Summer Fruit Makes Me Feel Fine

As I've gotten older, I've gotten to where I really don't like heat.  I live in a place which is notorious for its summer humidity, so this is a problem.  The more of a spiky old biddy I become, the less and less tolerant I get.  I keep my thermostat set to 70, and I kid you not, when it hits 71 in the house, I'm like, WHY IS IT SO DAMN HOT IN HERE?  Seasonal summer beers are pretty boring, too.  Although that does build the anticipation for the eagerly awaited fall beers.  And the bugs...gah.  The Japanese beetles are terrible this year.  Those assholes are eating my magnolia blooms, and the squash bugs are chowing down in my garden.  Jerks.  So what's still to love about summer when it's 1,000 degrees out and the air is so humid, you nearly have to swim through it when you walk out the door?  Well, the frozen custard place near my house that I adore is open.  (Shout out to Fritz's; I love you guys.)  Our neighborhood pool is open, and I do like to swim.  Many of the most gorgeous plants are in bloom.  (Which is even more awesome when the blooms aren't getting eaten by asshole beetles.)  And then there's summer fruit, arguably the very best thing about eating in the summer.  Berries and stone fruit are a few of my most favorite edible things on Earth, and I love cooking with them.  Alright, summer.  You've redeemed yourself from your doucehbaggery.

During a recent visit to my awesome sister-in-law Leah's house in Arkansas, the blackberries were in resplendent glory.  I was given a sack of them, fresh picked, as a parting gift.  I knew as soon as I got home, I'd better have a plan for them or my daughter, Violet, would graze half of the bag away before I knew it.  While we were there, Leah made baked oatmeal, which she tops with Greek yogurt and fresh fruit, or fruit syrup; in this case she served homemade blackberry syrup.  It makes a splendid breakfast, and it got me in the mood for making some fruit syrup myself.  The best thing about using my precious blackberries in this manner was the versatility.  After all, if you make blackberry cobbler or pie or something like that, you have a great dessert, but when it's gone, it's gone.  If you make syrup, you've got pancake or waffle topping, and ice cream topping.  You can jazz up smoothies, granola and yogurt parfaits, or oatmeal.  You could stir some into lemonade (which I did, omg), or your tea, if you like sweet, fruity tea.  You could process it in a boiling water bath for long term storage, so you have fresh fruit syrup all winter.  And then there is the cocktail potential!  The mind reels from the possibilities!

Not long after I made my blackberry syrup, it was time for my son's first birthday party.  I decided to make homemade ice cream and lay out a make-your-own sundae bar, complete with homemade blackberry, strawberry, and peach syrups.  They were all wonderful, and so fresh tasting.  So feel free to experiment with your own fruit concoctions.  Blueberry, raspberry, or mixed berry would all be delicious.  You can taste it as you're cooking it to make sure it's sweetened to your taste.  I'm also including a few cocktail recipes I came up with using my blackberry syrup for those who feel like getting tipsy with their summer bounty.  Now, excuse me while I haul my sweaty self into the kitchen to finish off the last of the homemade ice cream.

Fresh Blackberry Syrup

6 cups fresh blackberries
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar, to taste
1/2 cup water 
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. low sugar pectin

Add the berries, sugar, water, and lemon juice to a pot and cook until the berries are completely broken down and the mixture is somewhat thickened.  I cooked mine for a good 20 minutes at a gentle simmer to try and reduce it a bit.  Slowly stir in the pectin and bring the mixture a full boil for several minutes, stirring constantly.  Strain the mixture in a fine mesh strainer, pressing out all of the liquid into a heat-proof measuring cup.  You can discard the solids, or, if you can tolerate the seeds, you can do what I did and save it to spread on toast.  YUM.  Cool the syrup, put it in a covered container, and refrigerate until serving.

Lady Leah

Yes, I named a cocktail after my sister-in-law.  I told you, she's awesome.  This makes 1 serving.

2/3 oz. vodka
1 2/3 oz. limoncello
1/3 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 oz. blackberry syrup

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  Shake well and strain into a martini glass.

Summer in Lexington

Again, 1 serving.  FYI, my favorite bourbon for cocktails is Knob Creek.  Not too pricey, good quality, and not too much character.

2 2/3 oz. bourbon
1/3 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 oz. blackberry syrup

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  Shake well and strain into a martini glass.




 

Taco 'Bout Yummy

Picture it: the kitchen table, taco Tuesday, 3 days ago.  Everyone is sick of ground beef and a packet of powdered orange stuff, but the love for tacos is definitely still there.  Because what weirdo doesn't love tacos?  So, what do you do?  You whip out your pressure cooker and throw together a delicious, homemade chicken taco filling, and suddenly you're a freaking superhero.

If there's anything I love more than a delicious, easy recipe, it's a delicious, easy recipe that makes enough for two meals.  This is really good leftover, so I make a fair amount at a time.  The possibilities for how you use it are nearly endless.  Besides the obvious tacos, you could use it as an enchilada filling, or pile it on top of rice and seasoned pinto beans in a bowl.  Heap it on a crusty roll with some cilantro and avocado crema to make a Mexican torta.  Or throw it into a large flour tortilla with some jack cheese, black beans, and corn, fold it in half, and cook it on a griddle for an awesome quesadilla.  There; you've got a menu for the whole week!  You're welcome.

Pressure Cooker Salsa Lime Chicken

If you were really in a hurry, I'm sure you could swap out the spice mixture for a pre-made taco seasoning, but I really like making it from scratch for that undeniable "homemade" taste.  If you want to get tipsy, grab a Dos Equis Amber.

1 Tbs. chili powder

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. dried Mexican oregano

1/4 tsp. onion powder

3 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts

2 Tbs. lime juice

1 (16 oz.) jar of salsa

Mix the first 9 ingredients together and set aside.  Put the chicken, lime juice, salsa, and spice mixture in the pressure cooker.  Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes, then do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes.  Remove the chicken with tongs or a slotted spoon and shred.  Add back as much of the salsa sauce mixture to the chicken as you want.  For tacos, I don't add back much at all because it makes the tacos really messy.  The chicken will still have great flavor.  If I'm making nachos or taco salads and the like, I add a lot of the sauce back.  Serve with whatever taco fixings you want.  Cilantro, sour cream, queso fresco, pico de gallo, and a squeeze of fresh lime are super yummy on soft tacos made from flour or corn tortillas.

 

 

Cheers, Bitches

Welcome to my new blog! 

If you ever read my other blog, Vintage Kitchen, you know my posts became less and less frequent over time.  I set myself too difficult a task with that one because the recipes had to be old and required a lot of tinkering.  They also didn't lend themselves to the kind of cooking I do day to day in order to put food on the table for my family.  Because as much fun as it is to update a recipe for poke cake or nut bread or what have you, I probably should feed my children something more substantial for dinner.  I would love to be able to both update old recipes AND cook real dinners, but ain't nobody got time for that.  Thus, I often found myself coming up with or modifying great recipes and thinking, dang, I wish I could post this on the blog, but it doesn't really fit the theme.  And so here we are.

On this blog I intend to touch on whatever dish (or drink) I've created that I want to share.  I'm becoming more and more enamored every day with my Instant Pot, so get ready for pressure cooker recipes, for sure, along with any number of main dishes, desserts, and (of course) cocktails.  I raise my glass to you, my new readers.  Thanks for joining me.