The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess

Music by George Gershwin

Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Porgy and Bess

 
This has been one very talked about, heatedly debated and somewhat controversial revival – really re-working of “Porgy and Bess”.  This production takes the Gershwin’s original opera and changes it – both book and musically to make it into a theatre piece.  How well they’ve done it – or really if they even should have done it – is a matter of high feeling – on both sides.

I will say out front – I’m a fan of the opera “Porgy and Bess’ – but despite that, I was very interested and excited about the piece being re-imagined.  The music is so lovely and has some really interesting characters.  In the opera, which can feel very long in some places and the overwhelming-ness of the score can be a bit much for people – so I thought I streamlined version, with a bit more book and maybe a bit less full-opera-chorus would bring this American classic to a whole new range of people.  I was really behind the idea and looked forward to seeing it.

But once I did, I found itself stranded in a middle zone of part-opera/part-Broadway, and in the end, not enough of either.  The singers are all first-rate…but an example of the middle-ground-problem – the women sang their pieces in a very ‘operatic style’ but the guys sang like Broadway performers…and the two styles did not go well together.

So while I can’t whole-heartedly recommend it – if you are at all interested, do go and experience it.   And like I said, they can all sing – every last one of them…and the score, though a bit messed with, is still chock-full of that beautiful Gershwin music.   This will be a production that is talked about for years to come – and it’s always  fun when you can chime in on something like this armed with first-hand experience.

Richard Rodgers Theatre
226 West 46th Street
between Broadway and 8th Avenue
Now through September 30th

After a morning spent at Heart Castle, this was the perfect spot to grab lunch before we started our drive down the coast.  We had been in San Francisco to attend the Winter Fancy Food Show (and visit my brother, Tom, who happily lives in the Bay Area) – and after 5 days in San Fran, we started a drive down the coast, with my sister Suzy in tow.

Our first stop was an overnight at a beach-front motel in San Simeon which put us in the perfect location to get to Hearst Castle first thing the next morning.  It was a beautiful day and Suzy especially enjoyed the grandeur of the castle – the blue-tiled swimming pool was her favorite part.  She declared she plans to have one of her own.  Once we finished at the Castle, we were more than ready for lunch – and headed to the Main Street Grill, just a few miles up the road. 

Nothing fancy, just a large room (I think it started as a stand and was later enclosed) with the grill in the back on one side and a bar with sports on multiple tvs on the other.  You go up to the counter and place your order, then grab a table and wait until they call out your number.

We got the pork rib meal ($10.99) – a rack of ribs with beans and garlic toast on the side.  Tender and tasty!  We also got 1 pig sandwich ($5.99)- that’d be pulled pork, ya know – an order of onion rings ($2.99)  and a couple of sodas.

This was plenty of food for the three of us to eat.  We walked away feeling full and bbq-satisfied.  And all in under an hour.  The perfect place to stop when you’re on your way to something else.  Good food, low prices, free refill on drinks, roomy and ‘loud’ enough that families are welcome….keep it in mind the next time you’re in the area.

Main Street Grill
603 Main Street
Cambria, CA 93428
tel: 805-927-3194

Steamed Pork and Vegetable Dumplings and Spicy Sauteed Kale with Lime

One of my favorite things – and frequent indulgences – is buying a bag or two of frozen dumplings when I’m in Chinatown.  They are really very good!  They are so inexpensive and once you have them in your freezer, it’s very easy to treat yourself to – let’s be honest here – your favorite part of Chinese cuisine.  *smile*

When I go out for Chinese – or even order in – and get dumplings, they are an appetizer and part of what is rather a heavy meal.  When you make them at home, they can be the star of the show…and when you pair them with a healthy vegetable, it all balances out into a fairly healthy meal.

Quick, easy, inexpensive, delicious and turning one of my favorite not-so-healthy snack-foods into a pretty nutritious meal?  That’s my idea of  What’s for Dinner! 

For a change of pace from my usual just garlic and olive oil,  I used this recipe from P. Allen Smith for the kale – and it was yummy!

Spicy Sauteed Kale

From P. Allen Smith

Ingredients

1 lb kale, tough stems and center ribs removed and leaves torn into bite size pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

In a 6 to 8 quart stock pot of water add 1 tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil. Add prepared kale. Boil for 2 or 3 minutes, until slightly wilted.

Drain in a colander and set aside.

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet until hot but not smoking.

Add the onion and sauté for 6 to 8 minutes until soft.

Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Sauté for about 1 minute or until the garlic is fragrant.

