Category: Food

Summertime is synonymous with relaxing, right? We lounge around the pool; go to the beach; gather around the backyard grill. Summer is prime time for girls’ getaways and mancations. With all the traveling, relaxing and partying going on, it seems natural to have a frosty glass of something cool and refreshing to sip.

A cool and refreshing summer drink need not be alcoholic to be delicious. After all, everyone is a non-drinker some of the time. Whether you’re the designated driver, on a diet or never imbibe, you can still enjoy delicious and gorgeous mocktails.

Infused waters are a wonderful way to stay deliciously hydrated this summer. Let’s start with my favorite.

Cucumber Mint Spa Water

Yield: 2 quarts

1 small, fresh cucumber, washed well, unpeeled

2 to 3 large sprigs of fresh mint

½ small lemon, sliced

2 quarts of water

Thinly slice the cucumber and add to a 2 quart container with a tight fitting lid. Tuck the washed mint sprigs and lemon slices. Add the water; cover and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.

Stir and strain well. Transfer the water to a serving pitcher and serve over ice. Garnish with cucumber slices and mint sprigs if desired.

Will keep refrigerated and tightly covered for 2 days.

We have Cuba to thank for the mojito. It’s simple, containing only 5 ingredients and in my opinion may be the perfect cocktail. It’s easy to convert a traditional Mojito to a Nojito by eliminating the rum and adding a bit more club soda, but if you’re looking to expand your mojito horizons, give this Pineapple Nojita a try.

Pineapple Nojito

Yield: 1 serving

4-5 pieces of 1-2″ pineapple spears

4-5 fresh mint leaves

1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice

½ cup chilled white grape juice

½ cup chilled club soda (no sodium)

1 teaspoon agave nectar or simple syrup (optional, to adjust sweetness. I never add this)

Lime slices for garnish

Place the pineapple in a mixing bowl. Use the back of a wooden spoon or spatula to muddle the pineapple until all the pineapple pieces have been broken up. Add the mint leaves and muddle again for a few seconds to bruise the leaves and release the flavor.

Transfer the muddled mixture to a tall, chilled serving glass. Add ice cubes, grape juice and lime juice; stir to combine. Top the mojito with the club soda.

Adjust the sweetness (if necessary) and garnish with the lime slices.

Who doesn’t like Piña Coladas and getting caught in the rain? But what we don’t like is the hangover associated with having a few too many. This non-alcoholic version of the classic Piña Colada is the love that you’ve looked for, so whip up a batch and escape.

Piña Colada Mocktail

Yield: 4-5 cups

2 cups of pineapple juice

½ cup cream of coconut (shake the can before opening)

Ice

Pour the pineapple juice and cream of coconut into your blender. Add ice until it is up to the liquid level. The liquid should just cover the ice. Blend until smooth.

For best results use GOYA brand Cream of Coconut.

Sex on the Beach is a simple, mild, fruity cocktail. It’s easy going and let’s face it, gives you plenty of opportunities to make ridiculous jokes. A little vodka, peach schnapps, and some orange and cranberry juice and all you need is a tiny umbrella.

For those times when Sex on the Beach is just not a good idea, why not try Cuddles by the Pool. It looks like the real thing, only much wiser.

Cuddles by the Pool

Yield: 1 drink

2 ounces of cranberry juice

2 ounces of grapefruit juice

2 ounces of peach nectar

2 ounces of chilled Sprite

Place the juices and nectar in a highball glass with ice. Stir to combine. Top with Sprite and an umbrella or slice of citrus. Pat yourself on the back for making good decisions.

In 2016, Nielsen announced that the Margarita is the most popular cocktail in America. Unfortunately, because it relies so heavily on tequila, it’s also the hardest cocktail to transform into a mocktail.

Spicy Cucumber Mockarita

Yield: 2 servings

3 ounces fresh lime juice

2 ounces fresh lemon juice

2 ounces fresh orange juice

1 Tablespoon agave nectar (optional to adjust for sweetness)

1 medium cucumber, unpeeled and sliced

1 small jalapeno, thinly sliced (seeds removed if desired)

Sweet Chili Rim Salt (recipe follows)

Garnishes: thinly sliced cucumber, lime wedges, jalapeno slices

Add the juices, agave and cucumber to a blender and process for about a 1 minute or until smooth and strain into a cocktail shaker. Add the jalapeno slices and muddle until the margarita has the desired level of heat. The longer the jalapeno sits in the cucumber mixture the spicier the mockarita will be. Remove the jalapeno if you desire a milder drink. Add ice to the cocktail shaker and shake until the mixture is chilled. Strain into a glass rimmed with Sweet Chili Rim Salt and garnish as desired.

