Strawberry Rhubarb-Infused Gin

Plus: The Tonys, A Weekend in Poughkeepsie, Grilling Zucchini.

Hey everyone,

Ask anyone who’s been married to me (and that’s only one person) and they’ll say one of my biggest issues is “patience.” As in: waiting for a train, waiting for him to put his shoes on, waiting for our food to arrive at a restaurant.

This is why cooking has been good for me. It forces you to be patient as you wait for the dried beans to soften, as you wait for the sourdough starter to kick in, as you wait for the meat to braise. And for the most part, my love for creating something delicious supersedes my need to speed things along.

Which brings us to today’s subject.

Do you remember a few weeks ago when I made this rhubarb cordial from Smitten Kitchen inspired by a recipe in David Lebovitz’s Drinking French?

The recipe couldn’t be easier: cut up 1 pound of rhubarb into small pieces, mix it with 3 1/2 cups of gin, and 1/2 cup of sugar. I threw in a few strawberries for good measure, shook it all up in a jar (well, two jars), popped them into my fridge and let them sit for a few weeks, shaking every so often.

Then you strain, mix with 3 tablespoons of Grand Marnier or Cointreau, and funnel into a bottle.

And there it is: the strawberry rhubarb infused gin that’s really a cordial because of the sugar. You’re supposed to let it sit for a few more weeks in the fridge, but my patience hit a wall (it always does) and we drank it with soda water and ice and it was delightful.

So delightful, that we put it out last night when we had friends over to watch the Tonys.

Maybe it was the Emily pizza that we served along with it, but in the blink of an eye, that strawberry rhubarb cordial was gone.

Which is why I just downloaded on Kindle the James Beard award winner for Best Beverage Cookbook: Slow Drinks: A Field Guide to Foraging and Fermenting Seasonal Sodas, Botanical Cocktails, Homemade Wines, and More by Danny Childs. I plan to keep making infusions and tinctures until I open a bar.

As for the Tonys, it was so exciting to see Jonathan Groff win for Merrily and even more exciting to see Stereophonic win so many awards, including Best Play. The playwright David Adjmi has been a subscriber to The Amateur Gourmet Newsletter for years. I’m not taking full credit, but I’m just saying, if you subscribe to my newsletter, you’ll win a Tony.

Now let’s rewind the tape a few days: on Friday, we zipped up to Poughkeepsie to hang out with our friends Ricky and Larry at their house up there. Here we are all out to dinner at Barbaro in Millbrook:

My dinner there was this rib-sticking rigatoni with sausage and peas (a great combo that I need to recreate at home):

On Saturday during the day, we got to grilling for lunch.

Ricky asked me if I could grill the zucchini and I said “sure!” even though I’d never grilled zucchini.

As you can see, I did a good job! I cut them into big wedges, so they’d hold sturdy on the grill. I coated them in olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and just let them go until they were soft and brown in spots. Then I squeezed a lemon on top.

I also started the corn, but it was Ricky’s idea to close the lid. I’ll give full corn credit to him.

When we came back on Sunday, I was tickled to see that my tomato plant had grown into a regular Audrey II:

Turns out the secret to growing tomatoes is just to wait for the weather to turn warm. And my basil isn’t too shabby either.

And check out this full chili that I grew myself; I thought it would turn orange (it’s supposed to be a habanero), but it fell off before that happened.

Now let’s look at some links:

• BIG NEWS: I sold the UK rights to my novel! (The Bookseller);

• Nigel Slater’s tea time menu (The Guardian);

• DIY Chartreuse… maybe I’ll make this next! (Punch).

That’s all for today, folks!

See you back here on Thursday….

Your pal,

Adam