Reduce the heat to low and add the kale, tossing to coat. Cover the skillet and cook the kale until just tender, about 3 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in lime juice. Don’t skip the lime juice because it really adds to the flavor. Place the kale in a serving dish.

Serves 6.

Blistered Shishito Peppers

After yet another large, heavy lunch made up of Thanksgiving leftovers, I wanted something very light to eat for dinner last night.  I wanted something, but the thoughts of a nice bowl of Turkey Soup (my all-time favorite and the best part of the Thanksgiving turkey in my opinion *smile*) felt like a bit too much.  But I was in luck – I had stopped by the greenmarket and lucked out to find a nice fresh batch of Shishito Peppers at one of my favorite stands, and had bought a bag.  So Blistered Shishito Peppers for dinner it was! 

Shishitos are thin-skinned peppers, mini in size, and mostly sweet…but every 10 peppers or so – yowzah! – you get a hot one!  Not too, too hot, but you definitely feel the kick.  And according to my farmer, there’s no way to tell which will be the hot one just by looking at it…so this fun little fact brings an element of adventure to an otherwise rather routine vegetable dish.

I often make these as an appetizer. Especially at a cocktail party – it’s great to have a nice, light, bright vegetable in the midst of the more richer bites on offer.  And since you leave them whole, the stem makes them an easy picker-upper while holding a drink in the other hand.  *smile*

But tonight, a plate of these flecked with sea salt – alongside a nice glass of wine – was the perfect dinner after so much rich eating.  How I love it when healthful is this enjoyable!

And they couldn’t be easier!  They peppers start out like this:

Fresh Shishito Peppers

All you need to do is rinse off the peppers – no need to de-stem.

Heat a Tablespoon of  Olive Oil in a skillet and heat over medium-high heat.

Once the pan and oil are hot, add the peppers, sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper and cook, turning often until they begin to blister on all sides.

Turn them out onto a plate or into a bowl, sprinkle with one last pinch of salt ( I like to use sea salt) and pepper and you’re done!  Truly – couldn’t be easier!

These terribly-lit pictures don’t do it justice, but Aceluck Thai serves some of the freshest, tastiest Thai food in Hell’s Kitchen.  And with literally dozens of Thai restaurants in this area, that is no small claim to fame.

It’s a small slip of a restaurant located on one of the not-so-nice blocks of 9th Avenue (right near the entrance to the tunnel) – but it’s worth seeking out.  The food is so fresh and tasty – spicy the way you want it to be spicy and presented far more elegantly than it’s location would imply.

I’m not a big fan of the appetizers, but every other dish I’ve tried has been excellent – and at this point, I’ve worked my way through most of the menu.  Two of my all-time favorites are their Beef Thai Fried Rice and their Shrimp Tom Kar (Coconut Soup with Lemongrass).

When you order a soup – any kind of soup, it is served to you in a covered bowl, who’s top half lifts off and you are left with a two-handled bowl, as you see above.  And the soup itself is clearly just made – the vegetables only barely cooked and the shrimp are juicy and crisp.  Such a great start to any meal, whatever else follows has to be wonderful.

Aceluck Thai
530 Ninth Avenue
between 39th & 40th Streets
tel:  212-594-7083

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

 Book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert
Music & Lyrics by Frank Loesser

How to Succeed in Business

I have to admit it – I wasn’t overly excited to see this production of “How to Succeed”.  It’s just not one of my all-time favorite shows.  It’s certainly not bad – not at all – but it’s just one that I don’t didn’t have a particular affinity for.

I had seen the last revival of it – back in 1995 (with Matthew Broderick and Ronn Carroll in the lead roles) and I had enjoyed it…but when I heard about this production (starring Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette) coming up, I just couldn’t get excited about it.  Nothing to do with the performers at all, just the show.

But then I had more than a few friends see it and tell me how wonderful it was.  Not only what a wonderful job all the performers turn in, but how the production numbers were phenomenal. After raves like that, I thought – I have to check it out.  And boy am I glad I did!

Having seen this one – I will never again be ‘iffy’ about seeing another production of “How to Succeed”  – ever again.  The cast was fantastic! John Larroquette – you play a cad like nobody’s business!  Daniel Radcliffe – by god, can you dance (!) and sell that quirky scheming, yet still remain endearing.  Christopher J. Hanke – I never thought I could enjoy the annoying, brown-nosing character of Bud Frump so muc.!  And the dance number for the song “Brotherhood of Man” – just exhilarating!

