ooh pretty

Oh Crap! Completely forgot about Thanksgiving!

Read this blog and then come back to me....

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Ok, done yet?

Goodness.  I have to admit I used to make a killer cranberry salsa.  Ok, crash course - cranberries, jalapenos (or serranos), fresh lime juice, chopped shallots and ......  tequila!

Face forward to today, er two days ago.

Cranberry Margaritas (my way)

4oz FRESH cranberries, not frozen, ground or otherwise

1/2 of a tangerine or an entire clementine

1 jalapeno pepper

1 1/2 oz of agave nectar

1oz grand marnier (or cointreau noir)

2oz of tequila - lets go with platinum on this one, ok?

30 second prep:

muddle the clementine, jalapeno and cranberries

add nectar, tequila, the orange liqueur and 5oz of ice

shake like the dickens

and strain into a martini glass that's been 1/2 rimmed with sugar

Who knew?

Recently I had the opportunity to submit a recipe for a "low-calorie" cocktail reminiscent of the beach.  Immediately I started throwing a margarita to end all margaritas.  But, was told that they wanted, shudder, a pina colada.

Uh, low fat coconut milk? Let me just pull that one out .....  oh yeah, its over here, next to the Neverending Story book...  Whatever!  So, needless to say, I pulled it out and this is what I came up with:

Coconut water - 30 calories but fat free and we're only using 4oz.  The best way it to create ice cubes out of the coconut water but who wants to give all the secrets away, right?

Fat free vanilla yogurt -  4oz as well.  I like yoplait source but anything will work. - 17 calories and fat free.

Some fresh pineapple - 1/3 cup.  20 calories

Some rum - roughly 80 calories.....

Some agave nectar (60 calories) or stevia (0 calories)

And, voila - not too bad and its less than 150 calories and virtually fat free!

So, here's the "who knew" part.  Agave Nectar has quite a bit of calories considering how little is actually being used in a cocktail.  Regardless, stick with me and make the drinks properly and you'll cut calories and fat.  No matter how many calories found in Agave Nectar, its still less than in that pre-mixed crap...

Margarita Orbs

This was fun, I have to admit.

Here's the premise.... fresh fruit, great tequila, no sour mix and make it taste great!

As you should know, we recently purchased chemicals to keep up with the chefs.  And, while we're not quite on their level (or even close to be honest), we've been able to tinker enough to make some really cool "drinks".  Our focus on the drinks has been to use sodium alginate to a mixture, and then dropping it into a calcium chloride bath.  It started out horribly, but after getting used to quantities and such, we were able to create "orbs".  First one was just orange juice, to see if we could get it right.  Then we started actually making margaritas and straining them into a container, adding the sodium alginate, creating a "goo" and then dropping it into the calcium chloride bath and making margarita orbs!  

We found out a few things.  Gotta make them drinks strong, because some of the potency is lost in translation.  And, you need more sodium alginate than any recipe may call for since you've got the citrus and the alcohol working against it.  If you want to try this at home, here's where we got the chemicals.  Takes about a week or so, but the quantities are small enough so that you aren't buying 60 gallon drums of the stuff!

So, this is what we did:

Ingredients

3 oz of Don Julio Tequila (still gotta plug my friend from Diageo, especially with the economy the way it is).

1 lime and 1/2 lemon

2oz of agave nectar

1oz Cointreau Noir (great new stuff to play with!)

Method

Drop the fruit into a mixing cup and muddle with the agave nectar.  Add the tequila and the cointreau noir and for this, we're not using ice.  Want to keep it at room temperature.  So, then you still shake it vigorously, making sure to get all the flavor from the fruit.  Strain into a small mixing bowl.  Take 5 grams of the calcium chloride and add to 500 ml of cold water and stir.

Now add 4ml of sodium alginate to the tequila mixture and stir.  While continuing to stir, add an additional 2ml of sodium alginate.  

Take a small amount and test by dropping it into the calcium chloride bath.  If a small pearl is formed, you can remove it, drop it into a bath of plain water, and then onto a paper towel.  It should keep its form and you can eat it!  

If it doesn't work, then adjust the quantities as needed.

But, to do the orbs, you'll need a spoon.  What you do is take a spoonful of the tequila mixture and roll it into the calcium chloride bath.  This should create an orb about the size of your spoon.  Be careful and quick, so that your orbs don't have tails!

