Fizzy pink drinks

Because I can never leave well enough alone, and because I happened to buy an especially aromatic mint plant with an unusual floral scent ... and because summer's coming round these parts. We get through a lot of soda water as the weather heats up, but sometimes one just wants to ring the changes a little. Also, who doesn't like pink drinks?

The first two are more kid-friendly though probably too austere for many. I find cold fizzy drinks more refreshing when less sweet, though of course YMMV. Even 2 or 3 tablespoons of syrup is quite a lot for one drink IMO ...

Here, in increasing order of befuddlingness and also complexity, are four pink fizzy drinks.

Padparadscha spritzer is a deep orange pink
and a little alcoholic

Prickly pear fizz

For each serving, stir together 2 - 3 T prickly pear syrup and a little water or soda. Optionally, add a squeeze of lemon juice.
Fill to the top with soda and ice.

Real lemon, lime, and bitters 

For each serving:

• half a lemon
• half a large, or a whole small, lime
• 1/2 - 1 tsp Angostura bitters 
• simple syrup to taste (about 2 T) 
• soda water
• ice to serve

Wash the citrus thoroughly to remove any wax from the skin, then squeeze into a tall glass. Drop the fruit into the glass too for extra flavour. Add the bitters and syrup to taste, and a splash of soda. Stir together, add ice, and fill with soda water. Serve.

Padparadscha spritzer 

For each serving:

• sprig of mint
• splash of triple sec
• teaspoon of orange blossom water 
• splash of cherry moonshine (or kirsch, but you won't get the stunning colour)
• ice 
• can of soda water (optionally flavoured, but preferably unsweetened. Raspberry or lime goes well.)

Crush the mint in your fingers or muddle it in the bottom of a tall glass. Add the liqueurs and orange blossom water, then ice and soda.

Stir and serve.

White sangria

Makes about 2 litres. Serves fewer people than you'd expect (say about 3?) Long ingredient list but really simple method, and a fabulous festive accompaniment to a barbecue. Dangerously light and delicious. When you run out, top up the glasses with ice, tonic, and optionally gin.

• 1/2 cup triple sec
• 2 T orange blossom water
• 1 T rose water
• 1/2 cup cognac or brandy
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 lime, sliced
• 1 orange, sliced
• 1/4 cup maraschino or moonshine cherries
• 750 ml fizzy white or rose wine (NB I don't recommend anything fancy for this unless you are enormously confident in the sensitivity of your palate)
• 100 g raspberries
• 500 ml or so soda water
• (optional) 1/2 cup simple syrup
• 6 medium sprigs of mint, or to taste
• ice to serve

Mix the triple sec, orange blossom water, brandy, citrus fruit, and cherries together and refrigerate in a jar or closed container overnight. Optionally freeze for up to a week, keeping the cherries away from the citrus slices or the citrus will discolour. Defrost in fridge before use.

Shortly before serving, tip into a 2 litre jug. Stir in the wine and soda water. Taste and add syrup if needed. Float the raspberries and mint in the jug or in the glasses as you serve. Serve over ice, letting a few slices of fruit and a cherry fall into each glass.

Green curry salmon cakes

Serves 4 or 5 depending on appetite. Sorry no photos yet, these were made on a busy evening and I forgot. Will update next time I make them, because they were definitely good enough to make again! Prep plus cook time about 40 minutes.

Ingredients

1.5 lb fresh salmon fillet, skinned
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
1/4 cup fresh basil (more if it seems a bit wimpy)
1 clove chopped garlic
juice of 1 lime
2 tsp green curry paste
2 eggs
Dessicated coconut OR (GF?) panko crumbs as required ( approx 1 cup)
coconut oil for pan frying

To serve, per person:
salad greens, approx 1/2 - 1 cup
prickly pear syrup - approx 1 tsp
Hatch chile peppers, roasted and chopped into strips, approx 1 T
thick unsweetened Greek yoghurt, approx 2 T

