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Food Friends

Greetings, All!  I am away in Idaho this week with my friends from Idaho Potato!  In lieu of posting a new recipe, I wanted to share some awesome recipes from my super talented friends.

I do hope you will check out their recipes, as I happen to think they are pretty great!  Besides being amazing in the kitchen, they are good humans and I am lucky to know them.  I can’t wait to tell you all about Idaho and the fun things happening there right now!  I’m updating and sharing pics on social media every day, so if you want to see what we’re up to, check out my Facebook page,  Instagram account or Twitter feed for the latest shenanigans.

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Caramel Buttered Bourbon

This post is sponsored by Four Roses Bourbon. The content and opinions are mine and not shared by the sponsor.

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It’s Opening Day and what better way to celebrate than with a little bourbon?  Four Roses Bourbon wants to help you celebrate Opening Day with a Bourbon Cocktail and the idea was to incorporate ball park food.  I love a good hot dog as much as the next girl… but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to combine a hot dog and bourbon.

So, I started thinking about what I love about bourbon and it’s the caramelly smokiness that gets me.  An old-fashioned is my drink of choice, so I am *quite* familiar with bourbon.  Ahem.   Which leads me to the question “what do I eat at ball games that I can combine with bourbon?”. Answer: Caramel Corn.   The flavors are already there and I wanted to come up with a drink that would enhance the flavor profile of the bourbon without masking it.

The Girl and I love baseball and lucky for us,  the Grapefruit League is here.  We take road trips all over Florida to watch Spring Training games and now Opening Day is finally here!  Growing up in Ohio, the Cleveland Indians have always been my team.  I know you are only supposed to have ONE favorite team, but I must divulge this bit of info:  I lived in NYC for 17 years, how could I not root for the Mets?  I’ve been to more Mets games in the old stadium than all the other games combined!  (Don’t even talk to me about the Yankees…)   We take it pretty seriously, as you can see.  

On to the recipe!  There are only 2 elements to this libation, making it pretty easy to whip up if you are having a few people over.  You can easily double or triple the simple syrup recipe, put it into a nice little pitcher, set out your bottle of Four Roses and your guests can help themselves!   The Bourbon and the Buttered Caramel Simple Syrup.  That’s it!  (BOOM… Mic Drop)

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Caramel Buttered Bourbon
Serves 2
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Prep Time
2 min
Cook Time
8 min
Total Time
10 min
Prep Time
2 min
Cook Time
8 min
Total Time
10 min
Ingredients
  1. 6 ounces (4 shots) Four Roses Bourbon
  2. 1/2 TB unsalted butter
  3. 1/2 tsp vanilla
  4. 4 TB light brown sugar
  5. 4 TB water
  6. granulated sugar for rim of glass / caramel corn for garnish
Instructions
  1. Combine butter, vanilla, sugar & water in a small sauce pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and let it continue to simmer for 5 - 8 minutes, until sugar has completely dissolved and syrup has thickened just slightly.
  2. Pour 3 ounces (2 shots) of bourbon in a glass and add syrup to taste. Stir to combine. Garnish if desired.
  3. Suggestion: start with 1 tablespoon of syrup, you can always add more to taste.
Notes
  1. A word on ice: I use a muffin tin to make large ice cubes for my drinks. They are the perfect size for the glasses I have and they don't water down the drinks as quickly as smaller cubes.
  2. Because there is a smidge of butter in the syrup- if you add ice, the drink will get a bit cloudy. There's nothing wrong with your drink, it's just the butter getting cold.
Added Bonus
  1. I had some simple syrup left over and I also had leftover ham from Easter... Throw a splash of bourbon into the syrup, and glaze the ham with that magical concoction!
  2. You're Welcome.
Pook's Pantry https://www.pookspantry.com/
#Opening Day @4RosesBourbon

Veggie Cakes

Veg Cake
Cooking for people who don’t particularly care for vegetables can present a challenge.  Do you know anyone like this?   I have a number of clients are who aren’t huge fans of vegetables, so I have to think of ways to make them appealing.  You could pull a tomato off of the vine and hand it to me with dirt on it and I’d eat it without protesting,  but I love vegetables…    …

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Corn Fritters

corn-fritters-for-pp

Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.  As we drive back from the beach, our skin tight from laying in the sun all day, hair still damp from salty ocean water and sand clinging between sunscreen-slicked fingers and toes we pull off the Belt Parkway and drive along Emmons Avenue.  The smell of salt water still fills my head.

