Orange Sparklers and a Giveaway

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Kathy

So, I’m just going to say it – I love Freixenet – I have loved them since this past summer when I tried it in cocktails and then, later, when I made my own cocktails with it. So it’s no surprise to anyone that when Freixenet emailed me asking if I wanted to give you, my lovely-wonderful-enthusiastic-awesome readers, a little Freixenet Friday (FF) holiday pack I gave them a resounding yes. When I suggested that I pair the little FF holiday pack with my self created cocktails – they were for it! So here goes.

A couple Sundays ago one of my dearest friends came over to help trim the tree and in general get into the holiday spirit. Since neither of us is a nog girl, but you can’t trim a tree without a little booze (right?), we grabbed a bottle of Freixenet that was chilling in the fridge and raided the liquor cabinet for additions. There was Grand Marnier sitting there – tempting us to drink it like nothing else. It seemed holiday-esque so we added it to out cava. It was perfect! The fruity, citrus flavor of the Grand Marnier only enhanced the flavors of the cava. To top the drink off I added a little swirl of orange zest (I really need a zester so I can get pretty curls).

We drank the entire bottle in this fashion – while trimming the tree and watching my new kitten get up to many crazy antics, including racing from room to room as though being chased by a murderer. Much giggling was had and fun shared, here’s to hoping simple Freixenet holiday cocktails and trimming the tree with good friends becomes a tradition!

Now the fun bit! Freixenet wants to give one of you a holiday gift pack which includes some very pretty fluted glasses (I’m tempted to enter, I could totes use some sparkling wine glasses) and a social survival guide full of useful tips – like what to bring as a hostess gift, or how to get that spilled wine stain out of your pretty party dress. Seriously, this book is full of handy tips, I have one – it sits on the kitchen shelf by my Emily Post!

So – here’s the deal, because I know you want to win this pretty pack! Go over to Friexenet’s website and tell me which of their cocktails or recipes you want to try this holiday season. That’s it – no facebook, no twitter, just one comment telling me what cocktail you want to try. I think the Poinsettia sounds especially delicious 😉

A Visit with Vianne Chocolates

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Kathy

I love chocolate of all sorts. I will eat chocolate anytime, its familiar and comforting in a nostalgic way. I love that first bite into a handmade chocolate that makes my mouth want to do a jig, or the soothing way chocolate melts at body temperature. I am convinced that chocolate would solve most problems and that nothing else calms most ills. I have been lucky enough to test this theory time and again in all situations and at all times. I love it.

I periodically get the opportunity to eat chocolate like this, decadent dark chocolate with additions that make me swoon and one weekend day I had an opportunity like that. On the afternoon of July 30th I was given the fantastic opportunity to sit down with the totally charming Valerie, owner and chief candy-maker-extrordinaire of Vianne Chocolates. Vianne Chocolates is one of the specialty vendors at last year’s Boston Local Food Festival and then I only briefly met her as I showed her to her booth. As I sat down to interview Valerie she gave me a marvelous linen bag full of goodies!

I immediately fell in love with the sketch on the bag and all of the packaging. Made by a South End artist these little sketches are a fun and creative way for Valerie to show her local love, and does she have local love. This girl hails from the wilds of New York and tries as hard as possible to incorporate local produce, jams, herbs, whatever into her chocolates. From using Kate’s of Maine butter (yay, totally rocking the Maine pride) to using mint she grew herself (!) and sourcing her more obscure spices from Christina’s Spices in Inman Square, Valerie is all about keeping as much as possible local and sustainable!

