Serge the Concierge

Toast August with Summer Berry Vodka Recipe from Gifts from the Kitchen

Gifting can be fun, when it is not about how much you spent or what label or designer graces your pick.

If edible treats are your favorite choice, Gifts from the Kitchen (September 2011, U.S edition, Kyle Books) by Annie Rigg offers 100 homemade present ideas for each season and occasion.

To start with, toast August with her Summer Berry Vodka recipe.

Summer Berry Vodka

Serve this berry-infused vodka in cocktails or ice cold in little shot glasses. You could also try adding a dash to Champagne as an alternative Kir Royale.

MAK E S ABOUT 3 1/4 c u p s

3/4 cup raspberries

3/4 cup strawberries, hulled and quartered

pared zest of 1 organic lemon

scant cup superfine sugar

1 vanilla bean, halved

1 x 25fl oz (750ml) bottle of good-quality vodka

Place the raspberries, strawberries, lemon zest, and superfine sugar in a large bowl and lightly crush with the back of a wooden spoon or fork. Add the vanilla bean, mix well, and leave to one side for about 2 hours, until the sugar has dissolved and the fruit starts to become really juicy.

Spoon the contents of the bowl into a large sterilized mason jar (see page 168) and pour in the vodka. Mix well and chill for 1 week or until needed (up to about a month).

Strain the vodka through a fine sieve or cheesecloth, and decant into pretty sterilized bottles.

It will keep, in the refrigerator, for up to 2 months.

For a number of years, Annie Rigg cooked on the road for the likes of Paul McCartney and Pink Floyd.

(* Recipe from Gifts from the Kitchen by Annie Rigg reproduced courtesy of Kyle Books, Photos by Catherine Gratwicke, all rights reserved)

End Dinner on High Note, Creamy Limoncello Shooters Recipe from Small Sweet Treats

I could have picked any number of other recipes as a first snapshot from Small Sweet Treats (Gibbs Smith, August 2011) by Marguerite Marceau Henderson.

Book landed on my desk yesterday. I might have settled for Sweet corn creme brulee with blueberries, cool cucumber mint sorbet oe affogato.

I went for a liquid one.

End dinner on a high note with this Creamy Limoncello Shooters recipe.

Creamy Limoncello Shooters

Are you searching for that one perfect sweet alcoholic-infused ending to a meal? Try Limoncello, cream, and a sprinkle of lime zest for the ultimate sweet finale. This recipe makes one shooter, but you can line up the glasses and make as many as desired.

2 tablespoons chilled Limoncello (Italian lemon liqueur)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1⁄4 teaspoon grated lime zest

Place the Limoncello in a chilled shooter glass. Top with cream and the lime zest.

Serves 1.

(* Recipe from Small Sweet Treats (Gibbs Smith, August 2011) by Marguerite Marceau Henderson reproduced by permission of the publisher, photo by Zac Williams)

Run with Apricot Jam Recipe from Jam, Jelly and Relish by Ghillie James

The U.S edition of Jam, Jelly & Relish (Kyle Books, August 2011) by Ghillie James is available at last.

Don't waste time,  head straight to to the second chapter, 'Summer' which offers dishes as varied as Somked Trout and Beet Salad with Sour Cream Dressing, Vanilla Poached Gooseberries (I have to try that recipe), Onion, Port and Thyme Marmalade, Strawberry and Rose Petal Syrup to name a few examples.

To celebrate publication of this honest goodness tome, here's Ghillie James gift to tartines, Apricot Jam.

This is a runny jam, with chunky bits of fruit and sweet honey-like aromas. A sort of cross between a jam and a compote, it reminds me of breakfasts in the garden on vacation in France.

Makes about 11/2 quarts (1.5 liters) Keeps for at least a year

31/3lb (1.5kg) fresh apricots, not too soft

5 cups granulated sugar

Juice of 2 lemons

Halve and pit the apricots, then cut in half again (or into smaller pieces if you prefer your jam less chunky). Put into a big bowl, then toss with the sugar and lemon juice. Leave the mixture to macerate in the bowl for 2 hours, which will give the fruit time to release its juices.

Transfer to a large pan and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved and the apricots are just starting to soften. Increase the heat and bring the jam to a rolling boil. Continue to boil for 5 to 10 minutes, until the jam has just reached setting point. Remove from the heat and leave for 10 minutes. Stir, then transfer the jam to warm sterilized jars and seal.

