Dark & Stormy

Do you ever go out for dinner, have a drink and wonder what was in it? Well I had that experience recently at Toro Bravo, a local Tapas Restaurant. I had a drink called the Dark and Stormy, and yes I ordered it just because of the name! I was surprised with the simplicity of ingredients and the wonderful full flavors that drink has to offer. I had a couple friends over and decided to make this as our featured cocktail. It's refreshing and perfect for a hot summer afternoon!
In reading recipes there is quite a debate on wether to use lime or not, I went ahead and put it in, as I always love the bright citris flavor it adds. Also, it is said that you must use Goslings Black Seal Rum and Ginger Beer, no othere substite will do. I personally think any high quality dark rum would be just fine. I could only find ginger beer at Whole Foods and New Seasons, my regular grocer only sold ginger ale, which is much different. Cheers!

Dark & Stormy

2 Ounces Goslings Black Seal Rum
1 12 Ounce Bottle Ginger Beer
Ice
Lemon

Fill a large tumbler with ice, add rum and ginger beer, stir. Add lemon as garnish, if desired.

Manhattan & My New Tattoo

I don’t usually like whiskey, but if it’s sweetened up and ice cold, it’s pretty darn good. My friend Greg discovered the most delicious cherries when he was at the Secret Society (if you haven’t been there you need to try it out!) The brand is Luxardo, they are a bit expensive, $15 per jar, but well worth it. The Cherries are packed in a thick almost molasses-type flavored syrup. Also, go for the good vermouth, it really makes the difference in a good cocktail.

Manhattan

3 Ounces Whiskey
2 Ounces Sweet Vermouth
Few Shakes of Bitters
Luxardo Cherries

Drizzle a martini glass with a bit of the Luxardo cherry syrup. In a shaker full of ice, add the whiskey, vermouth, and bitters, shake until well chilled. Pour into martini glass and garnish with a few cherries. Cheers!

Now for the tattoo…I totally got called out by an “anonymous” commenter from my last post (although I think I know who you are). I just got this a few weeks ago, and wanted it to heal before I posted it. It’s a French whisk on my left forearm. LOL, leave it to a foodie to get a whisk tattoo!

White Wine Sangria

I have been so excited about the sunshine and warm weather the last few days I thought it was time to make a batch of sangria. I usually make a red wine sangria, but felt like that might be a bit heavy yesterday so I switched it up a bit and made it white. I love the combination of citrus with pineapple and peaches and this was my inspiration for this recipe. You can really use any combination of fruit that you like, and berries are always a welcome addition. I like my sangria pretty sweet, but if you like yours a little more tart, then cut back on the amount of sugar. The overall flavor of this recipe is peach/apricot but it could be easily changed to pineapple if you just use pineapple juice in the place of the apricot nectar. In other words, you really can’t go wrong here, just add and taste and adjust to your liking. I know it’s cloudy again today, but if you make a pitcher of this and sit on the couch with a good book and blanket it just might feel like summer!

White Wine Sangria

2 Lemons
2 Limes
1 Orange
1 Red Apple
28-Ounce Can Sliced Peaches in Syrup
28-Ounce Can Pineapple Chunks in Syrup
½ Cup Sugar
12-Ounce Can Apricot Nectar
1.5 Litre Bottle Chablis White Wine, use the cheap stuff here!
12-Ounce Can 7up
1 Bottle Champagne

Cut the lemons, limes, orange, and apple into thin slices and place in a large container. Next add the peaches and pineapple with the syrup. Add the sugar, apricot nectar, and white wine, stir until sugar is dissolved and taste for sweetness, adjust to taste. Just before serving add the 7up and champagne and serve chilled, you may need a few ice cubes! This recipe is pretty large and will be enough for 6-8 people. Cheers!

Bloody Mary Mix

If you know me well, you know that I can’t resist a really good bloody mary! My friend Greg makes the most delicious bloody mary mix I’ve ever had. I have asked him for the recipe many, many times and he just rambles off a large list of ingredients with no quantities whatsoever. I was lucky enough over new years to actually whiteness the making of the mix, and immediately started writing down quantities as he was adding them to the tomato juice. It’s a lot of ingredients, but it has a wonderful depth of flavor and is truly the best mix I’ve ever had. I drink the mix in the morning sometimes for breakfast, and to be honest, I never miss the vodka when it tastes this good. If you need a little hangover cure, then throw in some vodka, add a couple celery stalks, pickled asparagus, and olives.

Greg’s Bloody Mary Mix

1 Large Bottle Tomato Juice (46 Ounces)
1 Tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 Tablespoon Celery Salt
1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1 Teaspoon Paprika
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
5 Ounces A1 Steak Sauce
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Olive Juice
1 Tablespoon Pickle Juice
1 Teaspoon Grated Horseradish, or more to taste (don't use creamed style)
Few Dashes Tabasco

Mix all in a large pitcher and enjoy!

Lychee Martini

I absolutely love the flavor of lychee, it's so unusual and indescribable I'm not even going to try. It's a fruit native to China, and has a very short season as a fresh fruit in the US, about 7 weeks to be exact. I have only been able to find fresh lychee's at the Asian super marked during the later part of summer.

