The Suffering Bastard (Photo: Susanna Bolle)

In the heat of the summer,  there are few cocktails that are more refreshing than a tall, well-made Tiki drink. With loads of ice and just the right mix of rum, they can be just thing to transform wherever you are into a blissful oasis.

There are, however, a few barriers to entry into this tropical Tiki paradise for the home bartender. The primary one — beyond locating suitably festive glassware, of course — is the esoteric ingredient list. In addition to the numerous varieties of rum (Puerto Rican white, Rhum Agricole, dark rum, aged rum, etc),  you have to contend with such exotic-sounding ingredients as Velvet Falernum or, the subject of today’s post, Orgeat.

What is Orgeat? Orgeat (or Orzata) is an almond-flavored syrup, tempered with a little orange blossom water. I was inspired to learn how to make my own after talking with the legendary Brother Cleve for a PRK Meet Your Bartender profile. Cleve currently hosts a Tiki Night every Monday throughout the summer at ThinkTank and he made me a lovely version of that Tiki classic, the Suffering Bastard. A key ingredient of the SB, as it is affectionately known, is Orgeat. As he mixed the drink, he mentioned that, while you could buy Orgeat in most Italian specialty stores, he made his own. So, after doing a little research, I decided I’d give it a try myself. While it takes some time to make, it turns out it’s dead easy. So easy, I feel I might up the ante and make some falernum, but now I’m getting ahead of myself. Continue reading →

Photo: Courtesy of Amanda Darrach Filippone

Cheers to cherry season! Figs, Bay & Wine stretches this year’s harvest with two wonderful recipes—one refreshing, the other filling.

I fell immediately for her Cherry Sangria with Apple Mint & Basil, making it a couple of hot afternoons ago. What a treat! The drink was icy, fruity and alert, with flecks of herbs and springy bits of cherry flesh settled at the bottom.

Even my grandmother, who rarely drinks alcohol, said the sangria was so delicious she needed to be careful not to quaff the whole thing in one go!

Just a glance at Figs, Bay and Wine’s Cherries Roasted in Red Wine & Sea Salt made me salivate. Served alongside vanilla ice-cream, these berries are bright, savory stars.

Other tips on getting the most out of this year’s cherry crop? Please share! (And get another ‘fix’ from this recent Food Therapy post. Yum.)

Courtesy of the Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design, Providence

Let’s get one thing straight from the outset: Cocktail Culture is not about cocktails — at least not as such. If you expect to learn about the evolution of such fabled concoctions as the Manhattan, the Sazerac or the Martini, you will be disappointed. For that, you’re better off reading David Wondrich’s Imbibe (preferably with a cool drink at your side).

The emphasis in this entertaining exhibit, Cocktail Culture: Ritual and Invention in American Fashion, 1920-1980 at the Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Art, is on the culture surrounding alcohol and drinking. Alcohol, and not any one specific drink, is posited as a lubricant for social change. The show includes everything from gleaming home cocktail kits and glassware to matchbooks and furniture. But it is the fabulous dresses, handbags, men’s shirts and other accoutrements that are its focal point. Continue reading →

Raw wax beans (photo: courtesy of Little Acorn Cooks)

This recipe is SO simple, and the freshness of the beans just irresistible.

Nestled just south of Boston, Maeve of Little Acorn Cooks narrates two transformations. The first involves the hue of her newly-procured, farmers market wax beans, which turn from violet to bright green. The second involves her (and her son’s) shared day, which veers from ‘yuck’ to ‘magical’ all in a matter of minutes.

It’s all there, plus the recipe, in Maeve’s “Magic” Beans with Lemon Vinaigrette. You can transform your day, too.

(And, with Radio Boston’s recent “City Chicks” segment still on the brain, try Little Acorn’s recipe for Extraordinary Egg Salad in order to put those backyard eggs to use!)

Photo: nicocrisafulli/Flickr

Each one of us has one. A razor-sharp, enduring memory of that one unforgettable meal. The food was amazing. The company, ideal. Or maybe it was the setting that clinched it.

Master chefs are no different than we are in that regard. Though they devote their life’s work to creating that One Meal for others, they have had their own transformative experience at the table.

Taste test this story from Zester Daily. In a creative series entitled “Meals That Made Them,” co-authors  Ruth Tobias and Louisa Kasdon bring us Russell House Tavern chef Michael Scelfo’s account of the singular, memorable meal that changed his life. He was young, in love and…lost on the Left Bank, as it turns out. Sounds like fate.

Read Michael Scelfo goes to Paris, and be sure not to miss his recipe for Duck Confit with Ginger and Anise. Scelfo offers it in honor of the extraordinary meal he had a mere twelve years ago.

Does his story take you back in place and time? Share with us your most memorable meal!

Photo: Little Blue Hen/Flickr

On hazy days in July, I find myself craving something cold and sweet. But, by this point in the summer, I’ve realized how much ice cream I’ve consumed. So I am now looking for a healthier alternative that’s still easy to assemble and summer-worthy.

Since I love anything with lemon, I jumped at this recipe for Lemon Anise Slush from Heidi of 101 Cookbooks. It’s a perfect summer treat for those of you who have walked away with armfuls of lemons from the Farmers Market.

This simple recipe—just four ingredients—pivots off the contrast between fresh lemon and anise. Heidi suggests adding limoncello, which makes this summer treat perfect for toasting poolside.  With a sprig of fresh mint, who needs ice cream after all?

Goldie aka “Mama hen” with 3-week-old chicks Thor, a Cuckoo Marans and Guinevere, a Golden Lackenvelders (Courtesy Khrysti Smyth)

We’ve had a hearty week of food news and fun here at WBUR.  Here & Now kicked if off with a tour of resident chef Kathy Gunst’s farm in Maine.  In true Gunst fashion, there’s some yummy extras, including seriously delicious recipes like this one for a summer pea and lettuce soup.

Radio Boston took on chickens– urban chickens, to be precise. I visited Khrysti Smyth (AKA The Chicken Lady) in Somerville earlier in the day and was greeted by 14 of her lovely “girls” (and one little guy named Thor). The on-air segment was robust and full of great information. The comment thread provided a bit more controversy with some listeners complaining that chickens should stay away from city backyards and go back where they belong– the farm.  Your thoughts?

On Friday, Radio Boston visits Chef Jasper White at the Summer Shack in Cambridge, scoring a cooking lesson along the way.  The loot? White’s secret to making his trademark clam catapala.

Photo: Osvaldoeaf/ Flickr

LOCAL BITES