TANGERINE GINGER CAIPIRINHAS

Chop half a tangerine, making sure to pick out any seeds. Do not peel the tangerine. Place in glass. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger.  Crush the ingredients in the glass with a muddler or a wooden spoon. 

Top with 2 tablespoons of tangerine juice and 1/4 cup of cachaca (Brazilian sugarcane liquor). You could also use vodka or a white rum but then it won't be a caipirinha. Add ice and allow the ice to melt a little before you take your first taste. And voila!

VODKA INFUSIONS

Cinnamon Infused Vodka

Making your own infused vodka . . . sounds intimidating to some. But in reality, you are chucking some herbs or fruit in vodka and monitoring it until it achieves the strength of taste you are looking for in your infusion. Of course, there are some some things to consider. I'll go over some things I think are particularly important and that I do when infusing. 

First off, use glass. Mason jars are great actually, but I'll use anything I have handy. Right now I have a cinnamon infusion in a maple syrup glass container and my ginger infusion is in I believe a spaghetti sauce jar. Make sure whatever you are using is clean and you should be fine.

Don't go out and buy the cheapest vodka imaginable. Cheap vodka tastes cheap and an infusion made with cheap vodka will taste like an infusion made with cheap vodka. I'm not saying you should use Grey Goose or Belvedere, but please don't buy a rot gut vodka. I usually use Absolut or Stoli. I would also recommend that you do not use a vodka distilled from potatoes or rye since they often have their own distinctive taste.

As with the vodka, you should be using quality fresh fruit, fresh herbs, fresh veggies and fresh spices. Don't use the strawberries that have been sitting in the back of the refrigerator for the past 2 weeks. Make sure all your fruits, veggies, and herbs are clean. Wash them in a colander and allow them to dry before using.

You want to prep your fruit by cutting it into smaller pieces. This will speed the infusion process. If you are concerned about aesthetics, you can leave the fruit whole or in bigger chunks but pierce the pieces in a few places. Some fruit should also be peeled due to the fact that the skins impede the infusing process. These fruits include most stone fruit and mangoes. For citrus infusions, you may actually want to use the peel since the peel contains strong flavorful citrus oils. Just make sure to scrape the white pith from the peel. If you are feeling adventurous and using tomatoes, you should leave the peel intact because the tomatoes will disintegrate quickly without the peel. If I'm using berries, I usually muddle them. You may choose to add some sugar. This will help the berries to yield their juices. 

Ginger infused vodka

If using seeds, such as star anise or peppercorns, they should be crushed slightly. When using herbs, I strongly recommend using fresh herbs. If that is not an option, at least use whole or dried leaf spices. Powders will be next to impossible to strain out of your infusion.

Put your fruit, herbs, veggies, or spices in your infusing jar and then gently pour the vodka over them. Don't fill your container to the brim. Some of your ingredients may release juices during the infusion process and you don't want your container overfilled.After that, I give it a good shake. I try to shake my infusions at least once a day. I make sure to keep the bottle out of light and do my infusing at room temperature. Some people may disagree with me on that particular aspect. Vodka should be served cold, however, coldness slows down the infusing process. You also need to taste your infusion  on a regular, probably daily, basis. You don't want your infusion too strong. What I usually do is to allow my infusion to sit out for a few days, do regular tastings, and when I think it is near completion, I place it in the refrigerator. Do not allow any of the flavoring ingredients to be exposed to air. If that happens after your tastings, simply add a little more vodka to make sure they are covered.

When you think you are finished, find yourself a pretty decanter or another clean Mason jar. Pour your infusion through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter. And I stick mine in the freezer and enjoy it.

MOJITO - COLUMBIA HOUSE STYLE

We recently visited The Columbia House in Ybor City, Florida. While I have a much more in depth restaurant review planned, I thought I might share how much we enjoyed the mojitos.

They prepared them at the table, and served them in beautiful blown glass pitchers and glasses. I first told the girls I was going to do an internet search for a Columbia House knock-off recipe, but discovered I did not have to since they have the recipe listed on their web site.

Visit their web site for this recipe and others. Make sure you use fresh lime and they even include a recipe for the mint simple syrup they use. The only thing they do not include is the fact that they add a stalk of sugar cane to each glass.

