John's Fancy Gin Drink

John learned to make these -  in Amsterdam, I think.  Mother church of Gin, with apologies to England.  The English call it Mother's Ruin, based on the horrid cheap stuff they used to sedate the restless populace.  Hard to drum up a revolution when you can't find the door.

But the Dutch have embraced gin.  In fact a lot of people have embraced gin (some with better results than others - you don't want to do too much embracing at any one time or you may find yourself embracing the toilet bowl...but I digress).

Artisanal gins have been popping up lately, made by former rocket scientists and hedge fund managers who got tired of making rockets and managing hedges.  The shelves at Lunardi's groan under the weight.  And we are working our way through them.  But so far my favorite is Hendrick's.  It is not as aggressively juniperous (new word!) as Bombay Sapphire, and not as indistinct as the common airline gin in the green bottle.  It makes a bracing dry martini.  A crisp gin and tonic.  And now, thanks to John, we serve our gin and tonics (gins and tonics?) with a long curl of cucumber - peel attached - stuck to the inside of the glass.  Or artfully applied, if you're feeling poetic.

I still think Bombay Sapphire requires lime to settle the juniper down a bit, but Hendrick's practically cries out for cucumber.  Doesn't miss the lime at all.

Slightly herbal, crisp and refreshing, after a few of these you will be writing prose like a Bon Appetit staff writer.  Hmmmm, I wonder if that's how they get their inspiration?  After all, somebody has to test-drive all those cocktail recipes.  My liver quails at the thought.  I guess that's what they have interns for.

citrus

It's a good year for lemons:

our trees droop under the weight of the fruit.

And blood oranges:

They are not especially sweet; we are beyond the edge of orange-dom.  But they are better than the regular oranges which are so sour they are unpalatable, even as juice.

Our friend Jane gave is this juicer on one of her treasured visits (Note to Jane - it's time to come back! we miss you)

She is the queen of gift giving, she always nails it (more about that in a later blog) and we have been toasting her with blood orange juice in the morning. 

Delicious, beautiful, healthy...

And as our neighbor Maddy pointed out, they also make great martinis. Ice, vodka, and a splash of Canton Ginger Liqueur for sweetness. Wonderful with chicken. And I have a new favorite chicken. If you've been paying attention you know I loved the fried chicken from last month's Bon Appetit. I'd link it for you but Safari has decided to hide the URL - any suggestions gratefully accepted.

It had a spice rub, and since oven baked chicken is a staple here (think cobb salad, chicken salad, chicken enchiladas) I tried a spice rub on the oven baked version.  I've made it twice in three days. So here's the recipe with thanks to Bon Appetit for the inspiration.

Oven Baked Chicken

Preheat the oven to 350 fahrenheit.

For the rub:

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 boneless skin-on chicken breasts - organic and free range if you can.

3/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons olive oil (or 1 tablespoon olive oil and one tablespoon butter)

Mix all the rub ingredients in a small bowl - sprinkle over chicken. There will be a generous coating of spices - don't be shy.

See?

Mix the flour with the cornstarch in a small bowl, and sprinkle over spice-coated chicken. Press it in with your fingers to make sure as much as possible sticks.

Pour about a tablespoon of real olive oil (read Extra Virginity for the real scoop) in an oven-proof pan. Put the chicken pieces in skin-side down and rub them in the oil to coat the skin. Use the second tablespoon if you need it - I did. Turn the chicken skin-side up and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer  reads 160. (thank you Ann- using the thermometer has saved many a chicken from overcooking) 

Mine didn't get brown enough this time so I ran them under the broiler - 

and burned them in spots. Thankfully my husband didn't mind. And they made a great Cobb Salad. So now I have a new favorite week-day chicken recipe - to go with the fabulous fried chicken I blogged about in Fear if Frying. Again, until I figure out the link thing again (don't you hate upgrades?) you'll have to go to Jillappenzeller@blogspot.com and search the blog. 

As Julia would have said, "Bon Appetit!"And she was right.

Fear of Frying

When a recipe calls for frying in oil - and using a thermometer  - I usually turn the page. Same with caramelizing sugar. But I have a note on my spice cupboard that says "Do one thing you're afraid of every day" and so in spite of my fear of frying I made the Fried Chicken from the current issue of Bon Appetit - you know, the recipe that's on the cover? Go buy a copy. Now.