How to Succeed originally debuted in 1961 – and they keep the spirit of the 60′s alive in this current production with the use of a bright color palette and the fun costumes, of the women especially.  This is a very entertaining show and good fun for the whole family.  A few hours under the spell of this HTS and you’ll walk out of the theatre happy, energized and ready to tell your friends to go see it, too!

Al Hirschfeld Theatre
302 West 45th Street
between 8th and 9th Avenues
Open-ended run

Five Napkin Burger on a Snowy Evening

This large wrap-around the corner restaurant on 9th Avenue and 45th Street is always packed.  Which is why I don’t go there all that often (I’m just not willing to wait that long for a burger – I always think I’ll stop in sometime when I walk by and they’re not swamped.)  And as I walked by tonight and once again decided the line was too long for me, I remembered how I lucked out and got a table there one snowy night last winter and never told you about it.

Last winter was crazy with snow and one night a huge snow-storm came in while I was in a theatre watching a Broadway show.  We had planned to grab a bite after the show, so we found ourselves wandering over to 9th Avenue – cars spinning out all around us.  By the time we got the few blocks over, we were simply covered in snow.

Josie covered in snow

But the upside of the crazy weather was finding Five Napkin Burger only half-full – and we were psyched to enjoy a nice, warm, juicy burger!    Whenever I look at their menu, I’m perplexed by the Sushi portion of the menu – just doesn’t seem to ‘go’ in a restaurant with the word Burger in the name….but I just skip right over it and focus on which burger to try this time. 

They have some interesting burger choices – a Lamb Kofta, a Tuna, an ‘inside out’ – basically a Beef Burger wrapped in lettuce, for those carb-watchers among us – but tonight we went for a classic and my favorite:  the Bacon Cheddar Burger.

The burgers are pretty big and I was feeling like a salad, so we decided to split the burger and the BLT Salad.  (This was not a night I wanted to take a doggy-bag home -  I had a feeling I was going to need my hands to hang onto  anything I could while I slipped-and-slided my way home.  *smile*)  The BLT is a classic wedge salad, but one that’s been upgraded with lots of thick cut bacon and a delicious creamy french dressing.

My kind of salad - Lots of Bacon!

The burger and the salad made for a very satisfying meal – and just the right amount of food for us two girls.

Maybe it was the snow…and maybe it had more than a little to do with the fact that we had just returned from a trip to New Orleans…but when we saw they had some Dixie beer on offer…we each got one. And I’m no beer drinker….but boy was it good!

Dixie Beer

Fortified with a great burger, lots of delicious bacon and some beer in an usually calm Five Napkin Burger, we headed out, back into the storm – ready to trudge our way home.

So – if you’re in the mood for a good burger and either a) plan ahead and book on Opentable or b)wander by and find them at non-crazy-busy time – they are a worthy stop.

And be sure to have a Dixie Jazz for me if you do!

Five Napkin Burger – Hell’s Kitchen (other locations throughout the city)
630 9th Avenue
@45th Street

Million Dollar Quartet

by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux

I had seen it a while ago and quite frankly, while enjoyable, it just didn’t seem to me like a “Broadway” show.  But a Broadway show it was for a little more than a year…

So when I heard they had moved to the New World Stages Off-Broadway, I thought, yes – that sounds just about right!

The musical tells the story of a real-life impromptu jam session on Dec. 4, 1956, between Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley at Sun Records’ storefront studio in Memphis, Tenn.  The music is GREAT – the performers do a fantastic job and the set is used very, very well.

Now that it’s at Off-Broadway prices - go see this show!  It’s lots of fun, family-friendly…and if you like the music of Johnny, Jerry Lee, Carl or Elvis – you will have a great time!

Now at:
New World Stages
340 West 50th Street
b/w 8th & 9th Avenues
Open-ended run

Photo from Playbill.com

Roasted Corned Beef Dinner

I have to say, though it makes a *much* prettier picture, Roasted Corned Beef doesn’t hold up to the flavor in a nicely boiled one.  Maybe it’s that the boiling gets more of those lovely spices into the meat…maybe it’s that growing up we always had “New England Boiled Dinner” so I’m more used to the texture….but this roasted version was only ok.  Not bad, certainly, and it did look much lovelier than its boiled cousin, but I’ll be going to back to my usual boiled Corned-Beef-and-Cabbage after this.

