Papaya Cocktails

Like every food show fan, I’ve seen Gail Simmons on tv for years. But, I somehow never knew her career history until reading her first cookbook Bringing It Home: Favorite Recipes from a Life of Adventurous Eating of which I received a review copy. I was fascinated to learn that she was once Jeffrey Steingarten’s assistant, and her description of the research and ingredient gathering she did in that capacity sounds like a lot of fun. She also worked on Daniel Boulud’s PR team and then on Food and Wine magazine’s marketing team before becoming a judge on Top Chef. Her new book is about what she cooks at home and how her work experience, travels, and family have influenced her cooking. The dishes include breakfast, salads, soups, noodles, seafood, meat, party food, drinks, and sweets. I’ve marked the page for Chocolate Ginger Scones, made with coconut milk and coconut oil, that she makes for her dad who is now vegan. Also, the Beet Cured Salmon is something I’d love to try for the pretty pink edges on each sliced piece. I should point out that this is a book of real food. It’s not trendy food or food specific to any particular way of eating. Instead, it’s from-scratch, home cooking with lots of different influences and some great tips. One of those is to grill limes before juicing them for a vinaigrette. It will give you charred flavor and the warmed lime is easier to juice. The Singapore-Style Hokkien Noodles, inspired by a street-food dish enjoyed while shooting in Singapore, is adaptable with suggestions for changing out the meat used. I remembered from reading Cherry Bombe: The Cookbook that the recipe from Gail Simmons in that book was a cocktail. So, I was curious to see the recipes both alcoholic and non- in the drinks chapters here. The Cardamom-Walnut Date Shake sounds delicious, but I pulled out the blender when I read about the papaya cocktail. 

The cocktail was inspired by Nilou Motamed, the former editor of Food and Wine magazine, and in the book it's called The Nilou. In the head note, there’s a story about how papaya is a love-it or hate-it kind of fruit. This drink changed Gail’s mind about it. For me, my first encounter with papaya wasn’t a great one. I wasn’t sure I’d picked a good papaya since I though the flavor was lacking. I ended up using it in a tea bread like banana bread only with papaya. Since then, I’ve discovered I like the fruit much better with a generous squeeze of lime. Here, chunks of papaya were blended with lime juice, rum, honey, and ice cubes. I was excited to use the avocado blossom honey I brought home from our summer trip to Santa Barbara. After pureeing in the blender, the mixture ended up thick, slushy, and a pretty coral color. 

Now, while it might seem fitting to serve tropical fruits for warm weather, summertime parties, I reach for them around the holidays. Maybe it’s because I love Mele Kalikimaka, but I think pineapples and papayas are perfect for Christmas. I’m already forming a plan for some tropical influence on our holiday menus, and these cocktails will be a welcome addition. 

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Thai-Style Shrimp Balls with Napa Cabbage

You know what you think when someone walks into a gigantic closet filled with various types of clothing and proclaims: “I have nothing to wear?” I suspect people could think the same of me when I stand in front of shelves of cookbooks and say “I can’t think of anything new to make for dinner.” That problem may be solved once and for all with the latest book from Melissa Clark, Dinner: Changing the Game. First, it’s full of great-looking recipes, but each of those comes with options for tailoring it to suite your taste or what ingredients you may have on hand. And, there are suggestions for what to serve with the main dishes to help you make a complete dinner plan. It starts with a whole chapter just for chicken; then there’s one for other meats, a ground meat chapter, fish and seafood, eggs, pasta, tofu, beans, grains, pizzas, soups, salads, and dips and side dishes. I always mark interesting pages with sticky flags as I read a new cookbook, but this time, it got out of hand with the number of flags attached to pages. I cooked from the book for three days in a row, and I have another page marked for dinner tonight. I started a weekend with the shrimp balls shown here for Friday night dinner. Then, I made the Sticky Tamarind Chicken with Crisp Lettuce for a Saturday night meal, and the options for that include using bone-in, skinless chicken thighs or boneless thighs or breasts or wings depending on your preference. The flavorful, marinated, roasted chicken was served over a fresh lettuce salad with sliced jalapeno and cilantro leaves. The next morning, I made the Chilaquiles with Tomatillo Salsa and Baked Eggs for brunch. The layered corn tortillas with spicy green salsa and lots of melted cheese was a delicious base for the eggs that baked on top. I added some chopped greens between the tortilla layers just to include more vegetable goodness in the mix. Tonight, I’m going to make the Warm White Bean Salad with Arugula Pesto and Preserved Lemon. And, all those other marked pages? There are too many to mention, but a few include Cumin-Chicken Meatballs with Green Ghile Sauce, a savory Herbed Parmesan Dutch Baby pancake, Pasta Carbonara Torte with Tomatoes and Sage, Chile and Ginger-Fried Tofu Salad with Kale, and Leek Tomato and Farro Soup. None of the recipes are over-complicated or too time-consuming, and you’ll see the time required listed next to the number of servings. 

I was actually surprised at how quickly the Thai-Style Shrimp Balls came together. The dipping sauce was a quick mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar, minced fresh ginger, lime juice, sesame oil, and sliced green onions (I tend to skip the sugar in sauces like this because I prefer the tartness). Shelled and cleaned shrimp were chopped into small chunks, and there’s no need to worry too much about how small the chunks are. The shrimp does not need to be minced, just quickly chopped into little pieces. The chopped shrimp was combined with more minced ginger, minced garlic, finely chopped chives, an egg white, lime zest, and some salt. The mixture was formed into little one-inch balls. They’re not as firm as meatballs, but they hold together fine. Just line up the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. To steam, I used a bamboo steamer with its own top in a large skillet, but any type of steamer will work fine. Napa cabbage leaves were used to line the bottom of the steamer, and I was lucky to get the last of Boggy Creek Farm’s Napa cabbage for the season. The leaves I was using were small enough that I could arrange them with two shrimp balls on each. Once the steamer was placed over simmering water, it only took a few minutes to cook the shrimp balls. I removed each cabbage leaf with the shrimp balls sitting on it, and served it in the same arrangement. Last, I garnished with more chopped chives and some black sesame seeds. 

As mentioned in the recipe head note, you could serve the shrimp balls with rice noodles or plain rice, but I went for more of a pick it up with some cabbage like a little wrap kind of thing. And, these diminutive balls packed incredible flavor. The ginger, garlic, and lime zest brought a lot of zip. With this new book, I definitely have no excuse for not coming up with something new to make for dinner. 

