Black Pepper Simple Syrup

So, sure, we have all tried simple syrup at one point or another. Maybe we've even made it. But lately, simple syrup is, well, a little too simple for me. I saw a recipe a while back for black pepper simple syrup and it sounded delicious! Tonight, it is achieved.

Start with your basic simple syrup recipe, though I thought it a good idea to add a touch more water than normal. I use a 1:1 ratio of sugar to water, though it is not unheard of to make the sugar portion 1.5 or even 2 to 1 part of water. Then I added about 25 black peppercorns to the pot. I set it to simmer for about 25 minutes, though I will experiment with a longer simmer for greater concentration of the pepper.

The first drink I made with the syrup was an easy one: 4 tsp black pepper syrup, vodka, soda. This drink is very clean, and with a nice undercurrent of pepper. The combo of sweet and pepper really is a mellow way to add a little kick to a drink.

Drink #2: ice to half a rocks glass; just cover with tequila (I did gold tonight); add 6 tablespoons BP syrup. Enjoy this - the syrup adds a layer of complexity to your tequila and gives it the illusion of having been aged. Tasty!

Citrus Bistro -- a review

While shopping in the Preston and Royal area a few weeks ago, I had noticed Citrus Bistro. I did my internet research, and decided it would work well for a nice Friday dinner.

In my research, I had noticed that Citrus Bistro is BYOB, so I grabbed a bottle from the wine fridge and we headed out, arriving at around 7pm. We walked in the back door, near the patio and were asked if we had a reservation. We said no, the host said "no problem" and lead us to a table in the front of the restaurant. Note, this place can get pretty loud, and it appears as though there are a lot of regulars, so you might be wise to make a reservation.

We were seated, and the host went to retrieve some wine glasses for our bottle. He returned shortly, and poured our glasses and explained the numerous (4 or more) nightly specials, and explained that if there was something we wanted that wasn't on the menu, they'd make it assuming they had the ingredients. One of the specials had some soft shelled crab involved, and I seriously considered ordering a plate of crabs, but decided that I'd stick with the current specials/menu options.

Misstep #1. Joy's wine glass had lipstick on it, that wasn't her own. The glass was quickly replaced, but, we didn't notice till after the wine was poured. Ok, now we're short one glass of wine, and they still charged the corkage fee? I should have said something, but for some reason was in a good mood or something, and didn't.

After some deliberation, and assurance that the "Dover Sole" special was indeed Dover Sole, and not Black Flounder, Lemon Flounder or any other Flounder I chose the pan seared Dover Sole, and a Caprese salad.

Misstep #2. My Caprese salad was made with some run of the mill Roma tomatoes -- which I know are traditional, but... For an $8 salad of tomatoes, cheese and basil dressing, I want something heirloom.

My Sole, on the other hand, was probably one of the most correctly prepared pieces of fish I've ever had. And quite delicious. The lemon butter sauce was just right, and as an added bonus, the fish came out whole but was de-boned table side by an extraordinarily adept member of the wait staff.

Joy had the Copper River Salmon special, which, as we were in the height of Copper River season, was spectacular. Cooked perfectly medium, with a delicious crust and silky smooth interior.

In short, since this review is really long, Citrus Bistro is solid, though if you're ordering off the specials menu it can be a little pricey. BYOB is really nice though, and is not just limited to wine, judging by some of the clientele’s flasks, and road scotches they brought in with them. It can get a little loud though, as most of the customers seemed to have imbibed some level of alcohol and the space is small. I can say, with all certainty that we'll be back, cause I love a restaurant that doesn't frown upon you walking in with a pre-poured road cocktail.

Citrus Bistro

--Brad

Mixology

As you might have noticed, if you live your life in the DFW Metro area, it's damned hot here lately. Mowing the lawn, grilling and other related outdoor chores/activities have become increasingly difficult, due to the unbearable temperatures. When it's this hot outside, sometimes you need a cocktail instead of a beer for your post outdoor activities, so, I started experimenting.

