Summer Treat - Fitzgerald Cocktail and Other Refreshing Gin Drinks

My recent posts have featured some of my favorite summer treats, and today I decided to talk about another one.


It's been a little while since I posted a cocktail of the week -- sometimes I just want to drink one of the old standards, or maybe even not have a cocktail. So this week after my cocktail of the week hiatus, I picked one of my favorite summer spirits - Gin.  Especially Bombay Sapphire Gin.

Gin and Tonic is maybe the best, most refreshing, summer drink of all times.  Imagine some British officers in India in their idle times, standing around in a rather fancy officers' lounge with pith helmets under their left arms and drinking cocktails served by guys in turbans. But I digress...  No recipe really required - a couple of ounces of Sapphire gin, about 6 ounces of good quality tonic water, and a big twist of lemon, served over ice. Sitting outside on a shaded back porch with friends on a hot summer day, trying not to imagine guys in pith helmets. 


This week's cocktail of the week is a nice change, though. And it is good enough that Kathy offered that it is probably the best gin drink she has tried. (That does not, however, mean that she now likes gin.)


The Fitzgerald Cocktail was invented by Dale DeGroff, author of The Craft of the Cocktail, my favorite cocktail book.  As you can tell from the linked recipe, it is really just a Gin Sour with a splash of Angostura bitters.  (Also, if you use lime instead of lemon, the Fitzgerald would become a Bennet Cocktail.)


Click on the picture to get a closer look at how pretty the drink is.  You can almost smell that wonderfully refreshing gin / lemon combination.  Enjoy!

Summer Treats - Basil

Basil is one of summer's treats. Whether you grow it in your garden, get it from your friend at work, or buy it at the farmer's market, it is plentiful during those months.  It is very versatile, and  it goes wonderfully with summer's fresh garden tomatoes.  The example that comes immediately to mind is Insalata Caprese, a very simple, very tasty combination of tomato slices, fresh mozarella, basil, olive oil and a little salt and pepper.  This beautiful salad is very appropriately the colors of the Italian flag.


Another of my favorite uses for basil, and one of the most traditional, is Pesto.  I like it in soups, salads, sandwiches, or pasta dishes (maybe a simple lasagna with bechamel and shredded mozzarella), but those are just a few of the many ways it can be used. It would be hard to find a Pesto recipe that didn't give good results -- look in any Italian cookbook and find a recipe and it will be pretty much the same as every other recipe you find.  This Classic Basil Pesto Recipe is one of several I found in my favorite cooking magazine, Fine Cooking. It can be made by hand with a mortar and pestle, as illustrated by my photograph here, or it can be made with a lot less work using a food processor like I really did before putting it into the mortar for the photograph.

I like Basil Pesto in soups, salads, sandwiches, and pasta dishes but those are just a few of the many ways it can be used. The batch here went into a very simple lasagna.  I made it with enough lasagna noodles to make three layers in the baking dish, the basil pesto, shredded fresh mozzarella, and a bechamel with just a touch of nutmeg. There's not really a recipe, but I spread a layer of bechamel in the dish, then put layers of lasagna, pesto, mozarella, and bechamel twice. I finished with a third layer of lasagna covered by bechamel and a sprinkling of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and baked it at 350° until bubbly and browned.

No meat, no tomatoes, no ricotta, although you could put some cooked Italian sausage or chopped drained tomatoes  or both, in the layers and it would be great. 

Kathy and I liked it just fine, though, as shown above, and served with a green salad and a nice pinot noir. (Click on the picture to take a closer look - yum!)

Foodie Dreams

Foodies (like me) and decorators (like Kathy) are always dreaming about improving their surroundings.  Sometimes their dream visions even coincide.  This was such a weekend, and Kathy and I came up with this initial sketch for a farm table / kitchen island. Better place for me to cook, prettier kitchen for Kathy. Plan is to have painted table, and granite top.

Hope the details work out as well as the general idea.  Stay tuned.

Summer Treats - Jim's Gazpacho

One of the best treats of summer is home grown tomatoes.  And if you are lucky enough to have some, then you should certainly try Jim's Summer Gazpacho.


Gazpacho is a perfect summer treat, light and refreshing, but with a substantial flavor.  It is my favorite use of all those home grown summer tomatoes, and the only uses I can think of that can even come close are tomato sandwiches on homemade bread, and Insalata Caprese, a simple combination salad with fresh tomatoes, fresh mozarella slices, basil, a drizzle of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe is my latest take on Gazpacho, but it is very flexible, and you should experiment freely with types of peppers, type of tomato juice, green onions, an addition of a handful of diced homemade white bread with crust removed, julienned basil, diced zucchini, or whatever else strikes you.  And if you want a finer texture process in a food processor.

Gazpacho makes a pretty good meal served with a good loaf of crusty bread, but it can also be part of a light meal of cold shrimp or grilled fish, or some good fish tacos, chicken salad, or another light entree of your choosing.  If you are fortunate enough to live somewhere where lobsters live, a lobster roll would be an outstanding pairing!  And for the kiddies, this Gazpacho would be oh so much better with a grilled cheese sandwich than that nasty Campbell's Tomato Soup, provided that you didn't make it too spicy .