Serge the Concierge

Blooming Lovely, Orange Blossom Champagne Cocktail with a Dash of Peychaud by Julia Charles from Summer Fizz

2022-08-09T19:19:32-04:00

Blooming Lovely, Orange Blossom Champagne Cocktail with a Dash of Peychaud by Julia Charles from Summer Fizz, Over 100 Recipes for Refreshing Sparkling Cocktails (Ryland Pteres & Small, May 2022)

Blooming Lovely

Recipe by Julia Charles, Photograph by Alex Luck © Ryland Peters & Small

Orange blossom extract has an indeﬁnable ﬂavor that isn’t exactly ﬂoral, so it adds intrigue to this elegant spritzer. Use a pink Champagne, if liked.

Ingredients:

4 dashes of Peychaud’s bitters

15 ml/1/2 oz St-Germain elderﬂower liqueur

1/4 teaspoon orange blossom extract

1/2 teaspoon sugar syrup

120 ml/4 oz well-chilled Champagne

lemon zests

edible ﬂowers, to garnish

SERVES 1

Directions:

Pour the bitters, elderﬂower liqueur, orange blossom extract and sugar syrup into a small wine glass and add a few ice cubes. Top up with Champagne, squeeze the lemon zests over the drink and discard. Stir, garnish with an edible ﬂower and serve at once.

(* Recipe from 'Summer Fizz' by Julia Charles, Photograph by Alex Luck © Ryland Peters & Small, May 2022/ Reproduced with permission)

Bathe Your Seafood in Liquid Fire, Kinilaw from Under Coconut Skies by Yasmin Newman, Taste The Philippines

2022-07-19T11:56:27-04:00

Bathe your seafood in liquid fire, Kinilaw from Under Coconut Skies by Yasmin Newman (Smith Street Books, October 2021).

Taste the Philippines!

Catch of the day with coconut vinegar, makrut lime & coriander oil

Kinilaw

‘It may well be our national food,’ wrote Doreen Gamboa Fernández, not of adobo, but kinilaw. The Filipino food historian was enamoured with the combination of seafood bathed briefly in native vinegar – liquid fire as she called it – which cures and preserves its sublime freshness. It’s certainly our oldest: archaeological evidence dates it to at least 1000 years’ old. Similar to ceviche, kinilaw is often made with fish, infused with the fragrance of kalamansi or dayap (native citrus) and made delicately sweet and creamy with coconut milk.

But there are countless versions, a picture of local produce in each region and town. Inspired by Hapag restaurant in Manila, this fragrant kinilaw is set off with coriander oil and makrut lime.

Serves 6

Ingredients

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) sashimi-grade tuna or tanique (Spanish mackerel), cut into 2 cm (¾ in) cubes
sea salt
1 green mango, shaved into ribbons using a vegetable peeler
2 makrut lime leaves, finely shredded
Kinilaw liquid
125 ml (½ cup) sukang tuba (coconut vinegar)
2 teaspoons kalamansi or lime juice
60 ml (¼ cup) coconut milk
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
1 cm (½ in) piece of ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
Coriander oil
1 bunch coriander (cilantro), leaves picked
60 ml (¼ cup) vegetable oil

Method:

To make the kinilaw liquid, place the ingredients in a non-reactive bowl and stand for 1 hour to infuse. Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth.
Strain through a fine sieve, discarding the solids. Set aside.
To make the coriander oil, place the coriander in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and stand for 30 seconds or until dark green and wilted. Drain, then refresh under cold water.
Squeeze to remove the excess water, then transfer to a food processor, add the oil and process until smooth and bright green.
Place the fish in half the kinilaw liquid in a bowl and toss to combine. Stand for 1 minute to cure, then drain the liquid and discard. Season with salt. Add the green mango and lime leaf and toss to combine with the fish, then divide among serving bowls.

Pour over a little of theremaining kinilaw liquid, drizzle with the coriander oil and serve immediately.

(* Recipe excerpted from Under Coconut Skies, 'Feasts & Stories from the Philippines' by Yasmin Newman, copyright Smith Street Books, October 2021)

Red Hot Chilli Peppers Meet Lamb Rogan Josh in this 3rd Dip from 50 Easy Indian Curries by Penny Chawla

2022-05-01T19:13:24-04:00

Red hot chilli peppers meet Lamb Rogan for this 3rd Dip of 50 Easy Indian Curries (Smith Street Books, March 22) by Penny Chawla, the self styled 'curry queen' of Sydney.

Lamb Rogan Josh

Serves 4

A famed dish from the beautiful state of Kashmir, the fiery red colour of rogan josh comes from the chillies that are added in generous quantities. Rogan josh is usually cooked with tomatoes, but they are omitted here to allow the flavour of the lamb to shine through even more.

Ingredients:

1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) boneless lamb shoulder or leg, cut into 2.5 cm (1 in) pieces

375 g (1 1/2 cups) natural yoghurt

1 teaspoon sea salt

60 g (2 oz) ghee

1 cinnamon stick

2 teaspoons green cardamom pods, bruised

4 brown or black cardamom pods, bruised

1/2 teaspoon cloves

3 onions, chopped

2 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste

1 tablespoon Kashmiri chilli powder

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

large handful of coriander (cilantro), chopped

1 teaspoon garam masala

Paratha, to serve

Directions:

Combine the lamb, yoghurt and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt in a large bowl. Cover and set aside to marinate.

Heat the ghee in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the cinnamon, cardamom pods and cloves and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the onion and remaining salt, reduce the heat to medium–low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20–25 minutes, until golden brown. Add the ginger and garlic paste and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.

Add the lamb mixture, chilli powder, paprika and turmeric to the pan. Mix well and bring to the boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, for 11/4–11/2 hours, until the lamb is tender. Stir in the coriander and garam masala and season, to taste.

Serve with paratha on the side.

(* Reproduced with permission from 50 Easy Indian Curries (Smith Street Books, March 22) by Penny Chawla, the self styled 'curry queen' of Sydney. Photo copyright: Emily Weaving)

Trade Nightmares for Night of Ideas on Saturday May 21 2022, 19 US Cities, 100 Countries, Brooklyn for Me

2022-04-21T17:20:32-04:00

Trade nightmares for Night of Ideas on Saturday May 21 2022 in 19 US Cities from Atlanta to Washington DC via New Orleans) and 100 Countries, Brooklyn for me.

Brooklyn Program in a Nutshell:

All will then gather for a marathon of talks, musical performances, screenings, and lively forums at Brooklyn Public Library, headlined by a performance from Patti Smith. Programming includes Goncourt Prize-winning novelist Leïla Slimani, Director of the Lenape Center Joe Baker, Chief AI Scientist at Meta Yann LeCun, political scientist Claire Sagan, and more.  

Registration will be available later in April. Check back here for updates.

Presented by: Brooklyn Public Library and Villa Albertine.

Where are we going? That is the question.

Easter For Me As A Child Equalled Chocolate Bunnies and Friture, In 2022 Mother Hen Runs The Roost

2022-04-15T17:27:16-04:00

Easter for me as a child equalled chocolate bunnies and friture. In 2022 mother hen runs the roost, thanks to La Poule de Paques, courtesy of Parisian classic shop A La Mere De Famille Easter collection.

It's been all of 11 years since I shared a prehistoric Easter creation of theirs with Have a Jurassic Paques, Bite a Chocolate Dinosaur, Happy Easter! (April 24, 2011)