Basil Lavender Lemonade

When I was planning the menu at our wedding several years ago, I had considered serving a basil lemonade (spiked with vodka) as part of the cocktail hour, but I had reconsidered because I thought it might be too out there, too unusual for too many of my guests. I would not have had the time to coax friends and families into trying something different so we opted for the standard open bar with an assortment of bottled booze and mixed bevvies.

Since I am still on maternity leave and my son is now enjoying the splendid beauty of regular afternoon naps, I decided to make a pitcher of lemonade to accompany my afternoon of lounging on my back porch reading The Lovely Bones. (On another topic - Have you read it? It may be hot outside, but I feel nothing but chills when Susie talks about Mr. Harvey. It's gripping. Haven't seen the movie, but I think casting Stanley Tucci was a stroke of genius. He is Mr. Harvey.)

An abundance of basil and lavender in my garden this year made sense as a flavour accent to summer's perfect refreshment.

In fact, I may have said this before but lavender is one of my favourite summer time scents... It reminds me of Provence and of a wondrous lavender garden I stumbled upon outside of Kobe, Japan many years ago. Its scent is distinctive and unmistakable. Lavender's mild floral notes acts as a nice counterpoint to the fresh aroma of sun kissed basil and the juicy tartness of the lemon.



Of course, then there is basil. I can't get enough of it. In the summer when our basil is growing faster than we can eat it, we throw it on top of our salads (regular and caprese), sandwiches, pasta, eggs.... It's such a versatile and easy to grow herb. Even if you start it from seed.

To avoid doing time in the kitchen these days, I decided to make a "sun tea." I figure with the heat on the sun pressing itself upon us, I may as well harness its energy for some good...(aside from my ever blossoming container garden - updates to come in the upcoming weeks!)

Sun tea is a gentle way to infuse your summer fresh herbs into a highly delicious, drink-able form. Of course, it means taking the slow road because this brewing method requires alot of time - about six hours worth. But it's rather simple. Throw the lavender in a jar. Add some water. Set the jar out in the sun and set aside while the sun's warm rays gently brew your tea. Strain and add to the lemonade. (The detailed instructions are below)



Oh and if the cucumber garnish seems unusual to you. Please. Trust me. It's excellent.


Basil Lavender Lemonade


2 tbsp dried lavender flowers
half liter water

1 c white sugar
1 c water
1 c lemon juice
handful basil (approximately 1 cup of loose leaves)

1 lemon
1 seedless cucumber (approximately 4 inches worth)

sprigs of basil for garnish
Makes approximately 3 1/2 liters.

1. Fill a half liter jar (or larger) with approximately half liter of water and lavender. Set out in the warm sun for at least 6 hours. (If not making sun tea, use hot water and seep for twenty minutes.) Strain lavender flowers from liquid. Do not press additional liquid from flowers as you may release bitter flavour from the tea.
2. Meanwhile, make a simple syrup by adding equal parts sugar and water. Once the sugar crystals have dissolved, add basil. Stir. Allow syrup to cool to room temperature. Strain out basil leaves and add lavender liquid.
3. Slice lemon cross-wise and cucumbers into medium thick discs. Add lemon juice to a large pitcher, then add cooled simple syrup.
4. Stir well. Pour into glasses, adding a couple of lemon & cucumber slices. Garnish with a sprig of basil. Enjoy. (With or without a splash of vodka.)

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Dessert to End a Bad Day: Raspberry & Blackberry Pudding

Our weekend started with a small disaster. We had the heaviest and hardest rainfall since we bought our house in 2007 and the deluge of rain and hail that pelted our little home resulted in a sheet of water running down one of our walls. All before 10am. No, it was not an auspicious start to our day. However, the damage appears to be minimal and once we got that cleaned up, I was intent on shaking off that memory with something decidedly a little more upbeat. And what is more upbeat than a lemon-based dessert?

I had been craving lemon squares lately but when we saw luscious shiny blackberries and juicy red raspberries at our green grocer, I had to re-think dessert. If anything was going to brighten our mood today, this dessert had to be it. This dessert absolutely fit the bill.... it was gooey, satisfying, and luscious but also fresh and easy on the calories (for once!) since it's not laden down with delicious cream or butter. (I love my high-fat dairy, but sometimes it's nice to take a break from the calories.)