I got the recipe from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.  I didn’t make Lemon-Mustard Sauce..but it does look good (minus the honey) and I think I’m going to try making it soon…perhaps to serve with a nice Roast Ham or Steamed Artichoke…I’ll let you know how that goes!

The recipe is below if you decide you’d like to try it for yourself.  And if you do, please let me know what you think – I’d love to hear someone else’s opinion/experience on this one.

Corned Beef Brisket With Roasted Vegetables & Lemon-Mustard Sauce

Ingredients:

3-1/2 to 4 pounds boneless corned beef brisket with seasoning packet

6 medium cloves garlic, peeled

2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

2 cups water

1 pound carrots, cut into 2-1/2 x 1/2-inch pieces

1 pound parsnips, cut into 2-1/2 x 1/2-inch pieces

1 pound savoy or green cabbage, cut into 4 wedges

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Lemon-Mustard Sauce (recipe follows)

Preparation:

Total preparation and cooking time: 3 hours to 3 hours and 40 minutes

1. Position oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Place corned beef brisket in roasting pan; sprinkle garlic, contents of seasoning packet and peppercorns around brisket. Add water; cover tightly with aluminum foil. Braise in upper third of 350°F oven 3 to 3-1/2 hours or until brisket is fork-tender.

3. Meanwhile place carrots, parsnips and cabbage on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss gently to coat. Season with salt and ground pepper. Cover with aluminum foil. Roast in lower third of 350°F oven with brisket 55 minutes. Uncover; continue roasting 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender and begin to brown.

4. Remove brisket from roasting pan. Cover and refrigerate 1/2 of brisket (about 12 ounces), 3/4 cup each carrots and parsnips and 1/2 cup Lemon-Mustard Sauce for Corned Beef & Roasted Vegetable Salad With Lemon-Dill Dressing (see recipe).**

5. Carve remaining brisket diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Serve with remaining roasted vegetables and Lemon-Mustard Sauce.

Lemon-Mustard Sauce:

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in small saucepan over medium heat.  Add 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot; cook and stir about 2 minutes or until tender.

Remove from heat; cool 1 minute. Stir in 2/3 cup dairy sour cream, 1/3 cup Dijon-style mustard, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill and 1 teaspoon honey.

Season with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cover; set aside.

Cook’s Tip:If seasoning packet is not included with corned beef brisket, substitute 1-1/4 teaspoons pickling spice.

** This is only if you want to have a separate meal of this as a salad – otherwise, feel free to serve the whole thing.

Memphis: The Musical

Book and Lyrics by Joe DiPietro
Music and Lyrics by David Bryan

This show is very, very popular.  A multiple Tony-award winner: for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, Best Orchestration….and people love, love, love this show. 

It’s set in – you guessed it – Memphis in the 50′s – at the birth of Rock n Roll.  It tells the story of how local (fictional) DJ Huey Calhoun brings his love of R&B music to main-stream radio and how he fosters the career of local night-club singer, Felicia Farrell.  Huey loves Felicia’s voice…and the rest of her, too.  Their inter-racial romance causes many a flare up in this show and shows the deep-rooted close-mindedness of the time very well.

Even if you don’t love, love, love this show as so many have – you are in for a rollicking good time!  This is a high-energy show and the music and dance number keep you moving – even as you’re sitting in your seat.  And if your audience is anything like the one the night I was there, you’ll all be up on your feet at the end of the show.

The Shubert Theatre
225 West 44th Street
b/w Broadway and 8th Avenue
Opened in 2009 and still going strong

Photo from Playbill.com

When you take the candied limes and turn them into  Frozen Candied-Lime Margaritas!

We enjoyed these too much – and drank them too quickly to get a photo – but I wanted to share the recipe nonetheless.  Cause I *know* you all made those Candied Limes I talked about and are looking for things to do with them…*smile*

When I make my next batch, I promise to restrain myself and get the photo shoot in *before* I start drinking.  But in the meantime, these were delightfully green and *very* refreshing.  Another perfect weapon to have in your fighting-against-the-heatwave arsenal!

 Frozen Candied-Lime Margarita

1 cup ice

6oz Tequila

1/2 cup candied limes

1 cup homemade lime syrup

4oz Orange Juice

Juice of 1 fresh lime

2 cups more ice

Place the 1 cup of ice, tequila and candied limes in your blender.  Blast it a few times to start to break up the limes and ice.   Add the lime syrup,  orange juice and fresh lime juice, and blast a few more times.  You want to make sure the candied limes get pulverized or you’ll be disappointed to find too-big pieces in your finished drink.

