Category Archives: Drinks and cocktails

Rhubarb Kisiel (Warm Gooey Rhubarb Pudding)

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This is one of the most extraordinary things that can be made with rhubarb. The tangy fresh flavours, the pink hue and, most of all, the addictive gooey consistency make this pudding one of my favourite spring sweet treats. One of the rare desserts I prefer when still warm.

Probably a majority of my dear readers have never even heard of kisiel, so I will start with the explanation. Kisiel (pronounced “kishyel”) is a very popular Polish pudding, made with fruit soft drinks or whole fruits with water (and nowadays, alas, most people buy its powdered instant versions…). It is thickened with potato starch (hence the gooey consistency), served warm or cold and usually has a fresh, tangy note. Its unique texture – vaguely reminiscent of Lemon Curd - is as important for me as its flavour. It is a very light, fat-free pudding that can easily be made even lighter if you use a sweetener instead of sugar.

I have learnt only recently that similar fruit dishes exist for example in Germany, Estonia, Lithuania or Finland, but sometimes they mean slightly thickened soft drinks and not puddings. When I saw a Finnish Rhubarb Kiisseli recipe in my Moomins Cookbook (for those of you who don’t know it yet, I am particularly fond of Moomin characters; I have already mentioned this book here), this discovery gave me the idea to include the Moomin family into the photo. The beautiful tray you see above was one of the most touching presents I have ever been offered. I was completely blown away when I received it from my dear friend Charles (from Five Euro Food), who bought it during one of his trips to Sweden. This tray, my infallible mood improver, was perfect to serve kisiel, since both bring back my childhood memories. Thank you so much again, Charles, for your thoughtful kind gesture.

Since all this has put me in a happy “Moomin” mood, here is the cartoon’s theme song:

Even though the Finnish kiisseli was my inspiration for this post, I have used my own old recipe which is a bit different. I prefer to have this pudding warm, but it can also be served cold.

If you feel like playing with rhubarb, you might like this quick and easy Rhubarb Soft Drink (which by the way is the first step of this pudding’s instructions):

or this refreshing Wobbly Rhubarb Delight I made with agar agar (kanten), and which, I insist, is not a jelly, but a less dense, incredibly light dessert:

TIPS: Potato starch thickening properties can vary, so you might need to adjust its amount during the cooking process. Start with the below amount and if after 3-4 minutes of cooking, the texture is still too liquid, dissolve one more tablespoon starch in a glass with two tablespoons of cold water and add to the pan, constantly stirring (see the instructions below).

This pudding can be served both warm and cold, but I prefer it warm. Taste both to choose your favourite way.

BEWARE! Do not eat or cook rhubarb leaves! They are toxic. Only stalks are edible.

Preparation: 1about 40-50 if you need to prepare the Rhubarb Soft Drink, 15 – 20 min if you already have it

Ingredients (serves four):

500 g (about 1 lb) fresh rhubarb, leaves removed, stalks cut into 2-3 cm pieces (about 1 inch)

2 litres (4 cups) water

sugar or sweetener

4 slightly heaped tablespoons potato starch

First prepare the rhubarb soft drink (if you already have it, skip this step).

Put the rhubarb into a big pan with water.

Bring to a boil at medium heat and cook until the rhubarb completely softens.

Strain while still hot, put aside and wait until the rhubarb drink cools to the room temperature. (You can also prepare it in advance, refrigerate and follow the dessert instructions the following day or even two days afterwards).

Measure 1 liter (4 cups) rhubarb drink and pour it into a pan. (Do not throw away the remaining soft drink, which is delicious!).

Add sugar or sweetener to your taste.

Dissolve the potato starch in additional 4 tablespoons rhubarb drink (make sure it is no longer hot!).

Bring the rhubarb drink to a boil. Pour slowly the dissolved potato starch, constantly stirring.

Cook it until thickened (about 4 minutes).

If your pudding is still liquid after four minutes, put the pan aside.

Dissolve one more tablespoon in 1 tablespoon cold rhubarb drink or water and add it to the pan, stirring. Heat, constantly stirring until it thickens.

Serve warm or cold.

Easter Party Ideas

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Wonton Cups, or Edible Snack Containers

Zsuzsa, my blogging friend from Zsuzsa is in the Kitchen, has recently invited me to join her and other bloggers (Eva from Takarékos Konyha, Elisabeth from Food and Thrift and Eva from Kitchen Inspirations) and, just like them, post my Easter menu suggestions. I was honoured, but at first I panicked because apart from a Chicken Terrine (see below) I don’t really have traditional Easter dishes on my blog. Both Zsuzsa and Elisabeth have convinced me to present whatever I might serve for such an occasion, even if it is not traditional in any country or region of the world. Thank you, ladies, for your advice! Thus, I have chosen some festive dishes I love, regardless their origins or relation to Easter celebrations. Thank you so much, Zsuzsa, for your kind invitation. I hope my eclectic choice, far from Easter traditions will not disappoint you.

Here is a list of dishes I would take into consideration if I had guests for Easter (of course I wouldn’t serve all of them!). All of them can be served at a buffet-style party, my recent favourite way to entertain. Such a concept usually means more work beforehand because, contrary to traditional meals, one cannot serve just three dishes, but this way I offer a bigger choice to the guests, who are not forced to eat all they are served, but most of all such a party has a more relaxed atmosphere. Apart from one exception, I have chosen easy recipes, which either can be prepared very quickly or made in advance. They have both Western and Asian origins, so I hope you will find here some useful ideas, not necessarily for Easter.

First of all, I would never skip the obligatory Wonton Cups, or Edible Snack Containers (see the photo above). Versatile, cute and easy, these edible containers are nowadays a staple not only when I have guests (thank you, Juliana!).

Last-minute Crackers can be prepared really just before the guests arrive as long as you have some puff pastry in the fridge. These star-shaped crackers were prepared for Christmas, but you can give them any shape you wish, such as bunnies…

These olives are so easy to prepare you will never consider buying them seasoned by someone else again.

This Smoked Mackerel and Egg Spread can be prepared with any smoked fish of your choice, of course.

Recently discovered Taramosalata (Fish Roe Spread) is one more thing I will never ever even think of buying. Home-made version is incomparably better.

Light Chicken Terrine with Nutmeg is actually the only dish I used to have as a child for Easter and other festive occasions.