Thai-Style Shrimp Balls with Napa Cabbage  
Reprinted from Dinner: Changing the Game. Copyright © 2017 by Melissa Clark. Photographs copyright © 2017 by Eric Wolfinger. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.
 
These juicy, ginger-scented shrimp balls are like the filling inside your favorite shrimp shumai, sans the wrappers. And since you don’t have to enfold each one individually in dumpling dough, they come together really quickly and steam up in minutes. If you don’t have a steamer basket, it’s a good thing to pick up. They are inexpensive, and the collapsible ones don’t take up much space. Or, a decent hack is to crumple up four large foil balls (at least 1½ inches in diameter) and place them in the bottom of a pot with a tight-filling cover, filled with ½ inch of water. Rest a plate on top of the foil balls to keep it above the water, bring the water to a simmer, and put the food directly on the plate to steam. It’s not ideal, but it works in a pinch. Serve these shrimp balls over white rice (page 276) or rice noodles coated with a little sesame oil, which will give you a dumpling-like texture if you eat some shrimp ball and noodles in the same bite. A salad made from pea shoots and drizzled with a little of the dipping sauce, below, would round it out nicely. They also make nice hors d’oeuvres for a dinner party. 

4 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce 
1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar 
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil 
1 1/2 teaspoons light or dark brown sugar 
1 1/2 tablespoons sliced scallions (green parts only) 

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and chopped into small chunks 
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger 
1 garlic clove, grated on a Microplane or minced 
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives, plus more for serving 
1 large egg white 
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime 
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
4 to 6 napa cabbage leaves, for steaming 

TOTAL TIME: 25 MINUTES 
SERVES 4 

1. Make the dipping sauce: In a medium bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon ginger, lime juice, sesame oil, and brown sugar, and whisk until the sugar dissolves; then add the scallions. 
2. Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the shrimp with 1 tablespoon of the ginger and the garlic, chives, egg white, lime zest, and salt. Mix well, and form the shrimp mixture into 1-inch balls. Place them in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Chill them up to 4 hours if not steaming immediately. 
3. Lay one or two cabbage leaves over the bottom of a steamer basket to just cover the surface. Put the steamer in a pot filled with an inch of water and bring the water to a simmer. Working in batches, place the shrimp balls on the cabbage leaves, cover the pot, and steam for 3 minutes, turning them over halfway through. After each batch, transfer the shrimp balls and the cabbage leaves to a plate. Use fresh cabbage leaves for each batch. 
4. Garnish the shrimp balls and cabbage with chives, and serve with the dipping sauce on the side. You can eat the cabbage or not, as you prefer. 

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The Penelope Cocktail

I was delighted to learn about the newest book from Maria Del Mar Sacasa. Her last one was Winter Cocktails, and I’ve had so much fun trying different, boozy versions of hot chocolate and other warming cocktails for cold weather. This new book is the opposite. It’s Summer Cocktails, and I received a review copy. It’s full of refreshing, iced, chilled, and frozen cocktails to enjoy in the summer sun. I’m fascinated with the Shrub Cocktails made with homemade fruit vinegars combined with gin, sparkling wine, or vermouth. I can’t wait to try the recipes for the shrubs like blackberry-basil, rhubarb-plum, and strawberry-rosemary. There are also recipes for infused liquors like Black Pepper Gin or Vodka and Chiquila which is morita chile- or chipotle-steeped tequila. The Black Pepper Gin is used in a Moroccan Mint Iced Tea cocktail among others, and the Chiquila appears in several drinks including the Pulparindo with tamarind concentrate and grapefruit juice. There are Punches and Pitchers for parties and Frosty Drinks where I could easily focus my attention until fall. The Luxe is a vanilla milkshake made with fresh cherries and Luxardo maraschino liqueur, and the Watermelon Refresher is poured over frozen watermelon cubes. There are even boozy popsicles. Yes, I believe this book will stay close at hand throughout this summer. With Cinco de Mayo just a couple of days away, a tequila cocktail seemed appropriate. So, first from the book, I tried The Penelope. 

If you start with a fresh pineapple, you need to plan ahead since frozen chunks of pineapple are what are needed here. This is a smooth, frosty cocktail pureed in the blender. Frozen pineapple is combined with tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, and simple syrup to taste. The pineapple itself was sweet enough for me, and I didn’t add any extra sweetening. Once pureed, the mixture was served with a garnish of lime. I had just received a couple of samples from NatureZway which came in very handy. I always spill and dribble liquor all over the counter when I’m measuring for cocktails, and it’s great to have extra bar towels. I received two bamboo cloth towels and a roll of heavy-duty bamboo paper towels. The paper towels are sturdy enough for serious cleaning, and the eco-friendly bamboo cloth towels can be washed and reused for years to come. 

I’m actually looking forward to a scorcher of a summer this year. The hotter it gets, the more reason I’ll have to keep making different icy cocktails. From Iced Coffees with Kahlua in the morning to Pimm’s with Strawberry Vodka in the afternoon, it might not be a productive summer but it will be delicious. 

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Texican Martini

Can we talk about tequila? I think I finally acquired a taste for tequila right about the time I stopped drinking bad tequila. I remember my first Tequila Sunrise cocktail handed to me in a college bar in Illinois while celebrating my 21st birthday. I wasn’t a fan. I had a preference for rum at the time. A few years later as a graduate student in Austin, I discovered the Mexican Martini (also called the Texican Martini). I remember sitting in the tiny space of the Cedar Door, way back when it was just the original little, red building right off Lamar Boulevard, and being served the shaken tequila and lime cocktail poured into a coupe glass and garnished with jalapeno-stuffed olives. I used to take visiting friends and family there because everyone needed to know about the Mexican Martini. So, yes, I came around to tequila. These days, I love tequila poured over icy lime granita, tequila cocktails with everything from coffee to ginger ale, and even sipping good tequila straight. I know the differences among blanco, reposado, and anejo tequilas, but there’s always more to learn. I was delighted to read about how tequila is made and how the process has changed over the years in the new edition of Viva Tequila! by Lucinda Hutson. I received a review copy of the book. Lucinda has been visiting Mexico for years, and she transports the reader there with stories about agave fields, cantinas, and distilleries. With the huge growth in the tequila industry in recent years, the traditional, artisanal process of making it is no longer always the norm, but standards are in place to ensure quality. There is an Appellation of Origin with a defined territory for the production of tequila, and the Consejo Regulador del Tequila enforces regulations such as proper labeling of aging. Lucinda recommends, as do I, avoiding all mixto tequilas which are blends and sticking with true 100% blue agave tequila. 

