Root Beer Floats... surprise!

"Why the surprise notation in the title?" you ask. Ah, there's a long history behind this all-American classic, and a short tale behind my root beer float today. 

Some sources claim that root beer was first manufactured, bottled and sold in 1880 and the first root beer float followed some thirteen years later. Frank Wisner of Cripple Creek, Colorado noticed that the snowy peaks on Cow Mountain looked like ice cream floating in soda. The following day he floated a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the top of his glass of root beer and invented the "black cow."

OR, on a particularly hot day in Philadelphia in 1874, Robert McCay Green ran out of ice as he served soda to his customers. He substituted ice cream instead to chill the drinks. However, many others claim to have made this creation, including one of Green's employees. No matter who first served this fizzy, foamy concoction, it has been a favorite treat for many generations. 

Today it was an unplanned surprise in my kitchen. I frequently order groceries online, specify a convenient delivery time, and free up my schedule to do other things. Today's delivery should have included a 6-pack of Bundaberg ginger beer, a necessary ingredient for a batch of Moscow Mules. Instead the grocery mistakenly substituted a 6-pack of Bundaberg root beer, an entirely different flavor of soda, more sweet and less spicy, and definitely not what I had in mind for Moscow Mules.

  
Okay, switch over to a taste-test of dueling root beers, not a bad plan for lazing about on the deck in 80-degree weather. It only took a few sips of each to reaffirm my preference for Henry Weinhard's root beer. Bundaberg tasted sweeter, maybe too sweet, and a bit thin in flavor. Henry's, pleasantly smooth and creamy, had a somewhat stronger flavor (honey, vanilla and maybe some licorice or wintergreen) with a hint of a bite . Both root beers fizzed nicely when combined with ice cream. So, sip, taste, switch samples. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Yes, a valid taste test requires much sampling.

The crystalized ice cream foam remained the star of the show, frothy bubbles of carbon dioxide released when carbonated root beer and ice cream meet. The fat and foaming agents in the ice cream coat the CO2 bubbles, increasing surface tension, which allows the the bubbles to expand and produce a longer-lasting, foamy head. Technique gurus dispute the order in which ingredients should be added to a chilled glass. 

• Begin with root beer, filling the glass 3/4 full, and carefully add ice cream to allow foam without overflowing. 
• OR add scoop(s) of ice cream to the glass, then tilt the glass and gently pour the root beer down the side. This prevents a wasteful splash when you drop the ice cream in. Detractors say it results in a murky-looking liquid from the ice cream melting more quickly as the soda is poured over it.

Pick your method, or experiment with both. Enjoy the original, a two-ingredient classic float of root beer with vanilla ice cream, or get creative and try a few flavor additions. Maybe a splash of bourbon and a dollop of whipped cream, or kahlua with coconut ice cream, or just skim Pinterest for a gazillion more tempting combinations. Myself, I'm happy enough with the classic... with Henry Weinhard's root beer, of course.

   

Holiday Glogg - hot mulled wine

Brrrrrr, baby it's cold outside! Well, it is winter, the festive holiday season, and temperatures have dropped. Snow is predicted over the weekend and skiers are ecstatic. But who needs an excuse to enjoy mug after mug of Glogg (hot mulled wine)? It can be served hot or cold, though the warm version is traditional, a celebratory beverage to warm both body and soul. Glogg smells divine and tastes even better; a potent, comforting drink that can deliver a kick... or more likely make me sleepy after several mugfuls. 

Whether you call it Nordic Glogg, German Gluhwein, Canadian Caribou, UK Wassail, or hot wine in a variety of languages, you will find recipes for mulled wine vary greatly, even within cultures. Typically the main ingredients include red wine, sugar, spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves plus citrus and occasionally brandy. Potent, indeed.

Photo: Batch 1 Glogg ingredients

Photo: Batch 2 Glogg ingredients

No time to create your own mixture? Retailers can supply premixed mulling spice blends, Glogg concentrate or even bottles of already prepared Glogg. Myself, I'll go with easy-to-prepare homemade Holiday Glogg  and serve it in honor of the New Year, and to salute the memory of a wonderful holiday visit in snowy Central Oregon earlier this week. 