Savoury Cake with Goat Cheese and Dried Tomatoes (aka Goat Cheese and Dried Tomatoes Bread) is a wonderful alternative to canapés.

Cake with Ham and Olives, another canapés substitution, is a real crowd-pleaser.

If you feel like serving Japanese food (why not?), try preparing Maki Sushi with Shrimp, Avocado and Cucumber. They will not necessarily look as perfect as in your sushi shop, but they are really easy to prepare.

Spring Rolls with Leftover Roast and Carrots, an Asian sandwich alternative, can also be prepared with the remains of your roast, after the Easter holidays.

Sesame-Coated Chicken Nuggets (Tori no goma age) can be made in advance and will please all the sesame fans.

Japanese Chicken and Leek Skewers (Negima) are brushed with teriyaki glaze and usually please every guest.

Asparagus Teriyaki Pork Rolls are incredibly easy to prepare and are one of my favourite ways to serve asparagus.

Unbaked chocolate Cake with Biscuits (Chocolate Terrine with Speculoos) is a rich creamy dessert which doesn’t require baking and is incredibly simple to prepare.

Coconut, Chocolate and Rum Truffles (Bounty Truffles). Who doesn’t like chocolate truffles?

Matcha and White Chocolate Truffles are the only ones which might be tricky to prepare, but they are green, fresh, festive and have this amazing slightly bitter matcha flavour…

Chocolate and prunes are all you need to prepare these luscious Prunes in Chocolate, a quicker and easier alternative to chocolate truffles.

This Kiwi and Rum Cocktail seemed perfect for a spring party.

I strongly encourage you to check the wonderful Easter menu suggestions proposed by my blogging friends and would like to wish you all a very happy Easter and wonderful holidays to those who don’t celebrate it!

Shochu on the Rocks (Shochu Rokku) with Yuzu

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If it wasn’t for the presence of the extraordinary yuzu, I would have never mentioned this simple – though excellent – drink I usually have with lime. Yuzu is an Asian citrus (shaped like a small grapefruit and either green or yellow depending on its ripeness) very popular in Japan, but quite difficult to get in Europe, apart from the bottled juice. It was one of the few food items I brought from my recent trip to Japan and also the one I was going to taste for the first time in my life. Since I had only two fruits, I promised myself to use them wisely. I knew that yuzu’s acid juice is often used as a seasoning in salads, but spicing up my weekend glasses of shochu (see below) with slices of this marvellous fruit seemed the wisest – and, frankly, more amusing – option.

I will not exaggerate if I tell you I was spellbound by the compelling aroma of yuzu’s zest. Instead of finishing my drink, I kept on inhaling its magnificent scent which has transformed my good old glass of shochu into a mysterious, sophisticated drink. I thought that this simple but elegant drink was a good excuse to share with you my discovery of fresh yuzu, but most of all to write once again about shochu, my favourite and most frequently drunk Japanese alcohol. (I have talked about it here, here and here)

I still consider shochu the most surprising alcohol discovery of my life because, honestly, I didn’t expect anything special. I have simply fallen in love with the first sip. I don’t know why it took me so many months to finally notice it in my favourite Japanese grocery, but the day I asked about shochu (I had read about it somewhere) I realised that its different brand and varieties filled at least a third of the alcohol shelves in my grocery shop. This is how my adventure began.

Shochu (焼酎) means “burning sake” (sake meaning generally alcohol) and has been produced in Japan since the XIVth century. It is distilled from different ingredients, such as barley, sweet potato, buckwheat, rice… Some shochu are also flavoured (my favourite are flavoured with shiso and… yuzu of course!). Its alcoholic content is usually between 20 – 25 %, but it can be stronger too. Apparently, the consumption of shochu has tripled since the 80s and is rising every year. It is no longer considered cheap alcohol for manual workers, it is produced with more care and some bottles reach very high prices. More and more Japanese women choose it because shochu has very few calories (35 kcal in 50 ml, which is almost 3 x less than vodka for example). Oh, and I would have forgotten to add it doesn’t end up with a hangover the following day, even drunk in big quantities! (This information was checked more than once…).

I think I love all the shochu types I have tasted: the often amber-coloured barley shochu, the nutty soba one (distilled from buckwheat), the subtle rice one or sweet potato shochu which is not sweet and which seems to be the most popular in Japan. Some shochu types (like barley for example) are reminiscent of good quality, single malt whisky, but in a subtler version. Luckily my two Japanese grocers vary the brands all the time, so I keep on discovering new bottles.

Shochu can be drunk alone, warm or cold. When it’s cold, it’s served on the rocks (“shochu rokku”) or in a “sour” (pronounced “sawa”): a weak cocktail with sparkling water and fruit juice or with sweet soda. My favourite way to drink it is on the rocks, especially in Japan where ice cubes are huuuuge and shochu stays cold for eternity without being diluted. At home I often add one or two slices of lime and sometimes just a bit of sparkling water. Of course, the better the bottle, the less you want to dilute it…

During my recent trip to Tokyo, among the glasses of shochu I had practically every night, one has left particularly vivid memories. It was an exceptionally strong barley schochu (40%) called Hundred Years of Solitude 百年の孤独 (Hyakunen no kodoku) and aged in wooden barrels. I will never forget the izakaya (pub) where with my Japanese friend we both enjoyed a glass of this fiery piece of art which seemed a subtler, mellower version of single malt whisky.

TIPS: There are two main types of shochu: produced with continuous distillation (kourui 甲類) and single distillation (otsurui 乙類) (thank you, Hiroyuki!). The latter is considered superior and above a certain price all the shochus are produced this way. The useful word to remember (and ask in a shop) is “honkaku” 本格. Apparently it means “genuine, classical method” and marks a good quality product (but not all the shochu bottles are marked this way, alas).

If you prefer a lighter cocktail with yuzu and shochu, check Nami’s (Just One Cookbook) Yuzu Sour cocktail recipe .

If you don’t have yuzu, you can of course prepare the same drink with lime.

Preparation: 5 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

a generous splash of a more delicate, not aged shochu variety (I have had rice shochu here, but sweet potato shochu is a good option too)

two slices of yuzu

lots of ice

Put everything in a glass and enjoy.

(You can slightly squash the yuzu slices if you want).

