Blueberry-Inspired Cocktail Recipes...

From left: Southern Blues, Violet Beauregarde, and Blues Cat (Photos by Margaret Houston, Abbi Masters, and Roy Adkins)

Blueberry-Inspired Cocktail Recipes

Chefs aren’t the only ones taking advantage of fresh, local ingredients. Around the South and beyond, mixologists are also finding new ways to usher in the seasons. In this case, blueberry season. Check out these blueberry cocktail recipes from these Southern hotspots:

Southern Blues
Husk; Charleston, South Carolina
Serves 1

1½ oz. vodka
½ oz. St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
½ oz. lime juice
½ oz. blueberry puree
5 dashes of blueberry bitters
1 pinch of cilantro
2 tbsp. egg white

Shake with ice, and strain into a coupe glass.
 

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Violet Beauregarde
Bottega Restaurant and Café; Birmingham, Alabama
Serves 1

2 oz. blueberry vodka
1 oz. lemonade (recipe to follow)
½ oz. Moscato d’Asti
3 fresh blueberries for garnish (optional)

Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice cubes. Pour in the vodka, lemonade, and Moscato, and muddle vigorously for 10-15 seconds. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with fresh blueberries (if desired).

Lemonade (makes about 1 quart)
4 cups spring water
¾ cup sugar
1 tbsp. honey
¼ vanilla bean, split
Juice of 4 lemons

In a large saucepan, combine the water, sugar, honey, and vanilla bean, and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool. Stir in the lemon juice until thoroughly combined, then transfer to a pitcher and chill thoroughly. Lemonade will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator.
 

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Blues Cat
Parlor Market; Jackson, Mississippi
Serves 1

3 oz. Cathead Vodka
15 blueberries
5-8 basil leaves
1 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. rosemary infused simple syrup

Muddle the blueberries and basil leaves together. Combine remaining ingredients, shake, and strain over flaked ice. Garnish with additional blueberries, basil, and freshly grated cinnamon.

http://gardenandgun.com/blueberry-cocktails

from 'simply recipes'...great site...because summer always means an abundance of zucchini...

Lemon Rosemary Zucchini Bread

I'm on a mission this summer. A mission out of necessity, resulting from the abundance of certain summer squash I planted in my parents' garden. Four plants. What was I thinking?! One zucchini plant alone could feed a family of four. Every time I stop by my parents' house my mother glares at me accusingly. Actually, she's not the glaring type. It's more like a bemused look that says, "we have a problem, and it's your fault," along with an offer to cook me up some squash (she has an excellent recipe) and a plea to give some to me to take home.

3 days worth of summer squash (and a couple lemon cucumbers) from the garden

So the mission? Come up with recipes that we all like and that use a lot of summer squash. For this I have been experimenting with zucchini bread for the last two weeks. We have a couple fine zucchini bread recipes on the site, but I was hoping for something a little more savory. I tried all sorts of combinations, experiments with cheddar, with Parm, jalapenos, etc. Mom's response to most of them, "good if you toast them and then put sugar and butter on them." Not good enough. Finally I succumbed to the classic somewhat sweet zucchini bread, but seasoned it with rosemary and lemon, so you get a savory note. More than good enough. Really good. My conclusion is that zucchini bread works well with sugar. Here we use 1 1/4 cups for 3 cups of zucchini and 3 cups of flour. So, it's not a lot, but it's enough to make a lovely, lightly sweet bread.

One of the raised beds, with a patty pan and a zucchini

Lemon Rosemary Zucchini Bread Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups (390 grams) flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoons salt (omit if using salted butter)
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest
• 3 cups grated zucchini (from about 1 pound of zucchini)

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare two 4x9-inch loaf pans, either coating with butter or spraying with baking spray.

2 In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and rosemary.

3 Beat the eggs in a mixer (or by hand) until frothy. Beat in the sugar. Beat in the melted butter and olive oil. Stir in the lemon zest and grated zucchini.

4 Add the dry ingredients to the wet, a third at a time, stirring after each incorporation.

5 Divide batter/dough into two loaf pans. Bake in a 350°F oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Test after 40 minutes. If you gently press down on the surface of the loaf, it should bounce back, and a bamboo skewer inserted into the center should come out clean.

6 Remove from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes and then remove the loaves from their pans to cool on a rack.