Try this tasty beverage, perhaps play around with the spice mix ingredients to create your own flavor blend. Here's the recipe from my latest batch of Holiday Glogg. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

Holiday Glogg

1 bottle red wine (or hard apple cider)
10 green cardamom pods, crushed (not ground)
1/2 cup raisins 
2 dried apricots 
5 blanched almonds
2 star anise
5 whole cloves (not ground)
5 pieces crystallized ginger (not ground)
1 whole nutmeg, grated or cracked
10 whole peppercorns
1 long cinnamon stick (not ground)
1 small bay leaf
zest and fruit of an orange, cut in rounds

4-8 sugar cubes
Garnish: 1 additional orange and 4 cinnamon sticks
(use 1 cinnamon stick and a citrus twist or wedge per serving)

1. Simmer all ingredients except sugar cubes and garnish, covered, in a nonreactive saucepan for 30 minutes. Be careful not to boil the mix.
2. Strain to remove the solids. (You might want to keep the nuts and fruit to use in baked goods.) Cool and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
3. To serve, reheat the mixture over low heat (do not boil!). Serve Glogg in a warmed glass over a sugar cube or two. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and an orange slice or twist. 

Options to consider:

* Add 1/4 cup rum, brandy and/or port to the heated mixture after straining.
* Make a double batch to enjoy some immediately and bottle the rest to serve later in the season. It mellows and blends the flavors, improving with age. Refrigerate to hold.

Gazpacho Shooters with Spicy Shrimp for #10DaysofTailgate

Welcome to ‪#‎10DaysofTailgate‬ hosted by Culinary Adventures with Camilla! This event runs rom September 20th through September 30th with nearly two dozen bloggers and more than one hundred recipes to inspire you through an entire tailgating season. A huge thank you goes to the event sponsors who have graciously donated prizes for our readers. There are fourteen different prize packages so make sure you enter the rafflecopter HERE and check back throughout the event. Don't forget to follow the hashtag on Twitter too.

It's time for the opening kickoff of this virtual tailgate gathering, so let's get the party rolling!

Tailgating can be a little different here in Seattle where many fans arrive at University of Washington games by boat, and sailgate afloat. Early-season games are often held in sunny 70-80 degree weather, so this chilled Gazpacho Shooter with Spicy Shrimp would be a welcome starter. 

Is this a family-friendly appetizer, a soup, a colorful salad, or an adult beverage with an added shot of vodka? It could be any of the above; the difference is all in the details. Whichever option you choose, gazpacho is deliciously refreshing, a perfect kickoff to warm-weather tailgate parties anywhere.

• To save time, you can prepare the Gazpacho a day ahead and hold it in the fridge; the texture and taste actually improve with an overnight rest. 
• Cook the Spicy Shrimp ahead of time to serve chilled, or grill them just before serving to serve warm. 
• Offer the soup chunky to sip as an easy-to-eat appetizer, with or without a spoon. 
• Or puree all of the ingredients in a blender and pour; add a shot of vodka or tequila to each glass and you have a zesty, Better-Than-A-Bloody-Mary beverage that's colorful and loaded with flavor. 
• Increase the vegetables/decrease the liquid, go light on the blender action and shazam! it's a Gazpacho Salad to serve as a light, healthy option. After all, not everyone yearns for chili, sausage rolls, wings, ribs, pulled pork, loaded nachos, etc. before a game - I do love those traditional tailgate offerings, just not so much in 80+ degree weather. 

Gazpacho Shooters

Yield depends on size of glass - I filled 12 shooter glasses and 6 small bowls with this batch.

