Cucumber-Thai Basil Gin and Tonic

One might think that a gin and tonic is impossible to mess up. And on a level that's true. But a well-made one has a good amount of lime, at least two ounces of gin (no less, maybe a little more) and is topped with tonic (ideally without HFCS or quinine). Like any good cocktail, you don't want any one ingredient overpowering the others, so the proportions are key. This is what's consumed most on the Cape, often as we prepare dinner and watch the sunset over the lake. Now, I don't like to mess with a good thing, but I had this idea of adding a few more ingredients. We had some leftover Thai basil in the fridge and a few cucumbers and I thought that if there were any two ingredients that could possibly make a G+T even more enjoyable to drink, it'd be these. It works beautifully together and, as I suspected, these are very easy to sip on. 

Cucumber Thai Basil Gin and Tonic

Yield
1 drink

Glassware
Highball glass

Tools
Jigger
Muddler

Ingredients
2 oz gin
1 thickly cut slice of cucumber, peeled and chopped into a few pieces
Juice of 1/2 a lime
2 Thai basil leaves, ripped into pieces
Tonic

Thai basil, for garnish

Directions
Pour the lime juice and gin into the highball glass. Add the cucumber and Thai basil and muddle for 30 seconds, until the they've broken up and the cucumber has released juices. 

Fill 3/4 of the way with ice cubes. Fill the remainder of the glass with tonic. Garnish with a bunch of Thai basil.

 

Lemon-Cured Sardine Crostini

One thing I had not planned on doing this week was gutting and filleting a bunch of sardines. Nope... wasn't on my agenda. But yesterday I found myself hovering over the kitchen sink, removing all those fun bits and very carefully running a paring knife through each one. I struggled at first. They're fragile little dudes and because my filleting skills aren't the best, they definitely didn't look pretty. By the end, though, I started to get the hang of it. And, really, that's the hardest part of this recipe (maybe if you ask nicely you can get someone at the fish counter to clean and fillet them for you). The rest of it comes together quickly. Just some seasoning and lemon and then they head for the refrigerator to chill and get their cure on. 

We head off to the Berkshires later this week where we'll be spending time with my parents, sister and her family. It'll be nice to get away for a little bit. I plan to leave my camera at home... as much as I love what I do, a break is needed. Of course, I'll still have my phone with me to capture all the cute things my nieces do and I'm sure there'll be a few posts on Instagram of places Eric and I stop off to eat. 

Lemon-Cured Sardine Crostini with Ricotta and Fennel

Ingredients
8 sardines, cleaned and filleted
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced (white and light green sections only)
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt
Pepper

1 baguette, sliced on a bias and toasted
Whole-milk ricotta
Capers, drained
Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Directions
Place the sardine fillets in a single layer in a glass baking dish. Season with 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Sprinkle with some of the fennel and a few lemon slices. Repeat with remaining sardines, fennel and lemon. Pour the lemon juice over the sardines and cover the baking dish with aluminum foil, making sure to press down so it touches the fish. Weigh down with glass jars and refrigerate for 24 hours. 

To assemble the crostini, spread 1 tablespoon of ricotta on each slice of bread. Top with 1 sardine fillet, fennel, capers and chopped parsley. 

Fresh Peach Daiquiri

Last weekend, Eric and I hosted our first summer barbecue. For many years, we organized a winter gathering somewhere around the end of January or beginning of February and we'd trek out onto our snow-covered porch and fire up the grill.  That became a tradition and we kept it going for a while, until the year we moved and then things fizzled out. We had this weekend blocked off for months because my friend Mandy was having a surprise birthday thrown for her (normally we'd be on the Cape). As soon as we heard about it I said to Eric, "We have to use this as an opportunity to throw a barbecue in our backyard!" And so we did. Friends gathered outside, dining under tents we put up. There was a ton of food (way more than we needed) and homemade rosemary lemonade with bottles of booze next to it so people could add their own. The weather was incredible, which was a nice surprise seeing that the forecast had called for thunderstorms. It was exactly what we'd wanted it to be and we hope to do it again next year. 

I made a lot of the dishes for our party using our new blender that we ordered the other week. It was an impulse buy... on-sale on Amazon for one day and we decided that it was time that we get one. It is amazing the number of things you can do with a blender. I made baba ganoush and hummus and dressings for different salads. I'm not sure how I ever managed without one!

And then there are these fresh peach daiquiris (which were not served at the barbecue... sorry friends!). I blended up some ripe peaches with a little sugar and lemon juice to make a puree. A tablespoon of that added to the shaker with rum (I used some Diplomatico, which paired nicely with the peach), lime juice, and just a touch of agave (if you like it to be a bit more tangy, this can be left out). All of that is shaken with ice and strained to make for one tasty summer cocktail. These are best served on a porch, overlooking a body of water with a warm breeze hitting your face.  That's just my recommendation. 

Fresh Peach Daiquiri

Yield
1 Drink

Glassware
Coup

Ingredients
For the cocktail
3/4 oz. lime juice
2 oz. light or dark rum (I think dark rum holds up better with the peach puree)
1 tablespoon peach puree (see recipe below)
1/2 tsp. agave

Directions
1. In a cocktail shaker, add the lime juice, rum, peach puree and agave. Shake with ice.

2. Strain into chilled coup glass. 

Ingredients
For the peach puree
2 ripe peaches, pitted and diced
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions
1. Add the peaches, sugar and lemon juice to a blender and blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Press through a sieve and strain to remove any pieces.