Thirsty Thursdays: Aperol Edition

Want to add a bit of punch to your summer cocktail repertoire? Look no further than Aperol: an Italian aperitif that was first made in Padua in 1919. Its simply gorgeous, in both color and flavor, is low in alcohol yet high in taste, and plays beautifully with a number of spirits.

Personally, I've been captivated by Aperol ever since I first spied bottles and bottles of it decoratively lining the walls of a downtown Italian bistro many months ago. I was instantly charmed by its bright, nearly day-glow, color - and the chic retro design of the bottle didn't hurt either. I ooohed and ahhhed over it just enough to actually plant a seed in the husband's mind and shortly thereafter, he brought a bottle home.

I knew enough to know that it was vaguely orange and medicinal in flavor, not dissimilar to Campari, and that it was made from a proprietary blend of bitter orange and botanicals that's been kept secret through the years. What I didn't know was what to do with it. Naturally, I googled.

My brief search turned up probably hundreds of uses for it ... and one in particular cried out to me ... mostly because I had almost all of the ingredients on hand. First developed at the Pegu Club in New York city, the Intro to Aperol cocktail is a simple yet sophisticated little sipper that hits all the right notes for me. Its refreshing, slightly astringent, and just addictive enough to make you want to take another sip ... and another, and another and another. Below, my version.

Intro to Aperol - Diva Style:

• 2 ounces Aperol
• 1 ounce gin (we use Hendrick's)
• 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 ounce agave nectar
• dash of Angostura Bitters
• slice of lemon peel for garnish

Into a martini shaker, pour the Aperol, gin, lemon juice, agave nectar and bitters. Fill the shaker with ice, close and shake well until the outside of the shaker frosts. Pour into a rocks glass and twist a slice of lemon peel over the drink. Garnish the drink with the lemon peel. Serve and enjoy, repeat as necessary!

This recipe first appeared in the Washington Post back in November of 2009, as part of an article on classic cocktails. I gather that the original drink, as made at the Pegu Club, calls for an orange peel to be flamed over the drink. Alas, I had no oranges on hand and, to be honest, I rather like the contrast of the lemon peel I used with the already orangey Aperol.

My version also substitutes some agave nectar for simple syrup and that is a personal choice. I almost never mix with simple syrup these days, as prefer to eschew sugar where possible. For me, the agave works just as well and, frankly, I can't taste the difference. Do as you see fit.

Though generally billed as an aperitif, Aperol works just as well as a digestif. The herby botanicals, astringent orange flavor and light body, can either serve to whet your appetite or calm the storms of a too-indulgent meal, depending on your needs. It pairs beautifully with gin, vodka and works especially well with champagne or sparkling wines. Indeed, Aperol can also be enjoyed on its own - over the rocks, with a twist, or with a splash of soda perhaps. If you're of a mind, you can add a dash or two of lemon or grapefruit bitters to shake things up a bit.

My point? Mixing it up with Aperol is good fun. Which ever path you choose, you'll be rewarded with a colorful, flavorful cocktail who's festive orange glow is exactly right for summer sipping.

Cheers!

Blackberry Bundt Cake with Xagave Nectar

Sometimes, when email meets regular mail, its a match made in heaven. Let me explain: this luscious, summery cake is the direct result of a recent email and a packaged delivered to my door.

Like many of you, I subscribe to TastingTable. Some weeks back, their recipe of the day was a scrumptious looking blackberry buttermilk bundt cake with an orange glaze, offered by White House pastry Chef, Bill Yosses. I filed it away for later use.

Later that week, I received a package from the good folks at Xagave Nectar. They reached out to me an offered me a sample of their agave nectar and a copy of their wonderful cookbook: "Delicious Meets Nutritious." I ran a quick search on the company, determined that their product was indeed all natural and certified USDA organic - and I, happily, accepted. Still later, I paired the two of them together and the results were magnificent!

Xagave is a premium blend of the nectar derived from both blue and white agave plants. According to their data, it has the highest concentration of calcium and inulin, and is the only product on the market with a standardized inulin content. Inulin is prebiotic fiber that has been shown to benefit both the digestive and immune systems, increase calcium absorption, and increase bone density.