I also love when companies and businesses choose pet charities that they are passionate about, this is especially true with Vianne and the Pug Bars. These pug bars, aside from being insanely cute, are for a GREAT cause. Of every bar that is sold Valerie donates 25 cents to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, how great is that? So not only does Vianne source as much as possible locally, they support a local charity too! And if saving animals doesn’t lessen the guilt of eating this fantastic chocolate than nothing will. 😉

Now, then onto the best part. Let’s talk about the chocolate. As I sit here eating the beautiful pieces of candy that were to lovingly stashed in my snazzy bag I am abuzz with excitement. My first chocolate is the Strawberry Balsamic (one of Valerie’s favorites), with it’s creamy white chocolate center, rich dark chocolate coating and generous sprinkle of strawberry dust I am in heaven, glowing with the thrill of perfect chocolate that only enhances the flavor of strawberries with each savored bite. Chocolate number two is the Green Fairy, an entirely different chocolate than the strawberry balsamic but still totally swoon worthy and, by far, my favorite. The green fairy is, as the history of it’s name would suggest, an Absinthe spiked truffle that is one of those tongue-dancing-a-jig sort of chocolates. The crisp chocolate shell followed by the spicy and herbal ganache is a totally mesmerizing experience. I could sit here and give you a play by play of all the chocolates that were bestowed on me but instead I will encourage you to come to the Boston Local Food Festival on October 1st and try them yourself. And if you see me around grab me a green fairy 🙂

I wrote this post for the Boston Local Food Festival blog back in the fall, however if you are struggling for a some good Christmas gifts Vianne Chocolates will definitely fit the bill of that person with a sweet tooth.

*All photos in this post are courtesy of www.viannechocolat.com.

Dark and Stormy Cookies

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Kathy

I love a nice spicy ginger beer, something that leaves a lingering heat in the back of my throat. Now pair the spicy ginger beer with a nice dark and spicy rum and a touch of lime and I will be there. A dark and stormy is a perfect drink at pretty much any time of year – in the winter it’s got that kick from the ginger beer warming you from tip to toe and in the summer serve it with a big glass of ice and it’s insanely refreshing. I’ve always been a little bit obsessed with the dark and stormy – maybe it’s because i’m just obsessed with that gingery bite and the warmth of the rum. But I do know that more than anything since that first sip of dark and stormy I’ve wanted it as a cookie – not too sweet an with a nice crunch. Never did I imagine this.

I created these cookies on a whim – they had been germinating in my head for a VERY long time but the timing was never quite right. I couldn’t find the right base recipe or I was out of ginger, there was always something missing. And then, this year I signed up for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap (you can sign up to do it next year here) that Julie and Lindsay organized – a monumental collection of bloggers coming together to pack cookies in boxes and ship them all around the country was a perfect excuse to do what I wanted to do – try recipes and make dark and stormy cookies! So I did what any responsible adult that grew up in a household of cooking will do, I called my mom.

I asked for a recommendation as to what sort of base to make while flipping through my copy of Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook and came across a recipe for Glazed Lemon Cookies – a slice and bake that looked easy enough and that I had all the ingredients for (win). So I threw the recipe out there – what if I used this recipe and swapped out some flavors for others, did Mom think it would work? She said yes and then goodbye in rapid succession (she had to go to the farm for turkey time).

So, without further ado – Dark and Stormy cookies inspired by my tendency to be a bit of a lush and encouraged by a great many people along the way.

Dark and Stormy Cookies
Adapted from the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook recipe for Glazed Lemon cookies and the glaze recipe for Cornmeal-Lime Cookies from Flour by JB Chang.

Cookies:
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs grated Lime zest (about 1 lime)
2-3 Tbs finely minced candied ginger
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
12 Tbs unsalted butter – cut into 1/2 inch cubes and chilled
1 large egg yolk
1 Tbs good ginger beer (Reed’s has a great spice, or Barritt’s if you want to stay classic)
2 Tbs dark spiced rum (I adore Kraken – there’s an octopus on the bottle but it also happens to be awesome)

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tbs rum
1 Tbs ginger beer
Zest of one lime (optional)