And, don't forget to "rinse" your orbs in the water bath.  Otherwise you'll impart too much of the calcium chloride into your system and you may get sick.

For service, I like putting the orbs onto a porcelain spoon and adding a dollop of my salt cloud. (for that recipe, see here).

Stupid Chemicals

We're going back in today to sort through these chemicals.  In the meantime, here's  a video using salt lime air to top a margarita

Paul Revere

The chemicals are here. The chemicals are here. Lord almighty the chemicals are here!

Now reality has set in....

I have on my desk at work a series of containers that have abbreviations for agar agar, acacia gum, soy lecithin, etc....  Now I've used soy lecithin before (see previous posts) but all this other stuff is overwhelming.  I cannot wait to get started but promised myself that I wouldn't start without my cohort who was unable to come in due to it being laundry day for him....  Wild, I know but some people actually do plan their lives around their laundry.  Me, I just buy more clothes....

Anyways, our first experiment is going to be with this orb do-hickey.  The chefs seem to think that making an orb with alcohol on the inside will be difficult, but we'll figure it out I'm sure.

Here's the thought - tequila and agave nectar orb topped with orange and lime zest.  I'm envisioning a slightly yellow orb on a spoon with orange and green shavings on top....  If we pull off the orb, then we'll top the whole thing with some salt "air".  

If it works, it will be the pre-dinner drink at our next Paradigm the Test Kitchen dinner.  If it doesn't, we'll do some fruit compressed with gin (using a cryovac dohickey) and call it a day.  But, we're hopeful..... Hasta manana

Excitement

The chefs are out of the country!  They've left their digital scale and a thermal mixer doo-hickey!

But, they locked up their agar agar, their calcium chloride and everything else.  So, we found this company that sells exactly what we were looking for in small portions so that you can easily experiment without having to buy 30 pounds of something from Dow Chemical.

The company is called DC DUBY and I've added a link here.  So our goal is to make a margarita orb similar to what you can see in the Paradigm videos.  Basically it will be a shell with a margarita on the inside.  You'd serve it on a spoon, drop it into your mouth and then bite down and instant margarita shot!

I keep checking the mail and the chemicals haven't arrived yet.  But, hopefully tomorrow everything does and we can evolve the concept of the ultimate margarita.

Blackberry and Cilantro with Stevia Margarita

Click here to learn more about Stevia.

Ok who doesn't like blackberries?  I certainly do and really love the color that they tend to impart when making a good drink.  I actually have a co-worker who's really pushing his black and blue margarita, but its lacking.  So, in the vein of trying to help a co-worker, here goes.....

My favorite thing about this now is that when you search blackberry on Google, the first page is filled with those PDA looking crack-berry thingies....  I used to have one but always called it a blueberry.  Then I was fortunate enough to move to a back-assward hotel and traded in my blackberry for a "pager".  For those of you that were born within the last 20 years, click here.

Anyways, I'm getting sidetracked.  Blackberries are great and while they are historically linked to superstition they really make a great drink.  So here goes....

Fresh Fruit - take at least 7 blackberries, 1/2 of an orange, 1 lime and a "smidge" of stevia.

No sour mix - duh!

For this one, I like Don Julio Platinum.  Mainly because I haven't purchased much from a company called Diageo at work, and I thought that I'd give them a small plug so that their sales guy Guido doesn't go by the wayside....   Ok, done with the hyperlinks.... I just figured this damn thing out so went a bit crazy... sorry.

So, muddle the fruit and stevia, add 2 oz of tequila, 1 oz of that new cointreau noir (its amazing!), 1 cup of ice and a "bunch" of cilantro.  Shake like there's no tomorrow.  Now here's the interesting bit.  Take a martini glass and rim it with blackberry sugar.  IE run a sliced lime around the edge and dip it into a mixture of blackberry juice and sugar.  (cannot figure this one out??  smash one black berry, add sugar and dip the lime flavored rim into this mix).  When its done, its a dark purple sugared rim.

Next, strain the margarita into the martini glass and boo-yah!  

She should have used the fresh fruit!

Back to the basics

Ok, for all of those sleeping out there and to those who don't quite grasp the written word:  to truly make an exceptional drink you need to start with great ingredients.  Don't use sour mix, don't use bottled lime juice from Rose's, don't use those butt-ugly "margarita" glasses that you can find everywhere.  Do use fresh limes, buy a muddler, use fresh fruit, use agave nectar or make your own infused simple syrup and get creative with the components.

