Bloody Mary Bar

Sorry for the absence. I haven't been feeling well. Actually, I've been so sick that I watched a movie with a talking dog who told a poop joke because I couldn't find the remote and the television was oh so far away. However, I am feeling much better today and I wanted to share a fantastic Bloody Mary recipe that might come in handy on New Years Day.

You have probably noticed that peoples taste in Bloody Mary's varies widely. Some people like a thin drink that is little more than tomato juice watered down with some vodka, others like it so thick it's practically a meal in a glass and spicy enough to make you sweat. This is my personal favorite recipe. I like a Bloody Mary that is thick and spicy, loaded with garlic, horseradish, black pepper, citrus and such a wide array of accompaniments that it is virtually impossible to fit them all into your glass.

I want the option of turning a Bloody Mary into a meal. When I make these for a New Years Day brunch, I set out long skewers next to pretty glasses filled with whatever accompaniments I'm serving. You know the adage, the more the merrier. Olives (plain and blue cheese stuffed), pickled okra, cubes of cheese, celery, chunks of meat such as salami and shrimp for those of you who eat meat and/or fish, large cubes of toasted bread, pickled asparagus, scallions, cucumber sticks, lime wedges. Whatever you can dream up really.

I like approximately 3 parts Bloody Mary mix to 1 part vodka. Ice is essential. Bloody Mary's like lots and lots of ice. Definitely take that into consideration when you make these.



Thick and Spicy Bloody Mary's
makes about 10 servings

5 cups plain tomato juice or hot and spicy V-8 *
Juice of 3 large lemons
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
3/4 - 1 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
about 1 3/4 cups unflavored vodka

Thoroughly combine all of the ingredients, I whisk mine. Pour over ice, squeeze a lime wedge on top and sprinkle with celery salt and fresh ground black pepper.
If you wanted to do a little something extra, you could run a lime wedge around the rim of your glass and dip the rim in a bit of celery salt prior to filling your glasses of course.

*I always made this with plain tomato juice, until one day, at the request of my spice loving father, I made it with hot and spicy V-8. I loved it and now I usually make it that way. It's much thicker and spicier.

May you have a wonderful new year filled with peace, love, happiness, good health and great food. I look forward to spending 2010 with you.

Eggnog

Eggnog is one of the flavors that signal the holidays. Every time I have a cup I'm reminded of decorating our tree, making an endless amount of cookies, wrapping presents, waiting for snow... Eggnog practically screams Christmas.

There are 2 main styles of eggnog, uncooked and cooked. I prefer the cooked, not for any health reasons (although that is a plus) but because I find the uncooked version with beaten egg whites too frothy, too much like a Tom and Jerry and too high maintenance. Don't get me wrong, I love my Tom and Jerry's - a lot- but I like my Tom and Jerry's to be frothy and my eggnog to be creamy. (Tom and Jerry recipe coming soon)

When I make Eggnog it is usually for a crowd so I want a drink that I can simply set out. No last minute preparations, no beating and folding, just take out of the refrigerator and serve. That said, I will occasionally fold in softly whipped cream to thicken the eggnog up a bit, but it isn't necessary. Also, I like to serve my eggnog and liquor separately. I like a very stiff eggnog, I've been told some people do not. This way, everyone can make their drinks to their liking and any kids can enjoy it alcohol free.
However, I read somewhere that if you combine the eggnog and alcohol and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight, the alcohol taste will mellow. I'm going to have to give that a try, it might be worth making a "grown-up" batch and a kid batch.



Eggnog
10 servings

2 cups cream
3 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean -or- 1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract
10 egg yolks
fresh grated nutmeg

Combine the cream, 2 cups of the milk and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in 1/2 lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add the vanilla bean seeds to the sauce pan. (If you are using vanilla extract you'll add it later) Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Turn off the heat.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with 1/4 cup sugar until the mixture thickens and lightens in color a bit. Whisking constantly, slowly add about 1/3 of the cream mixture to the yolks to temper them (this will prevent curdling).

Add the egg yolk mixture to the sauce pan. Over a low heat, stirring constantly, cook until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon (when you drag your finger across the back of the spoon, the line remains) about 10 minutes.

Strain the eggnog into a bowl or pitcher. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of milk, if you are using vanilla extract add that now. If you want to add the alcohol to let it mellow, add it now. Put in the refrigerator to cool, at least 3 hours.

If you would like, you can softly whip 1 cup of heavy cream and fold that in to the eggnog right before you serve it.
Serve with Brandy* to taste and a generous amount of fresh grated nutmeg.


*Some people like a combination of rum and brandy, some people like bourbon or a combination of the three. I like pure Brandy. Play around and see what you like.

