A Dirty Bloody Pomtail

I'm feeling dirty-bloody full of anti-oxidants as I write this! Not that we don't eat enough vegetables, but it's always good to up your anti-oxidants in drinks too, right?! Oh whatever! the wonderful warm and sunny days have inspired me more than anything. I also have to say that all the lovely readers and fellow bloggers, who've left me some kind words, have kept me going. So we're drinking it up, to an early summer and all things good!

Kidding aside, all the nutrients you get from drinks like pomegranate juice are excellent for your body. I enjoy mixing my own drinks at home. In summer it's more fun to make juices from fresh fruit, but something like a pomegranate I don't know if I ever want to juice, so I'm using Pom, especially in summer slushies or cocktails. You can read all the wonderful health benefits and facts that yes, you should care about on their site. Now let me get more into the details of this drink.

The name, Dirty Bloody Pomtail comes from little more than Pom and Bloody Mary Sea Salt from my favorite local Secret Stash Sea Salts. I'm not a Bloody Mary kinda girl, but I love this salt because you can have the good flavor of a Bloody Mary in so many ways. It's made up of Fleur de Sel sea salt, sun-dried tomatoes, celery salt, cayenne pepper, and other spices. The Bloody Mary Sea Salt really kicks up this drink with uncommon layers of flavor. I've used Secret Stash sea salts to rim the glasses of many other drinks as well. You may have seen another of their salts featured here, I have to say they have turned me into quite a salty mouth :)

It's up to you if you want to add alcohol, one of us added a Russian vodka and the other one did not. I'm not telling you who had which :) but we both enjoyed our drinks.

I used:
8 0z. Pom pomegranate juice
12 oz. seltzer or plain club soda
a couple pinches of Bloody Mary sea salt
2-3 teaspoons of sugar (or a simple syrup, if you have it handy)
slices of lime and sprigs of fresh mint for garnish
2-4 oz. of your favorite vodka (optional, or spike it as you like)

Method:
1. I used a big measuring cup with a spout to dissolved sugar in the Pom first.
2. Add the salt, the vodka, and taste for sweetness. If you like it sweeter, add more sugar.
3. Add seltzer and serve right away with mint and lime. Or you can chill the above mixture then add, seltzer, salt, and garnish right before serving.

Rhubarb Tarts & Ratios

This all started out as experimentation, from my need to do something different with rhubarb every year! Rhubarb crisp and compote have been classic favorites in our house. I kinda did that again, starting with a rhubarb strawberry compote, then put one of my new books, Ratio by Ruhlman to good use. With his ratio, I mixed and improvised as usual and we ended up with a few too many pastries and tarts.

Ruhlman writes that pie, pastry, or tart dough is as easy as having the right ratio of flour:fat:water. Well, it was and it wasn't. You really have to be careful with the water, or the dough becomes tough to work with. Experience from making dough for rotis came in handy here. I found some first-of-the-season rhubarb a few weeks ago, and out came result #1.

Tart #1: 3-2-1 tart with rhubarb-berry compote filing and white chocolate. Ruhlman's Tart Ratio for simple crust. I used all purpose flour.

The next time we were at our market, I was compelled to buy more rhubarb. Not that I was itching to eat it this time, but it was something unfinished, I had to try another tart. The farmer was also closing his stand and wanted to get rid of the rest of his rhubarb. I took it all! and walked home with long stems sticking out of my tote bag as I wondered how I would improve the tart in taste & look.

Tart #2: Wholewheat and rye crust with a rhubarb and spicy nut filling. I improvised the 3-2-1 ratio from tart #1, to use half rye and half wholewheat flour, and added a bit of brown sugar to sweeten it up, so the pastry result is unique.

My filling included ground pistachios, almonds, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and ginger. For the filling, I found a recipe to inspire me on one of my all time favorite blogs, La Tartine Gourmande. I did not quite follow everything there, but I used dry ginger and cinnamon in the nut crumble and skipped the vanilla. The results were beautiful. Bea doesn't mess around when it comes to presentation and I am always inspired by her photos.

Tart #3: Aussie Bakery puff pastry with a white chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and rhubarb filling. For this, I used my trusty, local Aussie Bakery puff pastry. I sprinkled the rhubarb in sugar like the previous tart, and I let the strawberries sit in vanilla extract. I lined the puff pastry with white chocolate, let it melt for a few minutes, and lined up the rhubarb and strawberries to cover the chocolate, before baking. I am especially proud of this combination because it tastes delicious!

In Seattle, the best rhubarb pastry I've had this season has been at Honoré Artisan Bakery, one of my favorite local bakeries. Their rhubarb tarts (below) have a vanilla custard filling and amazing-looking rhubarb tops their pastries. Now, if I can only get them to teach me their tricks!

A Bowl of Spring Rice

The asparagus have been beautiful out here, and in Spring so have so many other things, like the Washington Park Arboretum! Pictures are always easier for me to share than words. Inspiration in words has been hard to find among tough times in life. I won't bore you with the details, that's life!

Aside from that, there is a disheartening drag I'd like to mention -- people stealing photos and other content, or saying nasty things based on the content here. The content thieves are just as likely to be big, for-profit businesses as they are to be other bloggers. These experiences are too common among bloggers, and they make you want to hold back, to stop sharing what you love and value. On the other hand, I also realize all the lovely, loyal readers and supporters of Mango Power Girl should not pay the price for the bad apples.

The bad apples have been getting me down a little, and it takes so much time to deal with them, but I still want to share what I do. I haven't stopped cooking and inventing and photographing! I just haven't been documenting it here at the same rate and may pace myself differently at times. Hope you won't mind!

Here's a meal one for those quick and easy nights, when you want a satisfying supper in a bowl without worrying about too many different pieces to put together.

I marinated tofu in harissa, tamarind paste, brown sugar, and oil for a short time, while I prepped asparagus, spinach, and garlic, and cooked my rice. I sautéed the tofu in its sauces and let it get a bit crispy. Then, I removed it from the pan, added spinach & asparagus & garlic to the same mix of sauce in the same pan, and let it all cook for a few minutes. I tossed in the cooked rice with the tofu and vegetables, then garnished it with fresh spring onions. Chives would have been great, too. We had a satisfying but simple meal in a bowl!