Ingredients:
1 TB Gourmet Gardens Garlic in a tube, or 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

generous 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs, no crusts

3 cups low-sodium V-8 juice

1 poblano pepper, cut in small dice

1 sweet pepper, red, orange or yellow, cut in small dice

4 large tomatoes; peel, seed and dice  

1/2 large, sweet onion or one bunch of scallions, small dice

1 English cucumber; peel, seed and dice

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 TB red wine vinegar

juice of 1 lime

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp. cumin

1 small jalapeño, seed and dice, OR use Sriracha, Tabasco or other hot sauce (quantity to your taste)

Spicy Shrimp* (recipe follows)

Optional Toppings:

picks or skewers of diced avocado and tiny cherry tomatoes

fresh cilantro, basil or parsley, coarsely chopped

a dollop of salsa

Directions:

1. Combine garlic, bread crumbs, half of the V-8 juice and half of the sweet pepper, tomatoes, onion and cucumber in a food processor or blender and puree. 
2. In a pitcher or bowl, combine the puree with the remaining V-8 juice, diced veggies, oil, vinegar and seasonings. Blend with a spoon; taste and adjust seasonings. Taste again. The soup should be thick, chunky and slightly glossy from the oil. Chill for an hour or two, or overnight. Stir before serving.
3. To serve, pour into a small glass and top with a skewer of Spicy Shrimp. Note: If fresh or frozen shrimp are not available, top with fresh cilantro or parsley, cubed avocado and a cherry tomato, or commercial salsa  (Do not use canned shrimp!! They can be nasty disappointing.) 

Spicy Shrimp

Ingredients:

use large shrimp, at least 1 per shooter glass

salt and pepper

1 Tablespoon olive oil or canola oil

1 Tablespoon butter

ground chipotle pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika (pimenton)

1-2 teaspoons garlic, minced or use Gourmet Gardens Garlic in a tube

Sriracha or other hot sauce, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the oil and butter in a medium sauté pan and cook over medium-high heat until the butter melts. Add the chipotle pepper, paprika, garlic and hot sauce and cook for a minute or two until fragrant, stirring or swirling the pan occasionally.
2. Sprinkle the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook until barely done, just a minute or two on each side until they turn pink. Remove the shrimp from the pan, skewer each with a long pick and add to each serving of Gazpacho.
3. OR make the sauce and keep it warm. Thread the raw shrimp on a double-prong metal skewer and grill on a lightly-oiled barbecue for a minute or two until just cooked through, brushing with sauce frequently while they cook. Serve as above in step 2.

Note: Gourmet Garden is a sponsor of #10DaysofTailgate, but I purchased my own product. I love this company and have used many of their high-quality products in my home kitchen and boat galley for years.

Click below to explore more tempting tailgate food from the #10DaysofTailgate bloggers.

And here's what the team brought to the table...

Starters

Loaded Baked Nacho Supreme by Cheese Curd In Paradise

Baked Blueberry Pork Egg Rolls by The Pajama Chef

Gazpacho Shooters with Spicy Shrimp by OnTheMove-In the Galley

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Meatball Sliders with BlueCheese Aioli by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventure

Dips

Soft Pretzels and Buffalo Cheese Dip by Things I Make (for Dinner)

Cheesy Bean Dip by Making Miracles

Garden Fresh Salsa by Eliot’s Eats

Pineapple Salsa by The Not So Cheesy Kitchen

Devilish 7-Layer Dip by Miss Laura’s Kitchen

  

Sips

War Eagle Sangria by Sew You Think You Can Cook

Spicy Strawberry Bourbon Shooters by CafeTerraBlog

Iowa Sunrise by From Gate to Plate

Sides

Deviled Egg Potato Salad by Cooking In Stilettos

Mains

El Diablo’d Lamb Lollipops by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Ginger Chicken Kabobs by Summer Scraps

Chili by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Spiced Fig and Garlic Chicken Wings by girlichef

Baked Mac and Cheese  with Bacon Pretzel Topping by Debbi Does Dinner Healthy

Asian Duck Sliders  by Curious Cuisiniere

Pineapple Chile Lime Wings by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches by Love and Confections

Sweets

Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies by The Spiffy Cookie

Banana Smoothie with Kale

A breakfast drink concocted with bananas and kale, totally packed with vitamins and minerals, should deliver a great start to the day... emphasis on should. I enjoy bananas and kale separately, so why was this smoothie such a flop? 