Momotaro (Peach and Gin Cocktail)

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If I started by telling you what this drink consists of, it would probably sound quite ordinary, so I’ll talk first about its mysterious name, which I bet is not so mysterious for my Japanese friends. Momotaro, or Peach Boy, is a Japanese folklore tale character, who was found by and old couple in a peach and brought up as if it was their child. I don’t know if the person who named this drink was a fan of Momotaro tale or simply of Japanese origins. The most important is that the cocktail is deliciously summery and makes one feel as if autumn was still far, far away. It is also quick to prepare and requires very few ingredients. I see it as a mood-improving, adult fruit smoothie.

I knew that peach and gin are an incredibly good pairing (see my Peach and Gin Mousse and Peach and Gin Jam recipes), so I wonder why I waited such a long time before trying them in a drink. Luckily I found the perfect recipe at Mix Shake and Pour. My only modification was omitting the syrup, since my peach was very ripe and I hate very sweet drinks.

TIPS: Do not be tempted to use lime juice here instead of the simple lemon one. In my opinion it ruins the cocktail (I have tried once).

Preparation: 10 minutes

Ingredients for 1 Momotaro drink:

1 big very ripe peach

50 ml gin

juice from 1/2 lemon (do not be tempted to use lime juice!)

ice

(sugar syrup, just in case the peach is not ripe)

Cover the peach with boiling water for two minutes. Remove it with a slotted spoon and put into very cold water. After a couple of minutes the peel will come off easily with your fingers. (If it doesn’t, it means that the peach is unripe).

Remove the stone and mix the peach in a blender, adding a couple of ice cubes, lemon juice and gin. Mix again. Taste if more lemon juice or sugar syrup is needed.

Pour into a glass, add two or three ice cubes and smile!

Rhubarb Soft Drink

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After more than two weeks of freezing cold, rain, hailstorms and other “attractions”, we finally have a warm, sunny spring weather. I thought it was an excellent occasion to write about my favourite rhubarb treat, namely the rhubarb soft drink. I must confess I have already posted this recipe a year ago, but I find it so exceptional and Iprepare it so often, I will probably be tempted to write about it every year.

I have always been a big fan of sour and acid food. As a child I would chew on the raw rhubarb sticks freshly picked in my grandmother’s garden and I have always loved this tangy drink my mum prepared in huge batches on hot spring and summer days and stored in a huge pitcher in the fridge. I cannot imagine a more refreshing and thirst quenching drink than a glass of cold rhubarb drink. Its unusual, characteristic smell, its tanginess and its fabulous colour will always remind me of hot summer days of my childhood.

The preparation is ridiculously easy and quick. The sugar/sweetener amount depends on everyone’s taste. I usually put a heaped teaspoon in one big glass (250ml), but strangely some rhubarb varieties do not need any sugar (at least for an acid flavours fan). The drink keeps – unsweetened – at least for up to a week in the fridge. Do not overdose the sugar, otherwise the drink will lose its tanginess and become bland. The colour depends on the stalks’ hue of course, so whenever I go to buy rhubarb on the market I choose the dark red ones.

WARNING: If you use rhubarb for the first time and the stalks have still some leaves, cut them off and throw away because rhubarb leaves are toxic.

Preparation: 1 hour

Ingredients (makes 1,7-1,8 liter):

500g rhubarb stalks, cleaned and cut in two/three pieces

2 litres cold water

sugar or sweetener

ice

Put the rhubarb into a big pan with water.

Bring to boil at medium heat and cook until the rhubarb completely softens.

Put aside and wait until the rhubarb drink cools down.

Strain it and refrigerate for up to a week.

Add sugar or sweetener just before drinking and serve with very cold or with ice.

Rum and Carrot Cocktail

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If you have seen Ping’s Carrot Cocktail (Ping’s Pickings), I am sure it has stayed engraved in your memory as one of the most unusual drinks in the world. Vegetable juice is not something frequently seen in cocktail recipes, so even though I love both carrot juice and rum, I hesitated for a couple of weeks before making it. When I finally did, I simplified it and opted for a brave, only carrot and rum mixture (Ping has included some other ingredients, click here to see her recipe).

This beautiful cocktail was refreshing, slightly tart and the rum gave this innocent-looking glass a wicked and very pleasant twist. Drinking healthy carrot juice with the obvious presence of high percentage liquor is a very amusing experience. Definitely not for children, but strongly recommended, especially to carrot juice fans! Thank you, Ping, for this amazing drink idea I would never dare tasting if it wasn’t for your enthusiasm and encouraging words.

TIP: I used bottled carrot juice which included some lemon juice, which made the drink slightly tart. If you press the juice on your own, taste it to check if it’s not too sweet and add one tablespoon lemon juice in order to obtain a slightly tangy result.

Preparation: 5 minutes

Ingredients (serves 1):

150 ml very cold carrot juice

(1 tablespoon lemon juice for those who prefer tart cocktails)

4 tablespoons white rum

ice

Pour the juice(s) into a glass.

Add the rum, give it a stir and add at least one big ice cube.

Serve.

Banana Rum Cocktail

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“If you don’t know what to do with a fruit, think of a cocktail”. Henceforward this will be my motto. After the successful Passionfruit Daiquiri and then the fabulous Kiwi with Rum I decided to follow this idea with slightly overripe bananas. They might of course be used in breads, cakes or pancakes, but I wanted something lighter and, moreover, it was Friday night and… cocktail time!

I decided to start with rum, which somehow seemed obvious. Then I added some lime juice to give it a bit of tanginess, mixed everything, tasted and… realised I have already had this cocktail! In fact, banana and rum used to be my favourite cocktail in my favourite bar, but it was many years ago. I still remember it wasn’t on the cocktails list and when I got bored with gin and tonic I asked the bartender to mix rum with banana juice. The result was stunning and I used to have this cocktail every single time I came. Then, the owner stopped buying banana juice, the bar’s atmosphere changed, I stopped going there and completely forgot about the cocktail because no other bar had this juice. Now that I was reminded how good it tastes, especially when made with freshly mixed fruit, I think this will be my favourite way to use up leftover bananas.

TIP: If you make this cocktail with bottled banana juice, the colour will be much more attractive and the texture “juicier”. Bananas mixed with water give a thick, smoothie-like, not very attractive looking liquid, but the taste and aroma are unique.