I'm neither a scientist nor a nutritionist, so I can't speak to such claims ... but I am a baker and I can tell you that I really enjoyed baking with this product. Xagave has a neutral, sweet taste, a fantastic pourable texture and is easy to blend with both hot and cold ingredients. The finished cake had a moist, tender crumb, and the flavor was just sweet enough, without being cloying.

In preparing this cake, I substituted 3/4 cup of Xagave for the 1 3/4 cups of sugar called for in the recipe. I also chose to use a combination of whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour, rather than white flour. This recipe is based on Chef Yosses' Blackberry Buttermilk Bundt cake, featured on TastingTable.com. Should you prefer to go the traditional route with sugar and white flour, by all means, have a go at that link.

Please note that when baking with any agave nectar, it is necessary to reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

Blackberry Bundt Cake with Xagave Nectar:

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup Xagave nectar
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of low-fat buttermilk
• 2 pints fresh blackberries, rinsed and drained

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup of fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup Xagave nectar (or 1/2 cup confectioners sugar)
• 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest

1. Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees F. Great a 2 quart non-stick bundt pan with butter and dust with a light coating of flour, shaking out the excess.

2. In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat pastry flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Whisk well with a wire whisk to combine and reserve.

3. Cream the butter in the bowl of your electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer to low and slowly pour in the agave nectar. Beat well on high until well combined. (The mixture will have a pudding like consistency.) Beat in the eggs, one at a time until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.

4. Turn the mixer to low and beat in the flour mixture by thirds, alternating with the buttermilk, until all of the flour and buttermilk have been added. Beat until just combined. Remove bowl from mixture and add in the fresh blackberries, folding them in by hand with a spatula to distribute evenly.

5. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan and bake in the middle of a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 50 minutes (or up to an hour) or until golden brown and a tester inserted into the middle of the cake come out clean. Remove from oven when baked and allow cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a serving platter.

6. To form the glaze: combine the fresh orange juice, agave nectar (or confectioners sugar, if using) and lemon zest and whisk well to incorporate fully. Using a skewer or long thin knife, poke deep holes all over the cake and while the cake is still warm, slowly spoon 1/2 of the glaze all over cake, allowing it to seep in. Let the cake rest for 20 minutes, then spoon the remaining glaze over cake and allow it to set for at least 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Like most agave nectar products, Xagave is low on the glycemic index and is far sweeter than sugar - so you can use less and save some calories in the process. Both their site and the "Delicious Meets Nutritious" cookbook have a fantastic conversion chart that will help you substitute agave for sugar in any recipe. This is an invaluable resource!

The cookbook is filled with hundreds of recipes: everything from condiments (like sugar-free, agave sweetened ketchup!), to sauces, baked goods, main courses and even cocktails. Naturally, I was thrilled to find the cocktail section. I've been substituting agave nectar for simple syrup in all of my cocktails for some time now and the results have been magnificent.

You can order both the cookbook and the Xagave nectar from the website and I gather that it can also be found in some natural food markets across the country as well.

So, do you enjoy baking with agave nectar? Curious Diva wants to know.

Bon appetite!

Thirsty Thursdays: June Challenge - Jalapenos!

As you may recall, The Duo Dishes won the May TT Challenge and they have selected jalapeno as this month's featured ingredient. A most excellent choice!

I've long been a fan of the spicy cocktail and jalapeno plays well with so many flavors and spirits. Of course, the most obvious use for jalapeno is a spicy margarita ... and I have gone that route in the drink I'm featuring today.

That said, I am going to encourage you to think outside the box, should you choose to enter this month's challenge. Jalapeno pairs well with: lemon, lime, orange (or any kind of citrus), pomegranate, mint, cilantro, tomato, cinnamon, and salt, to name but a few.

Be aware that jalapenos can vary in their intensity from pepper to pepper. Some peppers are rather mild, while others are extremely hot. Always taste your pepper to determine heat level before you mix your drink. If it is extremely hot, reduce the amount of jalapeno you are using, especially if you're going to muddle the pepper. If the pepper is extremely hot, remove the stems and seeds prior to mixing.

