Rhubarb-Mint Tea with Moonshine

I have a bad habit of finding outstanding new recipes at the end of the season. This drink is no exception. Although there's tea in the name, there's no tea in the final drink and I'm okay with that. The sour, sweet, minty drink is perfect for a hot summer day. If you don't like overly sweet drinks, you might consider cutting back on the sugar a bit. The cranberry juice we have is far more sour than the standard ocean spray and I found the drink a bit sweeter than I would like. This takes a bit of work, but makes a full pitcher, so it's worth the time investment. Frozen rhubarb will work in this recipe (or am I the only one who freezes rhubarb to keep the season going for longer?)

Two years ago: Veal Scaloppine with Tomato, Oregano, and Capers
Four years ago: Potato and Bacon Muffins

Rhubarb-Mint Tea with Moonshine (from Smoke & Pickles)
Ingredients
6 cups water
1 cup cranberry juice
2 cups sugar
8 stalks rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2" lengths
1 bunch fresh mint
For each drink
ice cubes
2 ounces moonshine (August says bourbon also works well)
1/2 lime wheel for garnish
1 sprig cilantro for garnish

1. Combine water, cranberry juice, and sugar in a medium pot, bring to boil, and add rhubarb. Turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Turn off heat and let cool for 15 minutes.
3. Reserve a few mint sprigs for garnish. add rest to rhubarb mixture and let steep for 1.5 hours.
4. Strain mixture and let chill in refrigerator.
5. For each drink, fill a Mason jar or glass with ice. Add moonshine and fill glass with rhubarb mixture. Garnish with half lime wheel, sprig of mint, and sprig of cilantro. Serve.

Cucumber Cooler

I may have lost my bartender, but that doesn't mean that creative drinks no longer exist for me. This is a refreshing summery drink.

One year ago: Fig, Prosciutto, and Arugula Salad
Two years ago: Egg and Pancetta Stuffed Tomatoes

Cucumber Cooler (from Saveur's The New Comfort Food)

Ingredients
1 2" piece cucumber, thinly sliced crosswise
1/8 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup crushed ice + more for later
1 1/2 ounce vodka
1/2 ounce simple syrup

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine cucumber slices, thyme, and crushed ice.
2. Using a muddler, crush ingredients until slushy.
3. Add more ice, vodka, and simple syrup. Cover and shake vigorously to combine.
4. Pour into glass and serve.

Warm Spiced Limeade

It seemed only appropriate to pair an Indonesian drink with an evening of Indonesian and Malaysian food. The drink can be served hot or cold, with alcohol or without.

One year ago: Five-Spice Beef Stir-Fry
Two years ago: Eggs en Cocotte with Pesto

Warm Spiced Limeade (from Cradle of Flavor)

Ingredients
3 lemongrass stalks, tied into a knot
2 pieces cinnamon sticks
3 whole cloves
1 2" piece ginger, peeled and bruised
4 1/2 cups water
5 tbsp palm sugar (or dark brown)
3 tbsp lime juice
mint and ice if desired

1. Combine lemongrass, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Reduce to medium, cover partially, and allow to simmer until fragrant, 7 minutes.
2. Add 4 tbsp of sugar and stir until dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add 3 tbsp of lime juice. Adjust as desired with lime juice and sugar.
3. Remove and discard seasonings, divide among 3 cups, and serve.

Poinsettia Cocktail

I usually leave the drink-making to the boy, but I stumbled across this while looking for holiday-themed drinks and decided it would be the perfect way to start the evening off. It's light and refreshing, but appropriately festive.

Poisettia Cocktail (from Chatelaine, originally Nigella Lawson)

Ingredients
750-mL bottle Prosecco or other fizzy dry wine, chilled
1/2 cup (125 mL) Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec, chilled
2 cups (500 mL) cranberry juice, chilled

1. Mix the Prosecco or other fizzy wine with the Cointreau (or Grand Marnier or Triple Sec) and cranberry juice in a large pitcher.
2. Pour into wineglasses or champagne flutes.

Bourbon Lemonade with Maple Syrup

I've had this at two different parties now since seeing it on Smitten Kitchen. The recipe below is doubled to make a full pitcher. This recipe also works well with Jack Daniels if you want to pass on the more expensive bourbon.