It could have been an attitude issue; for years I've avoided drinking kale anything out of pure stubbornness. "Oh, Dee, you really have to try a green smoothie, it's SO good for you!" Hah, the more I heard it, the more I resisted. 

It might have been the texture, a coarse, grainy feeling that was faintly noticeable and annoying. Smoothies are supposed to be smooth and creamy, right?

Did my blender let me down? Do I need a VitaMix? No, I think I'll stick to delicious braised kale for breakfast, and tasty raw kale for salads at lunch, and let my smoothies stay kale-free.

Declaration: This smoothie may be super-healthy, even semi-palatable, but it will never be my favorite breakfast choice. How about you, do you have a favorite green smoothie? I'm open to suggestions.

Banana Smoothie with Kale

1 large or 2 small bananas, peeled, chopped & frozen
1 cup raw kale, cleaned & stems removed 
   (or substitute spinach instead)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
1 1/2 cups 1% milk (or almond milk)

Add all ingredients to a blender and whiz until you have a thick, even mixture. Add more liquid as needed to thin to desired consistency.

Festive Fruit Cubes

These fruit-filled cubes can turn almost any beverage into a party-in-a-glass. Pop a few cubes into a clear glass and add some Prosecco or white wine, maybe Sprite or Sangria, or plain fruit juice, or... whatever, and you'll smile at the result. 

I had some odds and ends of fresh fruit in the refrigerator, left after creating a colorful green salad with fruit. The small amount of leftover fruit could have gone into a smoothie or topped a dish of yogurt, but I really just wanted it out of the fridge, right now. 

Pop a few blueberries, raspberries and sliced grapes into each section of a plastic ice cube tray and top with water. Freeze for several hours until hard. Release and store in an air-tight freezer bag until ready to use.

Next time I might cover the fruit with white cranberry juice before freezing to add flavor without diluting my drink.

Cheers! Prosit! Slainte! Salud! Skaal! Kampai! Na zdravie! 

Hot Apple Toddy

Brrrrrr, baby it's cold outside! We bundled up for an early evening stroll and carefully crunched our way along snow-covered docks and shoreside walkways to the Riptide Pub. I warmed up with a hot toddy and the Capt sipped a cup of tea before dinner, enjoying festive holiday decorations and the cheer of the nearby fireplace. Mmmm, that hot rum toddy was tasty enough to repeat.

Today the sun is out but it's still cold outside. While this isn't the midwest, bone-chilling kind of cold, the weather dudes predict the recent Arctic Blast will hang around well into next week, keeping temperatures below zero (celsius, of course, since we're in Canada). That's reason enough to enjoy more hot toddies, though I'm partial to this apple cider version. I recommend either Captain Morgan Spiced Rum or Bacardi's Oakheart, my latest favorite. Try it, you'll like it, even if your weather isn't all that cold.

Hot Apple toddy with Spiced Rum

serves 1

Hot apple cider
Cinnamon stick
2-3 whole cloves
Peel of 1 clementine
1 scant tablespoon honey
1-2 oz spiced rum (Bacardi Oakheart or Captain Morgan recommended)

Directions:

1. Coat the bottom of a glass mug or cup with the honey; add the rum.
2. Heat the cinnamon stick, cloves, orange peel and cider in a small pan over medium heat; let simmer and steep a bit.
3. Pour the heated cider over the rum, stir with a cinnamon stick and serve.
4. Garnish with the cinnamon stick if you like… I'd rather leave it in the pan and heat more cider for another toddy or two.

Cucumber Melon Refresher

SRC: Secret Recipe Club May 2013

It's a heat wave, in May no less. Seattle tied with Phoenix for the highest daily temperature in the nation this past week, a scorching 87 degrees F. No complaints here, it has been lovely, if just a bit unreal. The hot weather made it easy to choose a few drink recipes from Amy's Cooking Adventures for my Secret Recipe Club post this month. I picked the coolest, most refreshing beverage I could find, Amy's Cucumber-Melon Refresher. Actually I tried several other drinks, but this was the first and most in-season with mint and strawberries. As a bacon and popcorn fan I was tempted to make multiple batches of her Bacon Caramel Corn with Dark Chocolate, but we're on a renewed campaign to eat healthier. Healthier probably shouldn't include bacon, brown sugar, light syrup and dark chocolate but damn! that sounded tasty. Sigh, moving on...

