Ham Sandwich Indicted!

Drinking vinegars, or shrubs, are all the rage these days. Shrubs are fruit infused vingegars sweetened with sugar, and they are delicious mixed with some soda water or any given liquor. Shrubs have been around on the fancy-cocktail circuit for a while (I had a shrub cocktail at Nopa in San Franciso in 2009, and they're making a splash at Andy Ricker's Thai street food mecca  Pok Pok in Portland, Oregon.  His "Pok Pok Som Drinking Vinegars" are so popular that he's producing them for sale outside of his restaurant, and they're now available at Weiland's in Clintonville.  On the local blog scene, last week the lovely Rachel Tayse chronicled her creation of a rhubarb shrub on her blog Hounds in the Kitchen .  You should check it out. Over at the Ham Sandwich HQ, I had a dozen pounds of strawberries, courtesy of a seriously focused hour of picking at Schacht Family Farms last Saturday.   My freezer is not big enough for twelve pounds of frozen str...

Clearly, I am a woman possessed. Or bored. Or one with too much cream, strawberries, and basil on her hands. Using the same techniques I used for the Rhubarb-Rosemary Ice Cream, I threw together this batch of deliciousness with my last remaining strawberries and a big handful of basil.  I'm pretty sure this is what summer tastes like. Strawberry-Basil Ice Cream Ingredients : 3 cups or so strawberries, sliced 1 c. sugar (divided--3/4 and 1/4) 1 c. water 1 1/2 c. heavy cream 1 1/2 c. whole milk 10-12 basil leaves 2 tbls. corn starch 2 tbls. cream cheese 1. Combine strawberries, 3/4 c. sugar, and water in a saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat until strawberries are soft, and a syrup is starting to form, skimming off foam. (About 5 minutes.) Puree mix in blender/food processor.  Place strawberry puree in fridge, stirring occasionally until cool--about two hours. (This time around, I popped it in the freezer and stirred occasionally, cutting the cooling time down to about 30 ...

Holy mackerel, this weekend was a food fest if I've ever seen one. I'll get to what's in the lead photo in a minute, since I'm going to try to keep this in chronological order. First up, Friday night was a impromptu Westside taco truck tour with 4-5 friends. We hit Los Potosinos (chorizo tacos), La Super Torta II (for a torta de tasajo con quesillo), Los Gauchos (tacos al pastor), and Otro Rollo (for a huarache). My charming friend Ella vamps in front of La Super Torta II As always, Los Potosinos and Los Gauchos was delicious. Los Potosinos gave us some really great pickled carrots to munch on while we were waiting for a tacos, and while we didn't get the superb chicken al carbon , we did really like the chorizo tacos. (Oh, and we also shared a horchata , the cinnamony, sweetened rice-milk beverage, to drink. Big yum!) The second stop, La Super Torta II, was just down Georgesville Rd. and we stopped on the recommendation of my friend Lauren, an expert in all things...

Of the various obsessions I have pending at any given time, a constant (at least for the past year or so) has been Penzey's . I've mentioned it in the past, and if you haven't had the chance to check one out, or go online, you really must--it's a fantastic store, offering up almost every spice, out there, along with some nice boxed spice sets. (They make great gifts!) My most frequently used spice is their Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon. Sweetholyjesus it's awesome--rich, heady, maybe even decadent in it's aroma and taste. I find myself putting it in all sorts of dishes, just to see how it will perform. Usually, it performs fantastically. The other wonderful thing about Penzey's is their mail-order catalogue. It's great because if you sign up for it, you almost always get a coupon for a free spice or seasoning with each issue (this time around, it's Cajun spice mix). It's also great because they have really homey, all-American interviews with ...

I found a batch of wild poppies in an alley behind my house this weekend. I never cease to be surprised by what's hiding in the neighborhood! My Fruit CSA with Wayward Seed Farms has finally started (yay!), and my first delivery was 3 quarts of some of the most gorgeous strawberries I've ever seen: I froze some, turned some into a strawberry vinaigrette (pureed strawberries, fig balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, a little sugar, garlic, and oil), and put some into a strawberry tart for my dad for Father's Day: The pastry cream recipe is from the Cook's Illustrated New Best Recipe Cookbook . I received it as a gift for my birthday one year, and it is a staple in my kitchen. I find it's a great resource for ideas when you're looking at a random ingredient and not sure how you want to use it. Also, they've done tons of leg work and have figured out the best methods and ingredients for making almost every classic/basic dish out there. Also, I harvested my first bat...