The dessert is a cross between an angel food cake and custard. The egg whites bake nicely into a tall, light as a feather cake and underneath is a molten, clean tasting, lemony custard. The addition of the fresh fruit lightens this dessert and really makes you feel like it's almost summer. It really is a dessert to end a bad day.



This isn't a pudding the way North Americans tend to think of puddings: creamy, smooth, and rich. This pudd is more in the English-style. Slightly cakey, a little bit custardy but just as satisfying as its North American counterpart.


Raspberry & Blackberry Pudding



3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
Pinch salt
1 lemon (zested and juiced)
1 tbsp butter, melted
3/4 cup milk

1/2 pint raspberries & blackberries, each

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 4 1-cup ramekins. Place a mixture of berries in each ramekin so that the bottom of the ramekin is covered. Save leftover berries for garnish.
2. Beat egg whites in a large bowl until white peaks form.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix flour, sugar, and salt. Whisk in lemon zest, lemon juice, melted butter, and milk. Whisk in egg yolks until smooth and creamy. Gently fold whipped whites into lemon mixture. Pour into each ramekin.
4. Place the ramekins in a shallow baking dish. Open oven and pull out bottom rack. Place the dish with the baking tray in the center of the rack. Carefully pour hot water (tap is okay) until the water reaches about 1 inch up the sides of the inner baking dish. Bake until top is lightly browned, approximately 20-25 minutes. (If you decide to use one large baking dish, it should take about 30-40 minutes.)
5. Garnish with leftover berries.

I think this tastes best coming straight out of the oven. If you are serving this to guests, I would not whip the egg whites. I'd keep the egg whites and the prepared batter in the fridge until you're ready to go. Then preheat the oven, and whip the egg whites. Mix with batter and portion into ramekins. Bake per instructions.
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De-Mystifying Risotto

Note: What To Do With... will return next week

Risotto. If there is a word that strikes fear in the hearts of most accomplished home cooks, it would be this word (okay, maybe also, souffle. But that's for another day.)

Who could imagine that little humble arborio rice and ladles of broth could cause so much fright. Forget teetering bain maries over a hot oven rack, jarring fiddly home-made jams, or squeezing unctuous duck confits into mason jars, risotto is what scares me. What is it that makes risotto so fearsome? If you think about it, risotto is really a simple food. Rice and hot broth stirred together lovingly with the dedication of a doting parent until it is rendered al dente with each grain still fully defined but contradictorily, swathed in it's own carbo-rich creaminess.

But I think I can explain my fear...

I grew up eating steamed white rice. Like any good Chinese mom worth her salt, my mother taught me on how to cook perfectly steamed rice. Too much water and it's mushy and gummy. Too little and it's hard and chalky. Steamed rice is fully cooked and while each grain is fully defined, they cling longingly to each other. Making steamed rice is an easy process: measure out rice, wash it until the water runs clear and add the right amount of water (Knuckle-method* or generally a proportion of 1 c rice to 2 c water.) and as Ron Popeil says, "Set it and forget it!" The rice cooker performs white rice magic.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Chinese also have congee (or jook) which is a silky, creamy brothy rice "soup." This is also easy. Measure rice, wash until clear and this time, LOTS of water (about 6 c water to 1 c rice) and slowly simmer for an hour or so. But neither of these two things are risotto's equivalent. So I had resigned myself to enjoying risotto, but only in a restaurant. Recently it dawned on me that my fear of risotto was irrational. Be afraid of baking Montreal-style bagels or making nougat (what exactly is the soft ball stage, anyway?) but not risotto.

With a couple of things to keep in mind, anyone can make a luxurious creamy risotto. The reason risotto was a "restaurant" only meal for me, was largely in part to the commitment to stirring. You can't set it on the stove, and peel onions while it cooks. Oh no, risotto demands your attention, in fact, a full twenty minutes of stirring. Yes, it's labour intensive. You have to be faithful to the task. But don't mistake labour intensive for difficult. They are not the same and in the case of risotto, it was never more true.

This Italian rice dish is one of the easiest things to make provided that you consider some principles for making the perfect risotto:

Patience: risotto needs your attention and you cannot rush the process, you will need to stir constantly to extract the creamy consistency from the rice
Top quality ingredients: Your risotto is only as good as your ingredients. Use a flavourful stock, Arborio rice, the highest quality ingredients you can afford. This is a treat.
Hot stock: a barely simmering pot of stock should sit beside your risotto pot
One ladleful at a time: don’t be tempted to rush the process by pouring a large amount of stock into your risotto, use modest amounts.
Full absorption: Again, this addresses patience, once you add the stock, slowly stir to incorporate. Wait until the stock is absorbed before adding more.