The book covers the uses of different types of agave plants which are used for three primary fermented beverages in Mexico: pulque, mezcal, and tequila. While pulque and mezcal are made from a variety of agave plants, also called maguey, tequila is only made from blue agave. An interesting comparison was given for lowland versus highland tequila in the state of Jalisco where most tequila is made. Lowland varieties tend to be “bold, dry, spicy, peppery, assertive, herbaceous, and earthy” while highland options from an altitude of 6,000 to 7,300 feet above sea level are “round, sweet, fruity, floral, herbaceous, and aromatic.” I’d like to spend more time tasting and comparing bottles from each region. In the recipes section, there are suggestions for fresh fruit juices, hot sauces, and homemade syrups to use for mixing cocktails. And, there are styles of imbibing and drinks to sample from both sides of the border. There are traditional margaritas; less traditional ones; frozen options; a recipe for a pitcher of margaritas; ideas for infusing tequila with chiles, fruit, or herbs and cocktails for using it; punches for parties; and after dinner drinks. The recipes continue into the kitchen with tequila flambeed queso, Smoky Chipotle Tequila Marinade, gazpachos with tequila, a citrus flan with tequila, some margarita cookie bars I want to try, and more. 

I had to start by mixing up some Texican Martinis which are inspired by the very ones I mentioned from the Cedar Door. Here, Lucinda offers a recipe for a Spicy Mexican Seasoned Salt to coat the rims of the glasses, and she includes a recipe for a homemade Sweet and Sour syrup if desired. I like my tequila cocktails on the tart side, so I opted to use just a small amount of agave syrup rather than the sweet and sour syrup. I went with a lowlands, reposado tequila this time. My garnish was, of course, jalapeno-stuffed olives in addition to some okra pickles I had just made. Since I definitely am a fan of tequila now, it’s going to be fun to spend more time getting to know it even better. 

Texican Martini
Excerpt from Viva Tequila! Cocktails, Cooking, and Other Agave Adventures by Lucinda Hutson (Copyright 1995 and 2013 by Lucinda Hutson) used by permission of the University of Texas Press. For more information visit www.utexaspress.com

I first tasted a Mexican martini at Austin's Cedar Door Bar and Grill. Since then, the bar has changed locations four times, but they still serve their famous drink in shakers for patrons to pour at the table. Today, many venues offer a version of this martini on their menu, but often loaded with sweet and sour made from a mix. Here's mine: it's sophisticated, spicy, and sexy! Rim a chilled glass with salt, garnish with skewered jalapeño-stuffed green olives, and start grilling the steaks! 

Cantina Classic Spicy Mexican Seasoned Salt or commercial brand, for rim 
2 ounces tequila reposado 
1 ounce fresh lime juice 
3/4 ounce orange juice 
1/2–3/4 ounce Cointreau 
1/2–3/4 ounce Cantina Classic Sweet and Sour, or agave syrup to taste 
1 tablespoon chilled brine from best quality jalapeño-stuffed green olives 
Garnish: skewered olives, pinch of Spicy Mexican Seasoned Salt 

Rim chilled glass with seasoned salt. Pour ingredients in shaker tin, add ice cubes, and shake until frosty. Strain into prepared glass, with or without ice. It's fun to serve from mini-shakers for guests to shake and pour at the table. 

Serves 1. 

Cantina Classic Seasoned Salts 
Avoid purchasing gimmicky commercial "margarita" salts. Make your own instead; you can create several variations from one master recipe. Add a pinch of these flavorful salts to fruity or savory drinks and spritzers, or use them to rim glasses. Lightly rimming a glass with diluted agave syrup helps homemade salts adhere to the glass, as they have more texture than commercial salts. Experiment with different kinds of exotic salts, sugars, citrus, spices, dried chiles, and citric acid, which adds a lime-like tartness. Try a combination of dried red chiles for color and flavor, such as arbol, cayenne, ancho, puya, or guajillo. Add a pinch of fiery, dried habanero, if you dare. Of course, these seasoned salts are also useful for flavoring foods---I especially like them with homemade chunky salsas frescas. 

Cantina Classic Seasoned Salts: 
Master Recipe and Variations From this master recipe, you can make several versions of seasoned salts. Let it inspire your own creations. In small increments, add more sugar, citric acid, chiles, spices, and other ingredients to suit your own taste. 

4 tablespoons kosher salt 
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest 
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest 
1 tablespoon granulated or turbinado sugar 
1/4 teaspoon citric acid 

Gently grind ingredients in a small bowl, using a bar muddler or mortar and pestle. The citrus zest will make the salt rather moist, so spread on a large plate to dry for several hours, stirring occasionally; add other flavorings. Store tightly sealed. 

Makes about 8 tablespoons. 

Note: If salt does not dry sufficiently, place in a 200-degree warmed oven; turn off heat and allow to dry, then grind gently again before storing. 

Spicy Mexican Seasoned Salt with Chile and Lime 
Though commercial brands of spicy seasoned salt exist, make your own! While these salts are great with drinks, they are also good on popcorn, fresh fruit, salads, and grilled meats. 

Add to 4 tablespoons master recipe: 
1–2 teaspoons sugar 
1/4 teaspoon citric acid 
1 teaspoon fine quality paprika 
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground chile de arbol or cayenne 
1 1/2 teaspoons pure ground chile ancho 

Follow master recipe instructions. 

