Artemesia Ginger Rogers Cocktail

Just in time for the heat wave - a truly refreshing and delicious cocktail!

The Ginger Rogers is a classic cocktail, and after sampling one at Absinthe in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, I decided to adapt it for use with my organic liqueurs. There's only one problem with this cocktail - stopping at one!

Last night we had an important discussion; which is better, a classic gin and tonic, or a Ginger Rogers? My father-in-law and I agreed that Ginger Rogers is our gal.

Artemesia Ginger Rogers Cocktail

1 large sprig fresh mint - at least 8 or 9 leaves
3/4 ounces fresh squeezed lime juice
1 1/2 ounces Artemesia Organic Ginger Liqueur
1 1/2 ounces gin
Best quality ginger beer/ale, such as Cock and Bull,  Bruce Cost's, Reed's, etc.

Put the mint leaves in the bottom of an old fashioned or large drinking glass. Add the lime juice, and using a muddler or a wooden spoon, muddle (pound) the mint leaves until they are well bruised and release their minty goodness into the lime juice.

Fill the glass with ice cubes, then add the rest of the ingredients. Stir. Serve with a straw. Optional garnish: a mint sprig and a lime wedge.

"Drink Me!" Artemesia Cocktail: Fit to be Thaied

The inspiration for this new cocktail came to me while I was cross-country skiing. I kept thinking about my ginger liqueur, and Thai coconut soup - coconut milk, ginger, lime juice...... And about the recent impulse purchase I'd made at the Farmer's Market from the nice young men of Coracao chocolate - coconut sugar! They explained to me how coconut sugar was nectar extracted from the coconut blossom, then cooked down and dried, that it's low on the glycemic index, and easily dissolved. It has a texture and flavor that's reminiscent of maple sugar; crumbly, brown, faintly redolent of coconut. They use it in their raw, organic chocolates and other treats. (Coconut blondie bar - off the hook!)

The first night I finally put it all together - oh, baby. This is GOOD. It's so good I've forgotten to take pictures of it all three times I've made it. The pictures will just have to wait......

Fit to be Thaied

Makes one large or two small cocktails

2 1/2 jiggers (3 3/4 ounces) Artemesia Organic Ginger Liqueur
1 jigger (1 1/2 ounces) fresh-squeezed organic lime juice
1 jigger (1 1/2 ounces) organic unsweetened coconut milk (I like Native Forest)
2 tsp coconut sugar

Additional coconut sugar for rimming your cocktail glass, on a small plate


Put all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, and stir to dissolve the sugar and combine well. Take a quick taste once it's well mixed; does it need a little more sugar? Repeat. Now add several ice cubes.

Run a cut lime slice around the rim of your martini glass, then roll the moistened outer edges in the coconut sugar until it sticks.

Now shake shake shake the cocktail shaker, counting to "20 Mississippi." Strain into your glass. Try not to chug it down. Yeah, this is chick drink; that's okay once in a while.


Note: Coconut sugar is available at natural food stores, and by mail order through a number of stores, including Amazon.

Thai Chicken Coconut Milk Soup (Tom Kha Gai)

From the moment I first took a sip of this classic Thai soup at Manora Thai Restaurant in San Francisco, I was smitten. So rich, so creamy, so nuanced in flavor - a little spicy, a little sweet, a little sour, a whole lot of richness. But the flavor profile was so far outside my comfort zone, I never dreamed I could make it at home, especially not in 20 minutes with a short list of ingredients. I felt resigned to only eating it in restaurants.

But when an acquaintance kept talking about how she was going to whip up a batch for dinner for her family that night, after picking the kids up from swim class..... and then this recipe from a home cook turned up in Sunset Magazine's quick recipe pages - well, that demystified it quite a bit. I went for it. It was easy, it was fast, and it was delicious. All of these ingredients are available from a decently stocked grocery store. Don't be shy - you can do it, too!