To make a Spicy Cucumber Margarita:

Decrease the lime juice to 2 ounces

Omit the lemon juice

Decrease the orange juice to 1 ounce

Add 4 ounces of tequila

Add the juices and tequila to the blender and blend for 1 minute or until smooth. Proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Sweet Chili Lime Rim Salt

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1 Tablespoon Kosher salt

1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl with a tight fitting lid. Shake to combine.

To rim a glass: Run a lime wedge around the lip of a serving glass. Dip the rim of the glass in the salt mixture until the rim is coated.

 

Recently I took a little road trip deep into the South to the place I call home. I drove along dirt roads, watched chickens peck while I sipped coffee and silently cursed the fact that there was not a grocery store within 40 miles that stayed open past 6 p.m.

Seeing old friends and family is always a delight and reminiscing about old times is even more delightful.  At one point, conversation turned to my grandfather and how a great portion of the food I grew up with came from his farm. I was particularly fond of thick, slab bacon, turnip greens and cornbread.

Driving back to Blythewood I began to daydream about cornbread. I grew up eating buttermilk cornbread bread cooked in a black iron skillet but on some level I knew there was much more to be done with stone ground cornmeal.

A little investigating and good old-fashioned community cookbook turned up lots of great cornmeal recipes. It was a brutal decision, but I managed to narrow it down to my top three.

I was instantly intrigued by a cornbread that was leavened with yeast and included a lot of flour.  What sort of Yankee invention was this? At first glance, I’d be hard pressed to call this cornbread yet this airy loaf is exactly that. While traditional corn bread is a quick bread that is leavened with baking powder, Arizona Corn Bread is more time consuming and depends on yeast for a rise.

I love this strange (to me) mix of yeast bread and corn bread. This is best straight out of the oven; it tends to go stale quickly. If this happens, immediately cut it into cubes and make croutons for taco salad or chili.

 Arizona Corn Bread

Yield: 2 loaves

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 Tablespoon sugar

2 packages (1/4 oz each) active dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup sour cream

½ cup canola oil

½ cup chopped green onions

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 ¼ cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1 cup cream style corn

2 large jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped

5 to 6 cups all purpose flour

Additional cornmeal

 

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients; set aside. In a saucepan, heat the sour cream, oil and onions to 120°F to 130°F. Add the to the cornbread mixture; beat until blended. Beat in the eggs, cheese, corn and jalapenos. Stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about an hour.

Punch the dough down; turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into two loaves. Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans; dust with additional cornmeal.  Place loaves, seam side down in the prepared pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30-45 minutes.

Brush butter over the loaves; bake at 375°F for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown; cover loosely with foil if the top browns too quickly.

Remove from the pans and cool on wire racks.

Southern culture is a complicated thing. We have much to regret, but we’ve done a few things right, pimento cheese and corn muffins come to mind.  Pimento cheese folded into corn muffin batter can transform a bad day into a good day. I am not joking. Try it and see.

 

Pimento Cheese Muffins

Yield: 6 jumbo muffins or 12 regular muffins

1 cup yellow cornmeal

¾ cup of flour

3 teaspoons of baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 cup of milk

2 Tablespoons canola oil

2 eggs, well beaten

1 cup prepared pimento cheese

 

Preheat the oven to 425°F.  Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray and set aside.

Place the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and sugar in a mixing bowl; whisk to combine. In a separate mixing owl, combine the milk, oil, and eggs; stir to fully combine and then stir in the pimento cheese.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  Fill the muffin tins 2/3 of the way and bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes.  Let cool in the pan for 3 minutes and then turn out on a wire rack. I prefer these served hot.

Making cookies with cornmeal was a new experience for me.  These Peanut Butter Cornmeal Cookies are such a nifty twist on a traditional peanut butter cookie. I love the crunchy, sandy texture that the addition of cornmeal gives these little gems. You’ll want to have some in the cookie jar with friends come to visit. They go just great with a glass of sweet tea on the porch.

 

Peanut Butter Cornmeal Cookies

Yield: about 4 dozen

½ cup cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup smooth peanut butter

2 cups of granulated sugar

2 eggs

½ cup whole milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

 

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour.  Set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, milk and vanilla extract.  Stir in the dry ingredients.

Drop by the teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.