Summer drinks

Even though summer has been treating us in central Europe really badly so far, I am always trying my best to drink enough fluids during the day. I have on occasion reffered to myself as a camel because of my general lack of thirst....
All joking aside I struggle with drinking enough water. So these tasty alternatives will really help when the next heat wave will hit. I am still hoping.
Regarding gadgets I have really come to love the little countertop smoothie maker my sister gave me a couple of years ago! But you can use a regular blender instead. (In case of the lemonades you can even use a stick blender.)
These quantities are all guestimates for one ca. 3 dl glass. Multiply and make pitchers if you are more than two!!! Chic straws optional.

Iced coffee
One espresso or alternatively instant coffee
Sugar sirup or sweetener to taste
Ice
Water
Milk
Mix the coffee while still hot with the sugar/sweetener to dissolve. Add lots of ice to a tall glass and pour it over to cool down. Then add milk and water to taste. I usually go for a half and half mixture to keep the drink on the refreshing side.

Mint or strawberry lemonade
Juice of a lime or half a lemon
Sugar sirup or sweetener to taste
One sprig of fresh mint/two to three hulled strayberries
Water (try sparkling)
Ice
Add the sweetener to the citrus juice to dissolve. Add the mint or strawberries then blend as finely as possible. You might have to add a splash of water depending on the gadget. Pour over ice and fill up with cold still or sparking water.

Watermelon smoothie
Watermelon, cut into chunks
Ice
One squeeze of lime juice
Some water, if you would like the consistency more fluid
Fill your glass half with watermelon chunks and then ice. Squeeze over a bit of lime juice and add water if you would like it to be more like lemonade instead of a smoothie. Blend until smooth. Drink with a stray.

 

**Please excuse the lack of watermelon smoothie pic. It seems to have gone missing. Just imagine a very un-tanned strawberry lemonade above. :-) 

Post edit

I forgot the most classic option: Iced Tea! When I grew up the summer months always meant a huge jug of this in the fridge. Since I don't have the fridge space for it I compromise by making this concentrate in a 0.5 l measuring jug.  Just add two or three black tea bags, ca. two heaped tablespoons of sugar or sweetener to taste and top with boiling water. When it has cooled remove the tea bags and add the juice of one lemon. Fill a glass with ice, half iced tea concentrate and half cold water. That's it. So much better than the bought stuff...

Vietnamese fried mincemeat

This is a dish I had in a Vietnamese restaurant on an early summer evening. We analyzed its components over dinner and decided it must be quite easy to replicate.
I tried it at home recently and was so pleased with the result, I ate variations of it for the remainder of the week. It is a perfect template recipe in the sense that lots of the ingredients can be substituted for similar things you might have on hand. No rigid list of ingredients so to speak.
If you plan on serving it with rice, make it a bit saucier by adding stock or a splash of rice wine that you let cook off a bit. I liked it with just the protein and the veggies, kind of like a warm, rich salad.

Ingredients:
Minced meat of choice (mine was half pork and beef), ca. 100 gr. per person
Splash of oil (optional)
One garlic clove
Chili to taste
A piece of ginger, the size of your thumb
    all minced
Soy sauce
Fish sauce
    to taste
Chopped veggies (Chinese broccoli, asparagus, pak choi, broccoli are all good options. Maybe add the leafy part after frying off the stem bits.)
Fresh herbs (spring onions, mint, coriander, chive, parsley...?

1. Heat up your frying pan to medium high heat. Add the oil and fry off the meat until evenly dark brown. Stirring every now and then helps.
2. Add the chili, garlic and ginger and fry until nicely fragrant and evenly distributed.
3. Add your veggies and fry off for a couple of minutes. If it is quite a hardy vegetable add a splash of water and cover your pan for 2-3 minutes so they can steam through.
4. Take off the lid, season with soy and fish sauce and add your fresh herbs just before serving. The spring onion is especially nice.

Beef stew with couscous and a fresh pea salad

What do you serve hungry guests whom you would prefer to spend time with rather than slave away in the kitchen?

I really like the option of stewed meat. It is a dish where the main chunk of the actual work can be done hours before and the results are delicious and tender.
For this meal I wanted to use northern African flavors. I served it with couscous (also done in five minutes) and a pea and feta salad, which was really simple to make.