Thai Chicken Coconut Soup (Thom kha gai or Gai Thom Kha)

adapted from Jiranooch Shapiro, Anchorage – Sunset Magazine, December 2008

1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk (Native Forest Organic is outstanding)

14 ounces chicken broth

6 quarter sized slices ginger

1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 lb. Boned, skinless chicken breasts or thighs

1 cup sliced mushrooms (preferably oyster mushrooms)

1 TB fresh lime juice

1TB Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp Thai Red Curry Paste (Thai Kitchen is a good brand)

2 fresh lime leaves (optional - I pick mine in the back yard, but a good Asian grocery will have them)

Fresh basil and/or cilantro leaves for garnish

In a medium saucepan, combine broth, ginger, lemongrass, and chicken. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then simmer until chicken is firm and opaque. Remove the chicken from the pan, and let it cool until you can easily cut it into 1” chunks. Using a slotted spoon or “spider” remove and discard the lemongrass, and optionally, the ginger, and discard them.

Add the coconut milk, chicken and mushrooms, along with the remaining seasonings to the chicken broth. Bring the mixture back up to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer until the mushrooms are cooked and flavors are melded. Test and adjust the seasonings. Serve, garnished with herbs.

Notes from Christine: while this is a lovely outline of the dish, I like to add a little bit more of each of the seasonings; please feel free to adjust this according to your taste preferences. For the mushrooms, I prefer oyster mushrooms, but other choices are delicious too – shiitake, crimini, button....

More notes: the recipe author leaves the lemongrass and ginger in the soup and serves it that way. Personally, I just got tired of fishing inedible bits out of every bite of soup and devised the filtering plan outlined above to eliminate the problem. However, leaving them in most likely imparts more flavor to the soup, and faithful reader "Miss Nati" has reported how much she likes eating the ginger. You be the judge!

The Whole Hog: Pork Fried Rice with Leftover Ham

I'm not sure why it took me so many years to learn to make Chinese-style fried rice. Sometimes I allow myself to get into certain habits, where I cook in a certain style, using the same palette of spicing, the same cooking techniques, the same pots and pans, because it gets comfortable and it's easier on my brain.... I'll look at a delicious-sounding recipe in my new cooking magazine and say to myself "deep-frying?" or "squid?" or "a wok?" and turn the page dismissively. I suspect I am not alone in this.

Well, I must report to you that when I finally made fried rice for the first time, it was an immediate, sure-fire, hands-down, perfect-every-time winner. It worked so well that I resisted the urge to just trust that I would remember it the next time; I jotted down the order of steps, the spicing techniques and the quantities. I am very confident that this will be a sure-fire winner for you, too!

On this particular evening, I used some of the leftover ham in coke from Easter. (Ham is a common ingredient in cooking from the Hunan province.) However, this recipe has proven equally tasty with the following different meat choices: odds and ends of leftover pork chops saltimbocca, leftover odds and ends of steak, leftover bits of lamb chops, of roast chicken, of the Thanksgiving turkey... Really, any leftover tidbits of meat or tofu will do; this is an especially useful recipe when there is just too little of some leftover dinner item to serve as a main course. The only adjustment I ever make is to sometimes adjust the spices slightly; I like to toss chicken or turkey with teaspoon or two of Chinese Five Spice powder, for example. (A spice blend which includes star anise; it is available in bulk at Country Cheese or Berkeley Bowl in our fair city, or in well-stocked grocery stores elsewhere.) Otherwise, everything really stays the same.

I do get down the wok for this, but I think a well-seasoned large frying pan would work. There are two key elements in making this recipe; using cooked rice that has had a chance to dry out, and organizing the ingredients in small bowls in order of cooking. Once you start cooking with a hot wok, you have to work quickly; you don't want to stop your momentum to get that next ingredient ready. If the rice is still moist, it can get too mushy during cooking. Cooking the rice the day before or using leftover rice is great, but you can make the rice fresh that day; just be sure to spread it out in a broad bowl or cookie sheet to dry and cool for a couple of hours before you fry it.