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Watermelon Mojito

As the summer heat settles in, a book full of beautiful cocktails is a welcome sight. In the new book from David Alan, Tipsy Texan: Spirits and Cocktails from the Lone Star State, there are classics as well as cocktails with new twists, and I want to sit in the shade and sip every one of them. I recently received a review copy of the book. I knew I was going to love it when I took a first flip through the pages and spotted a recipe for homemade Orgeat. I once went on a bit of an ingredient hunt for it, and in the future, I’ll be delighted to make my own. The recipes are categorized by style of cocktail like “Light, Bright, and Refreshing,” “Big and Boozy,” and “Sweet, Creamy, and Desserty.” And, throughout the recipes, there are technique tips, ingredient information, and a little cocktail history. The homemade Orgeat is used in a tiki-style, vodka cocktail called a Showgirl that also has passion fruit syrup, lime juice, and St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram. With lots of garnishes and crushed ice, it’s a pretty drink for a summer party. The Root Beer “Float” achieves its namesake look with cloudy absinthe poured on top. The Old Austin is an update on an Old Fashioned with pecan syrup, Angosturra bitters, and rye whiskey. One that I predict I’ll be enjoying frequently for the remainder of the season is the Hot Summer Night which is a mix of honey syrup, thyme sprigs, lemon juice, vodka, Paula’s Texas Lemon, which is our local limoncello, and natural lemon soda. First though, I had to mix up some Watermelon Mojitos. 

Muddling everything in a mixing glass makes this an easy cocktail to create. Watermelon chunks, mint sprigs, and some simple syrup were smashed with the muddler before rum, lime juice, and ice were added. The mixture was shaken until chilled and then poured through the strainer into an ice-filled glass. For cocktails, I like to crush ice by whacking it with a hammer after sealing it in a plastic bag and wrapping it in a towel. Last, it was topped with some carbonated water.  Mint and lime wedges were added for garnish. 

Smashed fruit with mint and rum never fails to make a refreshing cocktail, and juicy watermelon is an ideal choice. The classic Mojito is also in the book along with a story about how dreadful the drink became when bartenders turned to mixes rather than using fresh mint. I’m inspired to sort through my liquor cabinet, add some new bottles, and shake and stir my way through all of these cocktail recipes. 

See this article for great information about Science-Backed Health Benefits of Watermelon.

Watermelon Mojito 
Recipe reprinted with publisher’s permissions from From Tipsy Texan: Spirits and Cocktails from the Lone Star State by David Alan/Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC. 

Like most classic Sour-formula cocktails, the Mojito is an easy target for market-fresh improvisation. Any number or combination of fresh fruits can be muddled with the mint and other herbs to create an easy seasonal twist. My favorite such variation is made with watermelon, which to me is synonymous with summer and always in the refrigerator during its long season. 

4 large sprigs fresh mint 
About 1/2 cup cubed and seeded watermelon 
1/2 to 3/4 ounce Simple Syrup 
1 1/2 ounces white rum 
3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice 
1 to 1 1/2 ounces carbonated water 
Lime wedge, for garnish 

Gently muddle three of the mint sprigs and the watermelon with the simple syrup in the bottom of a mixing glass. Add the rum and lime juice and shake vigorously with ice to chill. You may need to adjust the amount of syrup depending on how sweet your watermelon is. Strain into an icefilled Collins glass. Top with the carbonated water. Garnish with the remaining mint sprig and the lime wedge and serve with a straw. 

While a bottle of carbonated water from the grocery store will get the job done, I prefer charged water from a soda siphon. Bottled bubble water—especially in plastic bottles—tends to go flat quickly, whereas a siphon of charged water will stay perky in the fridge for a long time. More important, the water coming out of a siphon does so with force and invigorates the drink from the bottom up, as opposed to just sitting on the top of the glass. The standard soda siphon is reasonably inexpensive, and is definitely cost-effective in the long run. Simply fill the siphon with filtered water, charge with a CO2 cartridge, and refrigerate carbonated water. 

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Thai Coconut Mussels

Needless to say, I’m picky about food. Over the years, I’ve become much more open-minded about trying new and different flavor combinations, but I seem to be getting choosier all the time about exactly where my food comes from and how it was raised/grown/caught/delivered. Kurt dreads the string of questions I ask about the menu when we try a new restaurant. I’m especially picky when it comes to seafood, but there are some handy clues for deciphering seafood dishes on restaurant menus. “Atlantic” salmon always means farmed, and therefore, I avoid it. If the menu also mentions bluefin tuna, Chilean sea bass, or orange roughy, I’ll probably just want to leave. The news about different types of fish is constantly changing, and overfishing is an ongoing concern. But, maybe it’s not too late to do something about it. When I heard about the new book, The Perfect Protein: The Fish Lover’s Guide to Saving the Oceans and Feeding the World, by Andy Sharpless, CEO of Oceana, I was very interested in learning what tips it offered. I received a review copy of the book, and I’m also one of the Perfect Protein bloggers. The book covers how we got to where we are with unsustainable fishing practices, how many people around the world rely on fish as a food source, what we could be doing differently, and how the fish in the sea could become abundant again one day. The book includes success stories of places where regulations have been put in place, and fish populations have improved significantly. The three steps outlined to bring about sustainability are: “set science-based fishing quotas, reduce bycatch, and protect habitats.” What consumers can do includes being informed about sustainable seafood options; choosing wild seafood, smaller fish like anchovies and sardines, and mollusks more often; and spreading the word about the issues. 

One of my favorite quotes regarding sustainable seafood is from chef Barton Seaver: “It’s our patriotic duty to eat as many farm-raised shellfish as we can.” While most fish farming is an environmental nightmare, farmed shellfish is a completely different story. Clams, oysters, and mussels are natural filters or “water scrubbers.” They feed on the lowest level of the aquatic food chain and improve the water quality where they’re grown. So, enjoy eating mollusks as often as you can. The Perfect Protein book includes recipes for some of the best, sustainable seafood options from several well-known chefs, and I wanted to highlight a dish with mussels. The Thai Coconut Mussels dish is from Sam Talbot of Season Two of Top Chef. I always start by soaking mussels in a big bowl of water with a few tablespoons of flour for about 30 minutes. This helps with eliminating sand and grit. Then, the mussels should be rinsed, and any beards still attached should be pulled off with the edge of a knife. To start the cooking, a few tablespoons of olive oil were heated in a large Dutch oven, and three tablespoons of grated ginger, four minced garlic cloves, one finely chopped shallot, and two tablespoons of finely chopped lemongrass were added. In a couple minutes when fragrant, two tablespoons of unsweetened, ground coconut was added followed by a pound and a half of cleaned mussels. The heat was turned up to medium-high, and then a tablespoon of soy sauce and one teaspoon of fish sauce were added. I also added some finely chopped, fresh chiles. After about one minute, three-quarters of a cup of coconut milk was added, the pan was covered, and the mussels were left to cook for about four minutes or until opened. Any mussels that don’t open should be discarded. The opened mussels were placed in serving bowls, and cilantro and mint leaves along with the juice and zest of two limes and some Thai basil and purple basil from my herb garden were added to the coconut milk. I also added some thinly sliced lime leaves from my tree. The coconut milk broth was poured over the mussels. 