Add the additional 2 cups of ice and blender away, until you’re left with a slushy, beautifully green frozen concoction.  Serve immediately, and enjoy the cool oasis in the midst of the summer heat.

Serves 4

Limes ready to be candied

Once I realized how much flavor the candied kumquats added to my margarita…I thought, I should start candy-ing all manner of citrus fruits to up-the-fruity-flavor in more of my cocktails….and so turned to limes first.  Probably because I was thinking “frozen margaritas’ at the time and lime is my favorite.

Doing a bit of research, almost no-one out there talks/writes about candying whole limes for this kind of thing.  There’s lots out there of sugaring and drying citrus fruits for snacking or garnish…but when it comes to cocktail-put-up (as in jarring) – citrus..I was left pretty much on my own.

Luckily, doing them up pretty much the way I did the kumquats seemed to work.  Unlike the kumquats, which turn out still-vibrantly orange and jewel-like, the limes go from bright-green to more of an army green. And because the limes have so much more liquid, instead of a sticky-sugar-jewel-like coating, you end up with lots and lots of gorgeous freshly-made lime syrup…so you still come out ahead.

Be sure to pick out some good-looking limes – you’re going to end up eating them, skins and all, so you want the best you can find.  Save those pale, sniggly-looking things to use when you’re juicing them.  Trim off the ends of each lime – too much bitter pith won’t do you any good…and try to slice them limes as evenly as possible, so they’ll cook through at the same rate.

Here’s the recipe – and just like the kumquats, it’s an easy do.  Make up a batch and then you’ll have your own candied limes – and bonus fresh-lime syrup! – to try along with us as we use them to make interesting summer cocktails from Margaritas to Lime Rickeys…to Lime Anything-Goes!

Candied Limes in the jar and ready for keeping

Candied Limes and Lime Syrup

4 cups sliced Limes (This was 6 large Limes for me.)
4 cups water
2 cups sugar

Combine the water and sugar in a large saucepan.  Heat over medium-high heat while stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Add the sliced limes and reduce the heat to medium.

Cook the limes for 5 minutes, stirring almost constantly – to keep the limes submerged/coated with the liquid.  If you don’t stir often, some of the limes will be ‘floating’ on the top and will take longer to cook….and the submerged limes will break apart before the floaters are done.)  You’ll know they’re ready when the white pith looks almost transparent.

Transfer the lime slices to a large glass jar or two and then fill with some of the lime syrup.  Pour the remaining lime syrup into another jar.  Cover and refrigerate.

Not sure how long they’ll last, but my guess is 3-4 weeks…If at some point I actually have them lasting that long, I’ll report back on how they held up.

Frozen Candied Kumquat Margaritas

Yum, yum, yum!

The temperatures last week (here in NYC) got up to somewhere around 105 with a heat index of 115….!  How the hell can you possibly stay cool in heat like this?  Well, if you’re the girls of Flavor Junkie: by drinking as many of these tasty frozen treats as possible.

The ‘frozen’ part keeps you cool and the ‘margarita’ part (aka tequila!) dulls your sharp edges.  (And in heat this bad, *all* my edges are sharp…almost like barbed wire.)   And between the two, the incredible heat seems to matter less and less…..and you’re ready to enjoy whatever Hot-Summer-Fun is in store!  *smile*

Frozen Candied Kumquat Margaritas

1 cup Ice

6 oz  Tequila – I use Cuervo Gold

1/3 cup Candied Kumquats with syrup

2oz Orange Juice

Juice of 1 Lime

1 – 1/2 cups (additional) Ice

Put  the 1 cup of Ice, Tequila, and Candied Kumquats in a blender.  Process on “ice crush” until the ice has started to be whittled down and the kumquats are mostly chopped up.

Add the Orange Juice and Lime Juice and process until the ice and kumquats are completely pulverized.

Add an additional 1 to 1 1/2 cups ice (depending on how strong and/or frozen you like your drinks) and process on ice crush until the ice is chopped into little flecks…and voila!  You have your Frozen Candied Kumquat Margarita.

( Tip:  when serving frozen drinks, add one or two large ice cubes to the glass – the large cubes will help keep the ‘frozen’ part frozen longer and since the liquid is ‘frozen’, the large cubes won’t really melt and dilute your drink.)

Now it’s time to sit back, sip, cool off and enjoy!

Serves 4.

I have to say:  It’s good to be a white girl with adoptive Asian parents.  They hook me up!