Chinese-Style Fried Rice

1 batch of pre-cooked, dried brown rice, at room temperature
(2 cups of raw rice, cooked with 4 cups water)

High smoke-point/high heat cooking oil; peanut or safflower, e.g.
Keep the oil at hand for the wok

In a small bowl:
One knob of fresh ginger, about 1-2", peeled and minced
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 bunch of scallions (green onions) chopped
1/2 - 1 tsp red pepper flakes

1-2 cups leftover meat, cut into 1/4" - 1/2" dice, in a bowl OR
(If chicken or turkey, tossed with 1 - 2 tsp five spice powder) OR
1 cup of spiced, baked tofu, cut into dice

As many eggs as you have people to feed, (at least 2) lightly whisked, in a bowl

2 cups thawed frozen peas

2 TB soy sauce and 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, in a small container

Optional: Hot chile oil

Arrange your ingredients to have readily at-hand; you will not be turning off your burner in-between steps. Turn on your fan, or open your windows, then heat your wok over high heat until it is very hot. Working quickly, pour a TB or so of the oil down the sides of the pan. Then add the ginger, garlic, scallions and pepper flakes. Stir them constantly with your special wok spatula tool. After a few seconds, add the meat. Stir it constantly for several minutes, and when it has browned nicely, remove it and put it back in the bowl it started in.

Pour in another TB or two of oil down the sides of the hot pan, and add the eggs. Using your spatula-tool, spread the eggs up the sides of the pan, cutting the cooked portions and letting the liquid portions onto the hot metal. When the eggs are cooked, remove them from the pan and add them to the meat.

Pour in another 2 TB of the oil, and add the rice. Working constantly, scoop up the portions of the rice which are on the bottom and let the other parts of the rice take their place. Since you are working with a lot of rice, this part will take the longest and require the most physical effort. When the rice is completely hot and beginning to take on a nice glossy appearance, add back in the proteins. Use the side of your spatula to cut the eggs into smaller pieces. Lift, scoop and toss the ingredients to combine well. Now add in the peas; again, toss and lift until all is well-combined and the peas are hot all the way through. Now add in the soy sauce and toasted sesame oil, pouring it all over the surface of the rice mixture. Again, toss and lift to combine thoroughly.

When all is hot, test the seasoning. Does it need a little more soy sauce or a little more spice? Now is the time to add them.

Serve in bowls, to universal applause. (Yes, kids really like this, too.)

Wine: A Riesling or Alsatian white wine, or beer are good matches.

Bon Appetit!

"Drink Me!" Artemesia Cocktail Hour: Ginger Twist

Almost immediately after letting friends know that I had posted my new Grapefruit Margarita recipe, a desperate plea came in from my friend Ginger: "For the love of God, Woman! The future of humanity depends on your designing a new cocktail using the Artemesia Ginger Liqueur - Stat!" At least I think that's how she put it... perhaps the exact wording escapes me.....

Well, with a challenge like that before me, I certainly had no choice - none whatsoever - as to what I'd be doing next. I fell asleep that night thinking about what tastes great with ginger; immediately came the thought - ginger and lemon! And I researched proportions, and sampled and tinkered, and served the results to family and friends. Tirelessly, we all gave it up for the good of humanity. Last night, at last, came the perfection I sought. And here, before you, the results. The Meyer lemon* juice, a common varietal in California backyards, brings a refreshing lemon lift, tempered by its characteristic sweet notes, while the ginger liqueur gives a pleasing, long finish with warmth that you feel all the way down.


Artemesia Ginger Twist

Makes two cocktails

2 1/2 ounces Artemesia Ginger Liqueur
1 1/2 ounces Artemesia Limoncello
1 ounce vodka
1 ounce Meyer Lemon Juice*


Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker, add ice, and shake until it's really cold; I like to count to about "20 Mississippi." Pour, garnish with an optional lemon twist, and enjoy!


*The Meyer lemon is a sweet, thin-skinned California native. Said to be a cross between a tangerine and a lemon, it grows beautifully and prolifically in many a backyard. They are not generally available commercially, and seldom outside of California. Should you not have access, you can ask a California neighbor to share, or a friend to mail some to you. If you need to substitute with another varietal, you may need to adjust the quantity, or add a little sweetener.