Friday, March 26, 2010

Friday Nights and Strawberry-infused Vodka

It's Friday night and I'm kicking my multicolored gladiator heels back...sipping my successful experiment- strawberry infused vodka.

Just get a boxful of strawberries (about 600 grams), take out the leaves and stems. Wash.  

Slice strawberries using a ceramic knife, so you don't affect the acidity of the fruit. 

Place inside an airtight jar. Pour 1 cup of unflavored vodka. Close and seal. Put in the chiller for about eight weeks.

The strawberries will discolour (into something ashen and purplish, somewhat like what I imagined zombie flesh to be) and some of its flesh will fall off but don't mind it. After eight weeks, take it out of the chiller and pour the red liquid into a decanter through a strainer.

Chill. Serve with small ice cubes or pour over shaved ice in a cocktail glass.


Saturday, March 20, 2010

New Home and corned beef time

Moved houses over the weekend.

As I write, Ate Linda, our dustbusting cleaning lady, is figuring out where to put the kitchen stuff and is doing a better job than me. Moving has got me drained but it's exciting as I now have a new space for a new stove.

I am experimenting on how to make corned beef without saltpeter (salitre) as it is very hard to procure. I am figuring out which supermarket ingredients I can substitute. Hopefully, my experiments won't end as a major disaster. I will know in 3 weeks time as the curing takes about that long.

I hope, too, that by then, I would have settled in my new kitchen and will be able to share my alternative corned beef recipe :)