A couple of weeks ago I got to share with you my favorite recipe from Samin Nosrat’s Salt Fat Acid Heat (link) and this week I want to share my take on several great summer cocktails. These recipes are super easy to follow and many of the fresh ingredients are ones you may have growing in your garden or can purchase locally. The mint at my home is growing in full force and I just adore my phenomenal lavender plant so of course I had to use these in my creations! I chose three delicious and refreshing drinks that are easily customizable. The original recipes are accessible through links below, but the following instructions are my take on these classics. Cheers!
Tangerine Moscow Mule
(adapted from Blood Orange Moscow Mule)
Ingredients
1 meyer lemon cut into 8 wedges
1 mint leaf
2 oz vodka
2 oz tangerine juice
4 oz ginger beer (here is a link to my favorite)
Crushed ice
Instructions
In the cup, muddle together a lemon wedge and the mint leaf to release juice and the mint’s flavor. I find a wooden reamer does the trick! Add the vodka and tangerine juice to the lemon and mint. I love this little bird-shaped juicer. Pour in the ginger beer and stir. Fill the glass with ice and garnish with lemon, mint, or both! Enjoy!
Peach Lavender Sangria
(adapted from Lavender Sangria)
Ingredients
1 750mL bottle of Prosecco
½ cup Altes Fasslager (this is an Austrian fruit brandy)
½ cup triple sec
2 cups of Pellegrino
½ cup lavender simple syrup (you can make this by bringing to a simmer ½ cup sugar, ½ cup water, and 2 tsp dried or fresh lavender and then cooking for 1 minute. Then strain the lavender buds out and let cool)
Fresh sliced peaches
Instructions
Add sliced peaches to the bottom of a pitcher and top with prosecco, brandy, triple sec, lavender syrup, and Pellegrino. Stir and chill. Cheers!
Blackberry Mojito
(adapted from Blueberry Mojito)
Ingredients
1 cup fresh blackberries
4 oz clear rum
10 fresh mint leaves
2 teaspoons sugar
Juice of 2 limes
6 oz Pellegrino
Splash of Blackberry Manischewitz
Ice
Instructions
In a food processor, puree the blackberries. Add mint and sugar to a weck jar. I always use a weck jar instead of a cocktail shaker! Muddle the mint and sugar and add the lime juice, rum, and blackberry puree and shake it up! Pour ice and club soda into glasses and then pour in the blackberry rum mixture. Add a splash of Blackberry Manischewitz and stir. Garnish with blackberries, mint, and lime. Salud!
Photos Courtesy of Gunner Robinson Photography
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far! Whether you are relaxing at the beach, on your way home from vacation, or just trying to make it through this heat, it is time to give your plants some summer love! Following spring and the first chunk of summer weather, I like to call July the “third season”. It’s possible that your plants got fried during these warm days, so it is time to refresh your containers, window boxes, and flower beds. Adding colorstar fertilizer to any new plants will help extend their season. Succulents are also a great option if you don’t have a lot of time for your plants. Other than freezing temperatures, succulents can stay alive almost year-round! Go around and pull out dead or bloomed out plants and see some of my favorites below to add to your containers.
FULL SHADE: This plant needs a little more love and attention but does great on a front porch. Caladiums and Maiden Hair Ferns are just a perfect combination. Now I did not even plant these guys, I literally took them out of the pot and put them into a container with no holes. Both of these plants love water- they are what I like to call water hogs. I give them two cups of water once a week for them to thrive.
FULL SUN: If you follow me you know I just love succulents! They just keep getting prettier and prettier every year to me. Now of course in the south you have to replant them every year (unless you can bring them in every time there is a threat of freeze). But if you are just slap done with watering your containers this summer and you came back from vacation and everything looks fried, just stuff and shove some succulents. They love the full sun and take the dog days of summer.
FULL SHADE: Hydrangeas, tropicals, and any mix of ferns always dresses up any container. If you water your Hydrangeas well they will eventually fade and look antique like in this photo.
FULL SUN: White Mandevilla, succulents, pink Angelonia, and pink Trailing Vinca love the heat and will put on a show for days!
FULL SUN: Boxwood, purple fan flowers, cuban oregano, and diamond frost just love the summer heat and full intense sun.