Special equipment: small, baby-food mixers are very useful with fresh fruit cocktails (especially when making one or two servings)

Preparation: 5 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

1 big peeled banana

juice from 1/3 lime

50 ml rum

50 ml cold water

ice

In a blender (or a baby food mixer) mix everything apart from the ice.

Pour into a tall glass.

Top up with ice.

Serve.

Paloma with Fresh Juice

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We have been having the coldest Winter for thirty years. I suppose my Canadian blogging friends would laugh out loud if I told them the exact temperatures, but after years of mild Winters even the need to wear warm gloves or hats is annoying. I expected I would be craving hot tea, mulled wine, grog or other warm drinks, but I am surprisingly attracted to energising cocktails made with fresh Winter fruits. First I spent at least one weekend enjoying gin with Seville orange juice, then I couldn’t get enough of the beautiful Kiwi Rum. Last weekend, the coldest of this year, seemed a bit merrier thanks to the deliciously tangy Paloma.

I have already written about Paloma a long time ago, but I thought the unnoticed post should be given a second chance and this delicious cocktail merited more popularity. Paloma means “dove” in Spanish and the cocktail is not very well known outside of Mexico, where it’s usually made with grapefruit soda. The first time I made it I used a mixture of fresh juice and sparkling water instead and this healthy modification was so flavoursome, I have never bothered to look for grapefruit soda. Even though it has a light pink colour, it is not a sweet, delicate, girlie cocktail. Even if one adds a bit of syrup, the grapefruit tanginess remains and tequila’s strong taste is well perceptible.

This cocktail always reminds me of one of my acquaintances, whom I invited for the first time and who assured me she had no food allergies, dislikes and was happy to eat and drink everything. Then, when I proposed a grapefruit cocktail she started to laugh and said she hadn’t thought about it, but it was the only food item in the world she wasn’t allowed to touch. In fact, she had had an organ transplant and grapefruit juice inhibits the action of many drugs, for example the ones she takes daily. I would have never guessed the innocent looking grapefruit is not that innocent…

I have found the recipe on this Mexican website containing many Tequila-based drinks. I have also skipped the first step since I don’t always like to have a salty glass rim.

Preparation: 5 minutes

Ingredients (serves 1):

10 ml lime juice
pinch of salt
50 ml tequila
juice from 1/2 grapefruit +30 ml sparkling water (or 80 ml grapefruit soda)

(a couple of teaspoons syrup or confectioner’s sugar, if the grapferuit is very sour)

ice

(lemon juice+salt for the glass rim)

If you wish, moisten a big cocktail glass rim with a bit of lime juice and dip into a plate full of salt.

Combine the remaining ingredients, adding as much ice as you wish. Stir and serve.

Kiwi and Rum Cocktail

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Kiwi is probably my favourite Winter fruit. Its joyful green colour and refreshing taste give me energy and make me forget the gloomy and/or cold weather outside. I am also conscious of the precious vitamin C it contains (twice as much as a lemon) as well as antioxidants, potassium and vitamins A and E. Kiwi is usually associated with New Zealand, but is nowadays cultivated all around the world. The fruits I have recently been buying come from an organic orchard in France.

Kiwi was not always called this way. Its most popular variety is native to China and the fruit was initially called “Chinese gooseberry”. It started to be cultivated in New Zealand at the beginning of the XXth century and its exportation boomed after the Second World War. When, in the 50s US importers suggested another name (not bearing the word “Chinese”) New Zealanders have chosen the name of their famous flightless bird.

A couple of days ago I saw a kiwi cocktail on Shizuoka Gourmet’s blog. The cocktail was created by Masayoshi Tainaka at “Le Refuge” bar in Shizuoka City (click here to see their website in Japanese) and proved even more extraordinary than it looked. It is refreshing, delicate, slightly tangy and I love the unusual crunch the kiwi seeds give. It is one of the most exceptional cocktails of my life and definitely the healthiest alcohol drink I have ever had. Thank you, Robert-Gilles, for this wonderful discovery!

I have slightly modified the original recipe doubling the fruit amount to create a long drink and adding orange liqueur to improve the complexity (maybe my French kiwis were blander than the Japanese ones?). Click here to see the original, unadulterated recipe.

Before I pass to the recipe details, I would like to play the game I have been tagged for by Charles (5 Euro Food). This bloggers’ game consists in telling some personal details about oneself and then tagging other bloggers to play it.

1. Describe yourself in seven words (Since I find it difficult to boast of my qualities, I have chosen seven negative words)

Impatient, clumsy, anxious, lazy, inaccurate, undisciplined, messy.

2. What keeps you up at night?

A fascinating book I am reluctant to put down.

3. Who would you like to be?

It might sound pretentious, but I don’t admire anyone in his or her totality, so I would like to take the qualities and skills from many people.

4. What are you wearing right now?

Nothing special, but I have perfectly styled hair ( I have just come back from my hairdresser )

5. What scares you?

Many things… About blogging? Just like Charles said, data loss is the scariest thing.

6. What are the best and worst things about blogging?

I will not be very original here and answer like most bloggers. The wonderful people I meet from all around the world, the things I discover and learn, the opinions I can exchange, the motivation it gives me to improve my cooking and, with more difficulty, photography skills as well as my written English.

The worst are certainly the technical problems which happen to almost every blogger… Personally I find it depressing when I am not able to take a satisfactory photo of an exceptional dish I absolutely want to share.

7.What was the last website you visited?

Charles’s blog of course (Five Euro Food). I have copied and pasted the questions

8. What is the one thing you would like to change about yourself?

I couldn’t choose just one thing. My answer would be “check the question nr 1″.

9. Slankets – yes or no?

I had to check what slankets are (I was right that blogging improves my English!). I am speechless! My home clothes look haute couture in comparison! I would put it on only if someone paid me 1 mln $.

I have just found this:

10. Tell us something about the person who tagged you.

Charles is the author of the blog called 5 Euro Food. He has a great sense of humour, his culinary interests are very eclectic (British, French, Swedish and Tunisian cuisines are only a part of his repertoire) and he is a curious, passionate cook. Charles is one of the best friends I have met through blogging and I sincerly hope one day we can have a real, not only virtual, conversation and maybe an excellent meal, worthy of crazy gourmets that we both are.

