Did you hear the one about Martha Stewart…..

The internet makes this is a great time to cook.  There are more recipes available at the touch of a keyboard than I will ever have need of in my lifetime.  I own well over 100 cookbooks (a new cookbook is, and will always be, one of my favorite gifts to receive), but more and more I rely on looking up recipes online.  It is so easy to type in a few keywords and get hundreds of choices.

I tend to look at recipes based on the chefs from TV.  I love, love, love Maria Batali (one of my most memorable eating experiences was at Babbo in NYC) but I find his recipes a little complicated or use ingredients that I don’t often use.  Paula Deen is a favorite, but her way of cooking is my way of cooking - there isn’t much difference in the regional cooking of the south and of Appalachia and the Midwest – my cooking roots.

When I want to cook seriously I crack open Julia Child and when I want to frustrate myself I look to Martha Stewart.  It’s not that I don’t appreciate her skills, but she seems to assume that we all have endless time and money to achieve success.

So it was with a little apprehension that I decided to make a Martha Stewart punch recipe for a Desert Stream BBQ we were having at our house.  After all, its punch, how hard can it be?  In truth, it wasn’t very hard, everyone liked it, and the punch was empty.  In this case, it wasn’t Martha that was the problem, it was me. 

I decided that the thing this punch needed was an ice ring.  It was a very hot day in Kansas City, I knew the punch would need a lot of ice and I didn’t want to water down the punch.  Martha recommended filling ice cube trays with punch, but for once, I thought I could out do Martha.

So I made the punch, but with quite a few modifications:

Strawberry Punch a la Martha

·         4 cups water

·         3 cups sugar

·         6 cups coarsely chopped strawberries

·         2 cups coarsely chopped pineapple

·         1 cup pineapple juice

·         1 cup orange juice

·         1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

·         2 quarts seltzer water

Instructions

1. Make simple syrup: Combine the water and sugar in a large saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside until syrup is completely cool.

2. Transfer syrup to a large container. Add strawberries, pineapple, pineapple juice, orange juice, and lemon juice; gently stir to combine. Fill two ice-cube trays with punch, and place in freezer. Place remaining punch in refrigerator to chill.

3. When ready to serve, remove punch from refrigerator; add the seltzer water and frozen-punch ice cubes. Serve in a large bowl or individual glasses.

My changes:   I used canned pineapple – I know that Martha always goes fresh and I usually do as well, but cutting up a whole pineapple for just two cups seemed a little bit too much for me.

I didn’t want all that fruit floating in my punch, it didn’t seem that pleasing to take a sip and get a piece of strawberry and pineapple.  I decided to take all the fruit and combine with the sugar and water to make strawberry/pineapple simple syrup.  I combined the strawberries and pineapple together and mashed them into a thick pulp.  I then added the sugar and water. After it had boiled the 5 minutes and cooled I then poured the whole mixture into a fruit sieve into my punch bowl.  I had thick strawberry/pineapple syrup with no fruit pieces.

After I added the pineapple, orange and lemon juices I poured enough punch to fill a 6-cup Tupperware Jell-O mold to make an ice ring.  THIS WAS MY BIG MISTAKE!  I have a great Jell-O mold but don’t have the lid.  I put the punch in the top shelf of my bottom load freezer.  Of course I cautioned Sam to be really careful if he got ice, but didn’t think to say anything to Andy since he never uses ice.  Did I mention how hot it was that day?  Well, I have a freezer to covered with frozen strawberry syrup to prove Andy does us ice on a hot day.

The worst part – you really couldn’t even see the ice ring – it was too heavy and sank to the bottom.

So score one for me – I think the punch was much better by making the simple syrup with the strawberries and pineapple.

Score one for Martha – filling the ice trays with the punch would have worked just as well and saved me a couple of hours cleaning my freezer.

The moral of this for me is not to make an ice ring until I find the lid to my Jell-O mold!  But this would be a great punch for the 4^th of July – it’s very refreshing on a hot day and goes with BBQ.

Atticus Finch – Life with a good, caring man

This past Sunday we celebrated Father’s Day.  It is a much easier holiday now that the kids are grown, they take care of blessing their dad and I just take care of the meal!

 Of course I supplied the punch.  It was champagne Sangria that was a little dangerous – it tastes like fruit juice with no alcohol – so be careful and not serve this punch with any kids around!

Father’s Day got me thinking about how dads are often portrayed in films.  They can range from cruel – Robert Duvall as Bull Meechum in  The Great Santini to overly indulgent – Spencer Tracy as Stanley Banks in Father of the Bride to ineffectual but funny – Chevy Chase as Chuck Griswold in the National Lampoon Vacation films.  But real dads are more complex than that.  I loved William Powell in Life with Father, Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs Kramer, Melvyn Douglas is brilliant in I Never Sang for My Father, but if I had to go with one dad who most reminds me of the kind of dad Andy (my husband) has tried to be its Atticus Finch.