So, fast forward.  Maybe you've heard of Chadzilla, 

maybe you've heard of Paradigm the Test Kitchen.  Well one day they were using Sea Beans for one of their plates.  Having never really used sea beans I was entrigued.  So, basically Sea Beans are seeds and fruits that are carried to the ocean, often by freshwater streams and rivers, then drift with the ocean currents.  We tried them and they really impart a subtle saltiness to a dish.  So, the obvious connection?  margaritas!!!  

Here's a glass filled with sea beans and Cazadores tequila.  Basically we let them soak overnight with the idea that they'd take in the tequila and basically would create a tequila shot that you'd only need to chase with some lime and/or orange.

Technically it worked, but GROSS!!  I'm glad it was only Bacardi-ish Tequila that we wasted.  

might as well get into politics since I'm on a detour

Selling OUT

So, Grand Marnier has this new drink recipe contest.  Everyone's using my Agave Nectar idea with no acknowledgement, so why should I share?

I bigger than most people, and I love the idea of SYNERGY.  So, here's a push for the sum of the parts:

Margarita Red Pepp......

So, remember, no damn sour mix...  Only the best ingredients and if you have to cheat use Perfect Purees...   

 

2 oz Roasted Red Pepper Puree (or the equivalent from Purfect Puree . com)

1 oz Don Julio Anejo Tequila

1 oz Grand Marnier

1/2 Lime

1/2 oz Agave Nectar

1 bunch Sorrel

Muddle it all and strain into a martini glass after adding a ton of ice.

BOOO YAH!

Mixology Maestro

Take this english major, see.  Lead him to believe that he's destined to have a career, see.  Then tell him the joke's up.  Allow him to fall back on his talents, see.  Encourage the english major by ordering his speciality cocktails, see.  Make him think he's no longer a bartender, but a mixologist.  Then, get his friends to come up with killer business cards, see.  Then you got the guy with the ultimate business card.  Director of Mixology for all that is great and holy.  And, throw him a killer wife who's drop-dead gorgeous.

Basically that's what you've got with Arturo.  Here's a brief bio: http://www.polishedpalate.com/bio/Arturo-Sighinolfi.html

So, we had a chance to hang out with him a while ago and get some feedback, suggestions.  His motto is similar, and he really shakes a mean drink.  My favorite drinks though have been immortalized in Chadzillas blog, so here goes:

http://chadzilla.typepad.com/chadzilla/2008/07/mixology-demo.html

Smart A*ses

So, imagine this surreal setting.....
Take an empty lounge and paint everything brown. Use dipping dot-styled lights and hang them everywhere! Build a bar, throw on some marble and use that cheap bamboo-blind stuff to black out the light from outside. Then, fill it with a group of people who are there to say good bye to one of their own and to celebrate the unknown that is their new future. Throw in some snacks and you have the ultimate storybook setting which needs a damn good margarita.

So, culinary whizzes chef k and chef chad (see chadzilla.typepad.com) come up with their own version of the ultimate margarita, using molecular gastronomy. My favorite thing was the salt strip which look much like one of those breath strips that you see people popping everyday. they had it juxtaposed on the side of a martini glass. They start with tequila, then they have this lime flavored foam and tangerine caviar. Here's a breakdown for the techically enhanced: http://chadzilla.typepad.com/chadzilla/2008/07/re-mixology.html

Great idea, really.  But, you still needed to stir the ingredients to get the real drink.  What's funny is that we had "team members" try the drink with a straw.  They didn't stir so they basically did the shots of tequila and left the ingredients for the margarita!  I didn't realize that people still did tequila shots like college days of old.  But hey, its a fun crowd, so you cannot be to picky with regards to their habits, right?

Side Track - Euro2008

OLE!
Spain wins!

VIENNA (Reuters) - Spain turned the Euro 2008 final into a football fiesta on Sunday, playing a dazzling passing game as they deservedly swept away Germany with a 1-0 victory.

A brilliant 33rd-minute goal from striker Fernando Torres graced a magnificent final whose scoreline did not reflect the supremacy of the superb Spanish side.

The long overdue victory in a major tournament sent fans in Madrid and all over Spain pouring on to the streets where they prepared for night-long celebrations, waving red and yellow banners and singing "Viva Espana".


But let's be honest here. I'm not from Spain, though I've visited a few times. The real reason for the excitement? I just made enough money to buy 3 bottles of tequila!

