If You Want a Caipirinha, You Can Travel Down to Rio, or You Can Make One at Home

Please take a look at a photo gallery about Rio I put together for the New York Daily News.  Seeing those photographs again, brings back wonderful memories.

The national drink of Brazil, the caipirinha, has 4 ingredients: cachaça, sugar, limes, and ice. Simple, delicious, and strong. Cachaça is harsher than rum but more flavorful than vodka.

Off and on for three years our older son, Franklin, lived in Brazil. We visited him in Rio where he introduced us to the pleasures of sitting on the Leblon beach, enjoying the incredible view and feasting on "appetizers" sold by vendors who walk up and down the beach.

The variety of delicious treats carried by vendors is amazing. Grilled chicken, saladinhos ("little salty snacks"), cheeses melted on a small brazier, shrimp on skewers, ice cold agua de coco from a freshly opened coconut, and a variety of fruit beyond belief. After you've eaten enough or want a break from watching the parade of beautifully tanned and under-dressed Cariocas (what the natives of Rio are called), a short walk to any of the restaurants and bars that line the beach and a caipirinha is waiting for you.

From now until the end of the Olympics in 2016, the vendors have been banished from the beaches, but you can be certain they'll be back.

Because Brazil has such a bounty of tropical fruits, it was only a matter of time before the caipirinha enjoyed the addition of other flavors. Frank had learned to make variations. Going to a nearby farmers' market, we picked out different fruit to add to the basic ingredients.

Back at his apartment we spent the afternoon working our way through many combinations. What we liked best was adding kiwi fruit and pomegranate seeds, then we experimented with the proportions.

Back home we discovered that cachaça is not easy to find.  Luckily, we tracked down Leblon cachaça so we could make caipirinhas whenever we wanted.

Caipirinha

Yield: 1

Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

2 ounces cachaça

1 tablespoon superfine sugar

1/2 lime, cut into 8 pieces, mashed in a mortar and pestle

1/2 kiwi, peeled and finely chopped

1 tablespoon pomegranate seeds

ice, cubed or crushed

Method

Pour the cachaça in a 12 ounce glass, add the sugar and stir well. Pour in the lime, kiwi, and pomegranate seeds. Mix and fill the glass with crushed ice. Serve with an espresso spoon so you can eat the kiwi and pomegranate seeds while you sip your caipirinha.

Variations

For the kiwi and pomegranate seeds, substitute just about any tropical or citrus fruit you like

To read other travel posts, please go to:

Real Rio
Rio in the Summer

The Houston Food Scene

Farmers' Markets

Chef Albert Roux's Newest Restaurant Opens in Texas

Saudi Arabia's Neighbor to the East, Doha, Qatar

Briefly in Seattle

A Photo Gallery of Rhode Island

How Rhode Island Has Changed

Rhode Island Travel Gallery, New York Daily News

Renting a Villa with Friends in Sonoma

Sparks, Nevada for the Nugget's Rib Cook-Off, 2009

Who Judges at a Rib Cook-Off? Me!

A New Year's Eve Cocktail and Appetizer All-in-One

I enjoy spending hours cooking in the kitchen. Doing the prep work soothes my frazzled nerves. Watching a dish slowly come together as the various ingredients combine their flavors calms me down.

Being in the kitchen is a great escape from a contentious world. Pulling together appetizers, a salad, main dish, and a couple of desserts, gives me a lot of pleasure. Good food promotes good conversation and well-prepared dishes tell our friends that we care about them.

I like to have the meal completed before everyone arrives, but sometimes, like this New Year's Eve, I know I'll still be cooking. The best solution is a colorful cocktail that refreshes and entertains while I'm finishing dinner.

Because there are edible pieces of fruit at the bottom, including a spoon means the cocktail is a drink and an appetizer all in one.

Tropical Rum Cocktail

Cocktails, like pets, need to be named. I'd appreciate any and all suggestions.

Yield: 4

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup white rum
2 Fuyu persimmons, ripe, slightly soft, finely chopped
1 cup fresh orange juice, sweet
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
16 ice cubes

Method

Pour the white rum into a pitcher, add the powdered sugar, and stir well to dissolve. Add the finely chopped persimmons, orange and lime juice, and stir well to combine.

