I would like to introduce you to the newest member of my family

It is the Breville JE900 for those who are curious, and while they should be, they are not paying me for the plug.

I agonized over various juicer options. Most Brevilles I found were $200-400 with some caveats (usually that the pulp leftover was too pulpy wet, and that it had trouble with greens). While I want a Vita-Mix, it’s violent approach to juicing wasn’t what I was looking for. There are a couple other options (one that slow-macerated the juice out) that were also expensive.

THEN the Williams Sonoma outlet came into my life. Not only did they have this juicer for a mere $130 (I’m still not sure that wasn’t a mistake), but it was also 20% off as part of an appliance sale.

What you see in that cup is about 6 ounces of fresh ginger juice. It took longer to photograph the juice than it did to make it.It required about a half pound of ginger to make. Some blogger with a “Jack Lelanne” juicer got about half the yield, though I’ll admit the liquid content of ginger roots varies quite a bit. I got two types of pulp–half in the spinner, bone dry, the other half in the pulp bucket, mildly soggy. Overall, I would initially recommend the Breville without hesitation. It’s also cute.

One issue with ginger beer/ale/etc. recipes out there is they assume you’ll just grate and boil the ginger. That’s fine if you’re an uneducated caveman. I haven’t found any decent recipes involving the use of fresh juice with no boiling. So, in the coming weeks I will be presenting experiments. I’m hoping I can get some guinea pigs to come visit so we can all act like educated cavemen.

Also, with apple season approaching and home brewing supplies in hand, this should be a fun autumn.

Fire & Failure & Future

OK, pro tip: when you plan on making a bunch of new infusions, maybe don’t throw a big impromptu party. As a result, all the infusions previously posted were cracked open prematurely.

I do have to say that the crab apple might be one of my favorite all time infusions, and that’s just after a few days. I need to get more vodka to top it off and I think we can salvage the rest of the fruit to make a less intense infusion, but considering how amazingly tart it turned out, that might not be a bad thing.

I wasn’t overly impressed by the cantaloupe infusion anyhow–the melon wasn’t quite ripe enough. The booze-soaked melon balls were fun.

Other news! I have a juicer AND a home brewing kit. These both are going to cause me problems. I’m currently experimenting with freshly juiced ginger and today will be heading to the home brew shop and whole foods to pick up some essential ingredients.

Sneak preview

Here are four infusions I got started last night:

From left to right: 2 quarts of orange infused vodka, 1 quart grapefruit infused vodka, 3 cups intensely sour crabapple infused vodka, and lastly 3 cups of cantaloup infused vodka. The latter two will have posts in the future. Both the previous follow the basic recipe I used last time. I got a bag of organic valencia oranges the other day, mostly so I could have some amazing fresh squeezed juice. Valencias tend to have very thin skin that doesn’t peel well, requiring a zester to do the job well. Grapefruit fortunately peels quite well.

Hazelnut infused vodka

Frangelico is yet another popular liqueur that I love in theory, but always have trouble with how sweet it is. Hazelnuts are sweet enough on their own thanks. Thankfully, infusology gives us an alternative.

Step 1: Get some hazelnuts

Trader Joes sells them for a very reasonable price. We only need 1 cup for this infusion (unless you double up) but thankfully hazelnuts freeze well in an air-tight container. Look for the freshest hazelnuts you can, and steer clear of pre-chopped varieties. Like spices, the more processed the product is the more essential oils escape–that’s where the flavor is.

Step 2: Smash some hazelnuts

In my almond infusion, I recommended a light chop chop using a food processor or blender. However, hazelnuts are softer and oilier, which makes them mush well. This has two advantages: you squeeze out more of the essential oils, enhancing and accelerating the infusing process, and smashing keeps the pieces larges, which prevents nut-sludge that becomes next to impossible to strain out. My preferred method is to take 5-15 nuts and place them between two cutting boards. A cast iron skillet also works, but mine are never clean enough to even consider such applications.

Step 3: Add smush to jar

This is what 1 cup of smashed hazelnuts look like in a 1 quart jar. You can also add a half a vanilla bean and even an inch or so of cinnamon stick if you want.

Step 4: Infuse it!

For 1 cup of hazelnuts, add 3 cups of vodka. Shake the jar well and store in a cool, dark place for at least a month. Like the almond infusion, more time would be even better. During the process, give it a shake whenever you think about it, at least once a week is great.

Step 5: When ready, strain and en-joy

This is just after 5 weeks–a rich, dark infusion. To strain, follow the same instructions from the almond infusion and you’ll be fine–using the smashing process, this is quite a bit easier. I simply used coffee filters (replacing it twice when the straining slowed down).

I haven’t experimented thoroughly with the results just yet. Any frangelico-based drink should be great with this (though much less sweet so add some simple syrup to your preference). I’ll report on my adventures soon, but feel free to share some ideas!

Prost!

Herbal adventures

The photo is from the end of June. The neat truth about herbs–most are essentially weeds. Just now 2 weeks later and I have about triple the volume. What we’ve got a brewin’:

• Basil
• Thai basil
• Mint
• Chive
• Parsley
• Cilantro
• Rosemary
• Dill

In another pot I have spearmint, thyme, & oregano.

The trick to crowding herbs together to get a lush overgrown pot is to be sure you have a good 18″ of loosened soil. The lets roots grow down down down. It also pays to use a quality potting mix (or good soil mixed with a good amount of compost). Other than that, give them a sunny spot and make sure they get watered every 2-3 days and nature will take its course.

Coming up this week

A month ago I started some hazelnut infused vodka, which is just about ready. We’ve also run out of most of our citrus infusions, so a trip to the organic market in the near future.

Strawberry Gin-Gin

When the berries turn white, you're done!

Just the other day I posted about getting some strawberry gin started. After a few days, one shake a day in, and some time for everything to settle, this puppy was ready to go.

As the pic shows, the berries will turn ghost white (this is also true when using fresh strawberries). Letting the thing settle, especially when using freeze-dried strawberries, is key. The berrydust clogs coffee filters like nobody’s business. First, I strained the whole thing through a metal strainer, using a wooden spoon to squeeze as much nectar out as possible. Then, after giving it an hour to settle, I used a coffee filter to get it nice and clarified. This last step is optional, but makes for a very pretty end result.

Going the freeze-dried route maintains full potency with a much fresher flavor than dried berries. This means you can use this slightly sweetened, tart and fruity gin in a number of mixes.

Uses:

• On the rocks, neat, or straight up
• In a sweet martini, gimlet, Alabama slammer, gin fizz, rickey, or tom collins
• With soda water, tonic, ginger ale, or Sprite
• With orange, cranberry, grapefruit, or apple juice

Strawberry Gin-Gin(ger)

Strawberry Gin-Gin

• 2 oz strawberry infused gin
• .5 oz ginger infused vodka
• soda water
• mint sprig

Fill a rocks glass with ice. In order, add gin, vodka, and top with soda water. Garnish with mint. You can also muddle a small bit of ginger in the bottom of the glass if you don’t have the vodka on hand.

Infusing flowers

Many flowers are amazingly tasty (some are also amazingly poisonous, so be careful what you might experiment with). I recently posted a nice infusion using the lowly dandelion. Now that I have my own yard space and great sunny windows, I plan on growing fresh, organic (or semi-organic) infusion ingredients. I’ll post about what I have already done, with some tips, in a future post. What I didn’t have time for was to plant any seeds (moved in too late). However, this feature on Epicurious has provided some amazing inspiration for next year. Turns out, I have 3 of them already planted so we’ll have a go when the time is right.