Miami

Its been a while since I've posted and I want to let you know, I've upped and moved to Miami, just in time for the Hurricane season. Its funny, though. People here call it the "H" season or the "H" word. Seems like I'll have to come up with an "H" margarita that will seem innocuous but will knowingly knock you on your arse! (kinda like the calm before the storm).

Anyways, I've ended up working with a bunch of creative people, including some gents who are into the Molecular Gastronomy movement. One is a chef who posts every experiment he's ever done: http://chadzilla.typepad.com/
So, I guarantee there's something here that will be phenom. Even better than the "foam"/"air"/"cloud" versions. Just need the time to get him away from his "day" job long enough to learn how to do some of the things he does. But, what I'd like to see first is a margarita "sno-cone" for the summer made up of a bunch of chemicals creating "dipping dots" of margaritas.

Stay tuned.....

We love DIAGEO!

Not sure if this is true where YOU live, but.....

I just so happened to be clipping coupons the other day (LOOOONG story, and its sad) and I saw a coupon for.... 

Cuervo Gold!  Now, its not my favorite tequila but, this store is selling it for 11.99 and Diageo has a 2.00 coupon attached to the deal.  9.99 for cuervo gold in a grocery store.  Amazing.

Infused Margaritas - Mocochinchi

Eureka!  I've found a way to infuse peaches into that margarita without them turning to mush!

The big thing out there is infusion.  So, you've got bourbon infused with crabapples and cinnamon, you've got the vodka infused with fresh raspberries or cranberries or whatever....  My favorite version was at a bar that I used to work in Philadelphia.  They took these giant glass containers with a spigot and filled them with vodka.  Then they threw in grape Jolly Ranchers.  Amazing!  Not sure if they still do it but its called the Rotunda Bar in City Center.

Anyways, here's the thought.  Mocochinchi is a popular drink in Bolivia where you take dried peaches and boil them with sugar, cinnamon and water to create a Peach Drink.  And, the highlight is that the dried peaches then are "reconstituted" and are an amazing snack afterwards

I've attached a photo so that you can get the idea.  The place to buy them are in your local Bolivian Market or you can buy them online at Boliviamall.com.  

So, here goes:

Take 5 dried peaches, 1/2 cup of blue agave nectar and one cinnamon stick.  Add 1/2 cup of water and boil for 4 minutes.  The idea is to create a peach syrup.  Then let cool and place into a glass decanter.  Add a bottle of your favorite white tequila and let chill overnight.  The next day you've got it made!  

All that's needed is lime.  You can serve this over ice or as I prefer as a "martini".  Simply pour the infused tequila into a martini glass and add the juice of one lime.  Or muddle the lime first, add the tequila and ice and shake like the dickens. Then strain into a martini glass.  Call it the Mocochinchi Margarita Martini or Tres-M.

Keeping it Real - Sangrita

As we get closer to Cinco de Mayo, I thought that I should share some more traditional Tequila inspired recipes, rather than strictly margaritas.  I picked this up in a tiny town called Valle de Bravo.  We went out to a restaurant and someone had the great idea of doing tequila shots before dinnner.  But, rather than just the tequila, we were served some bloody mary looking stuff in a separate shot glass.  The idea is to sip the tequila, then to sip this "sangrita", then the tequila, then the sangrita, and then order another one.

Its the perfect chaser.  It doesn't make cheap tequila taste better, but it does elevate the tequila shot from something that drunk college kids do to an aperitif!  So, here goes:

Ingredients:

6 roma tomatoes

2 oranges

2 limes

1 jalapeno

1/4 of a small onion

1 t tabasco

1/2 t celery salt

1/2 t salt

Preparation:

Dice the tomatoes to make it easier to blend (or cheat and use 2 cups of tomato juice).  Slice the oranges and limes in half and "juice" the fruits into a blender, adding the tomatoes.  Chop the jalapeno and onion and add to the blender. Blend until smooth and add the remaining ingredients.  Stir and chill.  Your sangrita is ready!

Margarita DUOS III

Here's the last variation:

Rather than blending cilantro and cucumber, try Mango and Chipotle.  Or, make the frozen margarita, drizzle mango puree and then top with a cloud of Chipotle.   I found that if you take canned chipotles that you can find in the grocery store and use the liquid rather than the peppers, it does the job and gives you a better color contrast than just using the powdered spice.