The herby, spicy flavor of the coconut milk broth was a great match for the mussels, and some rice noodles were ideal for slurping with the extra broth left in the bowl. It’s not easy to always make perfect choices in the ever-changing world of sustainable seafood, but learning about the issues makes it possible to do better as often as we can. 

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Homemade Ginger Ale

Do you know the difference between salsify and scorzonera? Actually, I wasn’t even familiar with scorzonera until I read Roots: The Definitive Compendium with more than 225 Recipes by Diane Morgan, but I love learning new things about food. I learned scorzonera, also called black salsify, is very closely botanically related to salsify, and both have long, slender roots with similar flavors while scorzonera is milder. Twenty-eight types of roots are covered in the book with information about where they were originally grown, how they’re eaten, and their nutritional profile. And, following this information for each root, there are recipes. As I started reading the book, I was immediately fascinated by the Red Velvet Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream which are made with pureed beets and no food coloring. I made them in a rush and barely got just a quick photo to post on Instagram before taking them to a party where they disappeared in record time. Then while reading about galangal, I learned that “kha” in Tom Kha Gai is galangal in Thai. I never knew that, and I can’t wait to make this version of the soup. There are pretty dishes to make with cross-sectional cuts of lotus root, and a Three-Layer Parsnip Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting which would be a lot like a carrot cake. There’s also a Composed Jicama, Avocado, and Grapefruit Salad with Cilantro Drizzle that would be perfect for in-season avocados and grapefruit right now. And, of course, there are several dishes for that most popular of all roots, the potato. I can tell this book and I will be spending a lot of time together. In the Ginger chapter, you can learn to make your own Sushi-Style Pickled Ginger, a Brown Sugar-Ginger Ice Cream, and Candied Young Ginger. But first, I had to try the Homemade Ginger Ale. 

To start, you need to peel and grate enough ginger fill one-half cup. The grated ginger is then combined with brown sugar and water in a saucepan, and the mixture is brought to a boil and then simmered to dissolve the sugar. It’s then removed from the heat and allowed to steep and cool for about half an hour. Once cool, the syrup is strained through a sieve and chilled in the refrigerator. To complete the ginger ale, the syrup is mixed with club soda, lime juice, and lemon juice. 

Homemade soda is the best since you can control the level of sweetness. This ginger ale has good, spicy flavor with nice brightness from the lemon and lime. Naturally, I added rum to mine, but you knew I’d say that, didn’t you? Now, I want to go try a few things from the Sweet Potato chapter and then start asking around to find out if anyone is growing burdock root locally.

Homemade Ginger Ale 
Recipe reprinted with publisher's permission from Roots: The Definitive Compendium with more than 225 Recipes

Who knew it could be so simple to make ginger ale at home? Here’s an all-natural version, blissfully free of high-fructose corn syrup and preservatives. When I compared this homemade ginger ale to a national brand, it proved unrivaled in spicy, aromatic ginger flavor. Although the ginger syrup recipe makes enough for just four servings, it is easily doubled. Store the remainder in the refrigerator to use whenever you crave a tall, sparkling glass of refreshing ginger ale. 

Makes 1 Cup/240 ML Ginger syrup; Enough for 4 Drinks 

Ginger Syrup
1/2 cup/55 g grated fresh ginger 
1 cup/200 g firmly packed light brown sugar 
1 cup/240 ml water 

Ice cubes 
4 cups/960 ml club soda 
1/4 cup/60 ml fresh lime juice 
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 
4 lime wedges 

1. To make the ginger syrup, in a small saucepan, combine the ginger, brown sugar, and water and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes to completely dissolve the sugar and infuse the syrup. Remove from the heat and let the ginger steep in the syrup until cool, about 30 minutes. Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve placed over a container with a tight-fitting lid and then cover and refrigerate until well chilled. (The syrup will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.) 

2. Fill four 16-oz/480-ml glasses two-thirds full of ice. Pour ¼ cup/60 ml of the syrup, 1 cup/240 ml of the club soda, 1 tbsp of the lime juice, and 1 tsp of the lemon juice into each glass and stir to combine. Garnish each glass with a lime wedge and serve immediately.

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Tender Greens Salad with Crispy Fried Shallots

Picking up a book and taking a trip around the world without even leaving the couch is a lovely thing. That’s what Naomi Duguid’s books offer. They’re always filled with photography of everyday life, beautiful scenery, and inviting food that makes virtual travel all the more real. Her latest is Burma: Rivers of Flavor of which I received a review copy. The fresh, bright flavors of the food with ingredients I already love like chiles, lime, and shallots drew me in quickly, and with every turn of a page, there’s another dish I want to try. Duguid recently taught a class at Central Market Cooking School, and I attended with a media pass. She spoke about her visits to Burma, now officially called Myanmar, over the years and the style of eating she was introduced to there. She mentioned the rice meals that are accompanied by several condiments, vegetables, and salads and explained that when she ordered one or two things at a restaurant, she’d be served eight or nine items instead. Every dish of curry was served with rice, sauces, fresh and blanched vegetables, and side dishes. And, that’s the style of meal she prepared for the class. The food isn’t always necessarily spicy, but with the various condiments that typically accompany a meal, you can tailor each dish to suit your personal taste.

Burma shares borders with India, China, Laos, and Thailand as well as having a long coastline, and the food has similarities with that of its neighbors. Although, I thought it was interesting that coconuts don’t grow well in most of Burma, so coconut milk isn’t a very common ingredient. Chiles fresh and dried, chile powders, shrimp powder and paste, toasted chickpea flour, roasted peanuts, fermented soybean paste, shallot and garlic oil, peanut and sesame oil, and turmeric are some of the basics of a Burmese pantry.

