Yuzu Cocktails & Recent Travels
Yuzu Cocktails & Recent Travels
A recipe and photos from my recent trip to the northeast—It was fast and fun and so good to see my family. I landed at LaGuardia with the temperature in the 20s and that night my darling daughter and dashing son-in-law took me to a Greek restaurant in the neighborhood, Telly’s Taverna. A long display case featuring many types of whole fish greeted us at the entry, and the place was lively with happy folk enjoying delicious food. We were no exception.
Fresh fish for dinner, Telly’s Taverna, Astoria, Queens, NY
From Greece we went to Japan and then to Italy … all in the space of three days and traveling less than hour.
Here’s a recipe for our signature cocktail featuring fresh yuzu, a tart/sweet, seedy little fruit and shiso leaves. The shiso were so pretty I couldn’t resist. It might be hard to find these ingredients in Louisiana, but there a several Asian markets around the state and you just might be able to locate them.
Yuzu Cocktail
Yuzu Cocktail
ingredients:
- 2 oz. sake
- 1 tsp. sugar or honey
- ½ tsp. yuzu juice
- ice cube
- shiso leaves
instructions:
How to cook Yuzu Cocktail
- Place all ingredients in cocktail mixer with lid and strainer. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with shiso leaf.
The next day we went to Edgewater, NJ to a mall featuring Asian shops, including a Japanese dollar store and Mitsuwa, a huge Japanese supermarket and food court. I love to check out grocery strores and usually when you’re traveling, you can’t cook, but in this case we planned a Japanese feast with our purchases. Much care is devoted to having the store look gorgeous. The fresh items are meticulously arranged and displayed. Everything is especially enticing. Here are some photos of the store:
You can enjoy many delicious options from the food court; here is a place featuring tempura
Tempura from the food court at Mitsuwa in New Jersey
We got black bass, pork cheeks, tofu made from sesame seeds, pickles, yuzu, shiso leaves, sake in a “juice box,” and other items. Then we headed back to Astoria through the snow.
Here is our feast:
Each of us had an array of these small dishes with a variety of tastes and textures. So good!
The next day we left Japan for Italy and had a lovely morning making homemade orecchiette to serve with sauce that Alli made from tomatoes, sausage and spareribs. The meat is reserved for the second course and complemented by a fresh, crisp salad. A perfect Sunday dinner! All the while, we listened to music and chatted and laughed. Love my guys so very much!
That afternoon it was off to Penn Station to take the train to Providence. And more family fun! Although I neglected to take photos while I was there, we enjoyed some lovely meals, too, and the company, as they say, was sublime!
My sister, Lauri, and I stopped by the new Shake Shack in Providence while we were out shopping and had what I consider to be in the burger world: the perfect meat to bun ratio #sheldoncooper … with excellent fries and Abita root beer. What are your favorite food travels? Do you ever get a chance to cook? Let us know in the comments below!
Shake Shack, Providence, RI