Driving along the bay, restaurant after restaurant, across from the fishing boats that take you on day trips is Roll ‘N’ Roaster. 

The place looks like it hasn’t changed a single thing since the day it opened.  I love places like that.  To some they may look tattered and old, but to me there is history in those places… Stories to be told.  Every person I’ve ever talked to about this particular place has stories of going there as a child and the first thing they say is “It looks like it did when I was young”.

 The plastic bench seats, the Formica tabletops, the dangling heat lamps.  All the same. 

There is comfort in that, in things not changing.  So many things in the world change at such a rapid pace we can barely keep up.  You buy a new cell phone and six months later, there is a new, better version of it hitting the market with lines of people wrapped around city blocks camping out to get it.

I like my old things.  They are worn and weathered, but there is history there.  There are memories attached to those old things, those old places.  

Stories of going there with parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles… Maybe that is partly why I loved going there so much.  There was a story with every visit,  it was part of a ritual and it was almost always, after the beach. 

The order, however, never changes:  roast beef sandwich, corn fritters and orangeade. 

corn-fritters-ingredients

Corn Fritters
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Save Recipe
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
35 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
35 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears)
  2. 2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
  3. 1 cup all-purpose flour
  4. 1/2 cup coarse cornmeal
  5. 1 teaspoon salt
  6. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  7. 3/4 - 1 cup buttermilk
  8. 2 large eggs
  9. 1 tablespoon sugar
  10. oil for frying (canola or peanut suggested; roughly 2 quarts, depending on size of pot)
Instructions
  1. In a deep, heavy pot, heat oil to 350 - 360 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, buttermilk and melted butter together. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and whisk to combine.
  3. Stir in corn kernels.
  4. Carefully drop batter into hot oil by the spoonful or using a small cookie scoop. Drop as close to the surface of the oil as possible to avoid a splash. The corn will "pop" a bit causing the oil to spatter, so be careful when turning fritters in the oil.
  5. Let fritters cook until golden brown, turning them every so often so they brown all over. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon (or spider) and set on a plate lined with paper towel to drain excess oil.
  6. Serve immediately, preferably with an ice cold beer and a sweet & spicy dipping sauce.
I made them plain here, but here is a short list of suggested mix-ins
  1. - crumbled bacon
  2. - crab
  3. - bell peppers
  4. - cheese
  5. - lobster
  6. - hot peppers
Pook's Pantry https://www.pookspantry.com/
 corn-fritters-tall

Corn Casserole

 I should be mortified that I’m putting this “recipe” here, but honestly it’s so good I think I get a pass.

 

I dare say this barely qualifies as a recipe.  Anyone with even little to no cooking experience can dump out the contents of a box, mix it together, throw it in an oven and (hopefully) pull it out before it burns;  but let me reiterate- this thing is so yummy it makes up for its ridiculous simplicity and albeit slightly “white-trashiness”.

This alongside a piece of glazed ham is divine.

 
  
 
 

Soup’s On!

While the cooler temperatures are not my cup of tea, the food that comes with them is.  I love soups, stews, braises, roasted dinners, etc.
It is comforting, stick to your ribs kind of food and when the weather is chilly that’s exactly what I want.  Gone are the days of salad for dinner…

One of the benefits of  this type of cooking is that you have leftovers.  This for me is key because along with this time of the year comes my hectic work schedule and being able to come home and heat something up instead of trying to figure out what I’m going to cook is a life-saver.

This particular meal comes together in no time at all as long as all of your prep is done ahead of time.
When I have a few extra minutes, I make sure all of my ingredients are ready to go so that the actual cooking part is a snap.  This is perfect for a weeknight meal when energy is not in abundance.

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