Put 4 ice cubes and a spoon into each glass, pour in the drink, making certain that the persimmon pieces are divided equally and serve.

Variations

Top with a fresh sprig of mint

Adjust the proportion of orange and lime juice, to taste

Substitute finely chopped mango, strawberries, kiwi, or fresh passion fruit for persimmons

Kimchi Chicken Wings Take Flight

Needing an appetizer for an Asian themed dinner, I played around with the kimchi I had in the refrigerator. A simple marinade using brown sugar lessened the impact of kimchi's bite, but there was still plenty of spiciness.

The result was a sweet-heat dish, a good companion for cocktails before dinner.

Kimchi Chicken Wings

Yield: 4 servings

Time: marinate overnight; cook approximately 60 minutes

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds chicken wings, washed, pat dried

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup kimchi, finely chopped

1 tablespoon kimchi water from the bottle

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, washed, peeled, sliced thin

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Method

Dissolve the brown sugar in the kimchi water, olive oil, and soy sauce. Add the kimchi, onion slices, and chicken wings. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking tray with tin foil for easy clean up. Place a wire rack on the tray and arrange the wings on the rack. Drizzle the wings with olive oil. Put into the oven and bake 30 minutes. Turn over with tongs. Bake another 30 minutes. The wings should be tender and golden brown. If not, turn the wings over and continue baking another 10 minutes. Check again and continue baking at 10 minute intervals, turning the wings each time, until they are done.

In a small saucepan on a low flame, reduce the marinade by a third. Reserve.

The wings should be eaten hot. Pour the heated, reduced marinade over the wings just before serving.

Make sure everyone has plenty of napkins and a chilled drink of choice.

Variations

Add 1 tablespoon julienned garlic and 1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley to the marinade

Just before serving, top with 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds and 1 tablespoon thinly sliced scallion

Cocktails Perfect for the End of the Week: Passion Fruit, Lime or Orange, & White Rum

Just when you thought you'd never get a break, the week is finally over. It's Friday night and you can stop thinking about work, school, and those never-ending errands.

The truth is, if you don't recharge on the weekend, you're toast next week. You'll be in a bad mood. You won't look forward to work, school, or those never-ending errands.

So you owe it to your good humor, your health, productivity and the betterment of all your relationships to kick back and take it easy.

A cool refreshing drink is a great way to slow down and smell the roses, or, in this case, the fresh fruit.

These drinks are all about the quality of the fruit. The limes, oranges, and passion fruit need to be fresh and juicy. The rum must be white. The sugar powdered.

Besides that, you'll need a couple of ice cubes and a muddler or a spoon. Now you're set to entertain yourself or share the good times with friends.

Passion Fruit, Lime or Orange & White Rum

Pick either lime or orange, the choice is yours.

Yield: 1 serving

Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 cup finely chopped lime or orange, with juice
1 teaspoon passion fruit pulp including seeds
1/4 cup white rum
1 heaping tablespoon powdered sugar
4 ice cubes

Method

Crush the lime or orange in a glass with a wooden muddler or the back of a spoon, add the passion fruit, rum and sugar. Stir to mix well.

Add the ice cubes and serve with a small spoon, the better to sip and stir and sip some more.

It's 90 Degrees in the Shade But a Tall Glass of Ice Cold Lemonade Lowers the Temperature

It's hot. Really hot. But Nature is good to us. When the temperature climbs there's an abundance of produce to help cool us down. Salads. Fresh fruit. And lemonade. At the Palisades Farmers' Market on Sunday the roses were in bloom, berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries) were everywhere, and Meyer lemons were selling 5 for a dollar. At that price we can afford to have as much fresh lemonade as we can drink. I don't know anything more refreshing on a hot day than an ice cold glass of lemonade.