To Kill Mockingbird is one of those novels and movies that moved me at a heart level like few others.  Scout’s dad, Atticus Finch embodies so much of the good of the masculine.  He is caring, strong and committed to his beliefs even in the face of threats.  But he is also a caring father to Jem and Scout, taking time to listen, making time for them even in the midst of his busy vocation. 

Greg's graduation from Mizzou law school
(from left - Nick, Andy, Greg, Sam, me, Katie)

I feel like Andy has tried to be that kind of dad and has succeeded more often than not.  He’s far from a perfect dad, but is always caring for our kids, has always had a high vision of who they are as men and a woman of God.  He has parented them by the standard of the One who loves them more than we do, not by the standards of today’s world.   We have both failed at times in our parenting and I know many things we could have done better.  But Andy has always tried to understand how the kids were feeling and the pressures they were under.  He did that much better than I did.  I am more of the “why would you do that, I didn’t so that” school. 

Atticus tells Scout, “…You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it".  That is one of the reasons I think my kids were blessed to have a dad like Andy, he has always tried to see things from what they were dealing with at any given time.  While that didn’t necessarily decide how responded it gave him a compassion and grace that I had a harder time giving to them! 

Now what does this have to do with punch! Very little except I wanted to make a special punch to toast Andy and what is more special than champagne?  So next time you have a special someone to toast, consider this punch.

Champagne Sangria Punch

·         1 (750-ml) bottle Prosecco or French Champagne, chilled

·         1/2 cup orange juice

·         ½ - 1  cup Mint Simple Syrup, recipe follows

·         1 lemon, zested and thinly sliced

·         1 lime, zested and thinly sliced

·         1/2 cup sliced strawberries

·         5 fresh mint sprigs

·         Crushed ice

·         1 cups sugar

·         1 cup water

·         ½  cup packed fresh mint leaves

Instructions

·         In a large pitcher, combine the Prosecco, orange juice, Mint Simple Syrup to taste (start with a ½ cup add more is needed), lemon zest, and lime zest. Add the sliced strawberries, lemon slices, lime slices, and mint sprigs.

·         Fill glasses with crushed ice and pour the sangria over the top. Serve immediately.

·         Mint Simple Syrup - In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and mint over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool for 20 minutes. Strain before using.

Punch: The stuff that dreams are made of…

I love movies and I love books about movies and movie stars.  I still think that MGM is great.  I love the grittiness of RKO movies; even the films that weren’t film noir have an aura of the genre to them.  I just finished the definitive biography on Spencer Tracy, am reading a new book on Barbara Stanwyck, in between those I also read a bio on Humphrey Bogart. 

Bogie is in many of my favorite movies, High Sierra, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, Caine Mutiny, Sabrina to name just a few of the ones I love the most.  But my most favorite of all is The Maltese Falcon. Bogart is wonderful; Mary Astor is great as Brigid O’Shaughnessey.  Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo and Sydney Greenstreet as  Kasper Gutman immediately become part of our cultural history.

Besides Bogart the main reason I love Maltese Falcon is that it is based on Dashiell Hammett’s book of the same name.  Hammett, to me, wrote the kind of mystery novels that really serve as the morality tales of our generation.  Many authors have done it, Raymond Chandler, Robert Parker, Robert Crais, Ross Macdonald and Michael Connelly are a few who come to mind.  But did anyone do it better than Hammett – I think not. 

Sam Spade is faced with choosing good over evil at every turn in The Maltese Falcon.  From Miles Archer’s murder in the beginning to deciding if he should let Brigid go free or turn her into the police, Spade shows the cost of choosing the right thing without losing the hard-edge of a private eye we've come to love.

Bogart, Hammett and Sam Spade, what do they have to do with punch?  Not much, except for the fact that Bogart and Hammett (and by inference Sam Spade) found way to much solace in alcohol.  So in tribute to Bogie I decided to try and make a punch that he and a relatively modest drinker like me would both enjoy.

I came up with Sangria with a fair amount of liquor for Bogie and a fair amount of fruit for me.

Rose Sangria Punch

·         2 bottles Rose Wine

·         1 cup brandy

·         ½ cup Orange Liqueur (i.e. Grand Mariner)

·         1/3 cup sugar

·         1 each of the following: peach, plum, apricot, lemon, lime (sliced thinly)

·         1 pint raspberries

·         1 liter bottle of Ginger Ale

In a punch bowl combine the wine, brandy, liqueur and sugar, stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the fruit all at one. Cover and let sit for at least one hour or up to four hours. Right before serving add the ginger ale, stir and serve in cups filled with ice.

The night I made the punch I had my daughter-in-law Meg and her mom, Jenny, over for dinner.  I served steak and chicken fajitas, Chipotle rice, tortillas and all the “fixins” with triple brownies for dessert.

The punch was delightful; the fruit flavored the wine but didn’t make it sweet, the carbonation of the ginger ale added lightness without watering it down.   I think you could serve this with either beef or chicken (as I did).  The rose is a perfect wine for this kind of sangria, I think white wine would have been overpowered by the brandy and fruit, red wine is too heavy for this kind of dinner and this time of year.