In terms of spirits, I'd say almost anything goes. I wouldn't hesitate to pair it with: vodka, gin, tequila, mezcal or beer. But, really, you're limited only by your imagination! As far as extracting the flavor goes, you have two choices: you can muddle the pepper, or infuse your spirit with the jalapeno. If you go the infusion route, wash, dry and slice your pepper, then add it to a quantity of your chosen spirit and allow it to sit for at least 4 hours, or overnight, depending on how hot you'd like your drink.

I've taken today's recipe from Navan's site. I liked this unusual twist on the margarita, especially for the lovely vanilla notes that the Navan brings to the party. The original recipe calls for silver (or white) tequila, but I only had gold on hand. Do as you see fit.

The Madagascar Margarita:

• 3 ounces tequila
• 1 ounce Navan
• 1 - 2 teaspoons agave nectar, depending on your taste
• 3 rings of fresh jalapeno, or less, depending on heat level
• wheel of lemon or lime for garnish

Place the fresh jalapeno rings into a cocktail shaker and over them pour the tequila. Muddle the peppers, crushing slightly to extract their juice. Add the Navan and the agave nectar and fill the shaker with ice. Cover and shake well until the outside of the shaker frosts. Strain into an ice filled rocks glass and garnish with a wheel of lemon or lime and a slice of fresh jalapeno. Serve and enjoy, repeat as necessary!

To enter this month's challenge:

1. Create a cocktail using jalapeno as an ingredient and write a blog entry about it. Post your entry sometime before midnight on Friday, July 2nd, and include a link back to Beach Eats:

http://beacheats.blogspot.com

2. Send an email entitled Thirsty Thursdays June Challenge to: ttchallenge[at]gmail[dot]com

The email must include the following information:

• Your name
• The name of your blog
• The name of your cocktail
• The link to your blog entry and a photograph of your drink
• Entries must be received by midnight on Friday, July 2nd

3. You can still participate, even if you don't have a blog. Simply send an email with the above information, minus the blog stuff, and I will include you in the round-up.

The round-up will be posted on Thursday, July 8th and a winner will be declared at that time.

Good luck and get mixing ... I'm looking forward to your spicy creations!

Cheers!

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Dining and Drinking in Brooklyn Edition

Some scenes from our day spent dining and drinking our way through Brooklyn over Memorial Day weekend:

Chorizo and Eggs skillet from El Almacen.

El Almacen's Baja Fish Tacos.

Bacon wrapped, blue cheese stuffed dates at Traif.

Traif's Watermelon Gazpacho amuse bouche ... with a hint of bacon!

Traif's signature Bacon Doughnuts with Dulce de Leche and Coffee Ice Cream

Traif's Spritz Cocktail: a delightful mix of Aperol, Cava, and Blood Orange Juice.

Finally, I cannot recall the name or ingredients of this drink (I didn't have it, my sister in law did) but I know it had some combination of whiskey, smokey tea ... and a bacon dusted rim ... because almost everything at Traif comes with bacon!

Have a delicious day!

Diva Cooks: Astra Libris Edition

So, at long last, those whole wheat biscuits - and I promise they're worth the wait.

Part of the reason for the delay, was that I wanted to do this recipe and its creator justice. Back in February, I began an new feature: Diva Cooks - a series of posts wherein I cook and write about the food of other bloggers. The series began with Tangled Noodle's incredible Honeyed Apple Turkey Pot Pie and it continues today with Food for Laughter's whole wheat biscuits.

Written by Astra Libris, Food for Laughter is one of my most favorite blogs. Astra Libris is a gifted writer with a warm, generous spirit and a heart as big as the great outdoors. Her love of family, friends and food shines through in every post and you cannot help but smile when you read her words ... and droll when you read her recipes.

She first posted her whole wheat biscuit recipe back in June of 2009 and I've been making them ever since. They have become my go-to biscuit and I am pleased to share them with you today. In this case, I used them as a vehicle for using up some of the garlic scapes, and that ingredient is optional. Feel free to leave them out. Alternately, you could choose to add some chopped scallions, and or a bit of grated cheddar ... the options are limitless.

As you'll see when you click over, Astra serves these biscuits with her lighter version of white gravy - a Southern staple that she's made-over by using turkey sausage (or soy crumbles) and 1% milk. I have yet to try her white gravy, but I'm certain its every bit as delicious as these biscuits!