During the class, we were served a tray of some fresh and some blanched vegetables with a Tomato Chutney made with tamarind pulp, dried chiles, fresh chiles, cilantro, and shrimp paste. It was a tangy, spicy, savory sauce to return to throughout the meal. The next dish was one of the simplest and most intriguing soups I’ve seen. A Silky Shan Soup was made by whisking chickpea flour, salt, and water in a bowl. More water was brought to a boil, and the chickpea flour mixture was slowly stirred into the boiling water. That was the soup. It was cooked until smooth and thick. The soup was served over rice noodles with several garnishes like chile oil, chopped roasted peanuts, shallot oil, palm sugar water which adds more of a smoky flavor than sweetness, and blanched pea tendrils. You can also make the soup as described and then pour it into a shallow pan and chill it. It will set up into a consistency like tofu, and that is sliced and used in salads. Other dishes included a roasted eggplant dish made sweeter with the addition of an egg; a chicken curry in which the chicken pieces had been marinated with a flavor paste of ginger, garlic, turmeric, and mild red chiles; and a salad made with blanched spinach that tasted so fresh and zippy I couldn’t wait to go home and make it myself. All of those dishes were served with rice, and the idea of the meal is to move about the plate and experience the different kinds of tastes. Nothing was too spicy, but taking a bite of a vegetable dipped into the tomato chutney delivered a kick. The chicken and eggplant were mild, and the salad dressed with lime had such big, bright flavors.

After the class, I set about creating my Burmese pantry. I fried shallots and saved the shallot oil, and then fried garlic. I toasted chickpea flour which is sometimes a main ingredient and sometimes more of a seasoning. I bought dried shrimp and ground it in a food processor to make shrimp powder. And, then I made that fantastic Tender Greens Salad at home. Some spinach was blanched, drained, and squeezed of excess water, and then it was tossed with fried shallots and garlic, dried shrimp powder, chopped roasted peanuts, toasted chickpea flour, shallot oil, lime juice, fresh shallot slices, and fish sauce. I’m looking forward to mixing those flavors in other dishes like a beautiful Chicken Salad Burma Style, Chickpea Soup with Lemongrass and Ginger, Golden Egg Curry, Kachin Salsa, Shrimp Curry, and Fried Rice with Shallots. It’s been a pleasure to get to know Burma from this book, and the food has been every bit as delicious as it looks on the page.

Tender Greens Salad with Crispy Fried Shallots
Recipe reprinted with publisher’s permission. Excerpted from Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid (Artisan Books). Copyright 2012.

Serves 4 to 6

I learned this central Burmese version of the Shan dish Chinese Kale with Pork Cracklings from a friend in Rangoon. It’s very quick to make if you’ve got your pantry basics on hand, and it’s an easy and flexible dish to turn to when you have plenty of greens around. Start with any tender greens, briefly boil them to soften, and then chop and dress them. This dressing also works well for uncooked greens such as watercress or lettuce leaves (omit the fried garlic and reduce the dried shrimp powder slightly).

About 1 pound tender greens, such as Taiwan bok choi, baby bok choi, pea tendrils, spinach, or pumpkin or cucumber vine tendrils, trimmed of tough stems and well washed
2 tablespoons thinly sliced shallots, soaked in water for 10 minutes and drained
2 tablespoons Fried Garlic, or a mix of Fried Garlic and Fried Shallots
2 to 3 tablespoons Dried Shrimp Powder
2 tablespoons Chopped Roasted Peanuts
1 to 2 tablespoons Toasted Chickpea Flour
1 tablespoon Shallot Oil, or more to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 tablespoon fish sauce, or 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
About 2 tablespoons Fried Shallots

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Toss in the greens and boil until just tender; timing will vary with the greens, but it should take no more than 5 minutes, and in many cases (spinach, for example) much less than that. Drain the greens and press out the excess water.

When the greens are cool enough to handle, cut them into approximately 1 1/2-inch lengths and place in a wide shallow bowl. (You should have about 3 cups.)

Add the sliced shallots and the fried garlic or fried garlic–fried shallot mixture, and toss a little. Add the dried shrimp powder, peanuts, and toasted chickpea flour and toss. Add the shallot oil and lime juice and mix well with your hands, kneading the dressing lightly but firmly into the greens. Add the fish sauce or salt, as you wish, and mix well.

Mound the salad on a plate, top with the fried shallots, and serve.

Fried Shallots and Shallot Oil
Makes a generous 3/4 cup flavored oil and about 1 1/4 cups fried shallots

Here you get two pantry staples in one: crispy fried shallots and delicious shallot oil. Drizzle shallot oil on salads or freshly cooked greens, or onto soups to finish them. You can fry up shallots each time you need them, but I prefer to make a large batch so they’re around when I need a handful to flavor a salad. The trick with fried shallots is to cook them slowly, so they give off their moisture and get an even golden brown without any scorched or blackened patches. Once they’re removed from the oil and left to cool, they crisp up.

1 cup peanut oil
2 cups (about 1/2 pound) thinly sliced Asian or European shallots

Place a wide heavy skillet or a large stable wok over medium-high heat and add the oil. Toss in a slice of shallot. As the oil heats, it will rise to the surface, sizzling lightly.

When it’s reached the surface, add the rest of the shallots, carefully, so you don’t splash yourself with the oil, and lower the heat to medium. (The shallots may seem crowded, but they’ll shrink as they cook.) Stir gently and frequently with a long-handled wooden spoon or a spider. The shallots will bubble as they give off their moisture. If they start to brown early, in the first 5 minutes, lower the heat a little more. After about 10 minutes, they should start to color. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally to prevent them from sticking to the pan or to each other, until they have turned a golden brown, another 3 minutes or so.

Line a plate with paper towels. Use tongs or a spider to lift a clump of fried shallots out of the oil, pausing for a moment to shake off excess oil into the pan, then place on the paper towel. Turn off the heat, transfer the remaining shallots to the plate, and blot gently with another paper towel. Separate any clumps and toss them a little, then let them air-dry 5 to 10 minutes, so they crisp up and cool. (If your kitchen is very hot and humid, they may not crisp up; don’t worry, the flavor will still be there.)

Transfer the shallots to a clean, dry, widemouthed glass jar. Once they have cooled completely, seal tightly.

Transfer the oil to another clean dry jar, using all but the very last of it, which will have some stray pieces of shallot debris. (You can set that oil aside for stir-frying.) Once the oil has cooled completely, cover tightly and store in a cool dark place.

