Thirsty Thursdays: Trendy Sips Edition

After spending far too long in the shadows, relegated to keeping company with far too many diet Cokes, rum is enjoying a moment in the sun. Premium rum, that is. The good stuff. And its not so much a moment in the sun, as it is a return to glory. Rum is trending up, my friends, and that's delicious news, indeed!

Why just this month alone, both The New York Times and Time Out New York have written about this oh-so-colonial spirit and hailed its return to glory. While rum may have been our founding fathers' drink of choice, its popularity has been eclipsed of late by small batch bourbons and aged single malts. More's the pity. As it turns out, quality aged rum has more to offer than meets the eye.

And, trust me, my both my eyes and my palate were skeptical. Rum has never been a Diva favorite. Sure, I'll sip on the occasional daiquiri or pina colada, given the proper mood and location - think vacation in Barbados - though generally speaking, most rums are far too sweet for my taste. But all this publicity piqued my interest and opportunity knocked in the form of the exceptional brown spirits menu at Gus & Gabriel. (I know, I know, again with the G & G?! Even I'm embarrassed by how often I've eaten there this month.) Long story short - we dined, we ordered a glass of Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 as an after dinner drink, and now I'm a convert.

Aged rum, such as the Ron Zacapa, is similar in character to a fine sherry or tawny port, with a finish that tends toward molasses a/o caramel notes. Make no mistake, the hint of sugar is there ... but its a better, more interesting hint than one typically finds in standard commercial rums. Depending on the brand and finishing, notes of spice, citrus or even leather can be present as well. Suffice it to say that flavor-wise, there's a lot more going here than I'd ever imagined.

Aged rum is delightful as a solo sipper. Enjoy it with a cube or two of ice if you like and, certainly, a water back if desired. Think of it as you would a fine scotch or bourbon and you're on the right track. Hit up that Time Out New York link for a list of reasonably priced aged rums suitable for such sipping. It can also be used in any number of cocktails.

If a festive, summery tipple is your heart's desire, you can't do much better than a classic Dark and Stormy. Does anyone actually need a recipe for this?! Honestly, this one's as old as the hills. I put the husband in charge of bar tending this week - he and the martini shaker have been suffering a bout of separating anxiety of late - and this is the formula he prefers ... taken from John K. Waters' Bar Tender's Guide.

The Dark and Stormy:

• 2 oz. Gosling's Black Seal Rum
• 3 oz. of ginger beer
• wedge of lime

Place some ice into a highball glass or tumbler and over it pour the rum and the ginger beer. Squeeze in a wedge of lime and stir to combine. Garnish with a slice of lime, serve and enjoy, repeat as necessary!

In this case, you must use dark, not white, rum. Really. Its called a "Dark and Stormy", not a "Pale and Somewhat Over-cast." Gosling's is the preferred brand, in fact, I think they invented the drink; though if you have a favorite brand, by all means use it.

A brief word about the ginger beer ... while I failed to procure some in time for my Moscow Mule post, it turns out I was looking in the wrong aisle of the market. It was right there waiting for me all along, tucked in among the regular beer of all things. Will wonders never cease? If you can get your hands on some Jamaican ginger beer, snap it up. If not, Saranac ales makes a fine version.

So, where do you stand on the rum issue? Are you a fan of the aged stuff or more likely to order strawberry daiquiri? Thirsty Diva wants to know.

Cheers!

Its An Almost Meatless Virtual Potluck ...

... and I'm bringing the chili ... an unusual and outrageously delicious chili to be exact!

Fasten your apron strings and dust off the good china, dear readers, because today you are in for a treat. Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond are throwing a virtual potluck in celebration of their marvelous new cookbook, Almost Meatless: Recipes That Are Better for Your Health and The Planet, and you're invited!

Today, more than 30 food writers, chefs, bloggers and food lovers from all across the web, will join together and present a dish they've cooked from Almost Meatless. I am thrilled and honored to be in their company.

When Joy Manning first reached out and asked me to "bring a dish", I knew exactly what I wanted to make: Beefed-Up Bean Chili. The reason? Peanut butter. I've been making chili for more years than I care to count ... yet never once has it included peanut butter. This one does. I was so intrigued by this unusual addition, I couldn't wait to try it. The results? Magnificent!

