JamieOliver.com

Although I loathe that soapy tasting pickled ginger that comes with sushi, I love ginger in all of it's other forms. Turn it into a sugary syrup and mix it with some citrus vodka & you are really speaking my language! I had one on Friday night and then over the weekend, decided to try to reinvent it at home. I think I came pretty close.

A sweet, spicy, lemony ginger syrup. A lemon thyme and ginger sugared rim. And a squeeze of lime. It's as easy as that!

I was actually reading a recipe for something else when I came across the instructions to throw the ginger into the food processor, skin on, in order to keep it from turning into total mush. Seems counter intuitive, I know, but it really does give it more of a chopped consistency, so do it.  I put in about a 3-4 inch piece, then added it to 2 cups water and about a cup and a half cup of sugar, and a tablespoon or so of lemon juice then simmered until it became a decently think syrup.

Let syrup cool and then strain mixture. Reserve ginger for other exciting uses. (I mixed some in with some sauteed carrots later that night and they were divine!)

While the ginger syrup is cooling, combine sugar, lemon thyme & a bit of the reserved minced ginger and mush up with a mortar & pestle. I would have put in some lemon zest if I had it, but noooo.... instead I added a bit of lemon grass instead. Pour sugar onto a plate, then wet the rim of your glass and roll around in the sugar. As it dries it becomes like a sugary, gingery candy on the rim of your glass.

Combine 1/3 Cup (or however much you like) of the ginger syrup with a shot of citrus vodka and a couple of wedges of lemon (squeezed into shaker) and ice into a cocktail shaker. Shake and then pour into your swanky, sugar-rimmed glass & enjoy!

Check out www.swigsandgrinds.blogspot.com for more images.

Some friends of mine recently introduced me to Hendrick's Gin, which is infused with cucumber & rose petals. Fancy, I know. I'm not a big fan of Gin though, I think it tastes like pine needles, and that's just not my thing. However, my friends made a cocktail with this infused gin & a ginger beer or really good ginger ale , and let me tell you, it rocked! The thing is, it's a pretty spendy spirit, AND I'm still not a big gin lover.

SO, I decided to come up with a few of my own infused concoctions, using good ol' vodka instead. My kitchen looked like a mad science laboratory yesterday, but the result is a few fantastically strange looking jars of snazzy vodka for all my cocktail desires! And it's so easy, you've gotta do it.

The one pictured above, is my ode to Hendricks. I put in the cucumber & rose petals, then I went a little crazy & added a hunk of ginger, a few peach slices, lemon zest, some mint & lemon verbena.

You can see more at www.swigsandgrinds.blogspot.com

Cheers!

Breadfruit has, up until recently, been missing from my list of fantastic foods. Not because I didn't like it, but only because we had never crossed paths. My sister has been a raving fan for years, and I am holding her responsible for not being more adamant that I try them.

Breadfruit is a close relative of Jackfruit. The fruit grows on trees that can reach up to 85 feet, with the actual fruit varying from the size of a small Nerf ball, up to the size of a decent watermelon. I think the fact that these trees only give out their treasures at certain times of the year, preserving them being a bit tricky, and that they have a pretty short shelf life has contributed to me missing out on them all these years.

But alas, on my trip to the farmer's market this weekend, we met. I brought it home, it spent the night, and then today we fell madly in love. I really had no idea what to do with it, how to treat it, or how it would behave. All I knew was that it tastes like a cross between a potato & an artichoke heart. So between the lady who sold it to me & advice from my sister, I opted for roasting half of it, boiling the other half and then devising three different ways to get to know it.

The Breadfruit Gratin pictured here was my favorite. Breadfruit seems to be just as versatile as the potato, which means that there are zillions of ways to enjoy them. Whichever you choose, when you see this beauty at the market, be sure to snatch some up!
You can find the recipes at www.swigsandgrinds.blogspot.com

This one really rocked! You can find the recipe here: www.swigsandgrinds.blogspot.com

I had to do a little improv on Jamie's recipe, these looked pretty fancy, but were really a comforting dessert!

Cheers,
H
www.swigsandgrinds.blogspot.com