(* Recipe from Jam, Jelly & Relish reproduced courtesy of Kyle Books, Photo by Laura Hynd...First published in the UK in May 2010)

Paletas de Yogurt con Moras, Yogurt Ice Pops with Berries, Paletas Recipe No 2

Everyone seemed to enjoy the Agua de Limón con Chía, Agua Fresca recipe on Monday.

The second pop from Paletas: Authentic Recipes for Mexican Ice Pops, Shaved Ice, & Aguas Frescas (Ten Speed Press, Summer 2011) by Fany Gerson aka LaNewYorkina is a straight Paleta recipe.

Paletas de Yogurt con Moras,  Yogurt Ice Pops with Berries

MAKES 8 TO 10

1 lemon

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

11/2 cups plain unsweetened Greek-style yogurt

2 tablespoons honey

2 cups fresh blackberries, or the berry of your choice

Rinse the lemon, then peel it. (This recipe uses only the peel, so save the lemon for a different use.) Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil and the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon peel, lower the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Strain the syrup through a fi ne-mesh sieve, then refrigerate until chilled.

Add the yogurt and honey to the chilled syrup and stir until thoroughly combined. Put a bit of the yogurt mixture into each of the molds, to a height of about 3/4 inch. Freeze until the mixture begins to set, about 40 minutes.

If the blackberries are big, cut them in half. Divide the blackberries among the molds, then pour in the remaining yogurt mixture, dividing it evenly among the molds.

If using conventional molds, snap on the lid and freeze until solid, 3 to 4 hours. If using glasses or other unconventional molds, freeze until the pops are beginning to set (45 minutes to 1 hour), then insert the sticks and freeze until solid, 3 to 4 hours. If using an instant ice pop maker, gently fold the blackberries into the yogurt prior to fi lling the molds and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

(* Reprinted with permission from Paletas: Authentic Recipes for Mexican Ice Pops, Shaved Ice, & Aguas Frescas by Fany Gerson, copyright © 2011. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.” Photo credit: Ed Anderson © 2011)

Spices for a Summer Night Recipes, Part 1, by David Tanis from Heart of the Artichoke

Mention artichokes and the Breton in me has his antennas on alert.

I missed Heart of the Artichoke (Artisan Books, November 2010) by David Tanis when it was published and decided to make up for it.

David Tanis in an ususual arrangement has shared the chef seat with Jean-Pierre Moulle at Chez Panisse since the 80's.

He has split his time between Paris and Berkeley (6 months at a time). As Chez Panisse is about to celebrate its 40th anniversary, David Tanis is preparing his exit to spend more time writing. A new cookbook is in the works and he will pen a regular column for the NY Times.

It's August 4 so what better place to look than Menu Six, Spices for a Summer Night.

Today, I will share his Tomatoes and Olives with Coriander Vinaigrette recipe.

You can prepare the vinaigrette in advance, minus the cilantro, then dress this salad at the last minute. I like the combination of toasted coriander and sweet ripe tomatoes.

Ingredients

1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1 garlic clove, smashed to a paste with a little salt
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
Pinch of cayenne
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, various sizes and colors
1/2 cup good green olives, such as picholine, not pitted
1/2 cup oil-cured black olives, not pitted
1 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Preparation

In a small bowl, mix the vinaigrette, starting with the onion, garlic, vinegar, and salt and pepper. Stir in the olive oil.

Toast the coriander seeds in a dry skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant. Transfer to an electric spice grinder or a mortar and grind or pound to a powder. Stir into the vinaigrette and add the cayenne.

Cut the tomatoes into thick slices and arrange in a random pattern on a large serving platter. Season lightly with salt. Scatter the green and black olives over the top.

Just before serving, check the vinaigrette’s seasoning, and stir in the chopped cilantro. Spoon the vinaigrette over the tomatoes.

(* Excerpted from Heart of the Artichoke by David Tanis (Artisan Books). Copyright 2010. Photographs by Christopher Hirsheimer)

Caramels from A to Z live from Le Roux Chocolate Factory

Have you ever wondered where the life of a caramel starts and all the steps it takes before it ends on your tongue?

Here's a Caramels from A to Z video live from Le Roux Chocolate Factory (French with English subtitles).

 

Everything you wanted to know about Caramels and were afraid to ask.