And, really, its not as odd as it seems. Peanuts are a legume, after all, and they pair beautifully with heat and spice. I'm here to tell you it works. It more than works. This chili is so richly spiced, its flavor so multi-layered, you'll be hooked from the first bite. We loved it! The husband went back for a second bowl immediately - and this from a dedicated carnivore. High praise, indeed.

Recipe preprinted with permission from Ten Speed Press and the authors.

Beefed-Up Bean Chili:

• 1 dried ancho or guajillo chlii (I used ancho)
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
• 4 oz. lean ground beef
• 1 small white onion cut into 1/4 inch dice (about 1 cup)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 3 tbsp. smooth natural peanut butter
• one 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• one 15 oz. can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• one 15 oz. can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tsp. Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

• some chopped scallions, shredded cheddar, chopped red onion, chopped fresh parsley and or sour cream for garnish
  

Heat a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Add the dried pepper and toast for 5 minutes, turning once or twice. Move the pepper to a bowl and cover it with hot water. Soak for about 15 minutes, to rehydrate and soften. Remove from the water, cut off the stem, scrape out the seeds and chop.

Add the oil to the Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, brown the beef for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally to break it up into small pieces. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeno, and rehydrated chile and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter and continue mixing until it melts. Add the tomatoes, cilantro, cocoa powder, cumin, chili powder, vinegar, 1/2 cup of water and beans. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper to taste. Ladle the chili into bowls and serve with your choice of toppings; we like scallions, cheddar and sour cream.

Serves 4 to 6.

I served mine over some brown rice and topped it with shredded cheddar, diced red onions and chopped parsley. Its a hearty, healthy meal that I know I'll make again and again. Despite the small amount of meat in the chili, it has an incredibly beefy flavor that is sure to satisfy. And, if you are fully meatless, feel free to omit the beef and make a vegetarian version. The flavor will suffer not at all. I hope you'll try it!

And I hope you'll stop by the party and check out the other dishes as well. You can read the rest of the entries, once they're up, on Tara's site, Crumbs on my Keyboard, or on Joy's, What I Weigh Today. No doubt the feast will be spectacular.

The list of guests includes some of my favorite daily reads: Dan from Casual Kitchen, Charmian Christie from Christie's Corner, and Cheryl Sterman Rule from 5 second rule, as well as a host of others. Come hungry and stay late!

Many, many thanks to Joy and Tara for including me in this web-tacular event. I'm delighted to participate and very happy to recommend this book to you once again. Its a wonderful, healthy cookbook and so much more. Do yourself, and the planet, a favor and pick up a copy of Almost Meatless ... and a jar of peanut butter. You'll be happy you did.

Bon appetite!

Happy Monday!

Greetings, kittens! I'm here, but not here ... in fact, I'm at the beach. Having a little bit of a girls get-away. I'll be back with a special post on Wednesday, so stay tuned ... and have a terrific Monday!

Thirsty Thursdays: Rose Sangria

Now doesn't that look refreshing? Indeed, it was. Summer is the perfect time of year to serve sangria, and sangria is the perfect thing to serve a crowd.

Typically, sangria involves mixing wine with a bit of brandy, some fruit, a splash of plain soda water and some sugar. While red sangria may be more traditional, you can make it with any variety of wine. White sangria is delicious ... and rose is even better!

Divalicious Rose Sangria:

• 1 small orange
• 1/2 small lime, sliced into rounds
  
• some fresh blackberries (aka black raspberries)
• 1 small Empire apple, chopped
  
• 1 fresh nectarine, pitted and sliced
  
• 1 bottle of good quality Rose wine
• 1/4 cup Cassis
• 1 tsp. agave nectar
• 1/2 cup of plain seltzer or soda water

Juice the orange into a large pitcher - no seeds, please, so use a strainer. To the oj, add the sliced lime and a handful of fresh blackberries. Crush the berries a bit to release their juices, using a long wooden spoon. Add the apples and nectarine, and pour the bottle of rose over the fruit. Stir to combine.

Measure out 1/4 cup of Cassis into a glass measuring cup and to it add 1 tsp. of agave nectar, whisk well to combine then add it to the wine and fruit mixture, stir and add 1/2 cup of plain seltzer. Stir again to combine. Cover the pitcher with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours to allow the flavors to blend.