Now it’s time to invite 5 other bloggers to talk a bit about themselves (of course as long as they are willing to!). I would like to invite (actually 6, in alphabetical order):

Arudhi from A Box of Kitchen

Barb from Profiteroles and Ponytails

Jeno from Weeknite Meals

Kelly from Inspired Edibles

Mr. Three-Cookies from Three-Cookies and Easily Good Eats

Nami from Just One Cookbook

Now, let’s go back to the kiwi cocktail.

TIP: If the kiwis are very sweet, add lime juice. If they are sour, add some confectioner’s sugar or syrup.

Special equipment: a small food processor is very useful for individual cocktails (I have a baby food mixer)

Preparation: 5 minutes

Ingredients (one long drink):

2 kiwis (peeled)

60 ml (about 2 oz) rum

30 ml (about 1 oz) Cointreau, Triple Sec or Grand Marnier

lots of ice

(confectioner’s sugar, or, as Masayoshi Tainaka advises, wasanbon satou/和三盆砂糖, or syrup)

(lime juice if kiwis are very sweet)

Put all the ingredients in a food processor (except for the ice) and mix until smooth.

Adjust the taste, adding sugar or lime juice (or nothing).

Pour into a high glass, add several big ice cubes and serve.

Gin Seville

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Last week I saw Seville oranges for the first time in my life. I had often read and heard about them, but this was the first occasion to buy them. Seville orange (Citrus aurantium), also called bitter orange, is, as its name suggests, widely cultivated in the South of Spain, but rarely consumed there. Apparently most of the harvest is shipped to the UK, where it is used to make bitter orange marmalade. The fruit is also one of the ingredients in such liquors as Cointreau, Triple Sec or Curaçao. Seville oranges are often bright orange, smaller than their sweet counterparts and have a light yellow, particularly sour and rather bitter juice.

Unwilling to bother with one or two jars of marmalade, I spent several days wondering how to use the several Seville oranges I had bought. I decided to do what I did with the first passion fruits I bought, i.e. look for a cocktail idea (see here the extraordinary Passion Fruit Daiquiri I am regularly making). Finally, I stumbled upon the Gin Sour recipe on the Naked Sushi blog. Even though the author wasn’t very enthusiastic with the result, I would like to thank her with all my heart because I see this drink as a precious jewel. It is slightly bitter, slightly sour, rather strong and much more complex than I expected, given its short list of ingredients. Obviously, it has nothing to do with an ordinary mixture of gin and sweet orange juice. If, like me, you hate sweet, “girlie” cocktails and are a fan of serious, adult stuff, I strongly encourage you to look for Seville oranges. I have decided to name the cocktail Gin Seville, because in my opinion it owes everything to Seville orange juice.

Preparation: 5 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

30 ml (about 1 oz) Seville orange juice (my fruits didn’t have much juice and I had to use two oranges)

50 ml (a bit less than 2 oz) gin

1 tablespoon syrup (I used cane syrup)

several ice cubes

Strain the juice and shake with the gin and the syrup.

Pour into a glass and add several ice cubes.

Serve.

Kir

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Have you ever been furious because the new white wine you had bought proved more than disappointing? Have you ever been offered a bottle of a hardly enjoyable white wine and didn’t feel like cooking with it? If you have answered “yes” to either of these questions and still don’t know “kir”, it’s high time you got introduced to this wine-rescuing cocktail. It might also come handy if you organise a New Year’s Eve party and look for a cheap and simple crowd-pleasing drink.

The traditional kir is composed of chilled white wine and crème de cassis (a thick black currant liqueur produced in Dijon). At the beginning called “blanc-cassis” (white-black currant), the cocktail inherited its present name from Félix Kir, a Dijon mayor who made it popular after the Second World War, promoting two regional products: crème de cassis and bourgogne aligoté (one of the cheapest Burgundy white wines made mainly with aligoté grapes). Initially the cocktail contained as much as 1/3 crème de cassis to tame down the high acidity bourgogne aligoté had at the time. With time the aligoté quality changed, other white wines started to be used and the ratio was modified. Now, unless you precise otherwise, in France you will usually be served a kir containing 1/5 of crème de cassis.

One of the most popular light drinks in France, kir is typically preferred by women and often drunk as an aperitif. You can order it in every café there, in most cafés in my Swiss city and I know it’s becoming more and more popular all around the world. I never drink it when I see good white wines on the menu, but it’s very convenient whenever I feel like having a glass of chilled wine, but know that the place serves wines I could only call drinkable (unfortunately a frequent situation in my city). Of course if a wine is corked or rotten in any other way, no amount of crème de cassis can save it!

Apart from the blackcurrant liqueur, many cafés and bars now offer also blackberry, peach, raspberry or even violet kir, but for me the classic version is unbeatable. There are some other versions of kir, the most famous being Kir Royal prepared with champagne.

TIP: The kir you see above has been made according to the usual ratio. If, like me, you don’t like sweetish drinks, try putting only 1/10 crème de cassis.

WARNING: Do not attempt to make or buy this cocktail with a good wine or champagne! It’s a waste of money or/and lack of respect towards a wine maker and his or her hard work.

Special equipment: a tall glass or a white wine glass

Preparation: 3 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

10 cl chilled white wine

1-2 cl crème de cassis (black currant liqueur)

Pour crème de cassis into a tall glass.

Top up with white wine.

Serve.

Passion Fruit Daiquiri

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When Kelly, from Inspired Edibles, posted her beautiful Lemon Passion Fruit Pannacotta, I realised that even though I loved the passion fruit taste, I have never bought it, not to mention cooking with it. Passion fruit or maracuja (Passiflora edulis) is native to Southern America, but is nowadays cultivated in many warm countries and available all around the world. There are two main types: yellow (bigger) and dark purple (smaller), but only the latter is available where I live. It doesn’t look very appealing from the exterior. The skin is hard, very dark and doesn’t have any aroma (at least when it arrives to Europe). The interior is however amazing: sunny yellow flesh with green seeds, an enticing aroma and sweet, but slightly tart taste.

Passion fruits I had bought waited at least a week in my kitchen before, finally, on a Friday night, when my husband asked me what cocktail I wanted, I knew I would not cook or bake with them, but simply drink them. Browsing through the surprisingly big number of passion fruit cocktails, I have chosen Passion Fruit Daiquiri, found on Mix, Shake and Pour.

