Category: Beverage

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Watermelon Mojito

Recipe from “Fiesta at Rick’s” cookbook
Servings: 8 12-ounce drinks

Ingredients

  • 8 large sprigs fresh mint
  • 4 cups cubed seedless watermelon—3/4-inch cubes are perfect here
  • 1/2 cup Simple Syrup
  • Ice cubes (you’ll need about 2 quarts)
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • Sparkling water or club soda
  • * 2 cups rum

* I used cachaca b/c I thought it was rum that was made with sugar instead of molasses. Turns out I was a little off. It’s a little more like tequila. I made it luight b/c of the worry.

The major difference between cachaça and rum is that rum is usually made from molasses, a by-product from refineries that boil the cane juice to extract as much sugar crystal as possible, while cachaça is made from fresh sugarcane juice that is fermented and distilled.

The chunks of watermelon were off putting. The flavor was good. Next time I’ll probably blend the watermelon and just middle the mint

Instructions

Set out 8 tall 12-ounce glasses. Into each glass strip off the leaves from a single sprig of mint—you’ll need about 10 leaves for each drink—and top with 1/2 cup watermelon cubes. Divide the Simple Syrup among the glasses (1 tablespoon – 1/2 ounce per glass). Use a muddler (or the handle of a wooden spoon or a long-handle ice tea spoon—though neither is anywhere near as effective) to crush the mint and watermelon, releasing their flavor into the syrup—the more muddling, the fuller the flavors. Fill each glass with ice. Measure in the rum (1/4 cup – 2 ounces per glass) and the lime juice (1 tablespoon – 1/2 ounce per glass). Use a long-handle ice tea spoon to mix everything together. Top off each glass with a little sparkling water or soda and you’re ready to serve.

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Pineapple and sage martini

1 large pineapple, unpeeled, leaves trimmed and discarded (1.4kg)
4 cardamom pods, roughly crushed by hand or in a pestle and mortar

20 sage leaves, plus 2 extra to serve
1 x 700ml bottle of Tanqueray London dry gin
25ml lemon juice
20ml clove syrup (see below)

Clove syrup (This is a ton more than is needed)
250g caster sugar
4 whole cloves

You’ll make more of the pineapple purée than you need, so you can either freeze the remainder in batches, to be re-used when needed, or eat it as a delicious purée, swirled into semi-whipped cream or spooned on top of some plain yoghurt for breakfast. The remaining clove syrup can be kept in the fridge for a few weeks or frozen for longer.

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6.

2 Wrap the pineapple in tin foil and roast in the oven for 3 hours. Remove and set aside to cool. Peel the pineapple and cut it, lengthways, into 4 wedges. Cut out and discard the core, then place the flesh in a blender. Blitz to form a purée and set aside.

3 Add the crushed cardamom pods and sage leaves to the bottle of gin and set aside for at least 3 hours, swirling the bottle from time to time. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, discard the cardamom and sage and return the gin to the bottle.

4 To make the clove syrup, place the sugar in a medium saucepan with 250ml of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low. Add the cloves and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Lift out and discard the cloves, then set the syrup aside until completely cool.

5 Pour 100ml of gin into a mixing glass with 50ml of the pineapple purée, the lemon juice and 20ml of the clove syrup. Add ice, shake vigorously for 10 –15 seconds, and strain into pre-chilled martini glasses. Garnish each with a fresh sage leaf and serve at once.

Posted on » by Dino » Theme:

Turkish Coffee

turkish coffee foam

Notes

Many instructions on how to make Turkish coffee use the term “boil,” however those who have properly prepared it would never use this term. Unfortunately the instructions I followed not only used the term, but had me boil the coffee 3 separate times. This caused the lovely foam to evaporate and die. YOU BASTARDS!

If someone serves you Turkish coffee without foam, throw it in their face.

Ideally, Turkish coffee will have a layer of foam on top as pictured above. If desired, sugar is added at the brewing stage as stirring the coffee would break down the foam layer. Also, Turkish coffee is to be served in demitasse cups, not mugs. I obviously had no idea what I was doing.

When it comes to Turkish coffee, if someone had said it was my ‘first rodeo’ they’d have spoken a double entendre. What I prepared was more Cowboy Coffee than actual Turkish coffee. Here is a better-researched version of of how to prepare Turkish coffee.

Equipment

  • Ibrik/Cezve (Turkish coffee pot) or a small saucepan
  • A metal spoon
  • Demitasse cups
  • Thermometer (optional)

Ingredients

Serves 2

  • 6 oz cold water
  • 1 Tbsp extra-fine (powder consistency) ground Arabic coffee
    (finest burr grinder setting, or ask for Turkish grind at your grocery store or roaster)
  • 1 tsp sugar (optional)
  • 1/8 tspn ground cardamom, or 1-2 cardamom pods (optional)

Directions

  • Add water (and sugar) to the pot and heat on medium high, but do not boil; if using sugar, the water is ready once the sugar has melted
  • Remove from heat, add coffee but do not stir– allow grounds to float on top
  • Return pan to burner set to medium-low (temperature should never exceed 158°F)
  • When the grounds sink, stir several times; eventually a foam will form on top
  • When the foam begins to rise (will look like a boil-over), remove from heat
  • After it has completely settled down, return pan to burner
  • When the foam returns, keep it foaming for as long as possible. Once a second rise/boil-over occurs, remove from heat
  • First, pour some coffee fairly quickly into demitasse cups; then do a second, slower pour, allowing an equal amount of foam to transfer to each cup. Do not stir (sugar should be added at brewing step) as this would break down the foam
  • Allow ~30 seconds for the grinds to settle before consuming