Since its release in 2017, I hope you have heard of the new revolutionary cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat and its following Netflix series by the same name. Nosrat’s work boils all cooking down to four simple elements: Salt, Fat, Acid, and Heat . Her philosophy is this, anyone can be a great cook if they can learn to master these four elements. While the cookbook contains wonderful recipes, Samin also explains in detail the use of salt, fat, acid, and heat in cooking. Her stories and years of experience helps any reader to not just follow a recipe but to learn how to cook from the ground up. Along with illustrations for New York Times author and illustrator Wendy MacNaughton and forward by Michael Pollan, Samin pours out her heart and expertise to teach anyone how to master their own kitchen.
Growing up with my father as a chef as I talked about in my Father’s Day Blog I had the opportunity to try so many unique recipes and types of food. My dad’s chef friends would invite us to their restaurants and during trips to Austria as a child I was introduced to food from around the globe. Because of this, I love learning new techniques and new ways to cook. After watching the four-part Netflix series featuring Samin and her recipes, I fell in love with her style, love for cooking, and her techniques. This week I made her Basil Pesto recipe and I want to share this recipe with you all! Below you can find her recipe along with my notes from the process and pictures of my time in the kitchen! Also keep reading to learn about our next giveaway!
Basil Pesto
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 packed cups (about 2 big bunches) fresh basil leaves
1-2 garlic cloves, finely grated or pounded with a pinch of salt
½ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted and pounded
3 ½ ounces Parmesan, finely grated, plus more for serving (about 1 heaping cup)
Salt
The key to blending basil in a machine is to avoid overdoing it, because the heat the motor generates, along with oxidation that can occur from over chopping, will cause the basil to turn brown. So, give yourself a head start here, and run a knife through the basil first. Also pour half of the olive oil into the bottom of the blender or processor bowl to encourage the basil to break down into a liquid as quickly as possible. Then pulse, stopping to push down the leaves with a rubber spatula a couple of times a minute, until the basil oil becomes a fragrant, emerald-green whirlpool. To prevent over blending the basil, finish the pesto in a bowl. Pour the basil oil out into a medium bowl and add some of the garlic, pine nuts, and Parmesan. Stir to combine, then taste. Does it need more garlic? More salt? More cheese? Is it too thick? If so, add a little more oil, or plan to add some pasta water. Tinker and taste again, keeping in mind that as the pesto sits for a little while, the flavors will come together, the garlic will become more pronounced, and the salt will dissolve. Let it sit for a few minutes, then taste and adjust again. Add enough olive oil to cover the sauce to prevent oxidation. Refrigerate, covered, for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
For our recipe, we tossed the pesto with ziti bronze die pasta. This pasta is made with durum wheat semolina rather than bleached flour. Bronze die refers to the way the pasta is made, creating a better texture allowing the pasta to hold sauce better. Boil water and salt generously. Add pasta and cook for approximately seven minutes.
I also lightly toasted my pine nuts before moving on to make the basil oil. Don’t over roast these nuts!
The best method to finely chop garlic is to remove one clove with the paper still on. Slice off the top and bottom ends of the clove then smash with the flat side of your knife. This makes it much easier to remove the paper. Once you have just the clove, continue to smash with the flat side of your knife 2 or 3 more times. Then run the knife through a couple of times. That’s it!
I used a combination of parmesan and pecorino romano. The best way to shred the cheese is with a microplane. This method creates small and perfect shreds of cheese. It can also be used to grate your garlic!
I used fresh basil that I borrowed from my mother-in-law’s garden and chopped first before blending like Samin suggests. Be sure to remove any flowering blooms from the top of your basil to avoid a bitter flavor.
Mix it all together, pour over noodles, and top with cheese. Enjoy!
We are such big fans of Samin’s work, and we want you to be too! Email us at assistant@nectarandcompany.com your favorite family recipe to win your own copy of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. Giveaway opens Friday, June 21, 2019 and ends 12 PM Thursday, June 27, 2019. Must be 18 years old to enter. Only open to residents of the United States of America. Winner will be chosen at random. The winner will be notified by email on Friday, June 28, 2019. Only one entry per email address will be considered. If the winner does not respond with their mailing address within 24 hours, a new winner will be chosen at random.
