some heavy doctoring and it turned out quite nicely. The capers had made the sauce extremely salty, so I thinned it with more chicken stock, added some unsalted almond butter, some dark brown sugar, and some lime juice, which mellowed the sauce considerably. I served it with an Arroz Verde made with some garden greens and cilantro, and a little salad of roasted corn, black beans, and grape tomatoes. I had made a salad as well of grapefruit, oranges, and jicama but forgot to serve it. Note to self, margaritas are best enjoyed AFTER work.

This recipe, without any doctoring, came out splendidly the first time. I had seen something similar in a magazine, which of course I didn’t bring to work, so I just made this one up on the fly.

Piñagaritas

¼ of a pineapple, pared, cored, and sliced
5 ounces tequila (I used Hornitos)
5 ounces triple sec
½ cup lime and lemon juice, mixed (in whatever ratio you have on hand- do use real juice, though, and not the kind that comes in the plastic fruit)
½ cup margarita mix
Ice
Kosher salt and pineapple wedges, for garnish (leave the rind on these- it looks prettier)
4 large margarita glasses

Put all of the ingredients in a blender, except for the ice. Blend to puree the pineapple. Then add ice to the blender (1/2 way for not too slushy drinks, all the way if you like them slushy) and blend again until the ice is smoothly chopped. Run a wedge of pineapple on the rim of a margarita glass and dip the wet rim in a plate lightly covered in kosher salt. Pour the drink in the glass and garnish with the pineapple wedge. Repeat 3 more times.

Salud!

Mystery Bus Fizz

My parents have been going to social events at the Mr. & Mrs. Club as long as I can remember. The club is organized loosely through their local church, and many of their friends and neighbors are involved. They meet monthly for theme dinners and a few times a year they have special events. Next month brings the Mystery Bus Tour, which involves many people on a bus drinking fizzy drinks until they don’t care where they end up. No mystery there.

Seems that most of the planning for this event revolves around the fizzy drink part of the excursion. I’ve been fielding phone calls and emails from mom and her friends about the safety of egg whites, the prospect of make-ahead drinks, and the dilemma over gin or vodka. In the spirit of competition, they hosted a Gin-Fizz Off, and their fizz recipes competed for the coveted spot on the mystery bus. My mother’s recipe won. It involved ice cream, gin, lemonade concentrate, Sprite, and a few days in the freezer. I’m not sure if I’d call it a Gin Fizz, but what’s not to like about that?

So not to be outdone, some friends and I worked on our own recipe, after a afternoon of Frisbee in the sun last weekend. I put Scotty in charge of the blender and he made a recipe from a book I have. It was alright but definitely not a mystery tour contender. So after a few minor modifications we came up with this concoction that is pretty darned palatable.

Scotty’s Gin Fizzes

1 ½ cups chilled milk (we used Lactaid 2%)

½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons Gin (we used Gordon’s- nothing fancy)

¼ cup powdered sugar

¼ cup lime juice

1 egg white (we used pasteurized egg whites- 3 Tablespoons)

3-4 Tablespoons lemonade concentrate (we used Trader Joe’s brand)

1 teaspoon orange flower water (this is key- it comes on the spice aisle near the vanilla, blue plastic bottle)

Put all of the ingredients in the blender with ice and blend until frothy. Pour into glasses and serve with a sprig of something pretty.

Serves 4 to 6.

Mom, bring it on!