The rum and passion fruit combination proved stunningly good. The drink is exactly what I enjoy most: rather strong, not very sweet and with a slightly tart note. Not to mention the enticing aroma and the yellow hue and the pleasure of eating leftover seeds, soaked in rum. Since passion fruits are available in my city all year round, I already feel it will become one of my regular drinks. Thank you, Kelly for the inspiration!

TIP: 1 shot= 25 ml or more or less 1 oz

Preparation: 5 minutes

Ingredients (serves 1):

2 shots rum
0.5 shot lime juice
0.5 shot syrup (I have used sugarcane syrup)
2 passion fruits

2-3 ice cubes (+more to put directly in the glass)

Halve the passion fruits and scoop out the flesh with a teaspoon.

Put all the ingredients in a shaker.

Shake well (for at least one minute) and pour into a glass (ideally it should be a martini glass or something similar, but I don’t own such glasses).

You can add more ice if you want.

Serve.

Cointreaupolitan with Red Currants

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I should probably be ashamed of using the recipe I have found on my bottle of Cointreau and even more ashamed of confessing it. However, I have two strong arguments for my defense. First, I have only drawn my inspiration from this recipe instead of copying it and, secondly, the flavour was so good I couldn’t resist sharing with you my discovery.

For those who are not familiar with Cointreau, it’s a French orange liqueur, very often used in cocktails (such us Cosmopolitan). I buy it quite often because we use it in different cocktails (for example I substitute Triple Sec with it in Margarita) and one of us, a real Cointtreau freak, drinks it on its own, on the rocks. The other one choses Grand Marnier on the rocks and I let you guess which one I am .

Anyway, Cointreau is always there and for the last several months the producer has been putting a small paper “hood” on the bottle with a recipe called “Cointreaupolitan”. I usually look down on such marketing actions and try to ignore the recipes, but last week I decided to read it attentively and… it actually sounded strangely appealing. In fact the recipe was an alteration of Cosmopolitan, without vodka and with lemon juice instead of lime juice (as a quick reminder, Cosmopolitan is vodka + Cointreau + cranberry juice + lime juice). I didn’t have cranberry juice, but there was a punnet of “dying” red currants in my fridge and I decided to transform those into juice and try as a cranberry replacement.

If you are a fan of Cosmopolitan and, in general, slightly sour drinks, all I can do is strongly recommend this one. The cocktail consists only of two ingredients (or three if you have sweetened juice and add lemon juice), but the taste is surprisingly complex. Since my juice didn’t contain any sugar (cranberry juice usually does), I skipped the lemon juice.

Preparation: 5 minutes (or more if you use fresh red currants and make the juice on your own)

Ingredients (serves one):

7 cl unsweetened red currant juice (or about 100 g fresh or frozen red currants) or 5 cl sweetened red currant juice + 2 cl lemon juice

5 cl Cointreau

ice

If you use red currants, put them in a pan with a couple of spoons of water. Bring to boil on high heat and, stirring wait until the juice forms. Chill the juice well before using in a cocktail (put into the fridge).

Put the red currant juice and Cointreau (and lemon juice if you use sweetened juice) in a shaker.

Shake well and pour into the glass. Add some ice (you can also shake the mixture with the ice and leave it in the shaker).

Serve.

Blue Fairy

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Some time ago I was invited to a cocktail organised by FairyMotion, a Swiss communication and design company. I could talk about the friendly, laid-back atmosphere or the excellent maki rolls we were served… but let’s face it: the cocktails – or rather THE cocktail – was what stayed engraved in my memory.

Faced with a choice of several different drinks, like a child, I opted for the most beautiful one. It was glowing turquoise, cleverly chosen to represent the colours of FairyMotion‘s logo and I still think the idea was very cute and creative. The first sip was simply breath-taking. The cocktail was slightly sweet, slightly sour, with a pleasant, treacherous balance, keeping one joyfully unconscious of the alcohol intake In short, a perfect drink. I asked the Fairy Team for the recipe – which luckily wasn’t top secret – and promised myself to reproduce it. And here it is: as beautiful and as delicious as when I tasted it for the first time (well, almost… moments of particularly palatable discoveries are inimitable). Even though I prepared it many times, I still am thrilled every time to sip such a beautiful drink. Since the company’s logo features a blue fairy, I decided to call the cocktail “Blue Fairy”. Thank you, Fairy Team, for the wonderful evening and the amazing drink idea!

This is an individual portion, semi-long drink sized. In order to save you the measuring steps, problems with ounces, centiliters and milliliters, I converted everything into teaspoons (for those who like measuring, one teaspoon equals 5 ml). The cocktail is not really sour, but if you prefer very sweet drinks, add a bit of syrup or substitute the lemon juice with limoncello

Preparation: 5 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

7 teaspoons vodka

3 teaspoons blue Curaçao

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons sparkling lemonade (or sparkling water)

about 4 heaped tablespoons crushed ice (or 4 big ice cubes)

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker. Shake well and serve.

If using ice cubes, pour the shaken mixture over the ice cubes in a glass.

Peach Margarita

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When I saw the Peach Margarita on the Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide, an incredibly rich source of original food and drink recipes, I knew I had to try it. Most of you have probably seen this Margarita on Greg’s and Katherine’s blog last week, so at first I didn’t think about posting it. Then I changed my mind. Maybe it is due to the substantial modifications I made to the original recipe, maybe it’s the fact that it is my new favourite peach cocktail or the need to show you what I will be enjoying this weekend, but I simply felt an irresistible urge to present this drink today.

My modifications consisted in skipping the orange juice and substituting peach schnapps with Cointreau liqueur. I simply didn’t have either the first time I made it and then I simply stuck to this version, emptying my Cointreau stock (I have to put a new bottle on my shopping list for the weekend!). Thank you, Katherine and Greg for your inspiring cocktail ideas!

I have a tip for those, who, like me, often make individual cocktail portions: buy yourself a small, baby food mixer. I find its capacity perfect for mixing one long drink.

Preparation: 15 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

1 big ripe peach

50 ml tequila

30 ml Cointreau (Grand Marnier, Triple Sec or another orange liqueur would give a similar result here)

1/4 of a lime

ice

Put the peach in a mug with boiling water for 5 minutes.