Ok, enough smoke.  Here's the real deal....  Make the classic margarita but add some mango puree to it (1 1/2 oz).  You can either buy this from perfect purees or you can take a mango and blend it with some agave nectar and a bit of water.  Up to you and both give the same flavors....  Anyways, getting sidetracked.  Take the margarita and strain it into a martini glass.  then top it with the chipotle cloud and if you have some of the liquid from the canned chipotles left, drizzle some of that into the drink to add more contrast.  Tah dah... finished.

Margarita DUOS part Deux

Here's a great variation!

And, another way to make Foam/cloud/air.

Lets call it cilantro clouded margarita.

So, start with the classic, strain it into a shot glass and top with the cilantro cucumber foam that I'm about to describe.

To make it, you'll need one of those fancy desert whippers and:

1 cucumber

2 lg sprigs of cilantro

2oz blue agave nectar

2oz water

4oz of egg whites

Basically, take the cucumber and blend it with the cilantro. strain it using a china cap and add 4oz of it with the nectar, water and egg whites.  Pour into the dessert whipper, shake and add the N02 cartridge.  Its got to chill a bit so ideally its made before the margarita.  Anyways, use this as a topper to the classic margarita, giving it a balanced layered look and a great new flavor to an old classic.

Margarita DUOS

Foam -- a mass of small bubbles formed in or on a liquid.  Here's the premise for this script.   Start with a kickin' margarita and finish it with a foam!  Wild.....  Then you've got a duo of flavors without competing, without mixing, creating BALANCE.

Here's a simple recipe to start with from a bar in DC:

Salt Cloud -- Combine the ingredients below and blend with a submersion blender.  Its easiest to place the ingredients into a bowl and tilt the bowl away from you, keeping the blender on the side away from you.  After you've got enough for a quarter cup of foam/cloud/air you're done.  Then make my classic margarita, strain it into a martini glass and top with the salt cloud!

Here's the ingredients:   1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice 

1 cup of water

1/2 T of kosher salt

1/4 t of soy lecithin (GNC carries it)

Stay tuned for more creative duos.....

But what if I like it Frozen?

Up until now, all of my suggestions have been drinks served on the rocks, which is my personal preference, based on years of learning to avoid Mr. Freeze, that annoying, excruciating headache that you get whenever you drink something frozen far too quickly.

But, ifthisiswhatyouwant,thisiswhatyou'llget!  Most of the same rules and same recipes apply.  Use fresh fruit, decent tequila and don't use sour mix....  If you take a recipe where you've muddled limes, oranges or lemons, squeeze them into the blender instead.  If its something that the rind has been removed, that's fine. Just throw it in the blender and everything else is the same.  

What I like to do is make that classic margarita, the one with cointreau, tequila, agave nectar, lemons and limes.  Remember it?  Well use that recipe to make a frozen margarita.  Then I like to use a company called purfect puree to add flavorings.  Yes you can make your own fruit puree but who's got the time, the ice is melting!  What you do is pour the puree of your choice into a squeeze bottle and then use the bottle to drizzle the puree on the top of your margarita.  It gives great flavor and looks cool.

Here's some suggestions:

Blueberry, Lychee, Mango, Papaya, White Peach, Prickly Pear, Blood Orange, Raspberry, etc...

Here's the company's website:

http://www.perfectpuree.com

But that whole idea of rimming the margarita in some colored sugar?  Forget it.  Remember we don't use sugar in the drink, so why throw it on the edge?  If you made it right, the drink is sweet enough on its own!  All the rimmers do is add some artificial color and stain your tongue!  But, if you like them, Stirrings has a ton of varieties.

Margaritas and Movies

I'm in heaven!  I have a good friend who told me about this amazing restaurant in Austin, Texas called the Belmont. Every Monday they show old movies during dinner and feature margaritas! What a blessed combination.

But truth be told, they really need to check out this site because the margaritas there aren't exactly great!  But the idea behind it is phenomenal and the food is great.  Next week they're showing Ferris Bueller's Day off. 

 I'm still blown away by the idea of this movie and margaritas at a restaurant!  Can you imagine for just a moment going to your favorite restaurant and there beside your table is a television showing your favorite movie?  And, across the room is a giant screen also showing this movie?  Only thing better would be a great sports event.  Yes, I know what a sports bar is, but I'm saying your favorite restaurant.  Now if a sport's bar is your favorite restaurant, you have some issues and really couldn't consider yourself a foodie.  

