Habanero-Infused Vodka

One of my favorite things to do is experiment with infusion...alcohol, vinegars, oils, etc. I was fortunate enough to pick two perfectly ripe habanero peppers in the garden yesterday, so habanero-vodka it is! So easy to do and makes the best Bloody Mary you'll ever have.

You can start with any-old vodka...we had some Koenig Potato Vodka on hand. Pour the amount you want to infuse into a glass container, mason jar works great. Take your fresh habanero and split it halfway down the middle (leave it intact, but splitting it will expose the seeds and infuse your vodka with more heat). As a guide, use 1-2 peppers per pint of vodka. For this go around, we used 2 peppers and it was H-O-T, but delicious.

For your drinking satisfaction, try this fantastic homemade Bloody Mary concoction.

Beef Stroganoff

This recipe serves 8 and is very hearty. A great dinner for "grab-a-plate-and-sit-wherever-you-want" night at our house. I served it with my homemade Rosemary-Lemon Pasta Noodles.

The original recipe can be found here (I did not alter at all, was perfect as-is).

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef chuck roast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 ounces butter
• 4 green onions, sliced (white parts only)
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed beef broth
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1 (6 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup white wine (I accidentally omitted this, but will remember next time)
  
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Remove any fat and gristle from the roast and cut into strips 1/2 inch thick by 2 inches long. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of both salt and pepper.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and brown the beef strips quickly, then push the beef strips off to one side. Add the onions and cook slowly for 3 to 5 minutes, then push to the side with the beef strips.
3. Stir the flour into the juices on the empty side of the pan. Pour in beef broth and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and stir in mustard. Cover and simmer for 1 hour or until the meat is tender.
4. Five minutes before serving, stir in the mushrooms, sour cream, and white wine. Heat briefly then salt and pepper to taste.

Bacon, Rosemary and Tomato Pasta

On an evening where I found the refrigerator (almost) completely bare (unfortunate), and I most certainly did NOT want to go shopping at the market (even more unfortunate)...I assessed what sparse ingredients I did have to work with (fresh garden tomatoes and bacon) and found this amazing recipe online. I was skeptical at first: I haven't had the best luck with fresh tomato sauces in the past. But given the circumstances, I persevered.

Hands down the best fresh tomato sauce I've ever stirred up. I love this sauce most for it's simplicity, but the freshness is unbeatable and the bacon is the star of the show. Using a combination of heirloom and roma tomatoes gave a nice richness to the base, and I did omit the balsamic vinegar though I will try it next time. I served atop homemade rosemary lemon pasta noodles and sprinkled with fresh grated parmesan and finely shredded fresh basil.

The original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces pasta, shape of choice
• 3 ounces bacon, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 large, bushy sprig of fresh rosemary
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 very large tomatoes (or 3 medium, a mix of yellow and red is nice), cored and chopped
• balsamic vinegar (optional)
• soft herbs if you want this to look pretty

Preparation

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of heavily salted water.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the grease in the pan (if it looks really greasy, spoon some out; you just need a thin layer, enough to sauté the garlic without burning).

3. Add the rosemary, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to the skillet and cook until garlic is lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and let the sauce simmer until the pasta is cooked. Season aggressively with more salt and black pepper. If it tastes flat, add a few drops of vinegar.

4. Drain the pasta and top with the sauce. Sprinkle with the bacon, parmesan and herbs if you like.

---------------------

Rosemary Lemon Noodles

• 5 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh or 2 tsp. dried rosemary leaves (I used fresh)
• 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3-1/4 c. flour

Beat eggs, rosemary, lemon peel, oil and salt in large bowl with wire whisk until smooth. Add flour. Mix thoroughly with fork until dough forms. Knead on lightly floured surface 5 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Let stand 15 minutes.

Using a hand-crank pasta press, roll out dough to a #6 thickness, then hand-cut into wide flat noodles. Served with above sauce, these noodles are sinful.

This noodle recipe makes a LARGE batch, and I had extra plain noodles that were served with Beef Stroganoff later in the week.

Best Clam Chower

I uncovered this gem from allrecipes.com...it comes together in a flash and has tons of flavor. This is my new go-to clam chowder recipe. The ingredients posted below have slight variations from the original...I wanted to cut down on a bit of the fat without losing the flavor.

The original can be found here.

Ingredients

• 3 slices bacon, diced
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 4 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup milk (I used 1%)
  
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 2 (10 ounce) cans minced clams

Directions

1. Place diced bacon in large stock pot over medium-high heat. Cook until almost crisp; add onions, and cook 5 minutes. Stir in water and potatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.
2. Pour in half-and-half, and add butter. Drain clams, reserving clam liquid; stir clams and 1/2 of the clam liquid into the soup. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until heated through. Do not allow to boil.

Seeing Orange

My small city garden produced a proud bounty of pumpkin this year and after spending an entire day seeding, roasting and pureeing these jewels, I've been frantically searching for anything and everything to use it in. Pumpkin pancakes were this morning's treat. I did a little research and gathered a few recipes that sounded good, but after studying each one I concocted my own recipe that was a huge hit with the family. I wanted to jot it down before forgetting...this one is a keeper. I served these with some homemade maple syrup for an extra special treat.

Pumpkin Pancakes
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 pinch clove
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
2 c. buttermilk
2 Tbsp. applesauce (I used homemade canned applesauce which added a lot of cinnamony goodness)
1-1/4 c. pumpkin puree

Mix all dry ingredients. Then add wet ingredients and mix until slightly lumpy. Add more buttermilk (or regular milk) to thin as necessary. Heat a buttered griddle to medium-high; cook until golden brown on both sides.

Maple Syrup
1 c. water
1c. brown sugar (I use dark)
1 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. maple extract

Heat water, brown sugard and white sugar over medium-high heat; bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and add maple extract / flavoring. Continue to simmer for 3 minutes, then remove from heat.