Light, Light, Light Pasta Salad AND Desserts with Booze

Happy Tuesday everyone! Gloomy, gloomy here this week, so last night I made a really delicious Greek pasta salad. You can easily make your own at home - fusilli pasta (let cool slightly), kalamata olives, red onions (I sauteed with garlic), tomato chunks, cucumber chunks, parsley, and feta cheese. Dress lightly with an olive oil-based dressing with dill, basil, and oregano. Yum!

Now finish your meal with a boozy dessert...here are some ideas.

Refreshing...
Cucumber-Lime Pops with Gin
Tim Love

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup gin
• One 12-ounce cucumber—peeled, seeded and pureed (1 1/4 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon unflavored powdered gelatin

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar with the 1/4 cup of water and the mint and bring to a boil. Cover, remove from the heat and let stand for 15 minutes. Strain the mint syrup into a large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Whisk in the lime zest, lime juice, gin and cucumber puree.
2. In a microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the remaining 1 tablespoon of water and let stand until softened, 5 minutes. Microwave the mixture at high power for 8 seconds, until the gelatin dissolves. Whisk the gelatin into the cucumber mixture.
3. Arrange ten 2-ounce paper cups on a baking sheet. Pour the popsicle mixture into the cups and freeze for 1 hour, until partially frozen. Insert a stick in the center of each cup and freeze for 30 minutes longer, until fully frozen. Tear off the paper and serve.

Herbs and citrus...

Lemon Thyme Madeleines with Lemon Vodka Syrup

Gourmet, January 1995

Ingredients

For madeleines

• 2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest (from about 7 large lemons)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs

For lemon syrup

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon vodka
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

Directions

Make madeleines:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. and generously butter and flour a madeleine pan (preferably non-stick), knocking out excess flour.
2. In a bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, zest, and thyme.
3. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter, lemon juice, and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and add flour mixture, beating until just combined.
4. Spoon some of batter into prepared madeleine molds and with a spatula smooth surfaces, scraping back and forth over molds and returning excess batter to bowl. (This will eliminate any air pockets and ensure that molds are not overfilled.) Wipe excess batter from edges of pan.
5. Bake madeleines in middle of oven 20 to 25 minutes, or until edges are browned and tops are golden. Loosen edges and transfer madeleines to a rack set over a baking dish. Make more madeleines in pan, cleaned, buttered, and floured, with remaining batter in same manner.

Make lemon syrup:

1. While first batch of madeleines is baking, in a small saucepan bring syrup ingredients to a boil, stirring, and remove from heat.
2. Brush warm madeleines with some of hot syrup and repeat with remaining madeleines as they are baked, keeping syrup warm.

Southern fun...

Buttermilk Cake with Sour Milk Jam and Gin-Poached Cherries

Ari Taymor, Alma

Ingredients

Buttermilk cake:

• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more
• 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk

Sour milk jam:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup crème fraîche
• Gin-poached cherries and assembly:
• 1 cup dried tart cherries
• 1 cup gin
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons juniper berries
• Fennel fronds (for serving)

Special equipment:

• A 9"-diameter cake pan

Directions

For buttermilk cake: 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour pan. Whisk baking soda, salt, and 2 cups flour in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour pan. Whisk baking soda, salt, and 2 cups flour in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and 1 1/4 cups butter in another medium bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and scraping down sides of bowl.
4. Reduce mixer speed to low and, with motor running, add dry ingredients in 3 additions alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Scrape batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake until cake is golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool before turning out.

DO AHEAD: Cake can be made 2 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.
For sour milk jam:

1. Bring milk and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar; reduce heat and simmer gently, whisking occasionally, until mixture measures a scant 1/4 cup, 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl; let cool (it will thicken as it sits). Whisk in crème fraîche, cover, and chill.

DO AHEAD: Jam can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
For gin-poached cherries and assembly: 

1. Bring cherries, gin, sugar, juniper berries, and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan; reduce heat and simmer until liquid is syrupy, 6-8 minutes. Let cool.
2. Spoon a few dollops of jam onto plates. Tear cake into pieces and arrange around jam. Top with cherries and fennel fronds.

DO AHEAD: Cherries can be poached 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Happy baking!