A little bit of lemon juice goes a long way. When lemons are in season, it's difficult to understand why we'd ever buy lemonade from the supermarket. If Meyer lemons are available, they make a mellow-tasting lemonade. Artificial sweeteners can be used to replace the sugar. Personally I prefer using raw sugar because of its caramel flavor.

Fresh Lemonade

Making lemonade is easy. The hardest part is juicing the lemons and that takes very little effort. An electric juicer can be used although I enjoy doing it by hand.

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (3-4 large lemons)
1/4 cup sugar (preferably raw sugar)
1 quart water

In a quart pitcher mix the juice, sugar, and water together with a long spoon. Adjust the flavors to your taste by adding more lemon juice and/or sugar. The lemonade will keep in the refrigerator for several days. Stir before serving. Find a tall glass and fill it with ice. For a garnish you can use a lemon wedge, a sprig of mint, or a slice of mango.

Variations

Crush an herb like mint or rosemary and add it to the lemonade.

Mix in the juice of 2 limes to make lemon-limeade.

Add 1 1/2 ounces of white rum or vodka to each tall glass with a sprig of mint to serve at a cocktail party.

Serves 4. Preparation Time: 5 minutes.

A Perfect Meal: Salad, Pasta, and a Good Stiff Drink

A friend and I had a tough day and we needed a quiet place to have dinner and recover. We happened across Matteo's, a West LA fixture since the Frank Sinatra Rat Pack days.

The menu is Old School, with sections for Antipasti, Salumi, Insalta, Pasta, Seafood, Chicken, Chef's Specialities, and Weekly Specialties. I'll definitely come back for Tuesday's Roast Pig alla Porchetta Dinner. Tonight I settled on a Caesar salad, Spaghettini alla Vongole, and a Perfect Manhattan with a twist. I have to say, the combination was about as right as it could have been.

The dinner reminded me that a salad, pasta, and a drink was a good way to settle down and switch gears from work-manic to social. Tonight I decided to do my own version of this trifecta and make an Arugula Salad with Feta and Olives, Spaghetti with Parsley and Bacon, and a Perfect Manhattan.

Perfect Manhattan

A Perfect Manhattan mixes up easily and should be the first thing you make, so you can sip while you cook.

Yield: 1 serving

Time: 2 minutes

Ingredients

4 oz. Bourbon or Whiskey
½ oz. Sweet Vermouth
½ oz. Dry Vermouth
1 twist of lemon peel, 1" long, ¼" wide

Method

Keep the Bourbon in the freezer so it will be extra cold. Pour the Bourbon and both vermouths into a martini glass, stir, drop in the twist, and sip contentedly.

Arugula Salad

Yield: 4 servings

Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 bunch arugula, washed, dried, the leaves pulled off the stems
10 oil cured black olives, pits removed, cut in half
1 scallion, washed, trimmed, sliced, the white and green parts
¼ cup feta, crumbled
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons reduced balsamic syrup
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt

Method

Toss the arugula, olives, scallions, and feta in a salad bowl, then drizzle the olive oil and reduced balsamic syrup. Taste and season with pepper and sea salt as desired.

Spaghetti with Parsley and Bacon

Yield: 4 servings

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound dried spaghetti
½ cup Italian parsley, washed, the leaves finely chopped, the stems not used
4 strips of bacon, already cooked, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup homemade chicken stock or pasta water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt
Freshly ground Parmesan or Romano cheese

Method

Put a large pot of salted water (1 teaspoon of Kosher salt to 1 gallon of water) on a high flame while you sauté the parsley, finely chopped bacon, and garlic in the olive oil until softened, not browned. Add the dried pasta to the boiling water, stir well, and check every 5 minutes, stirring each time, until cooked al dente.

To capture 1 cup of pasta water, put a measuring cup in the sink next to the colander. Empty the pot into the colander, filling the measuring cup with pasta water as you do. To keep the pasta hot while you finish the sauce, put the spaghetti back in the pot, drizzle with olive oil, stir well, and cover.

Use the chicken stock or the pasta water to deglaze the pan, adding the butter and mixing with the parsley-bacon-garlic mixture. Simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Taste and season with sea salt or black pepper if needed. Serve with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.