Friday Night Cocktail: Watermelon 'Jolly Quencher'

Its Friday...and its a HOT one!!! 34 Celsius here in Vancouver today -
 I. LOVE. IT!
I bought a huge watermelon at Costco yesterday with the intent to slice it up and serve it as dessert at a picnic dinner we have planned at the beach tomorrow evening. But I came home from work today and was so thirsty, I just had to cut into the great green and red oh so juicy orb and as I did so, I instantly thought of the watermelon Jolly Rancher candies my boys like to buy at the corner store.
Hmmm...how could I recreate that same flavour of a Jolly Rancher in a cocktail, I pondered.
Out of the fridge emerged the tart lemons which I promptly squeezed into fresh juice to add to the chunks of freshly cut watermelon I dropped into the blender. A few pulses on high speed and the pink frothy liquid was ready to pour over a few ounces of rum, Limoncello liquer and chopped fresh mint...
I know.
Who can stop at just one of these...? Its hot out and watermelon does serve as the perfect thirst quencher on a toasty day.
A little Otis Redding crooning in the background, I feel like I am sitting on a dock of a bay...just enjoying life.

Watermelon 'Jolly Quencher'
Ingredients:
4 cups watermelon puree
Juice of 4 freshly squeezed lemons
2-3 sprigs of fresh mint
8 ounces white rum
4 ounces Limoncello liquer
Lots of ice

Cheers, my friends. Happy Friday!

Sunday Morning Farmer's Breakfast (Fried Egg on Purple Potato and Bratwurst Hash)

One of my favourite things to do when I travel to the Okanagan in the Interior of British Columbia, is to visit the Penticton Farmer's Market. There is a plethora of goodies to sample and take home to create fabulous menu items. I was fortunate to spend this past long weekend there and among favourite seasonal fruits such as freshly picked cherries, peaches and nectarines, I filled my shopping basket with fresh organic beets, purple and white eggplants and purple nugget potatoes - yes, I had a bit of a purple thing going on!!

Today I decided to incorporate the beautiful purple nugget potatoes into a healthy brunch hash recipe reminiscent of one my Dad used to make for us on Sunday mornings when we were kids. He called it Bauernfruehstueck, which translated from German into English simply means Farmer's Breakfast. I remember waking to the wonderful smell of fried onions and knowing that a plate of his specialty would be waiting, piping hot on a plate in our cosy breakfast nook.

In keeping with Dad's recipe, I used Bratwurst sausages, onions and farm fresh eggs, but substituted these purple beauties from the Penticton Farmer's Market for russet potatoes.

I just love the vibrant purple colour of these potatoes - and they can sit out for a while because they don't turn brown!

Farmer's Breakfast
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 pound purple nugget potatoes, washed and diced
4 Bratwurst sausages, diced
1 tsp seasoning salt (MSG free)
1/2 tsp marjoram
1 Tablespoon fresh Rosemary, chopped
4 farm fresh eggs, preferably organic free-range

Method:
1. In skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; add onions and garlic and saute until onions are transluscent. Reduce heat to medium flame, add potatoes and herbs and cook until potatoes are fork tender, about 25 minutes.
2. Add sausage and continue to cook until sausage is lightly browned.
3. Divide the potato hash into four segments in the skillet. Crack an egg over each segment; cook covered until eggs are set.
Serves 4.

Sunday Morning Poached Egg on Salmon Cakes with Creamy Caper Mayo and Arugula

I love salmon and as it is readily available fresh to us here on the West Coast, we try and eat this protein at least once a week to obtain that high content of Omega 3 and 6 oils which are incredibly good for our health.

And while I also have a lot of fresh Arugula currently growing in my vegetable garden, I thought I would put together an easy dish that includes some left-over mashed potatoes from last night's dinner, farm fresh organic eggs, which I picked up from the farmer's market then top it off with a creamy caper sauce for a healthy, satisfying Sunday brunch.

This also makes for a wonderful luncheon dish, served with a fresh side salad of your choice. I raided our raspberry bushes for a sweet side served with low-fat yoghurt to round out this brunch menu.

Poached Egg on Salmon Cake with Creamy Caper Mayo and Arugula

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes, peeled, diced, boiled and cooled, then pressed through a potato ricer/or 1 1/2 cups left-over mashed potatoes

2 small fillets sockeye salmon, grilled, cooled and flaked/or 1 can sockeye salmon, drained

1 Tbsp dried tarragon, crumbled

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

1 egg

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

2 Tbsp bread crumbs

Extra virgin olive oil for frying

4 poached eggs

2 cups fresh Arugula leaves, washed and drained well

Oil and vinegar

Sauce:

1/4 cup mayonnnaise

1/4 cup plain yoghurt

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp capers

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

2 Tbsp fresh chives, sliced

Method:

1. In mixing bowl combine potatoes, peppers, onion, tarragon, salt, pepper and egg. Gently fold in flaked salmon. Add bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture holds its shape when formed into a ball.

2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Shape salmon mixture into 5 patties and fry in oil until lightly golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.

For the sauce: combine mayonnaise, yoghurt, Dijon, capers and parsley in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Toss Arugula lightly with your favourite oil and vinegar; divide amongst 4 plates. Place one salmon cake on each mound of Arugula. Top with poached egg and sauce. Garnish with chopped chives. Serves 4.

