Culinary
Secrets with The Hills
Summer Fruit Menu
By
Maralyn Hill and Brenda Hill ‘The Tandem Tasters’
It’s time for fruit. There is something about the simplicity and
perfection of fruit that we hope to share in this summer column.
Nature has done most of the preparation. If you only attempt one
recipe, try adding a sweet, ripe peach or nectarine on your
grill. See Grilled Fruit below.
Berry Vodka
Apricot Cosmo
Simple Fruit Appetizer
Chilled Nectarine Soup
Deer Brook Inn Blue
Berry Muffins Grilled Fruit
Kumquat Refrigerator Pie
Big Blend Blueberry Sauce
Berry Vodka
I found this
simple summer sip in a decade old book I found at a San
Francisco used book shop. The book is named Fruit, by Amy
Nathan. I have carted this book from California, Connecticut,
and Delaware, to Florida. I know it is summer when these plump,
ripe jewels appear at local farmer's markets.
½ cup fresh
berries
2 cups vodka (You can triple this and make with several
different fruits).
Directions:
Hull and
quarter ½ cup of strawberries, raspberries or/and blueberries.
In separate containers, combine each fruit with 2 cups vodka.
Cover and let stand at room temperature for 2 days or more.
Remove fruit and chill the berry vodka.
Serve cold, garnished with berries.
The Hill Team prefers organic vodka.
Add ice if you like your cocktails colder and lighter.
Apricot
Cosmo
Norm and I
were sailing on Holland America's ms Statendam through the
Panama Canal. It was our anniversary present to each other and a
vacation--but my mind was always going. Brenda and I are working
on a new book featuring drinks--more her expertise than mine.
But I ventured out to interview bartenders.
Ariel Uson of
the Philippines was working at the Lido Bar and shared his
recipe for an Apricot Cosmo.
1 lime, wedged
1 ounce apricot brandy
1.5 ounces vodka
1.5 ounces lemon and lime sour
1 ounce cranberry juice
1 cup ice
Directions:
Chill martini
glass in ice.
Muddle lime in tall glass.
Fill with ice.
Add all the other ingredients.
Shake to mix.
Pour through strainer into chilled glass.
Simple Fruit Appetizer
Bread crackers
Cream fraiche or cream cheese
Plums, peaches or nectarines, thinly sliced
Directions:
Spread crisp
bread cracker with cream fraiche or cream cheese.
Top with thinly sliced plums, peaches or nectarines.
We love this on a warm evening with a sparkling wine cocktail or
a spritzer.
Chilled
Nectarine Soup
Since my first
experience with cold fruit soup was in Bermuda, we wanted to
bring a taste of Bermuda to our fruit feature. This cold soup is
from the Pink Beach Club in Bermuda. The club takes great pride
in offering a first-class dining experience to guests each
evening, serving gastronomic five-course meals, with live music
setting a mood for dinner and dancing.
1 pound vine
ripened nectarines, cut into small pieces
2 cups apple juice
2 cups gewürztraminer (German White Wine, Riesling can be
substituted)
2 ounces tapioca
honey to taste
Directions:
On medium
heat, simmer the nectarines in the apple juice until very tender
– approximately 10 minutes.
Blend the nectarines and juice in a blender until thoroughly
combined.
Add honey to taste, starting with 1 teaspoon.
Strain mixture through a fine strainer.
Add tapioca.
Simmer on heat for 15 minutes.
Add wine.
Remove from heat and chill in the refrigerator 3-4 hours before
serving.
Deer
Brook Inn Blueberry Muffins
What a way to
start a day! While visiting Woodstock, VT, we awoke to the aroma
of freshly brewed coffee with a twist. Our steaming coffee was
followed by homemade muffins chocked full of blueberries
bursting out of their skins. As always, we love to know the
story behind the creation. David said, “When we arrived at Deer
Brook Inn during the summer of 2003, we discovered blueberries,
blackberries and raspberries on our hillside. What a yummy
surprise! This discovery led to our Berry Muffin Recipe becoming
a key feature of our breakfast menu.”
½ cup butter
1-1/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup milk
2 eggs
2 cups blueberries
Topping:
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Directions:
Preheat oven
to 375F degrees.
Cream butter and sugar.
Add eggs, milk and dry ingredients alternately (mix gently as
lumps are OK).
Fold in berries.
Grease muffin tin.
Fill tins 1/2 to 2/3 with batter.
Bake at 375F about 20-25 minutes.
Optional: You can substitute cranberries for blueberries, but
only use 1 cup instead of two.
These muffins
were just the start of our bountiful breakfast. We begged our
genial innkeepers David Kanal and George DeFina to allow us to
publish the recipe.
Breakfast was
only the beginning of our delightful stay at Deer Brook Inn in
Woodstock, VT. It’s easy to understand why they were voted
number one B&B in Vermont by Trip Advisor. In addition to the
exceptional breakfasts, the ambiance, decor and service exceeded
expectations. The inn carries the designation of Green Hotel in
the Green Mountain State.
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Grilled Fruit
Peaches, pears
or plums cut in half (You can also use sliced pineapple)
Cooking spray
Chicken or pork
Directions:
Toss peaches,
pears, or plums cut in half on the oil sprayed grill.
Grill along with chicken or pork.
The color and sweetness is a lush contrast to savory meats and
grilled vegetables.
You can also save the grilled fruit for dessert. We add a scoop
of vanilla ice cream to the peach half.
Kumquat Refrigerator Pie
Viva la
Kumquat! While searching for a new and different citrus dessert,
my writer friend Karen O’Dowd told me about the local Florida
Kumquat fun festival in Dade City. Then she passed along her
special recipe. Karen planted and harvested her own Kumquat tree
this year.
9 inch baked
pie crust
1 can condensed milk
1 8 oz container cool whip
2/3 cup kumquat purée (Found in some special markets or, in my
case, in a wine store; or make your own, see below)
1/2 cup lemon juice
Purée Directions:
Wash the
fruit, cut in half, remove seeds and place in blender or food
chopper.
Beat the condensed milk with whipped topping, add lemon juice
and beat until thickened.
Add the purée. Pour into shell and chill for a few hours.
Invent your own garnish. We use thinly sliced kumquats, mint or
dabble on some purée.
I love to eat this tiny, tart fruit whole.
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Big Blend Blueberry Sauce
I dedicate
this simple summer sauce to Lisa and Nancy, because they will
appreciate my confession. Back in my earth mother days, I took
pride in making almost everything "from scratch,” especially
cheesecake, my specialty. On the day of a dinner party, when I
had promised cheesecake, there was a crisis. I ran to the market
and bought a frozen Sara Lee Cheesecake. Then I concocted this
simple sauce from memory of my grandmother's blueberry bushes,
and slathered it all over the store-bought cake for disguise.
1 cup fresh
blueberries
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Directions:
To prepare
sauce, combine berries, water and sugar in a small saucepan and
simmer until tiny bubbles appear.
Mash berries so they are still rustic with a wooden spoon and
continue simmering for 6 to 10 minutes until thick.
Stir in lemon juice and cool.
This sauce is festive over cheesecake, homemade or purchased.
The Hills love it simply served over vanilla ice cream on a
summer eve.
As we continue to explore, taste, judge and enjoy the travel, we
hope you enjoy some of our selections. Please let us know your
favorites.
