Good Morning.
The last time I heard that phrase was at a 40th birthday party where a guest was trying to teach people how to throw those
colored paper strips that come in a little clump. Cooking usually doesn't involve throwing, except for pizza dough, but it does require a certain manual dexterity. We begin with a beverage served at an establishment dear to my college heart, Trader Vic's in New York. The drinking age was eighteen. Taxis to get home were plentiful. Life was dumb and fabulous.
The Scorpion
6 oz. orange juice
4 oz. lemon juice
6 oz. light rum
1 oz. gin
1 oz. brandy
2 oz. orgeat (almond) syrup, available at liquor stores and at Amazon
Mix all of the ingredients in a pitcher, stir well, pour into fat, bowl-shaped vessels, and provide straws. Trader Vic's garnished these things with a gardenia that you could pluck from the drink and wear in your hair and if you had one behind each ear, you had one too many. This amount will serve four people.
For those who aren't interested in doing the flower thing, another signature drink at Vic's was Planter's Punch.
For one beverage:
1 1/2 oz. dark rum
1 oz. cranberry juice
1 oz. orange juice
1 oz. Grenadine
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. lime juice
Crushed ice
Put all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake, and pour into a tall glass. Garnish with a slice of something and maybe an umbrella. Or maybe not.
Serve your drinks with Mexican Grilled Shrimp.
2 dozen big raw shrimp
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp. tequila
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. freshly grated lime zest
Peel and devein the shrimp but leave the tails on. Mix the olive oil and lime juice in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp, cover, and marinate for an hour. Combine the tequila with the mayonnaise in a dipping bowl. Garnish with the lime zest but don't refrigerate unless you're going to wait around to cook the shrimp. Place the marinated
shrimp on wooden skewers and grill over medium heat until they're just pink, turning once. Serve with the tequila mayonnaise.
For the entree, we have Sirloin Steak with Henry Bain Sauce, a favorite with the people who go to the Kentucky Derby.
For the sauce:
1/2 cup Major Grey chutney
2 tbsp. pickled walnuts
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup A-1 sauce
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chili sauce
Dash Tabasco
Place the chutney and walnuts in a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the other ingredients and process again. Serve at room temperature.
Grill a big sirloin or other cut of choice to your personal taste. Let the meat rest for ten minutes. If using sirloin, slice on the diagonal and top whatever steak you selected with the Henry Bain sauce.
We suggest two vegetables, Parmesan Corn on the Cob and Greek Green Beans.
For the corn, shuck and cook as many fresh ears as you wish in boiling, salted water. Let them cool, then smother them in mayonnaise and roll in a plate of grated Parmesan from a plastic jar and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Roll each ear up in aluminum foil and throw on the grill for maybe ten minutes.
Greek Green Beans
1 large white onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 small can tomato paste
1 fresh tomato, peeled and chopped
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
2 tbsp. chopped fresh mint
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft. Add tomato paste and fresh tomato and cook for a few minutes. Cook the greens in a pot a salted boiling water until al dente, no longer. Drain and toss with the tomato mixture. Season with salt and pepper and the fresh chopped mint and toss again. Serves 4 or 5.
For those still contemplating dessert, we offer a Peaches and Cream Pie.
1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp. flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups peeled and diced fresh peaches
1 unbaked pie shell, make it or buy it
1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup very finely chopped pecans
Combine the sour cream, flour, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a bowl and mix until smooth. Stir in the peaches and spoon into the pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the flour, butter, nutmeg, and pecans in a small bowl to make a crumbly topping. After the pie has baked, remove from the oven and sprinkle the topping over the filling. Bake for 10 minutes more. Let cool and then refrigerate for several hours before serving.
We get really good peaches at Ace Hardware. I got some nice ones at a farm stand last week, along with scrumptious corn
and tomatoes, and had all of it with a small sirloin. Living alone does not mean microwave dinners or other quickie food in
my world, and my wrists, unlike a couple of other joints, are still in good working order.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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