A Good Week for Ginger - SNAP is out!

SNAP, the much anticipated -- at least by me -- gingersnap spirit by Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction is now out. It's been out for days! How did I miss this?

I may sound ginger obsessed, and perhaps I am. I'm okay with that. I'm also fascinated with AitA's spirits projects. I love Root, their first foray into booze, which evokes the pre-prohibition alcoholic Root tea that became, courtesy of the Temperance movement, root beer. On the rocks or mixed with cream soda, it's quite tasty.

Plus, I have a history of trying for slightly off-the-wall spirit flavors myself. I already mentioned the ginger vodka (the secret is equal parts fresh and candied ginger, for a touch of sweetness and complex ginger flavor). I also took it one step further and created a gingersnap vodka, infused with the spices that go into gingersnap cookies and, yes, molasses for sweetness. It really did taste like alcoholic gingersnaps.

So I have a strong interest in Snap. Not only do I love ginger, but I'm probably one of the few people who has tried for this flavor myself before. I want to see how theirs came out.

Ginger Beer, Part 1

I've done homemade ginger beverages before. Ginger syrup mixed with seltzer, mostly. The occasional ginger-citrus drink And okay, yes, some delicious ginger vodka as well. True ginger beer, however, always intimidated me. It involves fermentation. That, to me, implies a lot of time, a high level of difficulty, and the possibility of explosions.

But when I saw this recipe in the New York Times Magazine, I knew I had to try it. Toby Cecchini had all my same qualms, and he told me it would be okay. It would be easy. One day, maybe two, tops. Just a little yeast, the same stuff I use to bake bread.

Yes, it might explode. But probably not.

Last night, I made ginger beer. I adjusted Cecchini's recipe slightly to align with the ingredients I had on hand -- the juice from one lemon, and no cream of tartar.

I twisted the cap on tight, wrapped the plastic bottle in a plastic bag, and put it in a bucket in the pantry, in case of explosion.

This morning I checked the bottle. It was tight, so I opened the cap to release some of the trapped CO2. A gorgeous and powerful ginger aroma wafted out as well.

Given the warm weather, my ginger beer should be done fermenting tonight. Then I can chill (to stop fermentation) and drink.

I'm excited. Bring over some rum, and we can have a dark 'n' stormy.

Thank You, Harold McGee

Why was the caramel ice cream so soft? On Saturday, it took 40 minutes in the ice cream machine to get to slushy, and after an afternoon in the freezer it never froze beyond soft serve texture. Even days later, the last remaining bites refused to truly freeze.

This is the complete opposite of my usual problem of homemade ice cream or sorbet that freezes rock hard in a single day -- I add a couple of tablespoons of liquor to the mix to counteract that effect. Now I wanted to know what was keeping this glorious caramel ice cream from freezing as hard as I wanted it, for the perfect medium of solid but scoopable.

I turned to Harold McGee and his magnificent opus, On Food and Cooking. Of course, he had the answer:
"Plain frozen cream is hard as a rock. Sugar makes it softer, but also lowers its freezing point (the dissolved sugar molecules get in the way as the water molecules settle into ordered crystals)."

I love learning the answer. Now all I have to do is turn that knowledge into action. I just might have to make several batches of caramel ice cream in search of the perfect texture. Volunteer tasters, contact me.

Two Triumphs

Two triumphs last night, and that's not even counting the chocolate sorbet, which was pretty fantastic itself. In fact, these have been a good couple of days for delicious items to imbibe and devour.

A desire to make use of the fresh herbs in the garden led to two beverages discoveries, a lemon-thyme cocktail of my own invention and a blueberry-thai basil-gin drink that I had the inspiration to search the web for, and the good luck to find. And then I made my best ever sangria as well -- so good that I even bothered to write down the ingredients for later replication.

These weren't even the real triumphs.

Vegetable Torta and Salted Caramel Ice Cream, those were the culinary triumphs.

I had Friday afternoon off (the last of summer hours for 2010), and all I felt like doing was cooking. Much as I love to write, sometimes I need to get my hands on something other than a keyboard. I wanted something complicated and delicious, that I could spend some serious time on and then be proud of.

These recipes fit the bill perfectly. The Vegetable Torta clocked in at about 2.5 hours, all active (plus baking time) and then I made the Chocolate Sorbet as well. I didn't have the energy for the Salted Caramel Ice Cream, so I promised myself that I'd make the caramel first thing on Saturday to give it plenty of time to cool, churn, and freeze before the guests arrived for our evening BBQ.

The torta was so damn good. It is now my official go-to recipe for a nice vegetarian main course. On further reflection, I bet I can cut the time down to 1.5 active hours, and call that time well spent. I wish I'd taken a photo of how lovely it looked, but I didn't. Maybe next time.

The caramel ice cream didn't freeze all that solid, more like soft serve than regular ice cream. But the taste -- I served scoops of it and the chocolate sorbet in plastic cups. We were all sitting in a loose circle in the dark yard, gently lit by the pinkish glow of the streetlight. The cheerful babble of wine- and food-fueled conversation faded as the cups spread around the group. Total silence fell. We just ate. Then the murmurs arose: good, so good. Dave described Kathryn as having tears in her eyes as she licked her spoon.

It really was that good. I want to tinker with the recipe some to get the texture a little more solid, but otherwise, this was one of the most perfect foods I have ever tasted, let alone created.

Lemon-Thyme Cocktail

2 oz vodka
1 oz lemon-thyme syrup (see below)
juice from half a lemon
seltzer to taste

Combine ingredients in a glass over ice, stir lightly to combine. Adjust seltzer quantity to taste.

Thyme Lemonade
Same as above, only leave out the vodka. Lovely non-alcoholic beverage.

Lemon-Thyme Syrup

2 T fresh thyme leaves
zest from one lemon
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c water

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let cool, then chill overnight in the refrigerator. Strain and pour into a glass bottle. I bet this will keep in the fridge for at least a week, but I haven't had the chance to test that theory. It tastes too good.