I tend to have a lot of booze around the house, but for the most part drink beer, with the occasional bourbon and coke, gin and tonic or scotch thrown in the mix for varieties sake. I don't do a lot of vodka or rum based cocktails, but do have these liquors on hand most of the time.

#1 -- The Cape Cod type Summer Beverage.
Your standard Cape Cod is vodka, cranberry and a squeeze of lime. I like the Cape Cod, but it doesn't really excite me the way it used to. So, I decided to play around with it a bit. I had some pomegranate/cranberry juice in the fridge, so I substituted that for the straight cran -- It's delicious. Added a splash of lime, and hooray, it's a non-boring Cape Cod. At the same time, I thought it could be lighter/less sweet. So, add a splash of club soda, and you have quite the refreshing cocktail.

#2 -- The Fruit based Rummy Drink
You've heard us extol the virtues of Pyrat Rum here at BeefRobot. It's sweeter and more complex than most of your rums, and quite delicious. I don't do much with the Pyrat, other than drink it straight or on the rocks. I was thinking to myself the other day that I need to develop other beverages with the Pyrat as the base liquor.
Enter the slightly over-ripe Nectarine. I took said nectarine, cut it into wedges and dropped half into a shaker. Muddled this with the end of a wooden spoon, and looked to see that I had about an ounce or more of pulp and juice. I added a splash of cranberry to this, and an ounce and a half of Pyrat. I poured this over crushed ice and added club soda (3 ounces or so) to fill the glass. Delicious. I highly recommend this cocktail, as the tanginess of the nectarine is softened by the sweet rum. I do not think this would work with your garden variety light rum, you're going to have to spring for the good stuff.

Two cocktails for your summertime enjoyment. I hope they help to keep you cool.

*Please Note -- If you're going to make this in mass, you should probably use a blender to grind up your nectarines. However, if you're going to use a blender, you'd be wise to peel them, as the skin can be quite bitter, and no one wants that. If you're just doing single servings, the peel stays fairly intact while you muddle, so there's less bitterness.

Dinner 3

Simple. Leftover steak, cold. Asparagus, roasted with olive oil, garlic salt, pepper. Yellow squash, cooked in a pan under a lid with olive oil, butter, garlic salt, pepper. All eaten with hands, no utensils. Beer on the side.

Man meal!

Dinner #2

Dinner 2 turned out to be a rush job, as I realized late in the game that I had to hustle or else I wasn't going to be on time to meet up to see Star Trek. (for the second time. yes I've seen it twice)

I had already pulled out the 1/2 pound of ground turkey we had in the freezer, though it was still pretty frigid. I sauteed onion and mushroom for awhile, then added the turkey and a diced tomato. When I added the turkey, I squeezed a lime in. When I don't have time to marinate (or haven't planned adequately) I like adding lime to raw meats while they are in the pan. The lime flavor comes through so much better than if you wait til the end. At that point it is meat plus lime, not delicious, limey meat. Next, I added chili powder, garlic salt, pepper, a little cayenne. I let this all cook up and when it was cooked, but still liquidy in the pan, I had a thought: we have masa harina (the flour used to make tamales). So, I added a tablespoon of this and stirred.

The masa flour was a solid addition to the mix. I will do this again, no doubt. It gave an authenticity of both sight and taste that I am happy to be seeing coming from my kitchen. The liquid turned to delicious gravy and I had myself the perfect filling for a burrito.

Achieving the burrito involved 11 seconds in the microwave. Then I added grated cheese and put it back for 11 more seconds. I added chopped cilantro and put the filling in. Start to finish, this thing took me about 12 minutes.

Goodness.