Amy's base recipe works best with a really sweet, flavorful watermelon. My mini melon was pretty cute, quite colorful and waaaay too bland. Lime juice and fresh strawberries came to the rescue, adding a sweet/tart note that balanced the more assertive cucumber flavor. The watermelon played a minor role, adding volume, color and just a hint of flavor. We tried a glass straight up, then another one with rum and finally a third with a shot of tequila. I enjoyed the kid's version, served over ice, but would never turn down the high test adult version with alcohol. Mmmmm, delicious. Thanks, Amy. 

Note: you will enjoy cruising through Amy's blog, checking out her recipes and admiring her sense of adventure and humor. For example, 

"I love taking risks in the kitchen. One thing my wonderful husband has taught me is that cooking experiments are always welcome, as long as McDonald’s or Little Caesars is an option in the event of a cooking disaster. “

Photo: Cucumber Melon Refresher basic ingredients - in generous measure

Photo: Ready to blend, no liquid needed 

Photo: Frothy mixture of fruit and vegetable

Photo: Straining the pulp is a recommended step

Cucumber Melon Refresher

adapted from Amy's Cooking Adventures (link) 

Makes 1 serving

1 cup seedless watermelon, cut in chunks

1/2 cup strawberries, cleaned & hulled (optional)

splash of lime juice (optional)

1/2 cup cucumber, peeled & seeded

1 sprig mint, 6-8 large leaves

1/2 cup Sprite, or other lemon-lime soda

1 oz white rum or tequila (optional)

1. Place the watermelon, strawberries (optional) cucumber and mint into a blender. Blend until smooth.  
2. Use a fine-mesh sieve and strain the mixture into a bowl, discarding the pulp.
3. Pour the strained juice into a glass. Stir in the Sprite and lime juice (optional). Add liquor and ice, if desired.
4. Garnish with a slice of cucumber, a chunk of watermelon, a sprig of mint and/or a fat, ripe strawberry. Enjoy!  

Celebrating with Bubbles

If you like to play with your food, you will love playing with your bubbly beverages. Scatter a tablespoon of fresh pomegranate seeds over the bottom of a flute or wineglass, gently add Prosecco or champagne to fill, and wait! there they go! Bubbles attach to the seeds and float them to the top, detach and let the seeds descend to the bottom again. Over and over the pomegranate seeds bounce up and down, up and down... Is it magic? it's certainly fun to watch the action as you sip the beverage. Does this work with a classic champagne cocktail or bellini? Hmmmm, I don't know but definitely need to investigate this, all in the name of research of course. Thank you friend Cathy S., for introducing me to this captivating occurrence.

Now about that Thanksgiving menu report I mentioned last week: plans changed. The Thursday menu was completely ignored as flight attendant H was called out to work all day and Grandma's plane arrived so late in the evening that she just wanted to go to bed. Postpone that menu until later in the week, and reorganize the refrigerator. On Friday we ate appetizers and green salad from the Thursday menu, opted to skip the potatoes, and were too full for any dessert... except H's decorated cookies. Okay, I confess we nibbled on a lot of cookies. Hot turkey sandwiches, cold turkey sandwiches and turkey quesadillas took care of the leftovers on Saturday and Sunday. Grandma flew home, the fridge is empty and it's time to think about December activities. Let's start with some bubbly.

