Bittersweet Martini

The basis for this Bittersweet Martini is Aperol, a low alcohol Italian digestif made from bitter oranges, sweet oranges, rhubarb, and other root vegetables. It is somewhat like Campari, but with half the alcohol, and a much milder flavor.

It is best know as an ingredient in "The Spritz," an Italian cocktail with Aperol or some other bitter liqueur, procecco, and soda on the rocks.

This cocktail is so refreshing, with just enough bitterness to give it an "adult" flavor, but just enough sweetness to make it easy to sip on a warm evening.

Bittersweet Martini

Adapted from A Cocktail Life, makes one cocktail.

Ingredients

2 ounces gin

1/2 ounce Aperol

1/2 ounce tangelo or tangerine juice (you can also use orange juice)

1/2 ounce lime juice (I used Bearss lime juice)

1 1/2 tsp frozen lemonade concentrate

Grapefruit, tangelo, tangerine, or orange twist

Instructions

1. Fill a shaker with ice and add the gin, Aperol, juices, and lemonade concentrate. 
2. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 
3. Twist the zest over the cocktail and drop it into the cocktail.

Enjoy!

Cashew Chicken | Wok Wednesday

Authentic cashew chicken is a Cantonese dish flavored with ginger and garlic and a light sauce flavored with soy. It is amazingly easy to make, or..... maybe I've just had a lot more practice at stir-frying and mise en place after several months of participation in Wok Wednesdays.

When I first started this stir-frying adventure, my kitchen typically looked like it was hit by a tornado after I finished preparing the dish. There would be dishes all over the counter and the sink would be piled with more dishes. While the stir-fry would take just a few minutes, clean up was a nightmare.

Here are some helpful hints I've learned:

1. Read the whole recipe the day before preparing it.
2. Prep the ingredients ahead of time and wash and put away all of the dishes, utensils, and chopping boards involved in prep ahead of time. 
3. Combine all of the ingredients that are added at the same time into the same bowl. 
4. Write out the basic stir-frying instructions in large print and break it down minute-by-minute. I like to write it directly on the pages of the cookbook (sorry, Grace, this is how I show love to my cookbooks). 

In the case of this recipe, the chicken is cut into pieces and marinated in rice wine, garlic, soy, and corn starch. The vegetables are all added at the same time, along with the cashews. The ginger is kept in a separate small bowl as it is added first, and the sauce is added at once. I also have a tablespoon of oil measured and standing by because it's added mid stir-fry. 

My next goal: Figuring out how to make several stir-fries for a fabulous dinner party. 

We loved this stir-fry. It was perfect with rice. I used regular soy sauce for the chicken marinade, and dark soy for the sauce. It was so good!

I am participating in Wok Wednesdays, a group of wok enthusiasts wokking our way through Grace Young's James Beard award winning cookbook, Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge. We also have a Facebook page where Grace Herself is a frequent contributor. It's an amazingly supportive community. 

Participants have agreed to not rewrite the recipes, however, you can find this recipe in Leite's Culinaria as contributed by Grace Young. You can find the recipe >here<.  Give it a try!

Crispy Soy Chicken

This Crispy Soy Chicken is first poached in a rice wine, soy sauce, and brown sugar liquid that is flavored with cinnamon, star anise, garlic, ginger and orange peel.

Rose-Lemon Meltaways

These rose-lemon meltaways combine a very tender cookie with a floral flavor and citrus.

Ciabatta with Biga

This ciabatta formula really pushes the hydration limit. The dough is super wet, resulting in a super airy dough, and because of the biga that ferments for 12 hours, the flavor is pretty amazing.

Stir-Fried Garlic Snow Pea Shoots with Crabmeat | Wok Wednesdays

To celebrate the second anniversary of Wok Wednesdays, our fearless leader, Matthew, chose this rich crab and snow pea shoot stir-fry. As Grace Young, the author of Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge (the book from which we cook) describes it, "This is one of the most decadent of stir-fry dishes, reserved for special occasions."

Snow pea shoots should not be confused with pea sprouts. Thank goodness Grace posted a photo of pea shoots on the Facebook page, or I might have gotten confused. As a public service (I give and I give some more), I show you the difference below ...

The pea sprouts are on the left, and the pea shoots are on the right. I discovered pea sprouts a while back when I needed a substitute for bean sprouts, and love them in salads and sandwiches (as always, be sure to wash any sprouts thoroughly).

Snow pea shoots are best in the spring, while they are still tender. You'll need to cut off any stems that are not tender. To me, the flavor resembled greens, although not as strong.

This dish is very simple to make and does not call for a lot of ingredients. Chicken broth is thickened with cornstarch, an egg white is swirled in, and then you add lump crab meat. Once you've cooked the crab, you stir fry the pea shoots and garlic for about 2 to 3 minutes, move them to your serving dish, and ladle the crabmeat in the center.