Dilled Meatballs Recipe from Food From Many Greek Kitchens, Spoon Required

Meatloaf might be too heavy a dish for summer.

Meatballs can always be put to use.

Here's a second recipe from Food from Many Greek Kitchens (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2011) by Tessa Kiros.

Yuvarlakia-Dilled Meatballs Recipe:

Serves 5 or 6

14 ounces ground beef

14 ounces ground pork

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ cup medium-grain rice

½ teaspoon ground allspice

5 tablespoons coarsely chopped dill

5 tablespoons coarsely chopped italian parsley

1 large red onion, grated on the large holes of a grater

2 tablespoons olive oil

5¼ ounces milk salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons each chopped dill and parsley stalks

²⁄³ cup shelled peas (about 10½ ounces unshelled)

2 tablespoons chopped italian parsley, extra

1 tablespoon chopped dill, extra

2 eggs

juice of 2 lemons

  This is a lovely dilly brothy dish to be eaten with a spoon. I use a large cast-iron pot, but a high-sided nonstick pan is good, too. I love this with some peas, but the traditional way is without.

  Mix the beef, pork, egg, rice, allspice, dill, parsley, onion, olive oil and milk in a nice big bowl and add pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt. Knead very well. Break off pieces of about 1½ ounces, and roll them into compact balls.

  Heat a large pot and add the meatballs in 2 batches with no oil. Put the lid on and cook on high heat until the color of the meatballs changes and they firm up enough for you to turn them. When their undersides are lightly golden, turn them. Cook until golden all over, then transfer to a plate. Do the next batch, add all back to the pot and cook until golden. Add 6 cups of water, about ½ teaspoon of salt and a little pepper, and the dill and parsley stalks. Cover and simmer gently for about 50 minutes. The meatballs will look like hedgehogs and that’s the way they are, but if you boil them too hard, they might break up. Add the peas and simmer until tender but still green, about 10 minutes; it must be nice and brothy ( you will still be adding the egg and lemon sauce ), so add a little more hot water as you think necessary. Add the extra parsley and dill, then turn off the heat.

  Whisk the eggs and lemon juice in a bowl with ½ teaspoon of salt. Add a ladleful of the meatball broth, whisk in to acclimatize, then add another ladleful. Pour it back into the pot and gently stir with a wooden spoon. Leave for a minute or two for the sauce to thicken a bit, holding the pot and shuffling. Taste for salt. Serve warm, with a good grind of pepper.

(* Dilled meatballs recipe from Food from Many Greek Kitchens reproduced courtesy of Andrews McMeel Publishing, photography by Manos Chatzikonstantis)

Wear Artichoke as a Brooch, Eat it as Ricotta and Artichoke Torta, Delicious Jewels

Stefan and Sylveli Hemmerle of German jewellery House of Hemmerle call their new collection a jeweled vegetable garden of delights.

To shine a new light on this line, they asked Tamasin Day-Lewis to create a dozen recipes to go with this jeweled vegetable garden, all brooch except for the 'carrots' earrings.

The jewels and the recipes share the stage in Delicious Jewels (Prestel, 2011)

The Breton in me had to choose the Artichoke brooch (Copper, white gold, purple sapphires) and Ricotta and Artichoke Torta as first in show.

Ricotta and Artichoke Torta Recipe:

Serves 6-8, Preheat oven to 200 Degrees C ? Gas Mark 6

This is a bit of a showstopper of a dish for a summer lunch, buffet or picnic: it can be served hot, warm or at room temperature and is really a savoury cheesecake, dense with ricotta and Pecorino, a confetti of summer herbs, and jewels of artichoke lurking in every slice. Please go to a good cheese shop and find fresh ricotta, not the tasteless industrial tubs, and a well-aged Pecorino Sardo for depth and complexity of flavour. Ready-prepared artichokes in oil or brine are not good enough for this dish; you need the flavour of the fresh ones.

You will need a 22 com springform cake tin to make the torta in.

Ingredients:

6 large artichokes, prepared and cooked in acidulated water at a roiling boil until tender

900g fresh ricotta

3 large organic eggs, separated

3 tbsp each chopped basil and parsley

1 tbsp each chopped rosemary, thyme and sage

3 heaped tbsp freshly grated Pecorino Sardo

25g unsalted butter

1 tbsp brown breadcrums torn from a stale loaf and dried until crisp in a low oven

Sea salt and black pepper

Directions:

When the artichokes are cool enough to handle, remove their chokes and slice the flesh into chunks, including as much of the stem as possible that is not tough to the knife.