If you know us – or have read the “About” section – you know that I’m a crazy-curly-haired pale white girl and Carolyn is one of those beautiful, long-dark-haired, looks-good-no-matter-what Chinese girls.  Her parents – who immigrated to The States much longer ago then you would ever think - are like classic sitcom characters: fantastic, heavily-accented broken-English speakers with Chairman Mao haircuts and a penchant for tunic style clothing.  Seriously:  airlift them into any village back in China and it’ll look like they never left.  *smile*

A long time ago now, her parents graciously (or maybe just to razz Carolyn?) proclaimed me “Number One Daughter”.  Seemingly because of my good, submissive, daughterly, and god they hope one day: wifely, skills:  I cook, I clean, I sew, I’m deferential to my elders at all times….they love that!  And so, anytime that Carolyn goes back for a family visit, they send her back laden – yes positively laden – with things for me.

One time during a visit, they were driving down some rural road in Georgia and her mom spied some Ginkgo trees along the side of the road.  She made them stop, get out and gather bags and bags of the rather stinky nuts in the midday heat.  She then made Carolyn carry them back on the plane – stinking all the way-because she wanted me to have them and “Fresh Ginkgo hard to get and very ‘spensive’ (as she says the word.)  I want  Josie to have.”

One Christmas-time visit found Carolyn’s suitcase over the airline weight limit because they day she was leaving, her parents got up early to hit the farmer’s market and bought me a case of grapefruit *and* a case of oranges.  They wanted me to have fresh fruit in winter, they knew I liked grapefruit – and if they know I like something – watch out! *smile*) and  because ”Citrus is good-for-you-healthy!” her mom argued, as she unpacked some of Carolyn’s clothes to make room for the fruit.  There was *no way* two cases of fruit was going to fit in our Manhattan fridge – so our Christmas tree made it to Three Kings Day and beyond with platters of citrus fruit underneath it.  It was quite a sight!  And prompted much conversation from visitors…I mean, how often do you see that in New York City?  And everyone who visited – and I do mean everyone – went home with a fruit or two…so Mom got her way and many, many more New Yorkers than usual enjoyed that good-for-you-healthy citrus that winter.

Carolyn’s last trip was no exception. I got all of my favorites:  Bean Sprouts, Pea Pods, Shanghai Bok Choy, etc.  Yes, of course we can get these things  here, but they always think they can get them cheaper, pick them out better, don’t trust that we’re going down to Chinatown everyday to buy the right ones….(and they’re right about that *smile*)…and so they send them along with my favorite Taiwanese Ramen packets and salty-sweet Japanese Rice Cakes. (Carolyn has learned to live off whatever clothes were left on previous visits, because she knows that her mother will toss them out of her suitcase to make room for the food.  I’ve always said Carolyn is smart.)

But there was a new item in amongst the usual:  A few bags of freshly picked kumquats. They were off visiting relatives the day before Carolyn was heading back…and lo and behold that relative had kumquat trees…so before anyone was allowed to sit down to lunch – they had to gather the ripe fruit into bags to send back to me:  “Citrus is good-for-you-healthy in summer, too –  You take them, Josie will want!”

And that I did, so Thank You adoptive-Asian-Mom! *smile*

Kumquats are the size of large olives  - a small beautiful orange-colored citrus fruit with an edible rind –  but they are very, very sour – think sour like lemons, not sweet like oranges.  Some people pucker up and eat them our of hand….but my favorite thing to do with them is to candy them.  The bitterness still comes through once they’ve been candied, but now with the sweetness to balance it out and make it much more enjoyable.

Candying the kumquats is a very easy to do and once made they will keep in jar in the fridge for a couple of months at least (I’ve always used mine all up by then).  They can be served as part of a cheese tray or course, paired with meats such as Duck or used in cocktails (admittedly my favorite way to use them.)

Candied Kumquats

4 cups of Kumquats
1 cup water
2 cups sugar

Wash the kumquats.  Cut eat kumquat into quarters.  Remove any easily-removable seeds, but leaving some in is just fine.  They’re edible, just like the rind and pulp.

Meanwhile, combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan.  Heat over high heat until it comes to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the kumquats and simmer for 12 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the kumquats to a glass jar(s). You want to leave room for some of the syrup in each container.

Continue to simmer the syrup on the stove for another 8-10 minutes to allow it to concentrate a bit further.

Pour the syrup over the kumquats.  Any syrup that is left over should also be saved and stored in a jar. (You’ll want this syrup for cocktails!)

Store in the refrigerator.