Orange, Beet and Pomegranate Salad with Feta

Last night I was going through my overflowing "recipes to try" file and I came across an orange, beet and pomegranate dish. They sounded like the perfect ingredients to add to a winter salad and coincidentally, I had just roasted some beets. I love when that happens!
This is a very pretty salad loaded with big, bright flavors. If you don't like feta, I imagine goat cheese would also be good or you could just leave the cheese out.




Orange, Beet and Pomegranate Salad with Feta

4 medium beets
2 medium oranges
1/2 of the seeds from a large pomegranate
1/2 small red onion coarsely chopped
1/2 head of Romain lettuce
5 ounces of feta crumbled or cut into desired size
chopped toasted walnuts (optional)

Juice from 1/2 orange
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 cup walnut oil (or olive oil)
salt and pepper to taste


Place beets in a pan with about 3 tablespoons of water and a sprinkling of salt. Cover the pan with foil and roast beets in a 400 oven until they are just tender, about 50 minutes. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel the skins off with you fingers. Cut into bite sized pieces.

For the oranges you have 2 options, you can cut the skins off removing all of the white pith, then slice the oranges 1/2 inch thick and cut the slices into quarters or you can peel the orange, separate the segments and cut the segments into thirds. (this is what I did since I already had roasted beets and was in a hurry)

After you coarsely chop the onions you can place them in a bowl of cold water for a minute or two. This takes away some of the harsh raw onion flavor. If you do this, drain the onions before using and give them a squeeze in a towel.

For the vinaigrette, combine orange juice, rice vinegar, walnut (or olive) oil, and generously season with salt and pepper.

Tear the lettuce into bite size pieces, top with beets, oranges, pomegranate seeds, onions, and feta. Pour vinaigrette on top and toss together. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts if you're using them.

Family Reunion Menu and Peanut - Red Chile BBQ Sauce

This past weekend I decided to get some family together for a reunion. It had been a decade or longer since I had the pleasure of their company. It was wonderful seeing all of them again but it felt a bit like a tornado of people. We hardly had a chance to say "Hello, how have things been? How did we let over 10 YEARS pass?!" before they were off.

I was pretty nervous about this party so I decide to keep the menu simple. Almost everything I made was from Bobby Flay's Messa Grill Cookbook (NOT my own recipes GASP!). I have made quite of few recipes from this book and so far they have all been very good to excellent.
For those of you who have been asking for cookbook recommendations put this one on the list.

I made roasted garlic and poblano pretzel sticks, deviled eggs, guacamole, wild mushroom quesadillas with red chile jack cheese, Yucatan chicken skewers with red cabbage slaw and peanut red chile BBQ sauce, and Sophie's salad which is a chopped salad with beans and cheese. (For those of you who read my last post - I debated on not making anything with meat but I knew they were almost all meat eaters...I told you, I'm not good at following implied rules)

Here is an adapted version of Bobby Flay's peanut red chile BBQ sauce. He uses chicken broth and Messa Grill BBQ sauce which is also in the Messa Grill Cookbook. I only had this off of a spoon but it was so good I contemplated eating the spoon itself. I imagine this would be good not only on chicken but on tofu, veggies, it's so good it would probably make anything delicious!


Peanut-Red Chile BBQ Sauce (adapted from Bobby Flay's Messa Grill Cookbook)

1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger*
1 1/3 cup Chipotle Honey BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add ginger and cook until soft, about 1-2 minutes. Raise the heat to high and add the BBQ sauce and the veggie broth. Cook stirring occasionally until reduced by half.
Reduce heat to medium. Whisk in the peanut butter and the soy sauce. Cook stirring occasionally until thickened about 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
You can make this a couple of days ahead of time and reheat it before serving.

*An easy way to peel ginger is to simply scrape the skin off with a spoon.

To Eat or Not to Eat... Meat

I feel like I need to come clean about something...I no longer eat meat. This isn't completely new. I was more or less a vegetarian for over 15 years, I started craving meat when I was pregnant which is when I started eating it again, that was 5 years ago. I can't do it anymore. There are a multitude of reasons for this. It's environmentally unsound. Absolutely disgusting things are done to the meat in order to add weight to it. The animals are kept in horrific, inhumane conditions... I can't ignore the facts any more which for me means I can no longer eat meat. It no longer seems like food to me.

I am not a fan of labels, they seem to imply rules which quite frankly I've never been good at following. However, I can't deny the fact that I'm a vegetarian. Since this is a food blog, I'll be documenting my semi new food adventures here.

I hope that even you meat eaters stick with me. Even though I am no longer eating meat, I still have a meat loving family to feed. My goal is to make meals that they will enjoy. Not meals of meat replacements but food so good the thought of meat not being part of it doesn't even cross your mind. How's that for setting the bar high?!

For those of you interested in learning more about our food supply I highly recommend reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer and Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan. They are fantastic thought provoking books that if nothing else will make you more aware of the food you eat.