Turn the ricotta into a large bowl and stir in the egg yolks, then the herbs and the Pecorino. Season well.

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir in the first spoonful; the mixture will feel pretty dense, but don't worry. Fold in the rest of the whites quickly and lightly, adding the artichokes at the end and folding them in evenly. Butter the springform tin generously, then add the breadcrumbs and press them to the base and sides of the tin.

Scrape the mixture into the tin and put on the middle shelf of the pre-heated oven.

Check after 50 minutes. If the top has turned golden brown and the torta has set when you shake the tin a little, remove it and place on a rack. cooking time can be anywhere from 50-60 minutes.

Rest on the rack for 10 minutes before unhinging the tin sides and turning the torta upside down onto a plate to serve. You may wish to sprinkle a little extra finely chopped parsley and basil over the top for their fresh greenness.

If you are serving the torta warm or at room temperature, don't turn it out onto the serving dish until it has cooled for 30 minutes. Serve with a feisty green salad: some watercress, avocado, finely sliced raw fennel, celery, a few mustard leaves, cos lettuce, whatever is in season, dressed with a good slug of peppery olive oil and some mellow, aged balsamic vinegar.

A good alternative is some heritage tomatoes simply quartered and dressed with a few drops of white wine vinegar followed by a sprinkle of sea salt.

(* Hemmerle ‘artichoke’ brooch from Delicious Jewels with Tamasin Day-Lewis, Copper, white gold, purple sapphires,  Courtesy Hemmerle...Recipe from Hemmerle’s Delicious Jewels with Tamasin Day-Lewis, Recipe Photography by Simon Wheeler...Courtesy Hemmerle)

Munching on Artisan Cookies for Grown Ups, 8 Takes by Lark Fine Foods

Our latest, newest (tastier?) feature Mouth Pleasers has not found its rhythm yet, its frequency.

In keeping with the idea of covering all gourmet goods, we follow our first installment, gluten-free (some spicy) Miss Jenny's Pickles by munching on artisan cookies for grown ups thanks to family owned Lark Fine Foods located in Essex, Massachusetts.

Options go from savory provencal inspired Scourtins (black olive wafers) to Russian Teacakes (nut butter cookies rolled in confectioner's sugar).

Amongst the 8 numbers in their repertoire, the only ones I did not have a chance to taste were Russian Teacakes.

I took a special liking to Salted Rosemary Shortbread (touch of sea salt) which will be at home with a tray of amuses and the Whole Grain Lady Birds, oat cookies with cranberries and bittersweet chocolates, nice crumbly mouth feel.

Runner up would be Cha-Chas, right combination of spice and chocolate for a palate seasing experience.

Filling in for the Cookie Monster...

Handcrafted Popsicles from Locopops to King of Pops, Talk of the South Spotted

Getting tired of sitting in your air-conditioned house, it might be time to head for the sweet version of a cooling station, the local gourmet popsicle shop.

Garden and Gun magazine did not wait until the summer heat was upon us to offer a roadmap to their favorite pop stops in the South with The Popsicle Gourmet (May 12).

They start by noting that 'inspired by Mexican-style ice pops called paletas, traditionally made with fresh seasonal fruit, today’s pops go well beyond the syrupy sweet concoctions you remember as a kid.'

They quote Summer Bicknell owner of Locopops as recommending Raspberry Hibiscus and Cucumber Chili. The North Carolina pop sensation has 3 locations in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. The article mentions that Summer Bicknell also offers the "nana-nilla, a homemade version of banana pudding frozen and put on a stick."

The other mini conglomerate of cool listed by Popsicle Gourmet is King of Pops run by trio of brothers. Their pop carts can be found around town in Athens, Atlanta, Asheville and Charleston. Check their website for days, times of roving locations.

Year round flavors are:

• Arnold Palmer
• Banana Puddin'
• Chocolate Sea Salt
• Coconut Lemongrass
• Grapefruit Mint
• Mexican Chocolate
• Raspberry Lime
• Strawberry Lemonade

Other picks from Popsicle Gourmet are Las Paletas in Nashville and Meltdown in New Orleans.

Feel free to add your own favorites to the list.

Stay cool!

(* Top pops image courtesy of Locopops)