Pour cold water into the mug, wait 1 minute, take out the peach and peel it with your fingers or a knife.

Take out the kernel and put the peach in a blender.

Add the Cointreau and the Tequila.

Squeeze the 1/4 of lime into the blender and mix everything thoroughly with ice or put the ice at the end into your glass.

Watermelon and Ginger Cocktail

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I have recently realised it has been a very long time since I wrote about cocktails. It doesn’t mean however I haven’t been enjoying drinks and constantly looking for new recipes, which would stand out from the traditional margaritas, mojitos and other popular cocktails. Most recipes call for the ingredients available all year round, but I find it very interesting to profit from the seasonal fruits, stretching the seasonal eating idea to seasonal drinking. Watermelon is now in high season, I eat tons of this refreshing and light fruit, I have never see it in a juice version, so when I saw the Watermelon and Ginger Cocktail on the Shizuoka Gourmet blog, I knew I had to try it.

This cocktail was created by Wasaru Matsumoto, the owner and bartender at Botanical (comfort bar) in Shizuoka City. I have slightly modified it, keeping the most important, e.i. ginger, watermelon and gin mixture. The important thing I omitted was the salt on the glass rim (margarita style). At first, I admit, I have forgotten, but then, the cocktail was so fantastic without it, I thought I would do this another time. I don’t know how to describe the taste… The delicate and sweet watermelon is seriously boosted by the ginger juice, which should be used sparingly, so that it doesn’t overwhelm the combination.

If you are lucky to visit Shizuoka or if you live there, go to Shizuoka Gourmet blog to find the Botanical address and opening hours. If, however, you live far from Japan and love watermelon and ginger, try this recipe out (with or without salted rim). Very refreshing, seasonal and addictive!

Preparation: 10 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

125 ml (1/2 cup) strained juice from mixed watermelon pulp

50 ml gin

1 1/2 teaspoon ginger juice (I grated about 2 cm fresh ginger and squeezed the pulp) /the original recipe calls for 1 fresh leaf ginger/

ice

(salt)

(I skipped this step). Moist the big glass rim and dip it in salt.

Place the ice in the glass.

Put all the ingredients in a shaker (apart from the ice) and shake well.

Pour over the ice and enjoy!

Making Okara (おから) and Soy Milk

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I discovered the existence of okara quite recently while browsing through Hiroyuki’s blog and observing his experiments with this mysterious product. Okara (おから) is a by-product after the soy milk or tofu production. It is the soy pulp remaining after the soy milk has been drained. As you see above it is a slightly yellowish, grainy pulp, more or less dry (depending how strongly the pulp was pressed during the draining process). Even though okara is a by-product, it would be pity to throw it away, since it is an extremely healthy, low-fat ingredient, containing iron, calcium and rich in protein and in fiber. Okara can be for example added to dough in cakes or cookies, it can be simmered with vegetables, added to sauces, made into vegetarian hamburgers, etc. and the Chinese transform it into a special tofu called zha doufu (渣豆腐). This by-product seemed to me much more interesting and intriguing than the main product, which can be bought at every supermarket.

Even though I put soy milk in my coffee every day, I have never tried to make it on my own, convinced this process requires either special equipment or long experience, or both. Looking dreamily at the soy-milk maker at Hiroyuki’s blog I thought either I manage somehow to find okara at my Japanese grocer’s or I’ll never taste it. Thanks to K.’s kind message and very detailed instructions, I realised that home-made soy milk – or rather okara – is very easy and doesn’t require an expensive soy milk maker! Thank you again, K., for your precious advice!

The process is a bit long since the soy beans have to be soaked overnight or for 8 hours, but it is extremely easy. The softness/dryness and also the weight of okara depend on how well you squeeze the pulp. If you want to learn more about the use of okara, Hiroyuki’s blog contains very interesting recipes and tips.

In next post I’ll write about my first successful experiment with okara: a delicious leftover jam cake (which can be made also without okara).

Special equipment:

big sheets of gauze (bought at the pharmacy) or cheesecloth

cooking thermometer

Preparation:

30-40 min.+ min. 8 hours for soy beans soaking

Ingredients (I obtained about 400g okara):

150g dried soybeans

water

Soak the beans in water for 8 hours (the water amount should be at least the double of the beans, since they’ll swell).

Wash the beans, put them in a blender with 1,5 litre hot water and mix for a couple of minutes.

Pour the mixture into a shallow pan, add 1 litre boiling water, put the thermometer and simmer for 15 minutes at 70°C.

Strain the mixture through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or gauze plied in four. Squeeze the soy pulp very firmly and put aside.

Check this post to see one of the ways to use okara in a healthy and delicious jam cake.

Making Soy Milk and Okara on Punk Domestics

Rhubarb Soft Drink

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rhubarbdrinkpp I have always loved rhubarb. I was one of these strange children who loved acid food (and I still do). When I was little I would chew on the raw rhubarb sticks freshly picked in my grandmother’s garden. My mum has never made a single rhubarb cake, nor would she preserve it (even though she used to preserve tons of fruits and vegetables). However, she would use rhubarb often and in big amounts. The only thing she did was a slightly tangy rhubarb drink I was crazy for (this was when children still liked other drinks than industrial sodas). She would prepare it throughout the whole rhubarb season and in big batches, kept in the fridge and refreshing like nothing I have ever tasted since then. The smell and the colour of the rhubarb drink will always remind me of the hot summer days of my childhood.

Obviously, this soft drink is the first thing I think about as soon as rhubarb appears on the market. The preparation is ridiculously easy and I have hesitated before writing these instructions, barely deserving a “recipe” name. However, since I don’t know anyone around me who prepares this simple drink, I decided to post it.

The sugar/sweetener amount depends on everyone’s taste. I usually put a heaped teaspoon in one big glass (250ml). The drink keeps for up to a week in the fridge, especially if it’s sweetened only before drinking. Do not overdose the sugar, otherwise the drink will lose its tanginess. The pinker the rhubarb stalks, the pinker the drink will be.

Preparation: 1 hour

Ingredients (makes 1,7 – 1,8 litre):

500g rhubarb stalks, cleaned and cut in two/three pieces

2 litres cold water

sugar or sweetener or honey

ice

Put the rhubarb into a big pan with water.

Bring to boil at medium heat and cook until the rhubarb completely softens.

