Spring has Sprung

It was a beautiful day in Portland yesterday. Spring Equinox fell on a perfectly lovely spring day. I had daffodils, hyacinths and a couple of straggler crocuses in bloom.

I spent the day doing battle with the laurel hedge in front of the house. I'm trying to whack it down to a manageable size and still maintain the privacy screen it provides. It's a long slow process - you'd think I was Michelangelo working on the marble sculpture of David.

The beautiful weather got me thinking about summer drinks. One of the cocktails enjoy in the summer is a Gimlet. It's a simple enough drink; half gin and half Rose's Lime Juice and yet I've always thought it could be a bit better. The Rose's Lime juice is made with HFCS instead of sugar (apparently it's still made with sugar in Canada) and it seems overly sweet. So I was delighted when I came across a recipe for a homemade lime cordial while poking around on eGullet a few months ago.


Yesterday after I'd had enough of tormenting the hedge I hit the two local Asian markets for limes and kaffir leaves. It only took about twenty minutes to get the limes peeled and juiced and get it simmering. I let it cool and settle overnight and ran it through a coffee filter this morning. So here I sit enjoying the first Gimlet of the year and it's much better than what I'm used to and all that I'd hoped for.


I"ll be drinking a lot of these this year since this made about three or four times the amount of lime cordial that I usually go through in a year. This is limeade for adults with the added benefit that a regular ration of it will help prevent scurvy!


Housemade Lime Cordial

Submitted by: Katie Loeb on Recipe Gullet

The below recipe will make about 5 cups of lime cordial. This works in gimlets (vodka or gin) for cocktails, or as a base for limeade, or with ginger beer for a non-alcoholic ginger-limeade with a bit of club soda splashed in with the cordial and ginger beer.

3 Cups  Water
1-1/2  C Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar
1/2 Tbls Citric Acid (available at homebrew shops)
1 tsp Tartaric Acid (available at homebrew shops)
2 Cups fresh lime juice - This will be 15 or 16 large limes
Peel of 4 limes
6 Kaffir lime leaves, shredded (Get them at a Thai or Asian Market)
1 tsp Rose water
1 tsp Orange Flower water

Stir sugar, citric acid and tartaric acid together with a whisk. Bring water to a boil, then add sugar mixture. Stir thoroughly to dissolve sugar mixture into water. Add lime juice, lime rinds, kaffir lime leaves and stir. Heat mixture for 10 minutes on high heat, turn off heat, cover and cool overnight. Strain out lime rind and add Rose and Orange Flower water. Refrigerate for another day before using (the flavor continues to change a bit). Stored in the refrigerator, it should keep better than simple syrup.

Gimlet
1 1/2 oz Gin
1 1/2 oz Lime Cordial


Mix the ingredients over ice in a highball glass and garnish with a slice of lime
 

Snowed In

The north part of the Willamette Valley has been suffering through a ten day bout of snow on the ground. We've received record amounts of accumulation with some area reaching 18". My little residential street in NE Portland is a dead end and is traveled almost exclusively by the residents and doesn't get plowed or sanded. I'd scheduled vacation for the week and most of my neighbors are retired or self employed and so none us have had much reason to venture out of the neighborhood. Consequently we've all just enjoyed being snowed in since last Saturday afternoon.


I was supposed to go out and help cook and serve at a community dinner tonight. I've been clearing the snow off the old Suburban every morning, but it still has inch of ice under last night's 4 inches of snow. I decided to take the bus since the street was not really passable and as a bonus I wouldn't need to dig out the car.

The transit agency's website said the bus that runs through the neighborhood was running a snow route. So I bundled up and slogged a couple of blocks down to the bus stop and waited for the bus. And waited. And waited. After about 45 minutes I decided I was going to get hypothermia before I'd ever see a bus, so I walked back home to figure out plan B. I called up my buddy Tony who was helping cook the dinner and he said they had more volunteers than they needed. I decided I could relax with a clear conscience since they had the situation handled.

Having an open evening, I decided to make a batch of "Housemade Grenadine". I'd bought the ingredients on my last trips to Costco and Trader Joe's. It's a simple project, but very satisfying. This home brewed version is so superior to the usual store bought dreck that it will change your mind about grenadine. Grenadine is an essential ingredient in many of the cocktails that I'll be writing about in future posts.

This project would be good fun to make with the kids and you can serve it to them in the traditional non-alcoholic gateway kiddie cocktail the "Shirley Temple"

Housemade Grenadine

1 quart Pomegranate Juice - I use Trader Joe's "Just Pomegranate"
1 cup of Sugar - I use evaporated cane sugar from Costco that is really superior to C & H
Optional - An ounce or two of high proof vodka

Mix juice and sugar together in a sauce pan and simmer until reduced by about 50%

If you have an instant read or candy thermometer boil until the temperature hits 219 F and you'll have a syrup that's about 66 brix or the consistency of maple syrup when it's cooled down.

Add the high proof vodka if you wish. It's supposed to improve the shelf life. I'm not sure it's really necessary if you store it in the refrigerator, but I rarely pass on an opportunity to get more alcohol in my diet.

Yields about 2 cups or a bit more. Store in the refrigerator.

Shirley Temple

• Fill a highball glass with ice
• Fill with 7-Up or Sprite
• Add a tablespoon or two of Housemade Grenadine - it will sink to the bottom of the glass - let them stir it in or just suck up the syrup.
• Add a straw and garnish with an orange wheel and a toothpick with a couple of bright red maraschino cherries and a chunk of pineapple or orange.

Merry Christmas!