To serve, place some ice into a large wine glass, fill with sangria, allowing some fruit to spill into the glass. Garnish with a few whole blackberries, serve and enjoy, repeat as necessary!

If you are serving a crowd, go right ahead and double, or even triple, the recipe. Feel free to play around with the combination of fruits as well. Peaches would be lovely, red raspberries divine. Personally, I don't enjoy a really sweet sangria, so I've opted for using just a bit of agave nectar here. You could certainly substitute some sugar, if you like, or even a bit of simple syrup.

If you're desirous of something even lighter, and less caloric, fill 2/3 of the glass with sangria and top off with some additional plain seltzer. And, voila, you've made a sangria spritzer! Either way, this is a light, refreshing summer sipper that's as festive as it is delicious. I hope you'll try it!

Cheers!

A Big Bowl of Sin

Tom Jones stood me up last night. Well, me and 2,828 other middle aged women who were supposed to see him in concert at the Beacon Theatre. I'll be honest, seeing Tom Jones wasn't exactly on my bucket list. Hell, it wasn't even on my radar screen. But last week, my dear friend M., asked me to join her for the show and I happily agreed. I'll see almost anyone in concert and seeing TJ live is on M.'s bucket list, so why not? At a minimum, I was certain it would make for a fun, campy post for today.

Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. M. and I met for a yummy dinner at Gus & Gabriel, then walked down to the Beacon only to find a throng of bitterly disappointed women and the word "Postponed" flashing on the marquis. Seems that Mr. Jones has fallen victim to that age old menace - "vocal chord strain" - after a bout of bronchitis. I wish him a speedy recovery!

The concert will be rescheduled, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, that leaves me rather post-less for the day. Post-less unless I decide to fess up to that big bowl of sin pictured above. Yes, its Fettuccine Alfredo; and, yes, that pasta is white. The horror, the horror! Its also incredibly delicious and not nearly as bad as it seems.

Here in Divaland, we call this dish Fake Fettuccine and its a once-in-a-while treat. What with the South Beaching and all, I haven't made this dish in over a year. Oh how I've missed it! Now, before you call in the fat police, lets get a few things straight. This is a slimmed down, lower fat, lower cholesterol version and its as delicious as can be. I don't actually have a recipe and I don't measure anything ... I'll do my best to offer amounts here, but mainly we're talking about a make-as-you-go kind of dish.

Divalicious Fake Fettuccine:

• 1 large shallot, peeled and minced
• 2 tbsp. butter
• a small carton of fat-free Half and Half
• 5 oz. Dannon All Natural Fat-Free Plain Yogurt
• 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or more to taste
• pinch of salt
• gererous grind of fresh black pepper
• some freshly grated nutmeg
  
• 1 tbsp. minced fresh chives
• 1/2 pound of cooked fettuccine pasta
• 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water
  
• additional grated Parmesan cheese and some chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Cook the fettuccine in a large pot according to package directions. You want the pasta to be al dente, so don't over cook it. Drain the pasta and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. While the pasta is draining, melt the butter over medium-high heat in the same pot in which you've cooked the pasta. Add the shallots and saute for 2 minutes. Add about 2/3 of a cup of fat-free Half and Half to the pot and raise the heat to high. Allow the mixture to come to the boil and reduce for 1 to 2 minutes. Return the cooked pasta to the pot and add @ 5 oz. of fat-free plain yogurt, stirring well to combine. Add 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt, some fresly ground black pepper and a bit of freshly grated nutmeg, stirring well to combine. Add the fresh chives and continue stirring until the cheese has melted and the sauce thickens slightly. Taste and adjust for seasoning, adding more Half and Half, Parmesan, a/o salt and pepper as desired.

Serve immediately, garnished with some additional Parmesan, grated nutmeg and chopped fresh parsley. Enjoy!

As written, this recipe will serve 2 to 3 depending on portion size. (In our house it serves 3, but appetites do vary!) Obviously you can increase the quantities as necessary to serve more. The reserved cooking liquid can be used to thin the sauce, as needed, particularly for second helpings.

This is a fast, fresh and altogether delicious dish and its completely worth the sin. Feel free to play around with any of the amounts listed - as I said, its a make-as-you-go kind of deal. If you're not a Diva on a Diet, by all means feel free to use some light cream in place of the Half and Half ... your secret will be safe with me.