This dish was rich and delicious (it tastes way better than it looks). We had some leftovers, so I made a frittata the next day with them. Pretty amazing!

Happy two year anniversary Grace and Matt! Thanks for all of your wok wisdom!

Because the Wok Wednesdays participants have agreed not to publish the recipes, to get the specifics, you'll need to purchase Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge, or check it out at your library. You won't regret it!

English Digestive Biscuits

English Digestive Biscuits were evidently created in the Victorian Era to add whole grains to the English diet. Also, because they originally contained bicarbonate of soda, they were thought to aid in digestion. They are practically health food!

They are similar to a Graham cracker, but a lot more cookie-like .... and a lot more elegant.

This dough is really easy to roll out and work with. No chilling necessary. I combined all of the ingredients in a food processor, but you can also mix them with a pastry blender or your hands.

The only changes I made to the original recipe were to add a half teaspoon of salt, and to substitute 2 ounces of dark brown sugar for 2 ounces of the confectioners' sugar. I also used a square cookie cutter. For a more traditional look, use a round cutter without scalloped edges.

This recipe was originally published in The Baking Sheet Newsletter in December, 1991 by King Arthur Flour, and is the recipe of the month for the the Avid Bakers Challenge. Each month, the bakers in the group make the same recipe, often adapting it to their taste. This year, we are baking recipes from King Arthur Flour. If you'd like to bake along, click >here< for more information.

English Digestive Biscuits

Ingredients

1/2 C (2 ounces) Unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 C (6 ounces) whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C unsalted butter, cut into about 12 pieces

2 ounces dark brown sugar

1/4 C (1 ounce) confectioners' sugar

1/4 C cold milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Pulse the flours, baking powder, salt, and butter in a food processor (or mix with your fingers).
3. Add the sugars and milk, and pulse just a few times.
4. Place the mixture on a piece of wax paper and form it into a disk. 
5. Place another piece of wax paper on top of the dough and roll it out to a 1/8 inch thickness. 
6. Remove the top layer of wax paper and cut the dough with a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter and place the cookies on the baking sheet. Pull the scraps together, re-roll, and continue to cut out more cookies. 
7. Prick the cookies with a fork, and bake, one sheet at a time, for 15 to 20 minutes. 
8. Cool on a wire rack. 

Rustic White, Rye, and Wheat Sourdough

This Rustic White, Rye, and Wheat Sourdough contains just enough rye flour to give me a lot of consternation.

(Consternation you ask? They are redesigning the SAT and I feel obligated to preserve words that we do not use in our day-to-day discourse. I've also heard that the SAT is going back to a high score of 1600 points. This means we can go back to comparing our scores with our kids'.)

Crusty Cheese and Onion Bread

This Crusty Cheese and Onion Bread, with its crispy and cheesy crust and soft savory interior, is totally captivating.

I took one of the loaves to work, and it disappeared immediately.

One of my favorite "foods" is burnt cheese. If you are with me on this, you will love this bread. It was really hard not to pick off every last bit of it.

Scallop and Pesto Purses

These scallop and pesto purses are pretty amazing, and amazingly easy. You can assemble them in advance, and then bake them when you need a seriously impressive appetizer. They are just so delicious.

I've always struggled with phyllo dough, and not a lot has changed on that front. Just figure there will be a lot of waste when phyllo is involved.  Just make sure that that your phyllo is freshly thawed, and the process should go well.

The Tuesdays with Dorie group is making these Scallop and Pesto Purses. Check out the site for other bakers' takes on the recipe.

Scallop and Pesto Purses

Ingredients

4 sheets of phyllo dough

1/2 C Clarified butter or Ghee

1/3 C freshly grated Parmesan

12 U15 sea scallops, dried on paper towel overnight in the refrigerator

2 scallions, thinly sliced

3 T homemade pesto 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment. 
2. Brush one sheet of the phyllo with the butter, sprinkle it with the parmesan. Place another sheet of the phyllo on top and repeat. Cut the sheets into six pieces. 
3. Place a scallop onto the top of each piece, top with scallions and pesto, rub your hands with butter and twist the phyllo to create a "purse." 
4. Repeat with the other two pieces of phyllo. 
5. Place each "purse" onto the baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes. 
6. Enjoy.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Whirligigs

These Peanut Butter Chocolate Whirligigs are radically delicious. The salty sweet dough filled with a dark chocolate swirl is so decadent. 

That is pretty fortunate, because they are kind of a pain to make. As the authors of this recipe say, "Whirligig cookies are supposed to have personality. This means every slice might be different - like snowflakes - with some swirls misbehaving and acting out."

"Like snowflakes... " I'm definitely using that term for all of my future baking misadventures. It's kind of like "rustic."