Part of the appeal of these drinks is the presentation. While we all can't have a server from the Columbia House recreate these drinks at out dining room table, we can use pretty blown pitchers and glasses. Check out the glassware below.

KING OF SNAKE COCKTAIL

A rant before the recipe - I had a heck of a time finding chile pepper vodka. You can get Swedish fish flavored vodka, but good luck trying to find pepper vodka. Is this a Florida thing? Sheesh.

You'll have to really like ginger to enjoy this one.


1 inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, first crushed, then chopped
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/4 cup of vodka (I used Absolut)
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons of chile pepper flavored vodka ( I used Stoli Hot)
2 tablespoons of orange liqueur (I used Cointreau)

2 cups of crushed ice


Muddle the ginger and brown sugar together in a cocktail shaker. (I got to use my skull shaker!) I allowed it to sit for about 10 minutes too. I wanted the sugar to liquify. Add all remaining ingredients except the ice. shake for about 20 seconds. Fill 2 old fashioned glasses with the crushed ice. Strain cocktail into glass and serve.

And then be prepared to sit. Because it's a butt kicker.

Need a cocktail shaker? Look at some of these.

FIZZY CHERRY LEMONADE

With alcohol or not. Your choice. Make the right one.

This recipe yields 8 10 oz. servings.


2 lbs. of Bing cherries
1 cup of fresh lemon juice
3/4 to 1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 cups of vodka
chilled sparkling water


Take the stems off the cherries. You do NOT have to pit them. Put the 2 lbs of stemmed cherries into your blender. (I have a pretty good blender.) I put mine on the maximum speed and power for a few moments. Then pour the cherry mixture into a sieve over a pitcher. Add the lemon juice to the cherries in the pitcher quickly because the cherries will start to discolor almost immediately. Then add your sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.


This is when I add my alcohol.


Fill a glass with ice in it about half way full with the cherry lemon mixture and top with sparkling water.

Blueberry Lemonade

1 to 1 1/2 cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup of sugar or sugar substitute (I use Splenda)
1/2 pint of blueberries
8 cups of water

Squeeze the juice of approximately 6 lemons. You want 1 to 1 1/2 cups of lemon juice. I then add the sugar or sugar substitute. Make sure to wash and pick any stems from the blueberries. Add them to the lemon juice and sugar. I muddle the berries and then let the mixture sit for a while, until it is the color I like. Then add the water. I don't add ice to my lemonade. I fill a glass with ice and then pour the lemonade over the ice.

Chai (tastes like Oregon Chai)

A very on the mark knockoff recipe.

5 1 inch pieces of ginger
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
heaping tsp of cardamon
1 vanilla bean, cut into 1 inch pieces
dash of nutmeg
heaping tsp of sugar (I've used Splenda)
1/4 cup of honey
3 Darjeeling or chai teabags ( I like Bigelow)
2 cups of water
2 cups of milk

Bring water to a boil. Add teabags and all other ingredients, with the exception of the milk. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir and add milk. Bring to boil and then strain.

Jim Bartol's Irish Cream

I have not seen Mr. Bartol, my favorite meat man, lately. I guess this would qualify as a shelter recipe too since he is married to the former shelter manager. And I got it when Ginger and I both worked there.

2 tsps. instant coffee
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp of almond extract
2 TBS chocolate syrup
1 1/3 cups of Irish Whiskey (I use Tullamore Dew)
4 eggs
1 can of condensed milk
1 cup of light cream

Put all ingredients in blender. Blend. Serve immediately.

Strawberry Daiquiri Punch

Quite easy and everyone is usually impressed.

6 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened strawberries (I've never used frozen for this recipe, but if you decide to, thaw the berries AFTER measuring)
1 (6 oz) limeade frozen concentrate
3/4 cup light rum or unsweetened pineapple juice (I've used both, depending on the crowd I'm serving. And it holds up well no matter which you choose)
1 (16 oz.) bottle lemon-lime soda, chilled

Place strawberries, half to start, in a blender. Blend until smooth. Place rest of berries in blender and blend. Stir in rum and limeade concentrate. Pour into ice mold. (I use a fancy bundt cake pan.) Freeze.

When ready, place ice ring in punch bowl. Add soda.