Put aside and wait until the rhubarb drink cools down.

Strain it and refrigerate for up to a week.

Add sugar/honey/sweetener just before drinking and serve with ice.

Soba Shochu そば焼酎, or Buckwheat Shochu

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It has been ages since I wrote about shochu, so it is high time I related my further adventures with this incredible Japanese product. First of all, I owe a small explanation to those who still don’t know it. Shochu (焼酎) is a Japanese alcohol distilled with different ingredients (sweet potatoes, rice and barley are the most popular) and usually has a 20-25% alcoholic content. It is becoming more and more popular in Japan, especially among women, who, apart from enjoying the taste, must be happy to discover it has very few calories (35 kcal in 50ml, e.i. 1/2 of standard vodka’s calories). Shochu also allegedly reduces heart attacks and strokes risk and it is practically hangover free.

Anyway, this lack of shochu-related posts doesn’t mean I haven’t been enjoying it, discovering its new varieties, brands, thinking about the difficult moments the Japanese go through, drinking to their good health and wishing them all the best. After the sweet potato shochu, the barley “IIchiko” shochu and the barley shochu with shiso, I would like to present and praise the qualities of Shochu “Towari”, my first buckwheat, or soba shochu (そば焼酎).

Shochu “Towari” comes from Miyazaki prefecture (the distiller’s website), has 25% alcohol content and is distilled from buckwheat, called soba in Japanese, used to produce soba noodles. Those, who have tasted soba noodles, buckwheat grains or anything made with buckwheat flour, know that this grain has a strong and slightly nutty flavour. Consequently, Shochu Towari has a strong, nutty, somewhat sweetish aroma and taste. While potato or barley shochu is sometimes too delicate to keep up with very spicy or hot dishes, Shochu Towari can handle very strong ingredients and high levels of capsaicin. In spite of that, like all the shochu varieties I have experienced, this one has a sophisticated, smooth and clear taste, impressing especially when compared to all the stronger Western alcohols. Moreover, according to this website, soba shochu contains fibers that remove the bad cholesterol from the body, “making it extremely beneficial to human health”.

In short, buckwheat shochu is a nice change from more delicate varieties I have tasted until now, but if bought with the “honkaku 本格” (unique distillation) mention, it guarantees a good quality but distinctive taste. Even though different shochu cocktails recipes exist, a slice or two of lime, sparkling water and ice is the maximum alteration I can appreciate. Anything more and even this strong buckwheat shochu loses its straight and elegant flavour. My shochu adventures are still continued…

Iichiko

Paloma with Fresh Juice

Shochu (焼酎)

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I don’t know how to start talking about shochu… It’s the most surprising alcohol discovery of my life. I have simply fallen in love with it. I don’t know why I have never noticed it while I spent hours in my favourite Japanese grocery. I suppose even though I was sure there are myriads of Japanese food products to discover, I always assumed the Japan produces only sake, umeshu (plum wine) and beer (oh and they produce whisky too, but I am not a whisky fan…). I am ashamed of admitting it, but even though I have always admired the Japanese way of handling food, I never liked sake and never thought them capable of producing any exciting or sophisticated alcohol….

And then, last week I heard for the first time about shochu. I was intrigued and went to ask if this intriguing alcohol is imported to Switzerland. To my surprise at least 30% of the alcohol shelves were lined up with shochu! How could I have missed them for so many years?

Shochu (焼酎) means “burning sake” (sake meaning generally alcohol) and has been produced in Japan since the XIVth century. It is distilled from different ingredients, such as barley, sweet potato, buckwheat, rice… There are also many types of shochu, depending on the way they were distilled. Its alcoholic content is usually between 20 – 25 %, but it can be stronger too. Apparently, the consumption of shochu has tripled since the 80s and it is rising every year. It is no longer considered as a cheap alcohol for manual workers, and more and more Japanese diet watching women choose it! And no wonder, since shochu has very few calories (35 kcal in 50 ml, which is about 3 x less than vodka for example). Oh, and I would have forgotten to add it doesn’t end up with a hangover the following day, even drunk in big quantities! (This information was checked…).

Shochu can be drunk alone, warm or cold. When it’s cold it’s served with ice or with sparkling water and ice. I find it irresistible with one or two lime slices.

I have tested two kinds of shochu: sweet potato and shiso (a Japanese herb). Both are transparent, have a silken texture, are very delicate and very difficult to stop drinking. Since apparently shochu is good for your health, reducing strokes and heart attack risks, I shouldn’t worry too much!

Sweet potato shochu is very soft on the palate, but of course it is not sweet! The one I have bought is “honkaku” (本格) shochu, in other words “genuine, or classical method” shochu, produced with a single distillation process, which means my first shochu ever is a good quality one (the multiply distilled, cheapest ones, are to be avoided). I will not pretend I have decrypted it on the bottle on my own. I read it on a very helpful blog Nonjatta-shochu. Thanks to Chris Bunting I realise I have a new magic world opening before me!

Shiso shochu (tantakatan) is a bit more lively, but also very delicate, and when you close your eyes you can smell the freshly cut green grass… This one, I managed to “read”, thanks to Chris again, is “otsurui” (乙類) shochu, meaning “second rank”, but apparently not “second quality”, and being made also with the classical method. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to decrypt the shiso shochu cocktails recipes attached to the bottle (the photos look interesting though!). I will have to come back and ask at my grocery, and maybe buy a new bottle… There are so many different kinds of shochu, not to mention different brands….

With a Glass

Category Archives: Drinks and cocktails

Rhubarb Kisiel (Warm Gooey Rhubarb Pudding)

Easter Party Ideas

Shochu on the Rocks (Shochu Rokku) with Yuzu

Momotaro (Peach and Gin Cocktail)

Rhubarb Soft Drink

Rum and Carrot Cocktail

Banana Rum Cocktail

Paloma with Fresh Juice

Kiwi and Rum Cocktail

Gin Seville

Kir

Passion Fruit Daiquiri

Cointreaupolitan with Red Currants

Blue Fairy

Peach Margarita

Watermelon and Ginger Cocktail

Making Okara (おから) and Soy Milk

Rhubarb Soft Drink

Soba Shochu そば焼酎, or Buckwheat Shochu

Iichiko

Paloma with Fresh Juice

Shochu (焼酎)

Pink Bear