Dinner #1

In the week Misty is in the great state of Maine, I am chronicling my dinner solutions. Part one is easy. I went to the store tonight after racquetball to find myself enmeshed in a desire to do something new. That something new came quickly as I hit the greens area. I have been big on greens lately, focusing most of my energies on spinach, baby to be exact. This stuff is great. Put in a pan with butter, garlic, salt, and pepper, and you win in about 2 minutes. Every time. Winner.

Tonight's greens aisle trip found me atop some collards. I have only ever eaten others' collard greens and tonight, I made my own. These are not hard to make. I haven't researched their nutritional value as compared to other greens, but they sure were good. They are also easy to make. Rinse the hell out of them. Roughly chop your green, removing the thicker parts of the stalk. Mince [] cloves of garlic and start them to sautee in about 2 tsp oil/butter. Your greens will still be a little wet, which is fine. Drop them in. Salt and pepper them. The collard does not seem to lose its color like spinach, staying a reasonably bright green. I tasted continually as soon as I thought they might be done and you are well-advised to do the same.

Oh, and I had a t-bone and some mushrooms cooked down in Burgundy for my other dishes. That all paired with the '06 Beringer Founders Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Word.

Night one is done.

Shrimp & Grits

Low Country cuisine is something of an anomaly. Not quite Southern or Soul Food, and not quite Cajun or Creole -- it's somewhere in between. I've been thinking about Shrimp & Grits for a week or so now and finally got an opportunity to cook some last night.

If you're asking yourself "Shrimp & Grits, what the hell?" Don't feel bad. Many people asked me the same questions as I was eating the leftovers for lunch at the office. It used to be a breakfast thing, in the shrimping towns of the Carolinas. As with all things comfort food, we've turned it into dinner. And a delicious dinner it is.

Shrimp -n- Grits
1lb raw shrimp -- peeled (I used 26-30s, cause they look nice on the plate)
6oz breakfast sausage, or bacon, or chorizo [for that Mexican flair]
1 Can Rotel
1 Can Chicken Broth
1 Cup Grits (yellow, white, quick -- doesn't matter)
1 Cup shredded cheese
1 Onion, diced and divided
1/2 Cup water +-
1 .5 tsp Thyme, divided
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/4 tsp Cayenne
2 Lemons
Chicken/Shrimp stock – maybe a cup or so
S&P to taste
Flour

Take 3/4 of your diced onion and add it to a two quart sauce pan over medium-high. Sauté the onion till it’s translucent and beginning to caramelize. While this is going down, start browning your breakfast sausage/bacon/whathaveyou in a large skillet. As the onion becomes golden, add the turmeric, 1 tsp of the thyme, the can of Rotel -- with juice, the can of chicken broth and the water. Bring this to a boil.

By this point, your sausage/bacon should be browned. Remove it from the pan, and sauté the rest of the onion in whatever leftover grease you have. When your stock/Rotel/onion mixture comes to a boil, add your grits and cook as the directions on the package dictate.

I used quick grits, so there wasn't really a whole lot of waiting for me. Basically you want your shrimp gravy to be done at the same time as your grits. If the grits are done first, that's ok -- they'll stay warm. As the grits finish, stir in the 1 cup of shredded cheese.

So, now that you've got some onion browned in bacon grease in the skillet, add some flour (roughly the same amount as fat you estimate to be left in the pan) and make a roux. Cook the roux for a couple of minutes to get the raw taste out of the flour. Then, add a few cubes of the frozen shrimp/chicken stock I'm sure you have at your disposal, Loyal BeefRobot Reader. Your goal is to make enough gravy to poach all the shrimp. As this thickens, add the cayenne and the sausage back in and your raw shrimp. I poached the shrimp in the gravy for 3 minutes or so -- just till they've turned pink and are opaque in the center. Add the last 1/2 tsp of thyme and turn off the heat.

Spoon your grits into the bowl, top with a few shrimp and some of the gravy, and enjoy. A toasty piece of crusty French bread might be nice, for a starch on starch component, but, I served mine with roasted broccoli.

--BeefRobot