I invented my Fake Fettuccine more than 10 years ago, in an effort to satisfy my Alfredo loving husband *and* my inner fat cop ... both of whom are well-pleased with the results.

Bon appetite!

Winners!

Today's the day for my Divalicious birthday give-away. The lucky winner will receive his/her choice of one of two amazing books: Dale DeGroff's "The Craft of the Cocktail" or Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond's "Almost Meatless" cookbook.

Our methods here at Beach Eats are highly sophisticated.

I wrote the names of all the entrants on slips of paper and placed them into a bowl. There were 25 slips in all, after accounting for the extra slip for all followers. Then I closed my eyes and picked out a slip ... and the winner is ...

Congratulations, Tangled Noodle! Please email me and let me know your choice of book and your address so I can send along your prize! You may reach me at: divaonadiet (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thanks so much to all of you for the kind birthday wishes and comments. You really made my day! :)

Meanwhile, it turns out that *I'm* a winner too! The hilarious and always witty Mom at Life ... EXAGGERATED has chosen me as the winner of this week's Terrific T-shirt Tuesday. Yippee! What a happy surprise!
Thanks, Mom! I'm honored to be included in such fine company and I'll be wearing my tee with pride. Be sure to click on over to Life ... EXAGGERATED and check out some of the other winners of this weekly web-tacular event. They're sure to put a smile on your face and a laugh in your throat. And if you've got a t-shirt worthy headline of your own, pass it on ... Mom's always on the lookout for the best of the web!

Cheers!

Food for Thought

Some weeks back, my friend Dan of Casual Kitchen invited me to participate in another edition of his wonderful Blogging Roundtable ... and this time the topic threw me for a loop. Dan posed this provocative question to five of his fellow bloggers:

"America's poor have an obesity problem because healthy food costs more than unhealthy food. Do you agree or disagree with this statement and why?"

Honestly, I was stumped ... on a number of levels. I had a really hard time trying to codify my thoughts on the topic. I'm no expert on poverty, obesity or economics; these are not subjects about which I have any factual knowledge. And, to be really, really honest ... I'm not very good about looking at price tags either. Just ask Mama Diva, I was born this way. And then it hit me: blogger, read thyself! I'm "The Diva on a Diet" ... duh! I do know a little something about weight issues, after all.


And what I know is that I'm fat on a diet of healthy, high-quality food. So my initial response was to disagree with the statement, based purely on my own experience and circumstances. Before answering, though, I decided to do a little math. I know ... terrifying, huh?!

Having recently paid a staggering $4.99 for one single, organic, red bell pepper at my market, I do agree that the cost of quality food is out of control. Certainly, the rising cost of such food has to be a factor in our growing obesity problem, but is cost the only factor? Does an apple cost more than a Twinkie? The answer may surprise you.

A quick search revealed the following: I priced out a box of Twinkies on Peapod.com, Stop and Shop's online store. They were on special that week, $3.00 for a box of 10, for a final cost of $0.30 per Twinkie. Empire apples were also on special that week, a 3 lb. bag for $2.50. There are roughly 3 apples per pound, so I'm figuring a total of 9 apples in that $2.50 bag, for a final cost of slightly less than $0.28 per apple. Who knew that apples and Twinkies were nearly the same price? I sure didn't. (Perhaps because I don't buy Twinkies! But, I digress.)

My point? Yes, I can do some basic math! ~ahem~ No, that's not really my point. My point is that although we absolutely must address the rising cost of food in this country, we also need to hold ourselves accountable for our choices ... and maybe even do a little math from time to time. Obesity is a complex issue; genetics, life-style choices, income and economics all factor into it. Its a provocative subject to say the least and I congratulate Dan and the rest of the Blogging Roundtable for taking it on.

You can read the rest of my response, as well as those of the other participants on Casual Kitchen today. As expected, the answers are candid, well-considered and very impressive. Once again, I'm honored to find myself in such esteemed company and I'm immensely grateful to Dan for giving us the opportunity to sound off on the topic. Please click over to Casual Kitchen and add your own thoughts to the discussion.

So, what do you think? Do you agree or disagree with the statement? Inquiring bloggers want to know!

Bon appetite!