I was tempted to raise a glass with “Here’s looking at you kid” but wrong movie so I just tipped my imaginary hat to Sam Spade and had a wonderful evening with family.

And remember, we will always have "punch".

What a difference an “s” makes.

Having taken off time during the last few weeks from making punch I made it up for it last week with two different punch dinners, one of which I am writing about today. 

I want to make some of the ‘classic’ punches over the next few months, but that poses two problems for me.  First, so many of the old recipes contain almost nothing but alcohol – and I’m not much of a consumer of spirits.  After one cup of most of these mixtures I would put a new meaning to being “punch-drunk”.

Secondly, Andy would probably prefer we not declare bankruptcy during my punch journey and most of the liqueurs are very expensive and a little exotic.  The one benefit of this though is my new found relationships with the salespeople at Lucas Liquor.  So I guess there is good to be found in almost any situation!

What am I to do!  Well, I found a recipe that is a classic and very old (1862) that contains only two different types of alcohol.  I was somewhat excited but hesitant because of the name: Sauterne Cup.  To me sauterne is a sweet almost syrupy wine. The second “spirit” is maraschino liqueur – ick.  I was thinking I could just buy some cherry cough syrup add some sparkling water and be done with it.

But I decided to go ahead and make it so off I went to Lukas Liquors.  As I read the recipe again I noticed that the punch Sauterne Cup called for sauternes wine (notice the “s” at the end of the wine).

That “s” makes all the difference!

Sauterne is a really sweet, American semi-generic wine named after, but purposely misspelled, French sauternes.  French sauternes are a sweet wine, but with a nice acidic taste also – there sweetness is due to noble rot – the only rot good for wine!  Noble rot causes the grapes to partially “raisinize” giving them their distinctive flavor.  It is a little pricey for a punch (@$35-$40) for a 750-ml bottle, but, perfect for two, you can also get 375-ml bottles.

Maraschino liqueur is also really different than I thought (and also very pricey).  It is made, mainly, from Italian cherries and their pits.  It is a clear liquid, with a bittersweet taste with a hint of almonds.

The punch was delightful – the description of the recipe said it was perfect for a spring or summer evening.  Indeed it was!  We veered from the traditional red meat, red wine rule.  We paired our Sauterne Cup with grilled rib eye steaks, baked sweet potatoes, green salad and corn meal muffins.   The whole dinner, start to finish was great.

I would recommend this as a fresh change of pace from a glass of wine with dinner; the lightness also was a perfect accompaniment to an outdoor dinner.

Sauterne Cup - from Jerry Thomas’ Bartender Guide: How to Mix Drinks (1862)

• 1 750ml bottle Sauternes
• ½ cup simple syrup
• ½ cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
• 1 Tablespoon Maraschino liqueur (you can substitute cherry wine, sherry schnapps if desired)
• 1 Quart Seltzer Water
• Fresh Mint sprigs or lemon slices for garnish

1. In a large pitcher combine the Sauternes, simple syrup, lemon juice and Maraschino liqueur.
2. Slowly add the seltzer, stirring gently.  Add ice to cups, garnish with lemon or mint, pour and enjoy!

Andy and I really enjoyed it – him surprisingly so because he is not a fan of sweet beverages.  Hope you like it as well!

Punching up Portlandlandia

After some time away from my punch endeavors – I am back!  The last few weeks were full of activities that were either not punch friendly or while punch would have been fitting there were no means to concoct a beverage.

We just returned from a wonderful week’s vacation, but punch bowls and airplane travel do not mix well.  In the midst of my lack of punch opportunities I received a bevy of texts that were great fun and very blog worthy.

Our good friends, Morgan and Karen, live in Portland, Oregon and a have a close group of friends.  Morgan and Karen decided to have a Punch Bowl Memorial Gathering at their house.  The menu:

·         Fiesta Margarita Punch

·         Lettuce Wraps

·         Quinoa Salad

·         Field Greens with Gorgonzola, Roasted Pecans and Pine Nuts

·         Roasted Yellow and Red Peppers

·         Italian Sausage

·         Grilled Chicken with Jack Stack Seasoning

I am assuming that all the produce was locally grown and that the sausage and chicken came from only the most content, free range pig and chicken they could find. (I believe the pig’s name was Tommy and the chicken was Rosie….)

And I quote: “Yum! Perfect! Need more tequila than 1 ½ cups by the way…”

They also outdid me in making an ice ring, something I have planned on but haven’t done yet.

They have decided to have a monthly summer punch party using my recipes or even better, their recipes that I can try!

To me this is the essence and the beauty of punch - communing together over food and beverage, having fun one ladle at a time.

Thanks, Morgan, Karen, Jenni, Ronn, Linda, Karen and Joe – can’t wait to blog about your next dinner.

Back in the saddle, we enjoyed an amazing summer punch last night – details to come.

In the words of the late Laurie Colwin: “One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends.”