Bourbon Lemonade with Maple Syrup (from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients
2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (14 - 16 lemons)
5 cups cold water, plus additional if needed
1 cup maple syrup
Bourbon (or Jack)
Lots of ice

1. Mix lemon juice with 5 cups water and 1 cup maple syrup.
2. Fill a glass with ice. Pour 1 to 1 1/2 shots of bourbon over the ice and fill the glass the rest of the way with maple lemonade.

Raspberry Limeade Slushies

What kind of cruel person posts a delicious looking raspberry limeade slushy recipe after raspberry season is over? I decided I couldn't wait for raspberry season to come back and bought some frozen raspberries (and also used bottled lime juice ... cheating I know!). This drink tastes like summer ... even if summer very sadly seems to have abandoned us this weekend. With non-fresh ingredients, it will also be possible to recreate this in the dead of winter to channel summer ... although ice-cold drinks will likely seem less appetizing then! This makes a full pitcher, so if you want to keep the slushiness, make sure to make it for friends, otherwise you'll need to scale down!

Raspberry Limeade Slushies (from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (or bottled)
1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup water
4 cups ice
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup soda water

1. In a blender, blend the lime juice, raspberries, water, ice and sugar until slushy.
2. Pour into glasses.
3. Top off with about 1/4 cup soda water in each glass.

Watermelon Cooler

I saw a picture of this recipe on foodgawker and thought it looked refreshing and delicious, but when was I going to have watermelon on hand? Then while at the Val-Mont buying raspberries and blueberries, I noticed a large container of watermelon on sale for $1.50. I took it as a sign from the universe that I needed to try the recipe given that I had leftover vodka sitting in my freezer (little did I know it also called for triple sec that I also had leftover from the margaritas we made for one of the many Tex-Mex gatherings).

I have no idea what the weight was on the watermelon I bought (I thought it was close to 3lbs, but who knows), but the alcohol seemed like a bit much, so I cut it in half. Original is included below for people who like a stronger drink.

Watermelon Cooler (from Dine and Dish)

Ingredients
3 lbs watermelon, rind and seeds discarded and the flesh cut into pieces
1/2 cup vodka
1/4 cup Triple Sec
3 tbsps fresh lime juice

1. In a blender purée the watermelon pieces and strain the purée through a very fine sieve set over a pitcher, discarding the solids. (There should be about 2-1/3 cups juice).
2. Stir in the vodka, the Triple Sec, and the lime juice, pour the cooler into long-stemmed glasses filled with ice cubes.

Raspberry Lemonade

What to do when you find cheap raspberries and lemons and don't feel like baking?  Make lemonade of course.  A drink that tastes like summer even when it doesn't feel like summer outside!

Raspberry Lemonade (from My Baking Addiction)

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
 ¾ cup raspberries; pureed and pushed through a fine mesh sieve; plus more whole berries for garnish if desired
1 cup fresh lemon juice
water



1. Make a simple syrup by combining the sugar with 1 cup of water in a saucepan. Place over medium heat and heat until the sugar in completely dissolved; swirl the pan occasionally. Let cool.
2. Measure 3/4 cup of fresh raspberries and puree them in your blender or food processor.  (I just used 1 6 oz package of raspberries, it worked out to roughly 3/4 cup.)
3. Push the raspberry puree through a fine mesh sieve to separate the seeds from the pulp.
4. Once the simple syrup has cooled, combine the raspberry puree, simple syrup and lemon juice in a large pitcher.
5. Add 4-6 cups of cold water. The amount of water you use will depend on your taste, so add as little or as much as you want to achieve your perfect sweet/tart balance.

Tex-Mex Comfort Food

I didn't get much cooking done over the weekend because I had a friend in town.  Instead of cooking, we explored the deliciousness that is Montreal ... poutine, brunch, chocolate shops, ice cream, baguette and cheese, and croissants.  On his last night here though, I had to prove to him that I could cook, so I made a Tex-Mex feast and had a few friends over.  I changed a few of my recipes to be vegetarian for the vegetarian guests (unfortunately I'd forgotten to see if I still had vegetable broth and the grocery store was closed for Easter, so I had to use water instead!) ... cheese enchiladas with chili gravy and Mexican rice.  I also made enchiladas with tomatillo sauce so I could put those head to head with the chili gravy ... the tomatillo sauce won.