Fried Garlic and Garlic Oil
Makes about 1/4 cup fried garlic and 1/3 cup garlic oil You can use a similar technique to make garlic oil, but slice the garlic thicker (a scant 1/4 inch), rather than into thin slices, since it cooks much more quickly than shallots. Heat 1/2 cup peanut oil over medium-high heat, add 1/3 cup or so sliced garlic, and fry over medium heat until just golden, about 5 minutes. Lift out the garlic and set aside to crisp up. Store the oil as above. Fried garlic does not keep as well as fried shallots; refrigerate and use within 5 days.

Dried Shrimp Powder
Makes about 1 1/2 loosely packed cups

Dried shrimp are an important source of flavor as well as protein through most of Southeast Asia. In Burma they are often used powdered. The soft powder gives a subtle depth of flavor and also thickens sauces. Look for largish dried shrimp, more than 1/2 inch long if possible, and the darker-colored (more red than pale pink or beige), the better. Try to get shrimp that are a little soft rather than completely hard. The easiest way to grind them is in a food processor (traditionally, they are pounded in a mortar).

1 cup or more good-quality dried shrimp (see the headnote)

Place the shrimp in a bowl with water to just cover and set aside to soak for 10 minutes (20 minutes if the shrimp are very hard and dry). Drain and pat dry.

Transfer to a food processor and process until reduced to a slightly uneven, fluffy powder, from 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the toughness of the shrimp. Pause and wipe down the sides of the bowl occasionally if necessary. Store in a glass jar.

Chopped Roasted Peanuts
Makes a scant 1 cup These are handy to have when you are making Burmese salads, so it’s worth making a cupful or more at a time and storing them in a jar. Buy raw peanuts (in their papery skins or not, it doesn’t matter)—you’ll find them in Asian groceries and health food stores.

1 cup raw peanuts, with or without their papery skins

Place a cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium heat, add the peanuts, and cook, stirring them frequently with a wooden spoon or spatula to prevent burning. Adjust the heat if necessary so they toast and change color gradually, in patches; as they heat up, the skins, if still on, will separate from the peanuts. When they have firmed up a little and are dotted with color, remove from the heat, but keep stirring for another minute or so.

If using skin-on nuts, carry the skillet over to a sink or a garbage can and blow over it gently to blow away the loose skins. Rub the nuts between your palms to loosen the remaining skins and blow again; don’t worry if there are still some skins on your peanuts. Pick out and discard any nuts that are scorched and blackened.

Transfer the nuts to a wide bowl and set aside for 10 minutes or more to cool and firm up.

Once the peanuts are cool, place them in a food processor and process in short, sharp pulses, stopping after three or four pulses, before the nuts are too finely ground. You want a mix of coarsely chopped nuts and some fine powder. Alternatively, place the nuts in a large stone or terra-cotta mortar and pound with the pestle to crush them into smaller pieces. Use a spoon to move the nuts around occasionally; you don’t want to pound them into a paste, just to break them into small chips.

Transfer the chopped nuts to a clean, dry jar; do not seal until they have cooled completely. Store in the refrigerator.

Toasted Chickpea Flour
Makes 2 cups

For this distinctively Burmese pantry staple, which is very easy to make and store, chickpea flour is simply lightly toasted in a skillet. Chickpea flour is made from ground dried chickpeas (garbanzos) and contains no gluten (see the Glossary for more). The flour is available in South Asian groceries (the common name for it in India is besan), some health food stores, and specialty stores. Keep it in a well-sealed bag in a cool place, as you would any flour.

Make this in any quantity you wish; I usually make 2 cups at a time. Use in salads to add a layer of flavor and texture, and also to thicken sauces and soups, as directed.

2 cups chickpea flour

Place a cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium-high heat, add the flour, and use a wooden spoon to stir it frequently as it heats and starts to toast. Lower the heat to medium if it starts to brown quickly, and keep stirring to expose all the flour to the heat. After about 6 or 7 minutes, it will start to change color. Lower the heat a little and continue to stir as it gets a little more color, then remove from the heat and continue to stir for another minute as the pan starts to cool. The whole process takes about 10 to 12 minutes.

Transfer to a wide bowl and let cool to room temperature. Store in a clean, dry glass jar, well sealed.

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Green Herb Ceviche with Cucumber

The 2012 James Beard Foundation award winners were just announced. In Austin, we're all extremely proud of Paul Qui who won Best Chef Southwest. This year's Outstanding Chef was Daniel Humm. The James Beard Foundation has been giving annual awards since 1990, and the foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011. I received a review copy of the book The James Beard Foundation's Best of the Best which honors all the recipients of the Outstanding Chef title from the first that was awarded through the 2010 award. While this isn't a cookbook for quick and easy weeknight dinners, it is a wonderful collection of bios of all the Outstanding Chefs, and each bio is accompanied by a signature dish or two or three from the chef. I probably won't attempt the Hot Potato, Cold Potato, Black Truffle, Parmesan dish from Grant Achatz who won in 2008, but it is fascinating to read about how it's made after reading about Achatz's career. There are photos of most of the dishes, and the salads are all gorgeous and very approachable. There's a Beet Salad with Mango, Feta, Orange, and Mint from Alfred Portale, a Greenhouse Salad with Blue Hill Farm Yogurt from Dan Barber, and a Summer Salad from Alice Waters. I'd love to adapt and simplify a couple of the recipes like the Chilled Honeydew Melon Soup with Crab Remoulade from Jeremiah Tower and the Spice-Roasted Lobster with Buttermilk Chutney from Tom Colicchio. What was most interesting about this book was learning how several of these chefs have worked together or under some of the same chefs at some point in their careers. And, did I mention the photos of the food? There is page after page of very beautiful food.

While most of the recipes are somewhat complicated chef dishes shown just as they are served at the restaurants, a few of them are very doable. One of those is the Green Herb Ceviche by Rick Bayless who was Outstanding Chef in 1995. Here in Austin, we're surrounded by many, great Mexican restaurants, and I order ceviche from their menus often. The few times I've made it at home, I went the simple, classic route with lime juice and chiles. This ceviche caught my eye because it started with an herb seasoning made with garlic, serranos, cilantro, parsley, and olive oil. The chiles and garlic were roasted before being pureed with the other ingredients. Some of that puree was mixed with lime juice for the marinade for the fish. I used halibut which was cut into small chunks before being left in the lime juice mixture for about an hour. Small chunks of cucumber were marinated with the fish as well. Just before serving, chunks of avocado were added to the ceviche.