If you follow these principles, you should have a creamy and perfect risotto every time. I promise.

This risotto is fantastic. It is creamy and richly flavoured and the hint of lemon brightens this dish. Admittedly, when we make this risotto, it is a 2 person job. One of us stirs while the other makes the scallops.

Vegetarian version: try making this risotto and top with these flavourful simmered mushrooms

Lemon Chive Risotto with Seared Scallops
Serves 4 (as a main) or 8 (as an appetizer)



2 c Arborio rice
1.5 to 1.75 liters of simmering chicken broth
2 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
¼ tsp salt

1 ½ preserved lemons, seeds removed and finely diced**
approximately 3-4 tbsp finely snipped chives
1 tbsp crème fraiche

Scallops
8 large sea scallops (or 16 smaller scallops)
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil

1. On a paper towel, dry sea scallops. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat a medium size pot. Add butter and toss in garlic. Stir. Do not allow the garlic to brown. Turn down heat if necessary. Add Arborio rice. Stir until the rice is coated and glossy.
3. Add chicken stock 1/2c at a time. Stir constantly. When the liquid is absorbed, add another 1/2c. Do not rush this process. It should take approximately 20 minutes. The rice is ready when the rice is creamy and soft but each grain intact. Each grain of rice should have a starchy center.
4. Meanwhile, heat a frypan. Add butter and olive oil. Once it starts to smoke, add scallops. The scallops should sizzle and develop a rich dark brown crust. Within a minute, turn each scallop over and turn off heat. (Do not over cook scallops.)
5. Remove risotto from heat, stir in crème fraiche and chives.
6. Serve risotto with scallops on top.

*Knuckle-method for cooking rice in a rice cooker - once you have rinsed out the rice. Add enough water, so that your middle knuckle rises out of the water while all other knuckles are submerged. Chef Ming Tsai calls this the Mount Fuji method, for obvious reasons.

**If you don’t have preserved lemon, I would stir in the zest of 1 or 2 lemons and a little squeeze of lemon juice just as you add the crème fraiche and chives.

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Good Dinner Guests Bring Dessert – Part Two: Lemon Squares

There is something inherently comforting about old school desserts like brownies, chocolate chip cookies and lemon squares. For me, they evoke a time when our sweet cravings were satisfied by something simple, and more Betty Crocker like before we ate molten chocolate cakes, brules, and other seemingly fancier desserts.

Truth be told, I don’t really have a sweet tooth. I prefer a crusty baguette with a really nice butter to something sweet or chocolatey. But when I crave something sweet, this is what I crave. We have a bakery down the street that sells these humble little bars drizzled with white chocolate. Unfortunately, these bars rarely scratch the itch for me. There is not enough lemon curd and not nearly enough lemon flavour. While this bakery makes a mean mincemeat pie at Christmas, I have to turn to my own kitchen for a proper lemon square.

This is also one of my stand-by desserts to bring to a casual dinner party.

They are homey and unfussy but well plated, they look fancy enough for the occasion. I bring my shaker of icing sugar for plating and some fruit (I like blackberries) and you have dessert.

(This is also a great way to get rid of the three egg yolks if you made this.)

Lemon Squares

1 cup flour less 2 tbsp
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cornmeal or crushed pistachios
4 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 whole egg
3 egg yolk
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 tbsp 35% cream
juice of 1 large lemon*
Zest from 1 large lemon
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 F and butter and line the bottom of a 8 x 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper
Combine flour, salt, cornmeal (crushed pistachios) and icing sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the dough is crumbly
Press dough into pan, trying to ensure the crust is even throughout. Bake crust for about 18 minutes until the edges look golden. Set crust aside to cool
Whisk the together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, cream, juice, zest and baking powder until smooth. Carefully pour the filling into the cooled crust
Bake for approximately 25 minutes until set (the top will be slightly golden - do not overcook)
Cool at room temperature then chill in the fridge
Cut into squares and dust with icing sugar

*I have also made this recipe using limes (needs about 3 limes)

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What To Do With.... Moroccan Preserved Lemons

Happy new year! I don’t know about you, but I think I misspent some of my Christmas vacation. To start, I ate way too much, I watched a Tori & Dean: In Love Season 2 marathon (oddly addictive) and then, feeling pangs of guilt, I rushed to a crowded gym this week sweating out the sins of the last two weeks. Good bye, chocolate truffle cake! Adios, Tori & Dean! So long, foie gras! Hello, spinning class!