But anyways, back to the dream....  And, just as the movie starts, the waitress sets before you a Minted Pineapple margarita!  WoW!!  As you quickly order your dinner and a second margarita (since they only use the jumbo straws, the drink is gone in 3 sips!), the movie unfolds and you are pleasantly swept away....   

Only problem is where do you go after dinner?  Cannot really go to watch another movie, that would be gauche.  Can't go home since you'd be labeled as a cheap date.  Hmm....  As for me, I'd go Bowling.  Not at some AMF center but someplace like Lucky Strikes.  Nuff said, I'm hungry now.

Strawberries and Cantaloupe in a Margarita?

Ok, this one may be out there a bit.  And, it actually requires a blender.  So here goes.

Ingredients

Cubed Cantaloupe

Strawberries

1 1/2 oz blue agave nectar

1/2 orange

juice of 1 lime

2oz decent white tequila

Preparation

First you'll need to make a puree of the cataloupe and strawberries.  I'd do 1/2 cup of cantaloupe and 5 strawberries. Drop it all in a blender and puree.  Taste the mixture to see there's a nice balance between the two fruits and add accordingly.  And, all you need for one drink is roughly 4oz of the puree.  So if you have too much, make a second drink and call over a friend already.

Next cut the orange into 4 and drop into a mixing cup.  Add the juice of 1 lime (meaning cut it in half and squeeze the crap out of it!) and the agave nectar.  Muddle quickly and add the puree, tequila and 6oz of ice.  Shake and pour.  Garnish with a strawberry (ie grab a strawberry and push it onto the side of your glass.  If its too messy that way, then fine, cut a slit into the strawberry and place it onto the side of the glass).  A a super jumbo straw and call it a party.

Transcendentalism!

Man that's a big word!

For all of you that went to college and know all about Walden, Emerson, and Thoreau; thank GOD!  (small joke to see if you really understand, or if you're just nodding with the masses!)  The educational system still lives!  For the rest of you, let me share my thoughts.

The definition of Transcendentalism is simple.  It represents a group of new ideas and was seen as a protest of the general state of culture and society of the time.  Among the core beliefs, is an ideal state that is based on intuition rather than the doctrines of the establishment.  Yes, it was originally a protest of establish religions (hence the small joke), but let me direct this note elsewhere.

I had the opportunity today to search the website for the Ultimate Margarita.  What a friggin' joke!  Even the Food Network has a recipe.  Not one of them depends on the whole, but rather on some key ingredient.  Every should know that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, right??  So, why would someone call their version the ultimate if they depend on processed sugar, on sour mix, on bottled lime juice, etc.....  GROSS!   My drinks are a representation of Transcendentalism, believe it or not.  They go against the establishment, they go against everything that is advertised out there, they go against what you've always tried in the typical Mexican restaurant.

And, they are simply better.  So, take a moment, pick a recipe, head out to Trader Joe's to get the ingredients and make one of the best margaritas you've ever had the pleasure of tasting!  Grab some friends and share, or read some of Henry David's best work and reflect why he changed his name from David Henry!  Sometimes being the reverse of the established norm is just better!

Lemon Basil

A long time ago (now I'm dating myself) I went to a restaurant in Washington DC called Jean Louis.  I only went once but I had a party of 8.  We were all restaurant people, so were really stoked to be there.  The menu was amazing, and the chef, Jean Louis Palladin wrote it by hand.  And, it changed every night.  Even then, the price was something like 100.00 per person and this was back in the '90s!  I often would recollect that special night when I was in my own fine dining restaurant and often used Palladin as inspiration.

While my chefs weren't on the same salary level, we did get to work once with Jean Louis.  It was a wine dinner where, get this:  Todd English cooked a course, Eric Ripert did a fish course, Palladin's old friend Jimmy Sneed (actually they had a restaurant together in Richmond, VA called the Frog and the Redneck!) did a course and Jean Louis was the guest of honor!  CRAZY night!  Anyways, instead of reminiscing about the fantastic food and the wine cellar at the Watergate that lined the corridor as you were escorted into the restaurant, the crazy decor, etc. or even the special dinner held in honor of Palladin shortly before his death,  I want to talk about one course that was served.  It was a lemon basil sorbet, now a classic in any restaurant, with a fried opal basil leaf as garnish.

Taking that as the impetus for the next kickin' margarita, here goes.....

