THE COCKTAIL HOUR: Picon Punch

This week's cocktail is a traditional Basque drink.  While Basque restaurants are renowned for their great food...and equally awesome portions...they are also known for the bars that everybody hangs out in while waiting for meal service to begin.

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Although most of them offer traditional table service these days, most Basque restaurants also set aside some meals to be served "family style."  That means everybody sits at one long table and passes the dishes of food, just like going to your Aunt Gloria's house on Thanksgiving.  It's a wonderfully social way of dining but you will be sitting with strangers.  

What to do?

That's right...a "Cocktail Hour!"  Most arrive a little early to enjoy a tipple in the bar and get to know the people a little bit before the meal is served and for many, that means the traditional but strong Picon Punch.


Picon Punch uses a liqueur called Amer Picon as a base.  This is an orange based libation that is very hard to find in our area so we substitute triple sec and bitters.  Here's the recipe:


INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 oz. - triple sec
1 oz. - brandy
2-3 oz. soda water
1 oz. lemon juice
dash of bitters
dash of grenadine


In an old fashioned glass half filled with ice, pour in bitters, triple sec, grenadine, and lemon juice.  Fill with soda water.  Float brandy on top.


Cheers! 

-Darryl

THE COCKTAIL HOUR: Tom Collins

Here's a drink that I've never made before.  One of the classics, a Tom Collins is basically gin, lemon juice, and club soda.  I make one in that classic way in the video.  It's refreshing but could use a little more taste.  I add a 1/2 shot of sweet and sour, and that makes a big difference in taste.  After filming, Letty added a 1/2 shot of amaretto which made it really good.  We're calling her modification an Amy Collins.

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INGREDIENTS


1 1/4 oz - gin
1 oz - lemon juice
4-5 oz - club soda
1/2 oz - sweet and sour mix
(optional, add 1/2 oz of amaretto to make it an Amy Collins)


Classic recipe is 94 calories.  With sweet and sour, it's 104.  Add the amaretto and it's 144.


Cheers!

Darryl

DINNER TIME! Lemon Garlic Chicken and Potatoes

We have a lot of chicken thighs frozen in our freezer. Letty had some leftover lemon garlic marinade. Taylor made for a quick, easy, and delicious dinner.

First, I better give you the marinade. I used leftover but use the juice of a lemon, 6 garlic cloves minced, a tablespoon of olive oil, a sprinkle of Kosher salt and pepper.  Use this as a rub on your chicken and, when you cook it, save the drippings...that's how we ended up with leftover marinade.

Take three thighs, put in a ziploc bag with the marinade (fresh or leftover...only difference is that the leftover also has chicken stock), and let sit in the fridge for 6 hours.

Dice up some yellow potatoes.

Put in a ziploc bag, sprinkle in about a quarter teaspoon of Kosher salt, a few sprinkles of black pepper, and a teaspoon of olive oil. Shake well in sealed bag.

Smear olive oil on a baking pan, put the potatoes in the bottom of the pan.

Put the thighs on top of the potatoes, skin side up. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

I'm also cooking a little broccoli for the side. Prepare the same way as the potatoes and wrap in foil with a little opening at the top.

Put the baking dish with the potatoes and chicken in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes. Turn chicken, put back in oven for another 30 minutes. Put the broccoli in the oven at this time, also.

At the end of the second 30 minutes, turn the chicken skin side up again. Increase heat to 475 and cook for another 15 minutes to crisp the skin.

It should look like the picture above when done.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

THE COCKTAIL HOUR: Hillbilly Lemonade

Summer's at it's hottest so we need some drinks to take the edge off of the heat.

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Here's my version of this out back, sit-by-some-grilling meat, refreshing crowd pleaser.  At only 150 calories, it also fits in with our goal of drinks that won't go straight to your gut...but still are full-service cocktails!

