The astute observer will notice that this post is somewhat overdue, because the loquats have been done for over a month. However, I just found the little cord that connects the camera to the computer--it has been lost since loquat season.

Loquats, for the record, are not related to kumquats.

This year Austin had a bumper crop of loquats, due to the fact that we had a very mild winter with no hard freezes. Loquats thrive in Austin and are cold hardy enough to sustain our typical winters; however if temperatures drop below the mid 20's, the flowers will freeze and there will be no fruit. (The tree is fine, but only in its ornamental function) What goes hand-in-hand with a bumper loquat crop is a bumper mosquito crop the following summer, but I will not go into that for fear of lapsing into a deep depression. (I fight the nasty bastards as I work in my Drinkable Estate each morning, )

I harvested about ten pounds of loquats from the trees in my yard. I went to Austin Homebrew because my intention was to make loquat wine out of my harvest. However, the week got away from me and I realized that my harvest was starting to spoil. Not wanting to risk wasting the the fruit on the wine project for fear that if the fruit was tainted at all, I wouldn't find out about the spoiling until months later, I decided to feature the loquats in a giant loquat-theme feast. (The wine making equipment is only taking a short rest while I get ready to make Peach wine in the next few weeks)

A feast, especially a Tipsy Texan feast, must of course start with cocktails. First off we made a Loquat Mojito. Anyone who saw our article in the recent Edible Austin might begin to think that I am a one-trick pony with my frequent mojito mixing. This is only partly true. I do often make a seasonal mojito, but when we make it it is a damn sexy drink. The mojito gets a bad rap because it is most often made poorly, sometimes even from the wrong ingredients. Jeffrey Morgenthaler has a long and detailed discussion on this subject at his blog. This discussion includes a lot of talk about why most mojitos suck when you order them in public, which I never do. The recipe he provides is for a classic mojito, which is obviously not what I am making here. As with many other classic cocktails, if you first understand the classic form, you gain the knowledge necessary to experiment following your own inclinations. Morgenthaler insists that only white rums be used; in a classical preparation I concur. But I also have experimented with various other rums that have been aged, and found that they add a nice complexity to the drink. I do, however, only use the aged rum something like a "modifying spirit", to compliment the white rums. You can also experiment with various sugars, and even various mints. Morgenthaler also says that the drink should not be made in a pitcher and only in the glass, when making only a few drinks I agree. But I make them in a pitcher when I have a lot of drinks to make, then pour them into the glasses. I personally don't like the minty bits when there is another fruit present so I strain the drink; I am quite aware that this defies convention.

In this picture of Stephanie grilling the meat, the lamb chops on the top shelf look frighteningly like grilled dachshund.

For dinner we marinated several pounds of lamb chops in a glaze consisting of muddled loquats, jalapenos, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. I brushed this on the meat as we grilled it to a nice rare-medium rare. For the sides we roasted fennel, turnips, leeks, and potatoes, all from the farmers market. We also served a field greens salad drizzled with loquat-cilantro vinaigrette.

For dessert I did Loquats Foster. I prepared it following the traditional Brennan's method, the only real difference being that I sauteed/flambeed loquats and bananas in equal parts. Spooned over Blue Bell Mexican Vanilla ice cream. We served a Loquat Cocktail with dessert. The recipe that I wrote down reads, "loquat juice, lemon juice, Pimms, Treaty Oak rum, simple." It was awesome, but unfortunately in my tipsy haze I forgot to write down the proportions. I guess we'll have to wait til next year to figure it out...