Ingredients:
ca. 900 gr. beef ragout
ca. 4 tablespoons flour
seasonings
Vegetable oil of choice
3 onions, roughly chopped
1 lemon, just the peel, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, crushed
1 1/5 teaspoons cumin powder
2 teaspoons turmeric
3 plum tomatoes, diced
olives, roughly a handful
2 bay leaves
water
to serve:
toasted sesame seeds
fresh coriander

1. Season the flower with salt and pepper in a bowl. Then toss the chunks of beef in it to cover. Preheat your oven to 150°.
2. In a pan that is oven proof heat some oil (I seem to use groundnut oil for all frying around here) to medium to high heat and fry off the beef until brown. If your pan is not big enough, do this in batches. Take the meat out and put it aside.
3. Turn down the heat to medium and add more oil if necessary. Add the chopped onions and the spices. Let the mixture fry until the onions are slightly softened.
4. Add the beef, the tomatoes, the olives, the bay leaves and enough water to cover. Let it come to the boil, put the lid on it and move the pan into the oven for about 1,5 hours.
5. Before serving, take out and check if the sauce has the desired consistency (if too dry add a little water, if too watery cook on the stove top without the lid) and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Maybe add a bit of lemon juice. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and coriander immediately before serving or let the guests do this themselves...


The pea salad went well with this because it added freshness and a bit of zing. Here's how I made it:
Boil a pot of water and add some frozen peas (you'll only leave them in for ca. 4 minutes). Into the serving bowl, grate 1-2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced chili to taste a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice and chop 2-3 sprigs of mint. Drain the peas when they've come up to temperature, add them to the dressing and mix. Crumble over some feta and you're done. You don't need salt or pepper in this combination because of the feta, chili and garlic. Favorite new salad!

White peach, strawberry and mint bowle

When the temperatures outside are high and a lot of people are expected, it's very convenient to be able to make a large quantity of drinks in a very small amount of time. Preferably the concoction should taste nice as well.

This is something I threw together for a BBQ evening with friends. I liked the results so much, it was repeated the following evening.



ingredients:
3 white peaches, peeled and chopped
one small punnet of strawberries, hulled and chopped
three sprigs of mint, leaves picked and slightly crushed
3/4 cup of vanilla vodka
3/4 cup of white rum
3 table spoons of brown sugar
half a bottle of white wine
1 liter of mineral water

Mix the chopped fruit with the mint, sugar and the spirits in a large bowl. Let it stand for about an hour so the sugar can dissolve and the fruit release some of there juices.
Add the wine and the mineral water. Serve ladling into drinking glasses like punch.



Since I don't take careful notes when experimenting the measures here are approximate. Feel free to adjust to your taste. I used a homemade vanilla vodka (three split vanilla pods go into a bottle, then wait for three weeks and shake it once in a while), since I thought it would go nicely with the strawberries. You could substitute both spirits with dark rum.

Homegrown tea

Surviving the first week of a challenging new job seems to have a similar effect as surviving grueling exams back at university. An illness of some ilk is sure to follow.

So while I am feeling utterly miserable, the few advantages of being sick in spring, and not in the depths of winter, are not lost on me.
I could, if bundled up to a sufficient degree, sit outside and let the sunshine, smells, sights and birdsong work some healing magic. (Not feeling particularly inclined at the moment.)
But what I definitely will do is take advantage of the first harvest of the 2010 growing season!


I have a special affection for herbs that can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. Mint is probably the most widely used of these. I love making sweet drinks and desserts with it. But think it is even better in salads like Tabbouleh.*

As you can see in the pictures this plant reemerges from apparent death after even the coldest of winters. It is basically a weed and therefor an easy plant to keep in a pot on a window sill. Some people will even discourage you from planting it in your garden without proper boundaries. I've always been convinced you can never have enough of it though!

Fresh mint tea is probably the simplest way I use this herb. And probably the most often. Depending on the strength of your plant you pick enough leaves.

Bruise the leaves (twist and turn a little) to release the oils and put it into a mug with sugar to taste (the darker the better).

Pour over just boiled water and let it stew for a couple of minutes.
Easy as pie.

Coupled with a laptop and a dvd of choice it's my idea of regenerating.


*The other one I always think of strait away it basil. Have you ever put some into a vodka cranberry? Good stuff.