It's Valentine's Day and fried chicken is Wally's favorite. If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know I made the Ad Hoc fried chicken for his birthday (a long time ago) and it took three of us all afternoon - after two days of prep.

So this one is simpler, and more bullet-proof. How? Well, I forgot to rub the spices on last night, so I did it this morning. Didn't seem to matter. Plenty spicy.

I also forgot to photograph almost everything until I was halfway done. In fairness it's hard to fry and photograph at the same time.

This recipe is less messy, only one dip in the buttermilk and one in the flour.  I used tongs to dip and flour the chicken instead of my hands - it worked fine.

And I used a rack to drain the chicken after it was cooked. Skin side up so the oil can get out. 

And even tho I read the recipe several times I screwed up the temperature - I fried the first batch at 350. You're supposed to put the chicken in to the oil at 350 and fry at 325. There was a big warning about the coating burning while the chicken stayed raw. Didn't happen.

And the verdict? We liked the 350 chicken better. It was crispier - the 325 was juicier and you could taste the spices better, so I'll probably fry at 325 next time...but oh that crispy crust.

And of course I forgot to photograph the finished chicken until it was almost gone.

I will make this again, and soon. For a picnic, for a summer party in the garden. For a dinner by the fire when it's raining. For a birthday, for a friend. I have not lost my fear of frying but some things are worth being scared.

Tastes of Summer

Coconut cupcakes from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa.  World's Best All-American Potato Salad from inside the back cover of an old Gourmet. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, the revised version says 1/8 cup. Not enough. Jack it back up. And only Best Foods please - mayo is not health food. If you want health food eat tofu. Don't screw up my potato salad.

This is the potato salad that's now famous in East Hampton. If you've been lucky enough to be invited to lunch at Jane's. Or to one of her friends with whom we've shared the recipe. I hear it's gone viral.

I do so miss Gourmet magazine. I love the way Ruth Reichl writes, I would turn to her page first. And every issue would be dog-eared with recipes I wanted to make. Many of my favorite recipes came from Gourmet.

Not so Bon Appetit - they nagged you about health food (if it tasted good we'd all be eating it - we're not stupid and we don't have a death wish), they published the simplest of recipes, nothing interesting or surprising. No delicious prose about foreign lands and the smells and tasted of the bazaar, or the mountain foods of the Massif Central. Ho hum slam-it-on-the-table recipes. Why bother recipes. Although Bon Appetit has finally stopped preaching and started giving us really good recipes. And stories! Not easy recipes, we can get those anywhere. Delicious. Are you listening, Adam Rapoport? Way to go. Keep it up.

Watermelon salad with arugula and feta. It's all the rage now, but when Gourmet first published it (and I first started serving it) it freaked people out...until they tasted it. Yum. Fabulous with a grilled steak. Speaking of steak...

Bistek a la Fiorentina. 

This is the simplest most delicious grilled steak. Ever.

       1 porterhouse steak for every two people you plan to serve. Or three if they're wimps.
          (The best you can get, not from the supermarket. From Lunardi's. Or Rockridge Market Hall's Marin Sun Farms).

       Kosher salt. No substitutions.

       Pesto. Preferably home made. About 1/2  a cup.

       Lemons - about half a lemon per steak plus a few more to garnish the platter.

Heat your grill (gas or charcoal) to medium heat. When grill is hot:

Liberally sprinkle the steaks with kosher salt. This will form a crust, a good bit of the salt will come off when grilling, so this is not the time to be salt-conscious. Lay it on. You're eating steak, for God's sake. But don't do this step until just before you are putting the steaks on or it can pull the moisture out.

Grill the steaks to medium-rare to medium. No I don't know how long this will take - it depends on your grill.

Remove from grill and let rest at least 10 minutes. No Cheating!! I don't cover with foil because I like the crispness and I don't mind if it's not hot hot hot. But if you're that kind of person feel free to tent.

Slather the steaks with pesto, squeeze half a lemon over each steak, then slice (about 1/4 inch thick) and arrange on the platter with extra lemon halves and extra pesto in a little dish. Or drizzled over. And the bones! There's always at least one gnawer at our house.

Light some candles, put Pink Martini on Pandora, and relax. It's summer!