HAPPY SUNDAY!

The Big Apple

In keeping with my recent trip to New York, I thought I would pay homage to one of the greatest cities in the world and name this week's Friday Night Cocktail: The Big Apple.

New York is a Mecca of restaurants and bars and its just plain tough walking past a place brimming with patrons chatting in that Nuu Yoork twang without at least popping inside to check out what the locals are eating or drinking. We did our share of that, true and I would be amiss not to mention I didn't discover a plethora of new ideas for my blog there...stay tuned!

At first I was thinking Manhatten-ish on the cocktail front, but I didn't have any red vermouth to blend with my whiskey and I am definitely not a maraschino cherry fan - no red dye #40 entering this body thanks! I do like a crisp tart apple all shiny and red, so incorporating this flavour into a drink seemed a no-brainer...

But...how could I duplicate the taste of that crisp tart apple in liquid form without the addition of apple jack, or baked apple bitters?

First I poured some rye whiskey into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Then I added some apple juice and lemon juice and gave it all a good shake. I then strained it into a chilled Martini glass that was rimmed with maple syrup and cinnamon and topped it all off with an apple cider float. Garnished with a crisp apple slice - a sophisticated looking, yet tongue-in-cheek libation: "A Big Apple a day, may just keep the doctor away!"

The Big Apple:
Ingredients:
2 ounces rye whiskey
1 ounce apple juice
1 ounce lemon juice
1 ounce apple cider
Drizzle of maple syrup
Sprinkle of cinnamon
Apple slice for garnish

Method:
On one side plate drizzle a circle of maple syrup. On another side plate sprinkle cinnamon; dip the Martini glass rim into the maple syrup, then roll around in the cinnamon until the rim is well coated. Set aside.
In cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake rye whiskey, apple and lemon juices until well chilled. Strain into prepared Martini glass; top with a apple cider float. Garnish with fresh apple slice. Cheers!

A Week In The Empire State - our culinary indulgences via Manhatten to the Catskills

I've been feeling a 'titch' guilty about neglecting my blog this past month and I would like apologize to those of you who visit my site regularly and have perhaps been getting bored by the lack of  new content...it is always my hope that this could be an opportunity to dig deeper into my previous posts and recipes, that may have been missed when I was able to actively post on a regular basis. BUT there are some very good reasons...not only have I started a new full-time job outside of the house (which has proven to be quite demanding...I think I am nearing the point of hiring a housekeeper, just so that I can free myself up to get back to some of the things I love to do - including my blog!)

That aside, our trip to New York was a huge hit. We spent 2 1/2 days in the Big Apple discovering and re-discovering places that have been so prominent in movies/tv, songs and books: Central Park,  Times Square, Park Avenue, SOHO, just to name a few. I have been to New York 4 times and I must say I never tire of the place. There is just never enough time to see and do everything on my list of adventures in this amazing city and this time was no exception!


I have this obsession with a certain TV show on the Food Network called 'Eat St.', which features food trucks from all over North America. New York City is known for its food trucks and having been witness to the hectic pace at which people move around in Manhatten, it didn't surprise me to see that grab-and-go meals are the absolute norm here. We arrived in the city with my carefully assembled list of food trucks I wanted to find: Waffles and Denges, Fill Your Hole and The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. Unfortunately I found neither, nada, nope, not one. I know. Disappointed with a semi-capital D! But I did find Mr.Softee, which immediately became my favourite  truck to stalk (32 trucks in total around the city) for a chance at the best soft ice cream cone on this planet. Bar none.

Of course New York Cheese Cake and bagels are tops on the list as are hot dogs, but Middle-Eastern fare has become a huge trend in New York City and there seemed to be a Sam's Falafel, Shwarma and Donair stand on every street corner. Delish!

One of the best cities by far to take in by foot, my two lower appendages are still recovering a week after we spent 11 hours one day walking from our hotel near Grand Central Terminal down 5th Avenue through Little Korea, The Meat Packing District, The Garment District, Greenwich Village, Tribeca, into SOHO then due South through the Financial District and Wall Street to Ground Zero. As you can imagine, moving through so many areas of a monumental city can offer as many options for sustenance as the imagination can conjure up! We stopped into places like The Cook Shop for trendy regional cuisine, Civediamo Beyoglu for the best Turkish, actually the only Turkish fare I have ever sampled, as well as the Magnolia Bakery, my personal favourite cupcake store and one of the oldest established bake shops in Manhatten. Freshly squeezed lemonade was our beverage of choice (aside from cold beer) as the temperatures soared in the upper 30's (90's) with the addition of high humidity.

One of my favourite stops was at the Central Park location of Le Pain Quotidien, a trendy bakery chain that serves delicious sandwiches, soups and pastries. We enjoyed a lovely lunch under the Linden Trees amongst locals (equipped with painting easels) and tourists (sporting maps), sampling menu items such as venison pate, roasted red pepper hummus and Baba Ganoush accompanied by a beautiful selection of home baked breads. And what meal would be complete without the addition of a fresh raspberry and French cream tart for dessert? I know, right?


In the afternoon of our last day in Manhatten, we made our way to the Car Rental Kiosk near Times Square to pick up our mode of transport to Up-state New York, where we would be attending a family function hosted by my best childhood friend and her husband in a tiny town in the Catskills...


To Be Continued...