Tips

Save Space in Your Kitchen

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Are your pots and pans stacked in cabinets and the pot you need is always at the bottom of the stack? I am forever unstacking and restacking my cookware. A friend of mine came up with a great way to have her pots readily available and save space in her kitchen. A high-rise pot stand!

I pulled the rack out from its corner so you could see it better. It nestles into a corner. This is a great option for small space kitchens!

I went looking on Amazon and found the one she has and several less expensive options. It is properly called a cookware stand. Here is a link.

What a great way to save space in your kitchen!

October 28, 2015 by
Drinks, Fruit, Travel

Limoncello, Salute!

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Making Limoncello every fall is a tradition in our house. It’s a unique gift and I love to use it as a special treat throughout the year.

It all began when I went to Italy years ago with two friends and my mother. We spent several days in Rome then drove to Umbria and stayed just outside of Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis and the Franciscan order. Assisi is on the western flank of the mountain of Monte Subasio. We spent a rainy but beautiful week driving the curving back roads as far north as Florence and all around Umbria.

The first afternoon we drove up Monte Subasio until the snow made us turn around. On the way down we found a tiny restaurant jutting out over the edge of the mountain. We were generously given a table in the middle of the small dining room and were kindly greeted by the other diners with help ordering and with stories of life on the mountain. I had my first pasta with black truffles there, which I remember to this day. Capping off this lovely, hilarious evening we toasted our good fortune with a small glass of limoncello. The proprietor even gave Lisa the small glasses as a gift.

We found ourselves placed at the middle table in quite a few small restaurants. This pattern of meeting lovely people, pantomiming our way through a delightful meal and finishing the evening with limoncello, was set for the rest of our trip.

Limoncello is made in three steps:  1. The lemon zest is soaked in vodka for 30-40 days. 2. Then more vodka and a simple syrup is added to the soaked lemon zest. 3. Finally, the limoncello is decanted and stored in the freezer until used.

Limoncello

This takes less than 30 minutes of active time.

Ingredients:

18 lemons, zested. Be careful not to get any of the white pith in with the zest because it is bitter.

1 Bottle (750ml) 100 proof vodka

1 Bottle (750ml ) 80 proof vodka

3c sugar (used in step 2)

3c water (used in step 2)

Utensils:

A 1 gallon glass jar, a zester,  and a strainer (used in step 3)

Method:

Step 1: Put the lemon zest in the gallon jar and fill it with half of each bottle of vodka. Put the jar in a dark corner and leave it to steep. I usually leave mine for 30 to 40 days. You can leave it for at little as 2 weeks but it just gets better and better as it matures.

Food

Most recipes use 100 proof vodka only because limoncello is stored in your freezer and you do not want it to freeze.

The first year I made limoncello I used a bottle of Grey Goose vodka. Well – I’m just spoiled after that. I’ve since tried a variety of less expensive vodkas. One year I bought a much lower priced vodka and ran the vodka thru a filter 8 times but even with all that filtering the limoncello came out with a slightly bitter edge.

untitledI find the 80 proof smoother so I mix them. The 100-proof vodka is basically acting as an anti-freeze – but what an anti-freeze!

The vodkas I am trying this year are Polar Ice and Burnett’s Vodka.

Steps 2 and 3 will be on the blog site on the first of December!

 

October 26, 2015 by
Chicken, Great Gift Ideas, Pork, Tips

Quickly Brining Pork and Chicken

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Quickly Brining Pork and Chicken

In my last post I talked about quickly and easily brining shrimp and fish. Brining pork and chicken also creates much moister and more flavorful meat.

My method for brining or marinating pork and chicken in 30 minutes relies on a special container that you can pull the air out of with a little hand pump. As the air is removed the brine or marinade is drawn into the meat. I’m usually trying to slim down on kitchen tools, but I use this Vacu Vin marinator all the time.

Without the Vacu Vin, a good rule of thumb for brining pork and chicken is:

 

1/2″ thick meat: 1/2 hour

1″     thick meat: 1 hour

2″    thick meat: 3 hours

3″ + thick meat: 8 hours

Even without the Vacu Vin, brining chicken and pork for a short time is worthwhile but the salt does not go very far into the meat.  What it does do is add moisture near the surface so as the meat cooks it stays moister.  The salt amplifies the flavor too.