I tried some new recipes for the night too which are included below.  For the beans, I left out the salt pork and bacon because I wanted to be vegetarian friendly.  I think it would've enhanced the flavour quite a bit though, so I'm including the original recipe below.  For the queso, I got distracted mid-way through cooking when my first guest arrived (whoops!).  It nearly ruined the queso, but luckily my guest saved it.  I'm including the vegetarian version below, but it would also be excellent with the chorizo.  Finally, I borrowed a friend's margarita recipe.  Yes, beer is odd to put in a margarita, but you won't taste it.  I was unable to find limeade here, so I used frozen lemonade ... it was perfect.

Note: If you end up with some leftover beans, they make a great brunch.  Fry up some bacon, simmer some beans with it, and top with poached eggs.  I'm sure you could add a little cheese to it as well for even more flavour.

 Frijoles a la charra (from Homesick Texan)

Ingredients
1 pound of pinto beans (2 cups)
1/4 tablespoons of minced garlic (3 large cloves)
1 cup diced onion (1/2 of a medium-sized onion)
1/4 cup of jalapeno juice (from canned jalapenos)
1/4 pound of salt pork (I find this near the bacon at my grocery store)
Salt to taste

4 slices of bacon, chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes or one 14 oz. canned, diced tomatoes with sauce
3 jalapenos, chopped
2 chipotles in adobo, chopped
1 cup of chopped cilantro

Method:
1. Rinse and sort your beans
2. First soak the beans. You can either cover the beans with one inch of water and soak overnight or bring water to a boil, remove from heat and cover for one hour.
3. Drain the beans and cover with seven cups of fresh water.
4. Add to the pot the garlic, onion, jalapeno juice and salt pork.
5. Bring pot to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to a simmer, stir occasionally.
6. After about an hour, beans should be tender enough to eat (depending on the freshness of the beans). If not tender enough, continue cooking, checking on the beans every 15 minutes until desired texture.
7. Remove salt pork.
8. Cook bacon in a skillet until crisp.
9. Add tomatoes, jalapenos, chipotles and cilantro to the skillet, and cook on medium for 10 minutes.
10. Let tomato-bacon mixture cool, add one cup of bean juice (or water) and then puree.
11. Stir puree into beans and let simmer together for 20 minutes.

Chile Con Queso (from Homesick Texan)

Ingredients
1/4 cup diced onion diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 Serrano peppers diced
1 jalapeno peppers diced
1 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoons of flour
1/2 cup of milk
3 cups of shredded cheese, can use any combination of Longhorn cheddar and Monterrey Jack
1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
1 plum tomatoes, peeled and diced (about 1/2 cup, can use canned if tomatoes aren’t in season)
1/4 cup of sour cream
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium-low heat, and then cook the onions and peppers for about five minutes or until onions are translucent.
2. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
3. Whisk the flour into the butter, vegetable mix and cook for about 30 seconds.
4. Add the milk to the pot, and cook on medium, whisking constantly until sauce is thick, about five minutes. Stir in the cilantro and tomatoes.
5. Turn heat down to low, and a 1/4-cup at a time, slowly add the shredded cheese stirring into the white sauce until completely melted. Repeat.
6. Stir in the sour cream.
7. Add salt to taste.
Notes: You can vary which chiles you use to control how hot you want the queso to be. Also, if the sauce is too thick, feel free to add a bit more milk a tablespoon at a time. The key, however, to a smooth sauce is adding the cheese very slowly and not adding any more cheese until the previous addition is completely integrated into the sauce.

Gary's Frozen Margaritas

Ingredients

1 shot Grand Marnier or Cointreau (I used Cointreau) 

3 shots tequila

1/3 of a beer (Corona is great)

1 can of frozen lemonade

1/2 lime, juiced

ice

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender.  Fill with ice mostly to the top.  Blend.  If it's too liquidy, add more ice.  If it's too icy, add some water.  Enjoy!

The Oscars are just another excuse to bake!