Prep and cook

1. Slice the salmon lengthwise into thin strips, then crosswise to make small dice. Remove bones as you go. 
2. Chop the garlic and herbs finely, and add to the same board where the salmon is. Add the green curry paste and lime juice. 
3. With a broad, long, sharp, chef's knife, mix and chop the fish, herbs, and spices together. You want the aromatics evenly mixed with the fish, and also to mince up some of the fish so it will start to hold together as a very rough paste with pieces in it, rather than falling apart as individual pieces coated with herbs and spice.  
4. Once the fish mixture starts to hold together, add the eggs one by one, mixing thoroughly after each. It will get quite sloppy. I do all this on the chopping board, but you could turn it into a bowl if you want. 
5. Add coconut or crumbs to the mixture to make it firm again - if using coconut, remember it will take some time to absorb the liquid. 
6. Divide into hamburger-ish sized patties. I made 10 from this quantity, to serve 5 people as a light meal. 
7. Press more coconut or crumbs onto both surfaces of each cake. Leave to stand for ten to thirty minutes on a tray or plate in the fridge - a good opportunity to get the garnishes ready. 
8. Heat a little coconut oil in a wide pan and fry each cake until golden on both sides and firm. The exact time will vary, but about 3 or 4 minutes per side. It depends on how much oil you use as well as the heat. Start them out hot - it's better to turn them down so as not to burn, rather than to overcook them while trying to get a good colour on them. 

Plate and serve

On each plate, put a handful on greens, a blob of yoghurt, a tidy pile of chile strips. Drizzle a little prickly pear syrup around the edge. Put the hot cake(s) on the greens and serve straight away.

Hatch chiles for beginners 2: salsa

A lot of Hatch chile recipes seem to require advanced manual dexterity and a free afternoon (e.g. chiles rellenos - heavenly, but ain't no one got time for that). These ones - not so much. Max 15 minutes of active prep time - once you've got your chiles ready.

Having said that, none of these is a whole meal by any stretch of the imagination. (Future posts coming up will be, though, so keep an eye out.)

Salsa tends to be a chop-and-mix dish. The secret to a nice looking dish is to keep all the pieces the same size. That won't matter quite so much with a blended salsa so if you want to practice before blending it, why not.

When adjusting the ingredients to taste, I consider how it will be used on our table. Here are a few adjustments I make:

• low carb - ordinary onion bulbs have quite a bit of carb, so don't use much onion, or none. Instead, green onion/spring onion and a bit more garlic
• people who don't like things. For example, we recently had a guest who doesn't like onion. No problem - check the seasoning carefully though to make sure it's balanced. Without onion it might need a bit more chile heat, salt, or less acidity
• how much is one serving? I choose a different level of chile, salt, and acidity for by-the-teaspoon salsa compared with by-the-scoop salsa. I generally taste it. When a serving is less than a teaspoonful, taste a tiny bit on the end of a finger and you should - as my old cooking teacher said - blink both eyes and squint (not cough and gag!). It should taste a bit glaring. That flavour, once diluted and accompanying, will be correct. When a serving is half a cup, taste a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful and it should taste about right. (These are more the latter than the former.)
• what needs using up? If the coriander/cilantro is starting to wilt, I'll try and find a way to use the whole bunch rather than waste it. Yes, you can put a whole bunch, up to a cup or so, into either of the raw salsas below - add a little more lime juice to compensate and let it stand a few extra minutes to avoid that green dish-scrubber texture

A green salsa, raw or cooked

Raw

1/4 large onion or 2 - 3 spring onions/green onions
2 limes, cut for juicing
3 cloves garlic or to taste
1 cup approx Hatch chiles, peeled and seeded
4 medium tomatillos (or 3 med tomatoes, if you have to)
fresh jalapeno, finely chopped, to taste
2 - 3 T cilantro/coriander leaf, or to taste
1 t salt or to taste
pinch ground toasted cumin seed

• If using onion, start by slicing it thinly and cutting the slices into small strips. Squeeze over about half a lime and mix. Put it in one corner of the chopping board or into a 2 cup bowl.
• Smash the garlic with the side of a heavy knife and cut as finely as possible. Leave it on the board.
• Put the chiles on top of the garlic and cut into strips the same size as the onion.
• If using green onion, chop into small pieces. Keep everything the same size.
• Peel the husks from the tomatillos and rinse under hot water to remove the natural gum from the surface. Chop into small pieces. Sprinkle the salt over and mix. 
• Chop the coriander leaf finely. 
• Mix all ingredients together except limes. Juice the remaining lime over the mixture and mix to combine evenly. Check the seasoning. Serve without too much delay.

Cooked

Canned tomatillos are okay here. Don't sub with tomatoes unless they are green; red ones will spoil the colour of the finished dish.