I loved the herby green of this ceviche, the fresh crunch of cucumber in it, and of course the avocado. I have to say, it's fun to attempt to cook like an Outstanding Chef. It's also fun to flip through a yearbook of sorts of some of our very best American chefs.

Green Herb Ceviche with Cucumber (Ceviche Verde con Pepino)
Recipe re-printed with publisher's permission from The James Beard Foundation's Best of the Best.

Herb Seasoning
1/2 head garlic, cloves broken apart
2 or 3 fresh serrano chiles
1 medium bunch cilantro, thick bottom stems cut off (1 cup packed) 1
 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, thick bottom stems cut off (1 cup packed)
1/2 cup olive oil salt

Ceviche
1/4 cup fresh lime juice, plus more if needed
1 1/2 pounds sashimi-quality skinless, boneless fish fillets, such as Alaskan halibut
7 ounces small pickling cucumbers or Persian (baby) cucumbers, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Salt, if needed
2 ripe large avocados, pitted, flesh scooped from skin and cut into cubes
Lettuce leaves, preferably butter lettuce, for garnish

To make the herb seasoning
1. Set a dry skillet over medium heat. Lay in the unpeeled garlic cloves and chiles. Roast, turning frequently, until they are soft and blotchy brown in spots, about 10 minutes for the chiles and 15 minutes for the garlic. Cool until easy to handle, and then slip the skins off the garlic, pull the stems off the chiles, and roughly chop (no need to remove the seeds). Put them in a food processor along with the cilantro, parsley, oil, and two generous teaspoons salt. Process until nearly smooth (it will be pasty). Scrape the mixture into a storage container and refrigerate until serving time.

To make the ceviche
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the lime juice and 1/2 cup of the herb seasoning. (Cover and refrigerate the remainder for another preparation.) Add the fish and cucumber, and stir to combine. To blend the flavors, cover and refrigerate for 1/2 hour (for best results, no more than one hour). Taste and season with a little more lime juice or salt if needed, then gently stir in the avocado (save a little for garnish if you want). Serve on plates or in martini glasses lined with lettuce leaves.

Serves 6 to 8 as a starter

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Lime Meringue Tartlettes

When a bakery offers a cookbook, it may or may not reveal the secrets of what's found in its display cases. Years ago, I received a cookie cookbook from a well-known bakery, and none of the cookie recipes in the book were in fact the actual cookies sold in the shops. Those classified recipes were not revealed. Instead, the book was full of somewhat similar cookies in quantities appropriate for the home cook. The new book from San Francisco's Miette, however, is quite the opposite. I received a review copy, and in this book, 100 recipes are shared that describe how to create exactly what you'll find in the shops. For instance, all the cakes at Miette are made in a dainty six inch size, and all the cake recipes in the book are written for that size as well despite six inch pans not being very common for home bakers. It is explained that instead of baking two six inch layers, one nine inch cake can be made instead, but the techniques, ingredients, frostings, and embellishments included in the instructions will result in exact replicas of Miette creations. There are stunners like the fondant-covered, whipped cream-filled princess cake and the sleek and glossy bittersweet ganache cake that both have just enough decoration to make them special but the restraint that makes them chic. Beyond the layer cakes and cupcakes, the book also offers simpler afternoon cakes like carrot cake and honey tea cake. Then, there are tarts, cookies and pastries, and candies and creams. I was delighted by, and had to try, the lime meringue tartlettes made with a homemade graham cracker crust, filled with a double-sieved lime cream, and topped with a barely toasted boiled icing.

All of the tarts in the book are made in a seven inch round tart pan, and each recipe includes instructions for individual tartlettes as well. I chose to make tartlettes, and I used straight-sided, three and a half inch, round forms. The crust was a homemade graham cracker dough that was chilled before being rolled out between pieces of parchment paper. The paper made rolling the slightly sticky dough easier. Pieces of the dough were cut and fit into the tartlette forms. Each tartlette shell was topped with a square of parchment paper and filled with pie weights for blind baking. The instructions state to bake the tartlette shells for ten minutes, but I found they needed at least twice that long to become crisp. While the shells cooled, the lime filling was made, and this was possibly the best lime curd ever. In a double boiler, lime juice and zest, sugar, and eggs were cooked over simmering water while whisking occasionally until the mixture reached 172 degrees F. It may seem like it's not going to thicken, but have faith. Keep checking the temperature, and sure enough, at 172 F, it will be thick and lovely. This mixture was strained through a sieve for the first time at this point. Next, cubes of butter were whisked into the mixture, one at a time, whisking until each piece of butter was completely incorporated. It was strained through a sieve for a second time. I did pause and wonder if this was really necessary, but then when I tasted it, all was clear. This was the smoothest, most lush lime curd ever tasted. The curd was chilled, then spooned into the tartlette shells, and the boiled icing was made. After the meringue was swirled onto the tartlettes, I used the broiler to brown the meringue just slightly.

I have to mention one issue with the boiled icing or Italian meringue. I've been involved in an on-going conversation about organic sugar and how it compares to conventional sugar in baking. In this book, it's mentioned that all the items at Miette are made with organic sugar and that the recipes have been calibrated to match results from more refined, conventional ingredients. So, I first made the meringue with organic sugar which is what I usually use in baking. The organic sugar meringue was grainy and not the smooth, perfectly glossy, white concoction as shown in the photos in the book. So, I made it again with conventional sugar and got that glossy, lovely result. The problem seems to be the grain size of organic sugar. I'm wondering if the bakery has access to a different type of organic sugar that has a finer grain than what is available at grocery stores. I'd like to experiment more and try grinding organic sugar in a food processor before using it for a meringue. Has anyone else had success with smooth, glossy meringues made from organic sugar?

Despite the issue with the meringue, this was a star of a dessert. The crispy, graham crust and the perfection of the lime filling with the toasted meringue topping all just belonged together. The entire book is delightful to explore with the beautiful photos of most finished recipes and some instructive, prep photos as well, and the scalloped-cut edges of the pages add to the charm. The gingerbread afternoon cake, the lemon shortbread cookies, and the banana cream tart are all contenders for what to try next.

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