Cheater's Magnificent Melon & Lime Margarita

If you can find yourself some Magnificent Melons, buy them! Immediately. Magnificent melons are a type of cantaloupe that is sweeter than it's more standard counterpart and a bit less juicy. They are at their peak during our late winter and early spring and eating one is like having a taste of summer months before it arrives. Considering I've been fairly depressed this winter, these melons have been a source of joy for me lately. I came up with this Margarita drink which has become a new favorite in my family. They are ridiculously easy to make, easy on the alcohol and high on the flavor. It's quite a refreshing drink to have after a meal.

Ingredients:

5 or 6 large ice cubes

1 small bottle of Jose Cuervo Lime Margarita Mix

1 cup of chopped Magnificent Melon

This makes two small margaritas or one really large one.

In your blender, crush the ice until no chunks are left. Scrape the inside of the blender so that the crushed ice is at the bottom. Add the Margarita Mix and the melon and puree until very smooth. Serve chilled in glasses and with a slice of melon as a garnish. Because the ice, fruit puree and margarita mix start to separate pretty quickly, use the slice of melon to stir it to keep the original consistency. Enjoy!

Greyhounds & Carlos' Birthday Dinner

Tuesday was Carlos' birthday and we celebrated by having a quiet dinner at home. The menu consisted of Carlos' favorites. Pastel de Choclo, a Chilean casserole with beef, chicken, eggs, olives, raisins and a special corn topping. For dessert, it was Chocolate-Chip Banana Bread. For an after-dinner drink, I made Carlos' favorite cocktail, the Greyhound. These were very easy to make and were absolutely delicious. So delicious in fact I may have over indulged a bit. If you make these, please drink responsibly because they are pretty strong.

Greyhounds

Ingredients:

2 parts vodka

5 parts grapefruit juice

ice cubes

Add the vodka and grapefruit juice shaker with a few ice cubes thrown in. Shake shake shake. Pour into highball glasses that have a few more ice cubes in them. Or you can serve them in cocktail glasses with or without ice.

Back in Carlos' bachelor days, his friends got him a Bachelor-style set from Funusual which contained a shaker, a jigger and two cocktail glasses. It's such a fun set. The shaker has pick up lines printed on it and the cocktail glasses have the male and female symbols. Invite a lady over to your place, mix her a drink, use some of the pick up lines and maybe get a little frisky later. Oh well. Too late for Carlos. He's stuck with me! He never used the set and I pulled it out of the original box and packaging (the receipt was still attached!) and am now putting it to some good use.

Pineapple-Lime Mojitos

I'm really branching out here and I have to admit, I'm a bit proud of myself. Pineapple-Lime Mojitos? No hay problema! (problemo is incorrect Spanish by the way) I found this recipe on Food Network and I like how Ingrid Hoffman incorporated pineapple with the mojito to give it a tropical kick. She also suggests using sugar cane as a stirrer. If I could get my hands on sugar cane during the summer months, I'll make sure to make these mojitos again to have an excuse to use them.


Ingredients:

a bunch of mint leaves (around 24)
8 tablespoons of sugar
2 limes quartered
1 cup of rum
2 small 6 oz cans of pineapple juice
1-1/4 cup of soda water
Ice cubes
4 pineapple rings (I used canned)


Makes 4 mojitos

In the bottom of a pitcher, add your mint leaves, sugar and lime sections. Mash with a wooden spoon and swirl. Add the rum, pineapple juice and soda water and stir. Add ice cubes to four medium-sized glasses. Add a lime section to each glass. Remove the extras from the pitcher. Pour mixture into glasses. Break into each pineapple ring and hang each on the rim of the glass. Serve and drink responsibly.

Mojito

Sparkling Sangria with Raspberries and Peaches

I am venturing out into brand new territory here. I have never made a mixed alcoholic beverage and I really wanted to try one. There is a brand new liquor store that just opened in the same plaza as my favorite Market Basket. The store is run by a sweet older gentleman and it's a cute little store. It's so convenient that it will be really easy for me to pick up wine, rum and other things to test out new recipes with (like those Guiness cupcakes I made recently). The gentleman helped pick out a nice bottle of champagne and I made some sparkling Sangria with it.

My friends Alicia and Dana make a killer sangria which they serve in a bucket and it's alcohol content is so high you are sure to be drunk after one glass. My version is very very tame in comparison. Because this is champagne I'm using instead of regular white wine, you have to make it right before you serve it. Flat champagne is no fun. It's a great dessert too because the fruit soaks up the champagne and it's a nice sweet treat for afterwards.

Ingredients:

one bottle of chilled champagne or sparkling wine
half a bag of frozen peaches
half a bag of frozen raspberries
4 heaping tablespoons of sugar

Serves 2 people

To a pitcher, add your sugar and champagne. Swirl with a spoon so the sugar can dissolve. Add your fruit and gentle stir. Pour into wine glasses making sure you get a good amount of fruit in there too. You can always just add the frozen peaches and raspberries to your glass first and then pour the sweetened champagne.

This isn't rocket science but it was good for my first try. I probably shouldn't have gone with an Extra Dry Champagne but oh well! It came out good anyways.

Sangria

St. Patrick's Day ~ Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

This is the first of three entries I'm doing in preparation for St. Patrick's Day which is nigh on our heels. I really wanted to make homemade Irish Soda bread so I decided to accompany the bread with other Irish-based fare.

This recipe is based on Dave Lieberman's Chocolate Stout Cupcakes. I pretty much kept the original recipe with the slight change of reducing the sugar content and not making the frosting. If you think you would like cream cheese frosting on these, go for it! I didn't have powdered sugar available, otherwise I would have made a nice glaze with sugar and Guinness.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of cocoa powder
2 cups of flour
1-1/2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 14.9 oz Can of Guinness
1 stick of butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon of vanilla
3 eggs beaten
3/4 cup of sour cream

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. If you are a baking snob, sift your dry ingredients together.

In a separate medium bowl beat your 3 eggs, add sour cream, vanilla and Guinness and incorporate. Then slowly pour in the melted but cooled butter. Mix.

Add the wet ingredients little by litte to the dry and incoporate. On a low setting, take a handheld blender and mix the batter thoroughly. Be careful because this batter is very wet and will splatter everywhere.

Grease 2 muffin tins or line them with cupcake liners. Fill until the batter reaches the top barely. This batter won't puff up very much so it's important to fill as much as possible.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool.

Next up: Irish Lamb Stew