INGREDIENTS (one drink)

1.5 oz. bourbon (whisky or scotch can also be used)
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 lime
1 oz. simple syrup (2 tbls. of sugar can be substituted)
1-2 oz. water (optional if needed to fill the glass)

To do it right, you should have a majon jar.  If not, use a cocktail shaker.  Fill your jar or shaker about half full of ice.  Put all ingredients in and shake...put just enough water in to make sure you have a full glass.  Strain into a tumbler completely filled with ice.  Garnish with a wedge of lemon, lime, or orange.

Cheers!

-Darryl

THE COCKTAIL HOUR: Side Car

This is one of the classic, old-time cocktails like the martini or a Tom Collins. Made in the classic style, it's also only 154 calories so you can enjoy it without too much guilt. With only three ingredients, it's also a breeze to make.

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INGREDIENTS (for two drinks):
3 oz. brandy or cognac
2 oz. grand marnier or triple sec
1 oz. lemon juice, fresh squeezed if available

Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker 2/3 full of ice. Shake and strain into two cocktail glasses.

Enjoy!

-Darryl

Winter's Tangy Harvest

Late fall...winter starts next week...and in the middle of a big drought, not a lot to do in the garden but we can find something.

December in Southern California is citrus season and our three trees are producing! 

The cara cara navel orange tree (at the top of this post) has put out the most fruit it's ever given us.

Our Meyer lemon is not far behind.

We harvest just enough to last us for a week or so and let the rest of the fruit stay on the tree til we're ready for more.

Along with the oranges and lemons, I also find a few rogue Anaheim chiles that will go into tomorrow's eggs.

These tart but sweet cara caras are just the ticket for a nice, healthy shot of vitamin C on the side of this sandwich.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

A Labor of Love

Well, Labor Day 2015 has just passed, marking the unofficial end of summer. How did our garden do? This year was much better than last. We had a lot more good news than bad.

Let's start with the good stuff and save the bad for next time.

On the sweet side of things, the guavas are ready to start picking. Some are already dropping on the ground. Lots of fruit on this tree.

The dragon fruit aren't ripe yet but they're getting there.

The tomatoes have done great. Three plants have put out enough that we haven't had to buy tomatoes for two months now. Maybe not enough to share with all the neighbors but a banner year still, especially compared to the lousy year we had last year. 

The hybrid has put out many in clusters like this.

The heirloom has been a bit stingier, only giving us about a half dozen but they were pretty big, tasty, and spectacular.

Although the leaves could look healthier, the hanging cherry tomato has been loaded down all summer with tiny, tasty fruit.

On the spicy side of things, the pasilla I planted last year that I gave up on because it was ravaged by squirrels has made a comeback and is providing a good, late harvest. When done, I will transplant it into a more suitable spot.

Another plant that was rodent plagued last year was our Anaheim chile plant. It has also produced handsomely this summer. Great with eggs or in salsa.

Need some more heat? I've got more than enough serrano and Thai chiles for the whole neighborhood. This shows just a tiny portion of those plants.

And coming soon, this Meyer lemon should be leading our late fall and winter citrus parade.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved.

Caught in the Act!

Here are some of the deer that have been coming down from the nearby mountains to feed on my front yard rose garden. This one is helping itself to my nextdoor neighbor's holly topiary.

The drought is serious, folks.  These animals, and many more like them, are really feeling the brunt of it. They can have my roses until the rain returns.

Luckily, the bulk of my garden is behind a tall wall in the backyard, let's see how it's faring this week.

Tomatoes! I'm loving my tomato plants this year. Here, the hanging cherry tomatoes are reddening up. My son and I sampled but they're a bit tart at a redder color than this so we'll let them ripening for quite some time before harvesting. There are a ton of them on the basket.

That's in contrast to last year where I could count my entire tomato harvest on one hand. This hybrid is giving the cherry tomatoes a run in the numbers game and the big ones are the size of a baseball.

I was sweating a little over the heirloom plant but it's getting some nice fruit on it too, now.