In a food processor combine the sugar, zest, and ginger, pulse until the sugar looks a little damp – about 7 pulses, this will be a little bit sticky. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to the sugar mixture, pulse until fully combined – about 10 pulses. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the whole thing looks like fine cornmeal – 15 pulses should do it. In a small bowl mix the egg yolk, ginger beer, and rum together until fully combined, pour this into the food processor, run the processor for another 20-25 secs until the whole mixture starts to come together in a ball. When the dough has come together turn it out onto a parchment lined counter and gently knead whatever loose flour is still a bit loose into the dough. Form the dough into a log 12-14 inches long by 2 inches wide. Wrap this log in parchment paper and stick in the fridge for two hrs or up to two days, on the inverse if you want to cool your cookies quickly you can also stick this log in the freezer for 45 mins – but be careful with this as it can get far too firm if left too long. Once the cookies have firmed up, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and pull the cookies out of the cold place. cut the cookies into 3/8 inch wide rounds and arrange them on 2 baking sheets about an inch apart, they don’t spread if they have firmed up enough in the fridge. Bake the cookies fro 12-16 mins, mine took twelve, rotating the pans halfway through baking so that they are on different shelves of the oven and back to front. When the cookies have golden brown edges and have puffed a bit in the center they are done. Pull them from the oven and allow the to cool completely.

For the glaze mix the confectioner’s sugar, rum, and ginger beer together in a small bowl, the mixture should be quite runny. Line the counter under your cookie racks with parchment paper. Using a pastry brush paint the glaze onto the tops of the cookies, in two layers (the first should pretty much soak right in). While the glaze is still liquid sprinkle lime zest on the tops of the cookies, only do this if you are eating the cookies that day or else the lime gets a bit overpowering. Now go and share these with someone who loves rum and ginger as much (or more so) than yourself. they will say thank you.

Small Plates at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

Posted on December 4, 2011 by jprusik

This post has been brought to you by kathycancook’s very own “BF”, who also sometimes writes in his own blog.

A few weeks back, Kathy was invited to a blogging event at Fleming’s to experience their new small plate menu items. These type of events more-often-than-not fall into the category of “fun, but gastronomically unremarkable” (even more so when the restaurant is a national chain), so I considered passing on this one, but decided to tag along as a plus-one, aiding with pictures and review-related-thinking-activity-things. What I can report back is pleasant surprise. We were treated to a series of dishes, each one vying for my affections by exploiting my different culinary vices. Like children, I could not choose a favorite and had to eat each one multiple times. As such, I’m going to review each dish briefly so as to avoid gross keyboard-unfriendly drooling.

First up on this new lineup is the Filet Mignon Skewers. The skewers were cooked perfectly (rare-medium-rare for-the-win) and was accompanied by “the Sauce”. The Sauce is comprised of two-parts Gorgonzola, one-part bacon, and thirteen-parts jackalope magic. After being the first to taste it, I promptly (and secretly) snuck around the room looking for anything I could dip into it so as to maximize the relocation of whatever Sauce that was present from cold, unfeeling porcelain dishes into my stomach. Assume from this point forward, that all the other dishes I tried were first consumed as they were intended, and then again with gratuitous amounts of the Sauce drizzled all over.

Next came the Sliced Filet Mignon. Let me just re-iterate again here how perfectly this and all the other meat was cooked. My experience has been that most places (including steakhouses) have difficulty hitting that rare-medium-rare sweet-spot – Fleming’s nailed it each and every time (and let’s face it, if you’re eating over-cooked meat, you might as well not bother).

I’m not a huge fan of chops as a finger food, but these lamb chops were delicious and accessible.

Let’s also not forget the seafood offerings. We tried their tempura-breaded lobster, shrimp skewers, Ahi tuna skewers, and scallops. Full disclosure: I am not a seafood fan, save for very few, very specific exceptions. I tried each of these dishes, and was surprised to enjoy each one – they were actually on par with my all-time favorite, steak (which is nearly blasphemy in my book).

We wrapped up with espresso and white chocolate-covered chocolate truffles, which were their own kind of heaven.

I won’t lie, I was surprised by the quality of Fleming’s dishes. While I don’t consider myself a particularly discerning foodie, I recognize the difference between “pretty good” and “fantastic”. If the quality of these dishes are what can be expected at every visit, I’ll be adding Fleming’s to my list of regular places to eat.

Please Note:

We were also treated to red and white variations of wine, though I don’t feel terribly qualified to judge them. I enjoyed them plenty, but wine is one of my regular blind spots. The event was complementary, but as is the norm here at kathycancook, our opinions are our own.