Yield: Makes two loaves.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/lemon_rosemary_zucchini_bread/

Mayree's Deep South Cakery with a Side of Life: Marshmallow Fondant and Late Night Silliness

i love fondant...it makes cakes so special and mayree's recipe is a blessing...see for yourself...

Mayree's Deep South Cakery with a Side of Life: Marshmallow Fondant and Late Night Silliness: "Starting to WORK work has definitely cut a chunk out of StumbleUpon and Facebook time! Yikes. I may actually go into withdrawl (<- that's ..."

mayree's deep south cakery with a side of life...

she's casual, comfortable and fun...she loves her home and family...oh yeah, and iced coffee...she's like a far-away friend or pen-pal...

Mayree's Deep South Cakery with a Side of Life
‎**breathing deeply** I'm counting 295 blessings this morning - the latest two being named Katherine and Zorain. Thank you SO much for the 'likes!' It's a humid sorta morning here in the Deep South; a soul can already feel the evening thunderstorm building. Cakes are in the oven and there's fresh cold-brewed coffee for the front porch. Let's set a spell and visit...

http://deepsouthcakery.blogspot.com/

what katie ate...

this is a beautiful blog...her recipes are fun...her photos gorgeous and tempting...

SUNDAY, JULY 3, 2011

Happy 4th of July! :)

APPLE, GINGER AND CRANBERRY VODKA COCKTAILS

When I was in NYC I picked up a bottle of Absolut's special edition 
Absolut Brooklyn. I was drawn to it initially in a bar in the West Village as the bottle was really eye-catching and it tasted pretty darn good too... It's a flavour is based on one of apple and ginger and makes for a really wonderful cocktail base. I did buy a bottle however unfortunately I left it in the freezer in the house I rented in Venice but had a bit of a play around recreating the basic premise of this mix and added my own small twist to create a super simple, super refreshing Summer-time tipple.

PULLED PORK SLIDERS WITH HOMEMADE APPLE CIDER SLAW

As always, I went a tad nuts on the shopping department whilst away and as is the norm with me, I brought back quite a lot of food products from the various gourmet and specialist food stores I visited (much to the amusement of the US and Aussie customs officials...). One store I alway head straight to is Williams Sonoma, in particular I love their pre-packaged food products and after the monumental Pulled Pork Sandwich we had in Provincetown, Cape Cod it was a no-brainer I was bringing back a large jar of the Williams Sonoma Pulled Pork Starter Sauce come hell or high water. I gave it a whirl this weekend to create my own pulled pork sliders to accompany the beef ones below and they were a huge success with the friends for whom who I cooked for today. I personally found the sauce excellent, albeit just a tad too heavy on the chili flavour. I'll be experimenting this week with my own pulled pork sauce and will post up the recipe when I've hit the jackpot and tested it with some mates.

These were two vintage kids skateboards I picked up in Venice CA during my stay on the West coast of the US recently. I adore them and they have pride of place in my kitchen now in Sydney. I found them in a store called Surfing Cowboys on Abbot Kinney Ave.

Ironically I had no idea the store was located on that street and was thrilled when wandering down it one afternoon to spy the shop frontage totally out of the blue. I had found the shop online initially almost 5 years previous whilst doing online research into retro vintage surfboards, as I was looking for a 1st wedding anniversary gift for my husband, so after years of online drooling over their various wares, it was fantastic to finally step inside the shop. Surfing Cowboys contains a great range of really excellent vintage furniture and other home/personal accessories, well worth a gander if you're in the area...

BEEF & PORK SLIDERS WITH BRIOCHE BUNS AND SPICY RELISH

(Basic above relish recipe here) for this one however, I added in an extra finely chopped red and green chili to the ingredients, along with 1 tbsp each balsamic and cider vinegar.

SALTED BUTTERSCOTCH PEANUT POPCORN

I'm more of a savoury-tooth sort, but every time I'm in the US I always manage to get my paws on a packet or two of Crackerjack – especially when I'm at a baseball game. This is my simple take on traditional Crackerjack popcorn. It's crazy tasty - albeit a teeny bit messy as the butterscotch coating very really totally dries on the popcorn so prepare for sticky fingers!

CBGB PIZZA

John Varvatos is a menswear designer whom I love, his obsession with Rock 'n Roll is one I share with an immense passion and thus I adore how this sentiment translates into his clothes. I also love his store in New York – a really cool environment which is housed in the old CBGB nightclub. I rarely put up recipes on the blog which I haven't written and devised myself, however when I discovered this above pizza in a great cookbook I have had here in the house for some time, I felt this was a must for this blog posting - The CBGB pizza by Theo Kalogeracos.

