In A Nutshell

Oh yes... you will be stung! And it will feel oh so good..... 2 oz. bourbon 3/4 oz. lemon 3/4 oz. honey syrup (recipe follows) Combine in a cocktail shaker filled with ice; shake for a good 15-20 seconds and serve over ice with a lemon slice or straight up. Makes one small but mighty drink. Honey Syrup: Combine equal parts honey and water in a small pan; heat until honey is dissolved. 

Dainty and pretty but oh so mighty! A beautiful drink for the holidays; I bought some hibiscus flowers in syrup and used that for the garnish. The recipe comes from Martha Stewart magazine- I swapped out the habanero for a fresno pepper because I think the habanero has an overpowering flavor. I love the very light, almost indistinguishable heat and balance that the fresno pepper brings to the cocktail. Fresno-Hibiscus Syrup: 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 oz. dried hibiscus flowers 1 fresno pepper, sliced down the middle and seeded Combine all the above ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil; lower heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Let steep for 10 minutes and then strain into a jar. Chill in the refrigerator until cold. Syrup keeps for a month in the fridge. Pisco Hibiscus Sour: 6 oz. pisco 2 oz. fresno-hibiscus syrup 2 oz. fresh lime juice 1 egg white Cranberry bitters Put all the ingredients except the bitters into a shaker with NO ice; dry sh...

Remember the  apple and pear galettes  from the previous post? This is a way to use those cores for a gorgeously infused bourbon cocktail. I made sours but you can do an old-fashioned or on the rocks. Infused bourbon : Peel from half a grapefruit Peel from 1 lemon 1 pear core 1 apple core 375 ml of bourbon or whiskey Combine all ingredients in a jar and let steep for one to two days. Strain through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a clean jar. For the cocktail:  2 oz. infused bourbon 3/4 oz. lemon juice 1/2 oz. simple syrup Shake in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and strain into an ice-filled glass. Garnish with a grapefruit peel.

Adapted from Food & Wine; you could add a bit of ginger, cardamom or some dried cherries to the filling if you wanted to jazz it up a bit but I loved it with just a touch of cinnamon. It makes one smallish galette or 4 mini galettes. I served these with a bit of  bourbon buttered pecan ice cream  and a cup of coffee. Perfect for autumn! I make the filling only right before I’m ready to form the galettes.  Crust : 1 cup flour 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes 1/4 t salt 2-4 T cold water Process butter, flour and salt in food processor until butter is in small pieces; empty mixture into a large bowl and toss 2 T water with a fork into the crumbs- check to see if it holds together, if not, add more water and dump out dough onto the counter. Divide into 4 pieces and form into disks; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Streusel : (this makes more than you need- just seal it up and stick it in the freezer for when you need it; ...

My nephew Liam made this for our family reunion “tapas” night; I don’t think he had ever made a galette before but he dazzled us with his skills—it was absolutely delicious. The recipe originates from Taste of Home but he subbed in Gruyere cheese for the Pecorino. I have tried numerous different tomato tart recipes this summer but this one and the previously published  tomato tart  are my two favorites. This one in particular because of the simplicity and ease. 1 cup flour 1 t baking powder 1/2 t salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed 1/2 cup sour cream 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved 3 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated In a food processor, pulse the flour, baking powder and salt a couple times to mix. Add the cubes of butter and pulse until this resembles coarse meal. Remove the mixture to a bowl and stir in the sour cream with a fork; gather into a disc and refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 425º; if you have a pizza stone, all the better! ...

As in the country of Georgia...Saveur magazine did a spread on the cuisine of Georgia, which all looked delicious, btw! I’m intrigued to try more of the recipes. The bread is supposed to have an egg on top but I’m not a fan of baked eggs so I left it off. If you want to add an egg, take out the bread at 14 minutes, crack the egg on top and bake an additional 4 minutes. 1 t instant yeast 1 T olive oil 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 t kosher salt 2 cups shredded Muenster cheese (I used Fontina- you can use any flavorful cheese) 1 cup crumbled feta cheese Combine yeast and flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 1/2- 2/3 cup warm water along with the oil and mix with the dough hook until combined. Add the salt and knead on medium speed for about 4 or 5 minutes. Put the dough into a greased bowl and let rise until doubled and poofy. Meanwhile heat the oven to 500º (preferably with a pizza stone in there) for about an hour before baking. Divide the dough in half and roll ou...

Indescribably good! I had this flavor at an ice cream shop called La Michoacana; they have the most amazing ice cream and paletas. It’s really a sight to see! I have tried to duplicate their Three Marias and Rice Pudding ice cream flavors with varying success but I think I nailed this one. I like to use the Jenny’s ice cream recipe (with a few changes) as my base and then tinker with it for flavors such as this. 2 cups whole milk 1 1/4 cups heavy cream 1 T plus 1 t cornstarch 3 T cream cheese (room temp.- 1 1/2 oz.) 6 1/2 oz. (half the 13 oz. container) Nutella 1/2 c sugar 2 T light corn syrup 1 t vanilla paste 5 chopped Ferrer-Rocher 1 1/2 T vodka Mix around 2 T of the milk with the cornstarch in a separate bowl and set aside. Whisk the cream cheese with the Nutella in a metal bowl and fill a larger metal bowl with ice and water.  Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup and vanilla in a heavy saucepan; bring to a rolling boil, w...