Astra Libris' Whole Wheat Biscuits - Diva Style:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 large garlic scapes, minced (optional)
• 1 cup non-fat milk (or 1% milk)
• 1/4 cup melted butter

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees F.

1. In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk well with a wire whisk to combine. Add in the garlic scapes, if using and whisk again to combine. Add the milk and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Add the melted butter and stir again until just combined. At this point, the dough will be formed, give it a gentle knead or two, in the bowl, just to bring it together.

2. To form the biscuits: use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and scoop by 1/4 cup fulls onto a baking sheet. The dough will yield approximately 10 biscuits. Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, until light golden brown and cooked throughout.

Serve and enjoy!

You'll note also that Astra's original recipe gives options for a vegan version, and that it uses a bit of white flour. I've used all whole wheat based flours in this recipe, though feel free to do either. I've also reduced the amount of sugar by half and, again, that's a personal choice.

These are my absolute favorite whole wheat biscuits and I hope you'll try them! I also hope you'll stop by Food for Laughter and get to know Astra and her wonderful family. I know you'll love her as much as I do!

Bon appetite!

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming ...

I hate to be a tease, but those whole wheat biscuits are going to have to wait until next week.

I seized an opportunity to purge my painfully groaning bookshelves and the logistics of the endeavor have taken up the better part of these last two days. A local church is having a book drive to raise money for a new roof and I jumped at the opportunity to engage in some much needed literary pruning.

As you can see, Diva cats Lucy (left) and Zelda (right) wasted no time in "helping". They were especially excited about the ball of twine I was using to tie up the books. All in all, I donated 110 books to the church; donated 30 books to the community bookshelf in my building's laundry room; and fed another 20 to the recycling bin. What you see above doesn't even begin to cover it!

Sadly, this purge, though substantial, didn't even result in one full empty shelf. 90% of the books were mine and the vast majority of them were "book club-reads". I'm seriously considering going the eBook route, though reluctantly. Its either that or a 12-step program for voracious readers.

So, I've been packing and hauling for the past two days ... and not writing. And now I'm packing again ... my suitcase, as we're heading out of town for the husband's high school reunion.

Whole wheat biscuits will appear next week, I promise.

So, do you have an eBook reader? If so, do you love it? And what brand? If not, what's holding you back? Curious and exhausted Diva wants to know!

Have a great weekend, all!

xoxoxoxo

Fun With Garlic Scapes

Fear not, our regular Thirsty Thursdays feature will resume next week. I simply haven't had a chance to mix up any magic in the cocktail area this week. Sad, huh?

But I have had time to get busy with some garlic scapes. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm long, very long on garlic scapes - thanks to bro's garden. For those not in the know, garlic scapes are the flower stems that garlic plants produce before the bulbs mature. They're long, green shoots, with a pale portion near the top, from which will grown the eventual bulbs. Gardeners often harvest the young, tender shoots to encourage larger bulbs to form ... which is good news for adventurous cooks!

I added them to the couscous dish on Tuesday. I turned them into an onion/garlic dip on Wednesday. (as seen below) And I'm planning on making this white bean garlic scape dip later on in the week, thanks to the recommendation of Diva Sis in Law, K. who emailed me the recipe.

My onion/garlic dip was very much a fly-by-the-tips-of-my-tiara operation. No real recipe here, I used: one 6 ounce container of non-fat plain Greek yogurt, 1 teaspoon of bottled horseradish, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon of BBQ Seasoning, 3 large garlic scapes - minced, and a little dash of lemon pepper seasoning. I whisked it all up, then let it chill in the fridge for a few hours. The husband enjoyed it with chips, prior to dinner, and I enjoyed it with some strips of fresh red bell pepper. Yum!

Finally, I threw some minced scapes into this batch of outstanding whole wheat biscuits that I made late Wednesday afternoon. They were scrumptious. More on this recipe tomorrow.

Even with all of that, I haven't made a dent in my stash of scapes! I could certainly make some pesto ... but then I'd want to have it with pasta and I've been trying to cut back. So, what's a Diva to do??

Thus, I turn to you, my savy readers and ask: What would you do with a bag of fresh garlic scapes?

I need ideas ... stat!

Cheers!