For this cocktail I had to resort to a canned lychee, and used the syrup as part of the flavoring. It's light, refreshing, and in-between citrus and peachy in flavor. You must use a very high quality vodka in this drink, as the lychee has a very light flavor, and anything less than top shelf would definitely overwhelm the delicate, delicious flavor of the lychee.

Lychee Martini

3 Ounces Good Vodka

3 Ounces Lychee Juice (from the can)

Lychee, for garnish

Shake the vodka and lychee juice in a cocktail shaker full of ice until very cold, strain into a martinin glass, garnish with lychee's and serve immediately.

Irish Cream

My co-worker Val makes the best homemade Irish Cream and there is nothing better than having a splash of it in your coffee in the morning on your day off. This recipe is really easy to make and is a great gift to give. It’s quick recipe and makes about 1 liter. I also like to drink it over ice on its own for an after dinner treat. Cheers!

Irish Cream

1 ¾ Cups Brandy
1 Can Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Cup Fat Free Half & Half
1 Cup Egg Beaters
2 Tablespoons Hershey’s Syrup
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 Teaspoons Instant Coffee
½ Teaspoon Almond Extract

Mix all ingredients together with a whisk and store in an air tight container for up to two weeks.

Mango Margarita

I was trying to think of the perfect drink to complement my Indian dinner last week and immediately thought of the fantastic mango margarita’s I have had at Indian restaurants. I have tried many mango margarita mixes and was always disappointed because they are too sugary, so decided to experiment with my own recipe. I really enjoyed this concoction because it’s not super sweet, and it really tastes like fresh mangos. This will definitely be a staple for summer!

Mango Margaritas

1 Mango, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
12 Ounces Margarita Mix
6 Ounces Tequila

Muddle mango until completely smooth (I cheated and used my mini food processor). Add mango pulp, margarita mix and tequila to shaker with ice and shake until cold. Strain into 2 glasses full of ice and serve with lime wedges.

Peach Bellini

I love peaches and I love champagne, and combining the two makes the perfect drink. I think I could drink this for breakfast every day if possible, but probably not the best idea. If you don’t have peach schnapps on hand you can substitute simple syrup.
I also bought these mailing labels at the office supply store and they are the perfect name tag for glasses at dinner parties, as they are inexpensive and a bit different than the usual wine charms.

Peach Bellini

3 Peaches, skinned and cut into quarters (or 2 cups frozen peaches, thawed)
1 Cup Peach Schnapps
Prosecco

Puree peaches with peach schnapps in blender or food processor and process until smooth. Pour mixture through fine mesh sieve and refrigerate. Pour about 2 ounces of peach mixture into champagne glass and top off with champagne.

Mulled Red Wine

This is my favorite winter drink and it seems I always have some in the fridge to heat up in case of emergency. I made this a couple days ago and now all I want to do is drink, not a good idea. It was so stinking cold yesterday that I did have a nice big mug of this with lunch, I made a yummy beef stew, but I will post that later, and by the time lunch was over I was nice and warm and in such a better mood.

Mulled Red Wine

1 Large Bottle Carlo Rossi Burgundy Wine 4 Litre (I know, high class here)
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
4 Cinnamon Sticks-broken into pieces
¼ Cup Whole Cloves
2 Tablespoons Whole Allspice Berries
1 Cup Raisins-Chopped
1 Cup Water

Add all ingredients except the wine to a large stock pot, bring to a boil and continue to boil for 10 minutes, should be very fragrant.
Add the wine and bring cook until very hot, but not boiling, serve and enjoy. You can add a splash of brandy if you need a little extra kick. Also, if you have leftovers, which you probably will considering this makes a gallon of wine, strain out the spices and you can re-use the jug the wine originally came in. This is also very good served cold.

Balthazar French Martini

I discovered this recipe on the Williams Sonoma website and had to immediately run to the liquor store and buy the ingredients. I just may become an alcoholic with this drink, it’s so fabulous! I will be in New York in October and can’t wait to go Balthazar’s for dinner and see if their version of this tasty drink is the same.

Balthazar French Martini

1 Ounce Chilled Vodka
1 Ounce Pineapple Juice
1/3 Chambord
Ice Cubes

In a cocktail shaker, combine the vodka, pineapple juice, Chambord and ice cubes. Shake vigorously to produce a frothy head and strain into a chilled martini glass. Serve straight up. Makes 1 martini.

Turkish Coffee

I absolutely love coffee, when I came across Turkish coffee at my friends house, I immediately went out and bought and ibrik so I could make it at home. I think I will be buzzed all day from the caffeine!

Turkish Coffee

Fill your ibrik with cold water until it reaches the neck of the ibrik. Add 3 heaping teaspoons of Turkish ground coffee and 2 heaping teaspoons of sugar, do not stir.Heat over a medium flame and watch very closely. After a few minutes the coffee will begin to foam, when the foam reaches the top of the ibrik, immediately remove from the stove and then stir.Place back over flame and let foam again until it reaches the top, remove and stir. Repeat one more time.Scoop a spoonful of foam into each demitasse glass and then pour in your coffee. Let stand for a minute before drinking so the coffee grounds settle to the bottom of the glass.

I bought my ibrik at http://www.natashascafe.com/