Flash in the Pan

At the end of June, I received this recipe from Cointreau's US PR agency. New York chef Geoffrey Zakarian created it "in partnership" with the liqueur company - which probably translates to Cointreau paying Zakarian to create the recipe and mention the brand name drink. Of course you could substitute anything similar, such as Grand Marnier, triple sec, Bauchant, or Harlequin.

Ingredients

1/2 cup orange liqueur
1 Tbs. plus 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 Tbs. salted butter
1.5 lb strawberries, cleaned and cut into quarters
1/2 vanilla bean, split
cracked black pepper
1/2 bunch fresh mint, stemmed and roughly chopped
6 Tbs. crème fraiche

Directions

1. To make the marmalade, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine orange liqueur and 1 Tbs. brown sugar. Reduce to 1/8 cup. Set aside.


2. Heat butter in medium saucepan over high heat. When melted, add 1/2 tsp. brown sugar and cook until lightly caramelized, about three minutes.


3. Add strawberries and vanilla bean to saucepan and sauté for 15 seconds. Add 1/4 tsp. black pepper and sauté for 30 more seconds.


4. Add mint and immediately split among six serving dishes. Garnish each dish with 1 Tbs. crème fraiche and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Drizzle with warm marmalade. Serve immediately.

I can also see a variation: leave the vanilla out of step 3 and forget the crème fraiche. Instead, cook through step three, put 1 scoop of good vanilla ice cream in each dish, top the ice cream with the strawberries, and garnish with the pepper and marmalade.

Labels: Cointreau, dessert, orange liqueur, recipe, strawberries, vanilla

After having frozen coffee drinks from Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, and a local place called Shelburne Coffee Roasters, I decided to try my hand. Here are the results:

• 1 1/2 ounces freshly brewed espresso


• 6 ounces milk


• 3 TBS. sugar


• 1/8 tsp. vanilla


• 1 cup ice

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Labels: coffee, espresso, frozen, recipe, vanilla

We've been fans of Penzey's Spices for a long time. But apparently my wife realized that they also had stores, one of which is in the food marketplace in Grand Central Station. It's not huge, real estate there being expensive, but they still have a solid selection and samples to smell. We bought a number of things, including a double-strength Madagascar vanilla with an aroma that should do wonders for baking. (And at $14 for 4 ounces, it had better...)

Labels: food, Grand Central Station, Madagascar, New York, Penzey's, spices, vanilla