Note: When a recipe specifies what type of salt to use, it is important to use that type to avoid surprises.  There are conversion charts available.

For example:

1 cup Morton’s table salt = 1.9 cups Morton’s Kosher Salt

Brined Chicken or Pork:

1 c     Morton’s kosher salt dissolved in
4 c    cold water

Put your brine and chicken in a zip lock bag, making sure the chicken is completely immersed. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 6 to 8 hours. Put the chicken or pork in the brine in the morning and cook it that night. If the meat is to be brined for more than 8 hours, use less salt. Be sure to rinse and dry off the chicken or pork before cooking it – otherwise it won’t sear properly.

Additional flavors to put in the brine:  sage, peppercorns, bay leaf, cider vinegar (great for pork), rosemary, dill, mint

October 17, 2015 by
Fish, Shrimp

Brining Shrimp, Really?

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Brining Shrimp

Everyone knows about brining turkey even if you don’t want to take the time nor have the space to do it.

How about quick brining shrimp or fish to make sure it comes out moist and succulent?  My husband asked the obvious question: don’t the shrimp grow up being brined? Yes – but try it: it’s worth it not to get a rubbery or dry shrimp. You only need to marinate shrimp and fish for 20 to 30 minutes to get the benefit of brining.

Brining Shrimp (large) or Whole Fish:

½ c     Morton’s Kosher Salt dissolved in
2 c       cold water

Marinade the shrimp or fish in the brine in the refrigerator for no more than 30 minutes.

Additional flavors to put in the brine:  sage, peppercorns, bay leaf, rosemary, dill, mint, lemon balm, lemon or lime zest…

Brining Fish Fillets:

½ c     Morton’s Kosher Salt dissolved in
2 c        cold water

You’ll find that brining shrimp or fish is worth the effort.

October 16, 2015 by
Drinks

Chinook Pimm’s Cup

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My favorite summer drink is a Pimm’s Cup (though champagne is my all-time favorite drink).  Pimm’s is an English liqueur and there are six versions, each based on a different liquor.  The Pimm’s No. 1 Cup is made with dry gin, liqueur, fruit juices and spices.

I was taught that the proper way to make a Pimm’s Cup is with a jigger of Pimm’s No. 1 poured over ice, with bitter lemon (a tart, carbonated lemon drink) filling the glass.  The glass is then garnished with cucumber and a sprig of mint.  I’ve seen garnishes of lemons, apples, oranges, and strawberries draped over the rim of a Pimm’s.

Until recently it has been hard to find bitter lemon.  However, the bartender at the Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans made my life easier and a bit happier as he made a wonderful Pimm’s Cup with ginger ale.  If you want to get fancy and make a Pimm’s Royal Cup you can add your Pimm’s No. 1 to champagne…perfection.

When sailing in Grenada on a 42’ boat named Chinook, we could not find Pimm’s No.1 at the store where we provisioned our boat. Aaarrrggghhh, a treasure hunt was on!  On the island of Carriacou, walking by a bar, we espied a half-filled bottle of Pimm’s.  I asked if I could purchase the bottle but the bartender did not know how to charge us.  My dear friend Debbie suggested we buy six shots, which the bartender did know how to price. Carefully the bartender poured each shot into an empty bottle for us to take. Lo and behold, it was just the amount of Pimm’s left in the bottle. We did a happy dance back to the boat – the dance in the dingy was rather cute.

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As we prepared drinks at the 5 o’clock hour we found the mixed bag of herbs contained no mint – it was all the grocery store had – so we muddled lemon grass and basil creating the Chinook Pimm’s Cup.  It is a wonderfully refreshing riff on an old standard.

Chinook Pimm’s Cup

In a 12oz glass, muddle two small basil leaves and a half inch of lemon grass.

Fill the glass with ice

Add “three fingers” of Pimm’s (put three fingers along the side of the glass at the bottom, parallel to the counter top, and pour in Pimm’s till it reaches the same height as your fingers. OK, for those of you who like to measure – 1.5 oz.)

Fill the glass with ginger ale or bitter lemon.

Add a slice of cucumber and lemon for garnish.

Enjoy!

October 13, 2015 by

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