I don't normally pay much attention to the Oscars.  Sometimes I manage to have it on in the background, but actually paying attention to it?  I can't remember the last time that happened ... until this year.  This year, I decided it was the perfect excuse to have people over for dessert and managed to watch all of the Oscars!

We ended up with quite a spread ... cheese, more cheese, hummus:

 

See the thing that looks like orange juice?  That's a mango margarita.  Before Christmas, one of my friends suggested everyone bring back an alcoholic beverage from the holidays that is typical of their home.  We're a fairly diverse group, so it seemed like a great idea.  I thought about bringing back some Lone Star, but really when I think of Texas and alcohol, I think of frozen margaritas.  The international liquor party hasn't happened yet though and I'd gotten impatient to try the mango margarita recipe I found ... so I decided the timing was right for mango-y goodness.

After the cheese, came the chocolate.  One person made the chocolate souffle cupcakes again (and did a better job with the cream than me!).  Someone else brought some delicious chocolate and cream cheese cupcakes:

 

But what was I going to make?  I'd been on a lemon streak the week before and felt a little burnt out on citrus (it might've had something to do with making a batch of lemon curd, not being entirely happy with it, so not sharing it, and then finishing it all myself!).  I also wanted to make something that wasn't easily transportable, because isn't that one of the benefits of hosting a party?  I thought about the cappuccino fudge cheesecake that I've wanted to taste for the past three months, but it seemed a little too involved for a weekend where the weather is so perfect all you want to do is spend time outdoors!  Finally, I settled on mint lava cakes from a new blog that I think may soon become a favourite.  Success!

Chuy's Mango Margaritas (from Robb Walsh's The Tex-Mex Cookbook)
Note: This cookbook is amazing for giving some background on the glories of Tex-Mex cooking and the fact that this recipe is associated with one of my favourite Austin places for gigantic burritos and queso just makes me incredibly happy ... although Baby A's does have slightly better margaritas IMO!  This recipe makes 2 margaritas according to the notes ... scale up!

Ingredients
2 shots silver tequila
1 shot Cointreau
1/4 fresh mango, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
juice of 1/2 lime
1 cup crushed ice

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until slushy.

 

Chocolate Mint Lava Cakes (from Desserts for Breakfast)

Note: The original recipe says it makes 36 cupcakes.  I cut it in half and used it to make 8 lava cakes in souffle dishes.  I probably would've been better off making 6 as the cakes were a little short!  For the peppermint ganache, I thought about scaling in half, but then decided I might as well use up the dark chocolate so ended up scaling to 3/4.  I had a little ganache leftover ... not necessarily a bad thing!  The original recipe is included below.

2 cup sugar

2 cup flour
1 cup cocoa
1 tspn salt
2 tspn baking powder
2 tspn baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup veggie oil
1 cup milk
1 cup boiling water (I substituted some freshly brewed espresso)
peppermint dark chocolate ganache (recipe below)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a mixer bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Combine thoroughly.
3. In a separate bowl, beat eggs.  Add veggie oil and milk.  Mix to combine.
4. Add the eggs, oil, and milk to the dry ingredients, beating to combine thoroughly.
5. Add boiling water or coffee/espresso.  Combine thoroughly.
6. Fill the souffle dishes 1/2 full.  Place a tbsp or so of peppermint ganache in the middle of the batter.  Cover the ganache with a tiny bit more of batter.  Be careful not to overfill the molds, as they will overflow.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes until done.  (The toothpick test probably doesn't work here, since the insides are filled with chocolate ganache.  Use your sense of smell, your intuition, and make sure the cakes aren't jiggly before you pull them out!)

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Ganache (the original calls for peppermint schnapps and candy canes ... I skipped these)

8 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tbpsn butter

1 tbsp peppermint extract

1. Place chopped dark chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl.  Set aside.

2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine cream and butter.  Stir and bring to just barely a boil.

3. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and pour over the prepared dark chocolate.  Allow to sit for two to three minutes, then stir until the chocolate melts into the cream.

4. Stir in the peppermint extract.

5. Allow the ganache to set in the fridge overnight before use.  (I was running behind and stuck it in the freezer for a while to harden.  If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have cooled it to let it harden as it made it a little too difficult to scoop into the souffle dishes!).