The new year is an appropriate time to make a brand new start, to wipe the slate clean and to do things a little differently this year, so I hope you don’t mind if I share my resolutions with you this year.

Exercise regularly. Say four times a week would be great. Five is even better.
Be organized so I can pack a lunch at least four times a week. When I pack my own lunch, I make better choices about my diet than when I am a slave to my growling belly.
Reduce stress by putting things in perspective. I don’t need to be at the beck and call of every urgent email or phone call. It’s about prioritizing what’s important and having the fortitude to say, “no.” (Sounds oddly easy, but I find this hard.)
Making time for friends and family. (This is a no-brainer.)

Here’s hoping that we all keep the resolutions that help us become more fulfilled and happier people. Cheers.

Now onto business…

I have a rather large jar of preserved lemons taking up space in fridge right now. I have used exactly two tiny lemons and I suspect there are approximately another twelve or thirteen to go. Without focused intervention, this jar will languish in my fridge for years.

Apparently, preserved lemons, in the Moroccan style, are very easy to make. I googled it and found loads of really easy recipes. But they require 30 days of undisturbed brining time. If you can put lemons in a jar, you can make preserved lemons. Who knew! (I didn’t have the foresight to make these little darlings; I bought them at St. Lawrence Market.)

Preserved lemons are wonderful. They are mouth-puckering tart with a deliciously salty bite and our jar, in particular, a faint hint of heat from the red hot chili pepper wedged between lemons. Pickling turned the entire fruit into an edible delight, skins and all.

I had been meaning to buy preserved lemons ever since I first saw them at the Jean Talon Market in Montreal. (If you have never been, do go to the market! It’s a sight especially at the peak of the season.) Preserved lemons are a Moroccan staple and they may be discovered in the middle-eastern spice/grocery stores sometimes in massive apothecary jars bathing in a very salty brine. I have always given them a pass because I never felt inspired enough to buy them (as in, “I must buy this now!” inspired.)

But then inspiration struck while I browsed the food section at Williams-Sonoma last week. I was minding my own business when I a gleaming glass jar caught my attention: Artichoke and Lemon Sauce for pasta. Well... The jar was a bit spendy for my budget, but I decided that this could easily be made at home. I chopped up the preserved lemon and the pasta dish turned out quite well. Now, I have a nearly full jar of preserved lemons. So here is what to do with… Preserved lemons.

Artichoke & Preserved Lemon Linguine
1 can artichoke hearts (not marinated)
1 lb linguine
1 small preserved lemon – finely diced
1 small red onion – finely diced
juice from 1 lemon
1 c white wine (I used a Riesling but you could also use vegetable broth)
1 tsp celery salt
1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter

Cook pasta according to package instructions.
Melt butter in a large saucepan, add onions and cook until onions until they soften.
Add can of artichokes hearts, breaking up some of the hearts with a wooden spoon, but leaving it rather chunky. Add white wine, lemon juice, Old Bay, celery salt and preserved lemon. Cook until sauce thickens.
Drain pasta well and pour into a large bowl. (Reserving a cup of pasta water to loosen the pasta.) Pour artichoke mixture of the pasta and toss. Aim for evenly coated noodles and loosen with reserved pasta water as necessary. (Be judicious here, you probably won’t need it all!) Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

1 Minute Avocado & Tomato Salad
Add 4 quartered compari tomatoes with ½ small avocado that has been diced, and about a teaspoon of chopped preserved lemon. Toss and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.


Couscous
Toss hot couscous with chopped preserved lemon, and toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley.

Caper and Preserved Lemon Relish
One part chopped preserved lemon, one part capers, a squeeze of lemon juice and a splash of olive oil. Serve over broiled fish or chicken.

As an add-in to:
Chickpea Stew
Chicken and Olive Tagine
Beef meatballs (kofte)

As a substitute for lemon and lemon zest:
Pistou
Honey and lemon martini (oh yum)
On top of yogurt and blueberries (with a drizzle of maple syrup)