Coaching Cooking

Yesterday’s posts were derailed in favor of a fabulous brunch with the girls in S.F. And then this scrumptious affair was followed by shoe shopping (for a good cause, really, I’ll explain a bit later…).

Brunch at Kati’s always involves several fabulous elements:

1. a gorgeous view of Coit Tower, Alcatraz and the surrounding city shrouded in a light, romantic fog all from the rooftop
2. drinks, drinks and more drinks (no teetotalers here…)
3. more delicious food than any hotel buffet

Brunch with the girls always includes a delicious new dish plus two or three really great brunch drinks. We dined on smoked salmon scrambled eggs with goat cheese and chives plus chocolate scones, blueberry muffins, bagels, and blue corn pancakes (supplied by Kareasa, my foodie twin). We also had mimosas and mojitos. And is there anything more luxurious than drinking in the romantic views of S.F. while drinking cocktails in the midday hour and eating to one’s heart’s content? I say “Hell, no!”

Kati’s Fruity Mojitos:

Mojitos have become one of those drinks you find everywhere from bars to swanky restaurants. In this version, your guests can choose from a variety of fruits to muddle with the mint, rum and a simple syrup that takes just a few minutes to prepare. This drink is also beautiful to look at with the diced fruit floating around the crushed ice and mint. Plus, when your drink is gone you are left with deliciously boozy fruit (hey, there are still nutrients and the rum has just preserved them, right? Well, anyway, they taste damn good…).
First prepare the simple syrup. Simple syrups are great because you can prepare them anytime and they work equally well in alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The basic recipe for simple syrup is:

**(Note: this recipe is adapted from Bon Appetit’s recipe for a DIY drinks bar in the May 2006 issue…I recommend finding that issue because the photography and the recipes are both fabulous!)

Combine 2 cups of white sugar and 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Mix these ingredients together and bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow the sugar syrup to cool completely before you put it in the fridge.

Simple syrup flavors: We used a citrus syrup to flavor our drinks, but you can also use any spices that you like. I’ve used cinnamon sticks plus fresh orange juice and mint. Here are a few quick ideas:

Citrus Spice Syrup: orange peel from 2 oranges, lemon peel from 1 lemon, 2 cinnamon sticks, 6 cloves (optional) and 3-4 mint leaves (optional). Adjust the ingredients to your taste. Add the ingredients to the sugar syrup while it simmers. After you remove the sugar syrup from the heat, leave the peel and other ingredients in the syrup to steep for about an hour. Then strain into a bowl or bottle and refrigerate until you want to use it.

Ginger Syrup: 2-3 tablespoons of grated ginger, 3 cinnamon sticks, and 3 whole star anise. Follow the directions for the Citrus Spice Syrup. Adjust the ginger to your taste (it can be very strong tasting!).

Choose your favorite fruits (strawberries, raspberries, kiwis, blueberries, mango…whatever you like except avoid apples because they don’t work well with rum…).

Pick your favorite light rum. I think we used one from Nicaragua. Bacardi works just fine for me although I’m sure there are fancier, better-tasting ones out there.

Set out crushed ice, sprigs of mint, muddlers (or we’ve found that the handle of a wooden spoon works great for muddling), club soda, wedges of lime and low ball glasses (the ones with the heavy bases really help when you muddle the fruit and mint together).

Arrange the fruit (all chopped in a medium-small dice) in small bowls. This mojito bar looks really wonderful if you arrange the fruit in matching bowls or pick bowls in the same colors. Put the lime wedges on a plate. If you have a bar or a long, low table, arranging everything is pretty simple. Put the ice and the club soda (chilled) out along with the muddlers arranged in a glass). Be sure to include plenty of napkins and spoons for the fruit.
If you like, you can also set out recipes for guests to help them in their fruity choices. Here are some suggestions we came up with during the girls’ brunch in S.F.:

Attack of the Berries:

Muddle the mint with some raspberries and strawberries by squishing it all with a muddler or the bottom of a wooden spoon handle. Muddling releases the flavors so don’t worry about muddling it all to death. Just give the ingredients a few good, solid jabs (it’s stress relieving too!). Add three to four tablespoons of simple syrup (we liked the citrus one) then add crushed ice. Finally, add rum and club soda to taste. This would also be great with an orange slice for extra color.

All the Fruit in the Basket: (Yes, some of you may be wondering if I have all the fruit in MY basket…)
Muddle the mint and then add some kiwi, raspberries and a few blueberries. Add three to four tablespoons of simple syrup then add crushed ice. Add rum and club soda to taste and voila! This drink becomes even better with a lime wedge squeezed into the drink or a lime slice (for all you purists).

Raise your glass to your best pals, drink in the aroma of luscious fruits and good company, and toast to good times!