Category Archives: Cocktails

Appetizer / Budget-Friendly Weekend Fun / Cocktails / Drinks / Gluten-Free / Happy Hour / Pescatarian / Savory / Snack / Vegan / Vegetarian

Two Recipes for Summer

May 24, 2018

I realize that these recipes would have been much better suited closer to Cinqo de Mayo, but here we are. I have no issues indulging in margaritas and chips+salsa year-round, so I’m not about to hold onto these until next year so they can be posted at an “appropriate” time.

Appropriate schmrappropriate. Let’s all just live our lives, shall we? I did actually make this cocktail for the first time over Cinqo de Mayo weekend. There’s a Cali-Mex restaurant near us that has the best (let’s use that term loosely) Mexican food round these parts, but what I really come back for over and over again is this one cocktail — the Rosarito. It’s basically just a spicy margarita, so given that I figured it couldn’t be too hard to make, I decided to recreate it. If you like a margarita, this version with a little kick might be right up your alley:

The Rosarito
makes one large or two small cocktails

  • 1 hot pepper, sliced into coins
  • 1/2  oz agave syrup
  • 1/2 oz orange liquer
  • 3 oz tequila
  • 2 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • ice
  • salt for rim (optional)
  1. Optional: sprinkle salt onto a plate, rub lime wedge across the rim of your glass, then dip into salt to create salted rim.
  2. Place 2-3 pepper coins into cocktail shaker with agave syrup. Muddle together with a wooden spoon or muddler (the more you muddle, the spicier it gets).
  3. Add orange liquer, tequila, lime juice and ice. Shake until very cold (at least 60 shakes). Strain into glass over ice. Garnish with lime wedge and/or additional pepper coins.

Notes: I have tried this with multiple types of hot peppers now. Jalapeños worked fine but were not my favorite, flavor-wise. My preferred peppers for this are Thai red chilis (also called Bird’s eye chilis). They have a solid kick to them, so keep that in mind while you’re muddling (it doesn’t take much to make this drink spicy!) I haven’t tried habanero chilis yet because I’m not a complete masochist.

In case you’re wondering why there’s a picture of a cheese board above this recipe, it’s because I realized I don’t have a picture of my finished salsa, aside from that picture above where it is very much not the star. Oh well, you guys know what salsa looks like, right?

Chipotle Roasted Salsa
makes a large cereal-sized bowl

  • 200g / 1/2(ish) lb tomatoes, quartered
  • Large handful mild peppers
  • 2 small to medium white onions, peeled and quartered
  • 4 cloves garlic, whole, peeled
  • 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo (2 makes it spicy!)
  • cilantro
  • fresh lime juice
  1. Preheat oven to 425°f / 220°c
  2. Toss tomatoes, mild peppers, onions, and garlic in olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread onto a sheet pan and roast for 20-25 minutes, until just a little charred.
  3. Add roasted veggies and their juice to a food processor fitted with a steel blade, along with chipotle peppers, and blend together. Add cilantro and pulse to combine.
  4. Add lime juice and additional salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: I usually use 5-6 Roma or vine tomatoes, but any ripe tomatoes will work here. I use Padrón peppers for the mild pepper because that’s what is available here. Anaheim chiles, shishito peppers, or poblanos would all work. Bell peppers would do fine in a pinch, but don’t overdo it or your salsa will be overly sweet/mild. If you don’t have or can’t find chipotle peppers in adobo, add a few hot peppers to the mix before roasting (jalapenos, thai chilis, or habaneros if you dare) — remove ribs and seeds to lessen the heat.

Cocktails / Dairy-Free / Drinks / Gluten-Free / Happy Hour / Sweet / Vegan / Vegetarian

Bourbon Blackberry Smash Cocktail

August 6, 2014

Bourbon Blackberry Smash Cocktail

Given that it’s the middle of the week, I thought a cocktail post might be in order.  Sometimes a Wednesday night calls for this sort of thing, y’know?

This cocktail is a summery twist on the classic whiskey-ginger, and is perfect for mid-week drinking (given that it takes almost zero effort and brain cells in order to make.)  The recipe is also highly adaptable, so feel free to sub in a different berry and/or herb if you feel like it.

Bourbon Blackberry Smash

makes one cocktail

  • Bourbon
  • 2 large, ripe blackberries
  • 4 mint leaves, torn
  • Ginger beer
  • Ice
  1. In a rocks or double old-fashioned glass, muddle together the blackberries and mint leaves.
  2. Add 1.5 ounces bourbon.
  3. Fill glass with ice and top with ginger beer.

Notes and Modifications:

  1. I used Woodford Reserve, but feel free to use any whiskey or bourbon you like here.
  2. Cherries or blueberries would be a nice alternative to the blackberries, if you’ve got them on hand.  If your berries are more on the tart side, add a little sugar during the muddling step.
  3. Feel free to try basil in place of the mint.
  4. I used Cock & Bull ginger beer.  If you find the cocktail too sweet (as different types of ginger beer will add different amounts of sweetness) add a squeeze of lime.