In our citrus grove, we've got Myer lemons on the branches...

...more fruit on our Cara Cara orange...

...and a few late blooming Cara Cara flowers, too.

I had a micro-sprinkler clog and I think it affected our corn adversely. I replaced it but I don't know how this will do. In this drought-affected garden, however, it's sink or swim. We'll see if we can get anything edible out of it.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Blessed Are The Pollinators

Ah, the sweetest smell of spring. I'm talking about citrus flowers, or orange blossoms if you will. Nothing smells like it and it's heavenly.

Our little citrus grove is in full bloom. Well, the orange and lemon, anyway. The tangelo is still just in bud. 

The Cara Cara orange has these gorgeous white flowers.

While the Meyer lemon isn't to be outdone with its pink-tinged flowers.

Last week, I planted some lavender nearby to attract bees.

It may be working. Let's hope these busy pollinators give us a lot of fruit this year.

Darryl 
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Lavender: It's the Bees Knees!

Storm clouds are on the horizon for this Oscar's Sunday here in Southern California. While the rich and beautiful crowd undoubtedly have some poor production assistant to hold an umbrella over their freshly coiffed head, I have no such assistance so I'd better get what little gardening I have to do done.

I should also turn off the sprinkler timers until drier weather arrives to save on our precious water in this dry region.

I'm trying to fix my poor citrus production dilemma. My three-tree citrus grove just doesn't produce the way I want it to. I get hundreds, may thousands, of very fragrant blossoms each year but just a few fruit from each tree.

When I say few, I mean hardly any...two from the cara cara orange; three tangelos; and about ten Meyer lemons.

During the blooming period, I rarely see bees on the plants. You'd think such fragrant flowers would really attract the little honeymakers.

One place I do see them...tons of them, actually...is on the lavender plants.  Last summer, our backyard lavender  plant died so this year, I need to replace it.

I bought two small plants like this a Lowe's.

I dig an appropriately sized hole, knock the plastic pot off, and just stick it in the ground.  I planted a lavender between each citrus tree to attract the bees and, hopefully, they will notice the nice looking plants next door and go looking to do a little pollinating, if you know what I mean and I think you do. 

Dirt tamped down and plants watered in, we'll keep our fingers crossed for a better citrus crop this year.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Lining Up the Lemon

Our Meyer lemon tree started off as a sapling only twelve inches tall. How it's grown over the years.

I've pretty much left it alone, just trying to let it establish itself in our tiny, three-tree citrus grove.

I think it's had plenty of time now. I'm going to trim it up to get it to start growing in the shape I want it to.

The loppers make pretty easy work of it, just chop a few of the bottom branches.

I'm not going to touch anything on top in the big producing area. I want fruit this winter so, for now, this is the shape I'm going to be happy with.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved.

Attack of the Killer Mockingbirds

Well, maybe not killer. I'm not even 100% sure it's mockingbirds but something's been eating my tomatoes and I've heard their calls mocking me in the morning (mockingbirds are an ongoing pestilence in our garden).

Before I get to that, however, we've got to take a look at the status of the backyard.

Our last in-ground tomato plant has just been played out.  I was going to harvest it this weekend before pulling it out but, as you can see from the top, something beat me to it.

No use delaying the inevitable, out it goes.

Now, it rests on the top of the weekend's clippings in our green waste barrel.

Next, I'll need to prepare the two blank spots in our side garden, above. Zucchini on the right; onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, and something else to be determined on the left. I think I'll skip the corn this year, maybe some nice, big pasilla chiles instead. Those are delicious!

It's citrus bloom time again. Here's the Meyer lemon buds...

...and here's the Cara Cara orange blossoms.

Finally, I'm able to scrounge this little last harvest. The last Meyer lemon, some tomatoes from our Cherry Falls hanging basket that'll go on some burgers I'm grilling tomorrow, and a tiny little zucchini I'll chop up into tomorrow's eggs.

Darryl 
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved