Lemongrass-lime leaf soda

I love the idea of making "custom" sodas like this (which has 8 grams of sugar per serving as opposed to about 35-40 in a canned drink), because I feel like I should at least avoid sodas loaded with sugar on top of my regular dessert habit...This drink doesn't taste like a compromise at all. It's extremely flavorful and perfectly sweet, and if you can't find lime leaves, just double the amount of lime zest.

Lemongrass-lime leaf soda
Makes 12
from Bon Appetit, May 2011

Lemongrass-infused mixture:
1/4 c. lemon zest (from about 6 lemons)
1/4 c. lime zest (from about 8 limes)
20 kaffir lime leaves
2 stalks lemongrass, roughly chopped (you usually have to peel off the tough outer layers to be able to chop it easily)
2 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes. Strain into a jar and let cool, then chill.

Simple syrup:
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. water

Heat in a saucepan over medium heat til sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Pour into a jar and let cool, then cover and store in the fridge up to 1 month.

To assemble the drinks:
Fill a 12-oz glass with ice; add 2 Tbsp of the lemongrass mixture and 1 Tbsp of the simple syrup, then top off with about 1/2 cup of seltzer/soda water. Stir to combine and enjoy.

Cinnamon dolce iced coffee

I think I've finally perfected an iced coffee, at least to M's and my taste. With my Aeropress, which I love for many reasons, it is especially easy to make something approximating espresso in individual servings, without having to use nasty leftover cold coffee. I'm sure a strong-brewed French press cup would work extremely well here too. Here's how I made mine:

Cinnamon syrup:
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
Combine sugar, water, and cinnamon in small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let reduce for about 5 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Kept covered in the fridge, this should last a good while.

Coffee:
1/2 cup hot strong-brewed coffee or espresso (I used Starbucks Italian roast and made "espresso" with my Aeropress)
2 tsp. heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon syrup (see above)
4-5 large ice cubes

Into the fresh brewed coffee stir the cream and syrup. Add ice cubes all at once and stir for a few seconds to cool quickly. Enjoy.

Pork tacos and fixings

I sort of threw this meal together out of my freezer/fridge/pantry surplus tonight, and for once an improvised meal turned out fabulously. Gratifying.

Pork tacos
1/2 lb. pork tenderloin, trimmed
Dry adobo (see below)
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 yellow or red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 Tbsp. minced chipotle chiles in adobo
1/4 cup sour cream
1-2 Tbsp. lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
4 corn tortillas, warmed

1. Rub the pork all over with the dry adobo and return to fridge for at least 15 minutes or up to an hour. 
2. Preheat oven to 425. In an 8" ovensafe skillet heat oil over med-high heat til just smoking. Add tenderloin and brown well on all sides, including ends.
3. Transfer pan to oven and roast until temperature registers 140 (start checking after 12 minutes or so; mine took 20 but was a little frozen still). 
4. Remove pork to a cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest 10 minutes before cutting; the temp should rise 10-15 degrees.
5. While pork cooks/rests, mix together sour cream and lime juice. Saute the bell pepper strips over med-high heat until well charred. Prep remaining ingredients and serve with sliced pork.

Dry adobo rub (adapted from Daisy Martinez, Daisy: Morning, Noon, & Night)
Mix together:
3 Tbsp. sea salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
You will have tons left over; it will keep fine for a couple months at room temp.

This goes great with a mango batido (adapted from CI's Best International Recipe):
1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into rough 1" pieces
3/4 cup whole milk (or coconut milk---thought of this variation too late)
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup ice
Blend until smooth and serve very cold.

Tapas

M has said in the past that he strongly prefers the standard American "format" for a meal: a meat and two sides, with some kind of carb/starch, all served simultaneously of course. I could eat snacks for dinner all the time, I don't care. But I thought maybe he would go for something like a little tapas spread, where there is at least some meat involved and a variety of small things, still resulting in a balanced meal. Tonight I tried that out with success.

 The nasty burnt-looking stuff on the bread is pesto. I'm realizing the consequences of too little lighting when you're taking pictures of food. The fritters look burnt too but they weren't. You better believe I yanked them out of the scary pot of 375 degree oil as soon as possible...

The Spanish tortilla we had tried before a couple of times, and I felt like it needed something more than Frank's (our favorite sauce for all things egg and/or cheese based). Little wonder, because it's made of four things: potato, egg, onion, and olive oil---all good flavors, but none of them has anything really interesting going on, not to mention the rather monochromatic color scheme. In the CI Best International cookbook, they suggest serving the tortilla with Romesco sauce, a strange (to me) assortment of ingredients including roasted red peppers, bread, almonds, and sherry vinegar. I mixed that up in the blender today, trusting the collective genius of CI, and it was just what we needed. I think I could eat this sauce on just about anything.

The salt cod fritters, also a CI recipe from the Spain/Portugal section of Best International Recipe, were the first thing I've ever deep-fried. I was so scared of starting a fire. I probably should have watched a how-to video first or something, just to get used to the violent reaction that occurs after something is lowered, however gently, into 3" of hot oil. At the risk of sounding indelicate, I truly almost wet my pants when I started putting the fritters in---I thought all the bubbling and foaming was going to rise right over the top of the pot and create all manner of calamity, like a fire. It didn't; the turmoil subsided after the first couple of minutes, when I got up the courage to stir as the recipe instructed (I thought surely any disturbance of the oil would start a fire---noticing a pattern?). Yet I survived six minutes of deep-frying, and it was 110% (just to be cliché) worth it. Light and crispy, and the salt cod tasted neither overtly salty nor like cod. Just like clean, fresh fish enveloped in glorious fried-ness. Thankfully since I am cheap and I needed 1 1/2 jugs of vegetable oil for this (normally you can strain and reuse frying oil, but not when it's been used for fish), we won't be indulging in these on a regular basis. Not to mention the whole pyrophobia thing.

In case anyone has trouble sourcing salt cod as I did, I hear the Dekalb Farmers Market has it, but I had to get mine at Whole Foods, kept (oddly) in the freezer section in a little wood box at $10/lb. For Whole Foods I reckon that's not bad. I still have another half pound for use next week, probably with a Daisy Martinez recipe, because I read through her cookbook and approximately 50% of the recipes call for salt cod (about 75% call for $$$ serrano ham). Slight exaggeration, but come on, Daisy, we're not all TV stars and doctor's wives. I think I should have gotten her previous cookbook if I wanted more homely Puerto Rican food. 

Pre-dinner we had a nice simple drink of 3 parts ginger ale to 1 part dry vermouth, with a little lemon peel at the bottom of the glass. Dessert was the lemon ice cream I made earlier this week from Lebovitz's book, with Delicje cookies (the Polish version of Jaffa "biscuits:" spongey fruit-filled cookies dipped in chocolate). And we are now out of ice cream, which is a sad place to be facing yet another day in the upper 70s...come back, February!