I mean, it’s pretty much rocket science, right?  Maybe I’ll recreate this around the holidays with cooked cranberries and rosemary.  I think that might be quite a treat!

Cocktails / Drinks

Cocktails for a Crowd

July 16, 2014

If you know me personally, or if you’ve been reading my blog for a bit, you’ll know that I love cocktails.  I mean, I DIY-ed a bar cart, so I don’t think I need to tell you about my commitment to liquor.

I love fancy drinks, and think that homemade cocktails are an awesome way to show someone that you care about them.  My one gripe about the homemade cocktail situation is that it tends to be a little time consuming.  You spend a solid 5 minutes juicing and mixing and pouring, and then somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes later, you’ve got to do it all over again because you and your pal have already downed your drinks and you’re ready for another.

However, when KC and I were traveling through Europe, we went to a little pub in Edinburgh which presented me with a solution to this very problem:

IMG_2684

Hello, pot-tail.

Yep, that’s a teapot with cocktails in it.  Cocktails — plural.  So, assuming that you and whoever you’re with are enjoying the same beverage, you can throw more than one drink together into a teapot and have it ready to pour whenever.

Genius right?  Totally.

I scored a new silver teapot at an estate sale over the weekend, so I made a pot-tail for KC and I the other night, doubling this recipe to make 4 cocktails at once.  (Sometimes Monday nights call for that sort of thing.)

IMG_3171

Now, this whole pot-tail business won’t work for drinks that have to be shaken (not stirred.  ← had to.)  So, sadly, you’re on your own if your friend or significant other wants a pisco sour.  But if you’re putting together a drink that’s normally shaken and strained, or served over ice, just throw the ingredients into a teapot along with some ice, stir it all together and you’re in business.

Bonus points if you’ve got some adorable teacups to serve your beverage in.  (I didn’t.  But another estate sale or two and maybe I will.)

Cocktails / Date Night at Home / Drinks / Holidays

Valentine's Ideas: Cocktails

February 11, 2014

What better way to start off Valentine’s than with a delicious cocktail?  There’s something so fancy and special about a cocktail, I think.  While I love me some bubbly any night of the week (and especially on Valentine’s Day), I always feel like kicking things off with a handmade drink is just something that’s a little extra-special.

So put on some music, dim the lights, and whip up one of these (I’d prefer the Monk’s Garden — I mean, a pink cocktail for Valentine’s?  Does it get anymore perfect?)

Instant love.

Valentine’s Day Cocktails

  1. Monk’s Garden Monks Garden Copycat Cocktail
  2. Pisco Sour Pisco Sour 1
  3. Mixed Citrus Margaritasmarg
  4. Skinny Mojitos                                IMG_2162
  5. The Cuke                            IMG_2134
  6. Blended Strawberry Lemonade MargaritasIMG_2045
  7. Vodka Lemon SparklerIMG_1678

Cocktails / Dairy-Free / Date Night at Home / Drinks / Favorite Things / Gluten-Free / Happy Hour / Vegan / Vegetarian

Monk's Garden Copycat Cocktail

January 29, 2014

I have a ridiculously delicious, pink (!) cocktail for you today.  And don’t worry, this isn’t one of those grossly sweet, girly pink cocktails — it’s a well-balanced, citrusy-bitter type of cocktail.

I mean, KC was even singing the praises of this cocktail, so don’t rule it out just because you’re manly.

This cocktail came A. from my quest to use a pomelo which had shown up in our most recent CSA box, and B. from my desire to recreate the cocktail I’m obsessed with at one of my favorite eateries — Boot and Shoe Service.  The cocktail is called the Monk’s Garden (I have no idea why), and it’s bright, refreshing, a tad bitter, and, of course, pink (hello).  The traditional cocktail uses grapefruit and yellow chartreuse, but I didn’t have either of those (and yellow chartreuse is sort of absurdly expensive), so this copycat was born.

And y’know what?  It tasted spot-on to me.  Dead ringer for one of my favorite $10 beverages.

So next time you’re having a date night at home, or a fancy girls-night-in, whip up a couple of these (maybe even top it off with champagne..? OMG WHAT.)

Monks Garden Copycat Cocktail

Monk’s Garden Copycat Cocktail

makes 2 cocktails (feel free to cut in half to make just one — but why would you want to?)

Equipment:

Recipe:

  • 3 oz gin*
  • 1.5 oz St. Germaine
  • 3 oz fresh-squeezed pomelo** or grapefruit juice
  • 1.5 – 2 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice (depending on how tart/bitter you want your cocktail)
  • scant 1/2 oz simple syrup*** (optional — you won’t need this if your grapefruit is really ripe)
  • 7 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
  • ice
  1. Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 60 seconds.
  2. Strain into two chilled cocktail glasses and enjoy!

Notes:

*Gin: I used Hendricks Gin in these.  I wouldn’t recommend Tanqueray for this cocktail (too piney for these, I think).

**If you use pomelo rather than grapefruit, you may need to add a little more simple syrup to balance out the bitterness.

***For the simple syrup, I prefer to start without it and then add a little if I feel like it needs it (remember: you can always add, but you can’t subtract!)