1/4 large onion (preferably) or 2 - 3 spring onions/green onions
3 cloves garlic or to taste
fresh or pickled jalapeno, finely chopped, to taste
1 cup approx Hatch chiles, peeled and seeded
4 - 6 medium tomatillos
1 t salt or to taste
1 t ground toasted cumin seed
2 limes, cut for juicing, or a lemon, or cider vinegar, to taste

• Take everything except the limes and prepare into similar size chunks. 
• Put together in a wide pan and bring to a fast boil, stirring to prevent sticking. 
• Boil quickly until much of the liquid evaporates - again, stir as needed. 
• Remove from heat and scrape into a blender jug or bowl. Let cool according to your comfort level of blending hot things. 
• Blend until all one texture and mostly smooth (there will be tomatillo seeds.) 
• Check the seasoning, adding lime juice to sharpen the flavour.   

Will keep in fridge for ten days.

Guacamole with Hatch chiles

Okay, non-canonical ... but unlike the green pea travesty, avocado and Hatch is pretty good. You could call this an avocado dip, sauce or salsa if it's not your idea of guacamole (that which we call a rose ...) And there's another guacamole recipe here without peppers.

1/4 large onion or 2 - 3 spring onions/green onions
2 limes, cut for juicing
3 cloves garlic or to taste
fresh jalapeno, finely chopped, to taste
1/2 cup approx Hatch chiles, peeled and seeded
2 medium ripe, soft, avocados
2 - 3 T cilantro/coriander leaf or to taste
1 t salt or to taste
pinch ground toasted cumin seed

• If using onion, start by slicing it thinly and cutting the slices into small dice. Squeeze over about half a lime and mix. Put it in one corner of the chopping board or into a 2 cup bowl.
• Smash the garlic with the side of a heavy knife and cut as finely as possible. Leave it on the board.
• If using green onion, chop into small pieces. Keep everything the same size.
• Put the chiles on top of the garlic and cut into little strips or dice.
• Chop the coriander leaf finely. 
• Halve the avocado(s). Peel; remove the stone(s). Use a fork to crush them into a paste.
• Sprinkle over the salt and juice of one lime and mix all together. 
• Juice the remaining lime over the mixture and mix to combine evenly. Check the seasoning. 

Best to serve without too much delay, but will keep okay for lunch the next day. Keeps better with more lime juice rather than less.

Hatch chiles for beginners 1: prep them up

It's nearly chile season again, so the last few packages in the freezer are fair game. And since I was writing elsewhere about the happy-making experience of having Hatch chiles fresh roasted, I thought I'd also write about how to prepare and use them.

Strictly speaking it's optional to remove the seeds. I do, though, as they can taste bitter and at the best of times don't add much to a dish other than heat. To peel and seed half-thawed chiles is pretty quick once you get in the rhythm. Here are two ways.

If you're finicky about that kind of thing or if your chiles are spicy, you may like to wear gloves while you do this.

1 Under running water

Easier, but it does use a lot of water and it does also lose some of the flavour ... good for beginners, though.

• Hold the chile by the stem end with one hand. 
• Under water, pull the skin off with the other hand. 
• Use your fingers to pull the stem end off
• Split the chile lengthwise with your fingers
• Hold it by the pointy end and open it out into a wedge. Wash away the seeds, removing bits of membrane if you can without breaking the whole chile. 

2 With water at hand for rinsing

A bit messier, goes fast once you've got the knack. Basically it's a similar  process, but you're going to keep one hand clean as you only use it to hold the chile by one end. The other will get covered in blackened bits of chile skin, juices, and seeds. Dip or rinse your hand in water when it gets too grubby to do the job.

• Hold the chile by the stem end with one hand. 
• Use your other hand almost like a squeegee to scrape the skin off
• Use your fingers to pull the stem end off
• Split the chile lengthwise with your fingers
• Hold it by the pointy end and open it out into a wedge. 
• Squeegee away the seeds by running the flesh of the chile between two fingers. Pick away large bits of membrane if you can without breaking the whole chile. 

Substitutions

If you aren't fortunate enough to have these specific peppers in your area, you can use other peeled and roasted green chiles or even regular bell peppers (I'd go with red rather than green there). The flavour will be different but probably still pretty nice. Hatch chiles are a vegetable rather than a condiment, so if you're substituting some other capsicum, choose accordingly. Maybe not ghost peppers, for instance.

Coming up: Hatch chile recipes for beginners.