Mango Smoothie with Banana and Coconut

Photo: Smoothie in a bowl as dessert, in a glass as breakfast

We were well stocked with fruit last week, overstocked in fact with ripe bananas, mangos, grapes and more. My fault, totally my bad. Confident that the chilly weather outside and the cool temperature in my storage locker, aka the shelves and countertop in the guest head, (link) would hold the fruit for the weeks ahead, I couldn't resist buying an extra-large bunch of green bananas, a box of hard green mangos and piles of red and green grapes. We would enjoy fresh fruit for a week or two while we cruised between SE Alaska ports and grocery stores. That was the plan, and you know about plans. This had worked for me countless times before, but not this week. Oh no, definitely not this week. Everything raced headlong to fully ripe, eat-me-now deliciousness at the same time.

That's more of an observation than a complaint, since there's always some way to work with ripe fruit. Fruit salad, pancake topping, mango salsa, banana bread, mango granita, frozen grapes and more quickly come to mind. OMG, we ate a lot of fruit last week. Then coconut milk joined the party and a new smoothie blend was the fruit favorite of the week. Several recipes call for a little coconut milk, less than a full can, so I freeze the remaining liquid in ice cube trays for future use. They are handy to toss into rice or Asian soups and sauces, and now they are a secret ingredient for super smoothies.

I have become a competent mango slicer/dicer during this time, practice will do that for you, but the credit for the technique goes to friend and neighbor, Capt. Sam. Years ago, before YouTube offered videos on everything we ever wanted to know, he demonstrated the finer points of cutting and serving a mango. Heaven knows my original peel-then-deseed approach needed improvement. 

Hold the fruit with a flat side facing you and slice off a half using a sharp, narrow knife. Slide that blade as close to the seed as possible while you do this. Then use the tip of the knife to crosshatch the fruit slice, cutting diamonds without piercing the skin below.

Put your fingers on the rounded skin side and gently press it up into a concave shape until the fruit diamonds separate.

Carefully slice each piece off of the skin and voila! you have a pile of mango chunks, attractive with their neat edges and uniform sizing of course. Repeat for the other flat side of the fruit.

Mango Banana Coconut Smoothie

Makes 2 servings

1 medium banana, peeled and chunked
1 medium to large mango, peeled and cubed
3 frozen cubes of coconut milk 
1/3 cup milk or coconut milk (additional may be needed)
OR 1/3 cup coconut milk and 3 ice cubes

Place the fruit, cubes and liquid into the blender jar. Add additional milk or coconut milk as needed to bring the visible liquid up to the 2-cup marker on the blender container (NO, that does NOT mean add 2 cups of liquid!!) Whiz it all up until the cubes are totally incorporated and you have the consistency you like. Pour and enjoy, thick enough to eat with a spoon or looser to sip from a glass. How simple is that?

Note: If you don't have a ripe mango or you are in a hurry, Trader Joe's frozen mango chunks work beautifully. 

Vieux Carre'

Hello November! I returned from two weeks in Southern California, RL had spent two weeks on the boat, and "whoosh!" suddenly October was gone, history, totally over. We celebrated being home by reconnecting with good friends and hosting a participation "Southern" dinner. Cathy S's opening cocktail, the Vieux Carre, was a tremendous success, richly boozy, decadent and oh-so-smooth. That first round disappeared so quickly that we all required another... not a good thing when the cook still needed to concentrate on Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce plated with a kale salad for the first course (my next post, I promise).

The Vieux Carre (pronounced voh - care - eh) is a classic New Orleans cocktail, created in the 1930s by Walter Bergeron at the Hotel Monteleone. The name comes from the French, referring to the French Quarter as the "old square". The ingredient list sounds odd and heavy, but it sips much better than it reads. I'm not usually wild about cocktails, preferring to sip a smooth single malt instead. However I could make an exception for this drink.

Vieux Carre'

1 1/2 Tbs rye whiskey,(Wild Turkey)

1 1/2 Tbs brandy

1 1/2 Tbs sweet vermouth

1 1/2 tsp Benedictine D.O.M.

2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

2 dashes Angostura bitters

lemon twist for garnish

Combine all ingredients (except lemon twist) in a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir well to chill and strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with a lemon twist (or a cherry if you'd rather).

This is the recipe for one drink, doubling it in a shaker works just fine (as we found out). And yes, it could be a new favorite winter drink.