All above images © Katie Quinn Davies

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As the post title states: Happy 4th of July to all readers in the USA :)

To honour the occasion, I thought it would be a nice idea this week to upload some recipes which were inspired from my recent time in the States. I tasted and savoured quite a few sliders during my time away and was on a mission when I can home to write a good recipe for these tasty little burgers. I paired them with some homemade brioche buns (I find it good to keep a burger bun on the softer side so brioche style works well) and a nice piquant chili tomato relish.

It was a gorgeous day today in Sydney, we all totally forgot it is still actually Winter and Summer is still a few months away as it was 20˚C and gloriously sunny. We had some mates around so I took some shots beforehand of the lunch I prepared in advance this morning.

On a separate note, I'm delighted to announce this past week I signed with Harper Collins in the UK so in addition to Aus. and the U.S., the first What Katie ate book will be published and distributed in the UK and Ireland just a few months after it's launched in the U.S. and Australia late next year :)

A busy week ahead for me this week, more recipe writing for the book and a few magazine editorial shoots. I'll be back later this week with some delicious ideas for cocktail party canapés. Have a great week all :) x

a southern grace...

beautiful blog...great recipes..

http://asoutherngrace.blogspot.com/2011/06/pickerboodles-knickerpoodles.html

JUNE 27, 2011

pickerboodles, knickerpoodles, flickertoodles

Snickerdoodles is a really random and fun name for a cookie, am I right? I love it--I think it embodies the whole plain-sugar-cookie-smothered-in-cinnamon-sugar thing.

Speaking of random and fun, have you ever heard of Demetri Martin? It wouldn't surprise me if you haven't; his work is a little obscure. I'm so glad I discovered him, though, as his oh-so-intelligent sense of humor is right up my alley (or down my road)(or across my street)(or in my cul-de-sac). Just to give you a taste (of Demetri's humor, not of my snickerdoodles--sorry!), here are a couple of his reverse-pick-up lines (also known as breakup lines):

*Are you doing push-ups with your knees down? Because I'm not sure if this is working out.
*Are you being followed? Because I've been seeing people behind your back.
*Hey, is there a new critically acclaimed movie called 'Other People'? Because that’s what I want to see.

He just makes me snicker. Correction: He just makes me snickerdoodle.

Knickerpoodles
(from Joy of Cooking)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Put the rack in the upper third of the oven. Preheat to 350°F.
Mix together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Beat together the butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar until well combined. Add the eggs and beat. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until smooth. Roll the batter into 1 1/4 inch balls with your hands. Roll the balls in a mixture of the remaining sugar and cinnamon and place about 3 inches apart on the pan. Bake for 8-11 minutes, until light golden brown on the edges. 

Asiago Cheese Bacon Scuffins with Dried Cranberries

Asiago Cheese Bacon Scuffins with Dried Cranberries...

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided (1/2 tablespoon is for sprinkle over the top)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons frozen butter*, shredded
• 3/4 cup fat free milk, divided (i prefer cream)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg white
• 1 ounce dried cranberries
• 1 ounce cooked bacon
• 1 ounce shredded asiago cheese

Preheat the oven to 425.

Combine the flour, 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl; stir with a whisk.  (* My trick for the butter – the key to flaky biscuits, pie crusts, etc. is to have super cold butter.  I keep sticks of butter in my freezer, so that by the time I use a box grater to grate the cheese, the butter is still super cold.”  Put the shredded butter in the flour mixture – no need to use a pastry cutter since the butter is super fine – just toss to coat.

Combine 1/2 cup milk, vanilla, and egg white in a bowl.  Add mix mixture to flour mixture stirring until moist.  It was at this time that my dough was still super floury, so I  ended up adding an extra 1/4 cup of milk – but just eye ball it until it looks doughy.

I put my chopped bacon, cranberries and shredded cheese on my counter and put the dough on top – adding just a touch of flour I kneaded the dough until just incorporated.

I weighed each dough ball, made it into a circle and pressed down.  Put on Pam sprayed cookie sheet and divide the remaining 1/2 tablespoon sugar and sprinkle over the top of each scuffin.  Bake for 17-19 minutes, or until slightly browned.