Tonic water

America's Test Kitchen has an extensive YouTube presence. I was surprised and delighted to find a cocktails section. They had a piece on making your own tonic - so I figured that I would try. The idea is from then, the ratios are my own. Citric acid is often used in canning, so you can find it near the canning jars. Cinchona bark is a specialty item that we ordered from Amazon. It comes in the right sized pieces.

Ingredients

2 oz Cinchona bark

2 Lemon grass stalks, chopped finely

2 Thai lime leaves

Zest of 1 Seville orange

Zest and juice of 2 lemons

32 oz water

small pinch of salt

2 cups of plain white sugar

4 T Citric acid

Method

Combine bark, citrus, Thai lime, salt ina 4 quart saucier. Bring to the boil. Turn heat down, simmer for 40 minutes. Leave to cool for 24 hours. Strain (through cheesecloth and a fine mesh strainer) and add the sugar, and citric acid. Dissolve the sugar and citric acid. Allow to cool. Transfer to a refrigerator safe bowl, cover and chill overnight.

This will keep for several weeks as long as you keep it well covered. 

Cheese Straws

A very easy go to appetizer. They hold together nicely, and look quite pretty arranged as a "bouquet".

Ingredients

5 oz grated sharp Cheddar cheese

2 oz finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano

2 oz cold butter

3/4 cup of All Purpose flour + a small amount extra for dusting

1/4 - 1/2 t kosher salt. Depends on whether your butter was salted or not

A few grinds of black pepper

1/4t finely ground Cayenne Pepper (40,000 Scoville Units)

2 T Greek yogurt

1T milk  (I used 2% or semi skimmed)

Method

Heat the oven to 350F. I grated the cheddar using the crater attachment of the food processor. That left the cheese neatly in the bowl. Add the other cheese, cold butter, flour, cayenne and salt. Pulse several times for 5 seconds per pulse. This until the butter is fully incorprtaed and the mixture looks like fine sand.

Add the Greek yogurt and let run checking consistency. If it does not form a ball at this stage, add 1/2 the milk. Repeat until a ball is formed.

Roll the dough on a floured surface to an 8x10 rectangle (it will be about 1/8" or 3mm thick).

Using a pizza cutter, cut into long strips and place in a parchment lined sheet pan. Bake for 14-17 minutes - until the straws are medium brown and dry to the touch. You may need to rotate the pan.

Cool the straws on a wire rack. They keep quite well for about 3 days.

The easiest cheese souffle

We had some friends over for lunch today. One of whom is French. I wanted an easy dish that takes 40 minutes to cook because we had other things to do for a while. Also something that was likely to appeal to our French friend. When in doubt always look for something by Jacques Pepin. So we did. This is his mother's cheese souffle recipe - one that is absolutely no fuss. I tinkered with it very slightly (adding nutmeg to make a more classic bechamel sauce) and turning the oven down slightly because of the timing constraints, No matter, with a side salad this turned out to be the perfect light lunch.

Ingredients

6 oz. unsalted butter + 1t for greasing the gratin dish

6T all purpose flour

1 US pint of milk

1/2t freshly grated nutmeg

1/2t kosher salt

1/2t freshly ground black pepper

6 large eggs, beaten slightly

6 oz Gruyere, grated

2 oz Parmigiano Reggiano, grated finely

3T minced chives.

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 425F

In a large saucier or other sauce pan, melt the butter and keep on the heat until it stops hissing and crackling. This drives off all of the water - making it easier to add the cold milk without lumps forming.

Once the butter has stopped foaming, whisk in the flour and cook for about a minute to drive off all of the raw flour taste. Add the milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper and whisk to incorporate. Bring to the boil whisking at 1 minute intervals. Allow to bubble for a few seconds while it thickens up, and then let cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile grease the gratin dish with butter, and use half the Parmigiano Reggiano to stick to the bottom/side of the dish.

Incorporate the bechamel sauce gradually into the eggs, whisking after each addition. Go slowly at first - you don't want scrambled eggs. Once the bechamel and eggs are fully mixed, add the chives, salt and pepper. Stir well. Check the seasoning.

Pour the cheese/egg mixture into the prepared gratin dish, and top with the remaining Parmigiano Reggiano.

Bake on the middle oven rack for ~40 minutes - until risen, with a dark, crunchy dome has started to form.

Serve immediately with a side salad.
Thank you M. Pepin for all you do.