Drink and a nosh: Rhubarb gin and tonic, smoked fish horseradish dill dip

I was looking for more ways to preserve rhubarb for a lingering taste of spring. This puts a splash of spring flavor in a summer drink.

Rhubarb gin and tonic

From “True North Cabin Cookbook” by Stephanie Hansen. This book very much transports you to whatever location you usually call The Lake, whether it's for one week a year, like us, or a family dwelling that seemingly has a built-in homing device, like hers. It has as much of a sense of place as any cookbook that specializes in the cuisine of a particular region. I smell pine and hear loons. 

(The first time we ever heard a loon call was when we were novice campers trying out our cook stove for the first time at Mille Lacs Kathio long before we even moved to Minnesota. It was pouring rain and we seemed to be the only foolhardy campers around, but yet we heard laughter at our inept attempts at lighting the stove, and we really did not appreciate it. Never actually saw that loon. Maybe it was smart enough to be out of the rain.)

Ingredients

2 ounces gin
2 tablespoons rhubarb syrup
Tonic water
Ice

Method

Fill a glass with ice. Add gin, rhubarb syrup and fill with tonic water.

Rhubarb syrup

4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Method

Combine rhubarb, sugar and water in a heavy large pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until fruit is soft. Press through a strainer. (The recipe suggests saving the solids for use as a bread spread; it makes a subtle but nice jam on toast.) Chill before using. Makes just shy of 2 cups, so enough for weekend houseguest levels or a small dinner party.

Rating: While technically I didn't need to be in the market for another rhubarb drink, given that the rhubarb martini batch cocktail is heavenly, it's always good to branch out. I was worried this one might be too sweetish, but it actually has some tartness to it. Just really refreshing, and pink! Would definitely not mind pulling that out of the cooler at the cabin. A perfectly viable use of rhubarb that will last past the pick-by-July-4th dictum. Well, if you don't share with others, in which case it won't last that long.

To pair with it, I opted to make another recipe from the same book, both being things that seem northish. Plus we'd brought back a couple kinds of smoked fish from the Fisherman's Daughter on a recent trip north.

Smoked whitefish spread

From “True North Cabin Cookbook"  by Stephanie Hansen

Ingredients

8 ounces smoked whitefish or smoked lake trout (or salmon), skin and bones removed
½ cup cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon minced red onion
1 tablespoon chopped dill
Juice of ½ lemon
Chopped green onions or chives for garnish

Method

Combine smoked fish, cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt, horseradish, mustard, dill and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well mixed. Garnish with green onions or chives.

Rating: Fine. Slightly better the next day after the flavors had time to meld. It's pretty mild. If I make it again I might up the horseradish quotient a tad, or more onion, something to kick up the flavor quotient a bit. But if you make it as is, it's perfectly serviceable and won't offend any timid tasters. Would be easy to make in advance for toting to a cabin in the cooler.

To play along: Wesley Stace's "Late Style," a good backgrounder if you're up North looking at a lake view through the lens of relaxation. We saw him open for Loudon Wainwright III on a recent tour and enjoyed it quite a bit.