Ingredients

1 whole lemon

4 large basil leafs - lemon basil if you got it! or even the opal basil for some crazy color in the drink

1 oz of Blue Agave Nectar

1/2 oz of Grand Manier

2oz of decent gold tequila

Preparation

Cut the lemon into 8ths and muddle witth basil and nectar.

Add the Grand Marnier, tequila and 6oz of ice

Shake like crazy!  Pour and server dude!

Call it the Under a Tuscan Sun Margarita if you're a movie buff

or Lemon Basil if you're normal!

or if you're like me, call it the Jean Louis and share my tale!

Boo YAH! This drink is Phenom!

Blueberries!  and Tequila!  EWWWWWWWWWWWW!  but this thing is GOOD!  Have I ever led you astray yet?  Of course NOT!

The pigments in blueberries are powerful Antioxidants!  They are also a great combatant of health disease and cancer.  (gotta love the internet, right?).  You gotta check out this site... http://www.essortment.com/all/benefitsblueber_reka.htm...   So, see?  By drinking my Blueberry Tangerine Margarita you'll save your eyesight, cure cancer and not ever have a heart attack!  * please note that this is for entertainment purposes only and is by no means a statement to open myself up for a damn lawsuit! So don't get any ideas, ok?

Anyways, back to this kickin' recipe.  Remember though: no damn mixers, only fresh ingredients, use a decent tequila and use large straws whenever possible.  And if you cannot find a tangerine, its ok!  Use an orange and keep your mouth SHUT, ok!

Ingredients

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 orange or tangerine

1oz monin tangerine syrup

juice of 1/2 lemon and 1 lime

1oz blue agave nectar

2 oz Tequila

Preparation

Squeeze lemon and lime into mixing cup.  Muddle with blueberries, tangerine and nectar.  Add tequila and 6oz of ice.  Shake and pour baby! don't forget that lid!  Float the monin tangerine syrup and call it a day!  BOOO YAH!

YET ANOTHER POST????

I CANNOT BE STOPPED!!!  Oh here's the deal.  Remember this, muddling is great!  Fresh fruit is a necessity and no matter what someone says, use decent tequila!!

So, a couple of years ago I had an opportunity to work in a hotel in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.  This small hotel had no idea of how to make a margarita!  tequila, yes!  Sanguita, of course!  But I really learned that margaritas are a drink for the States, not Mexico.

So, they used a sour mix concentrate, some ice and the tequila....  It was the most disgusting drink, so tart!!!  YUCK!

And, obviously we had to have a class on how to make a margarita.  This town was so small that they had to drive 3 hours into mexico city just to buy produce!  So, obviously we kept it simple.  We just added some flash....

I won't go into the normal structured recipe card for this one.  Not that I can't but geez, this thing turned out soooooo good, that I don't want to give all my secrets away!  start with 1/2 of an orange and 1 lime.  Cut them and throw them into a skillet over a medium flame.  Add 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water.  (basically making a citrus sugar).  Heat over the flame until the fruit has caramelized.  Then add 1oz of Grand Marnier and flame!  Flambe like in New Orleans, BABY!!  

Remove from the flame and place into a mixing cup.  Add ice and tequila and shake like crazy.  Strain and serve into a martini glass.  This stuff is sooo good that I created it on a monday night a 5pm and by 9pm had served 30 of the damn things!  Obviously on Tuesday I trained the whole staff so that I could get others to make the drinks.  By wednesday I created two options:  In the bar or tableside.  Tableside was 200 more Pesos or an additional $1.90.  In the bar, I premade the "citrus bar sugar" so it really went quickly.  I didn't mind charging the 700 pesos for the drink when a normal "crazy sour and disgusting" margarita was only 230 pesos..... Some of the guests freaked, but after they tried it, they know why they paid and gladly agreed to do so.

Cilantro Margarita

It seems that whenever you go out for Mexican, the thing that is the oooh-ahhh of the menu is the Cilantro Margarita.  Most restaurants are great examples of what not to use, what not to do.  My favorite place is a small restaurant in Arizona.  They actually take margarita mix, some cilantro, the cheapest tequila and some ice.  They blend it all together and voila!  Crappy drinks that should be avoided.  YUCK!  

I was so turned off from Margaritas, that I did without for 6 months!  Ok, just kidding, but it was HORRIBLE.  So whatever you do, stay away from some place called El Encanto!  Anyways, its the old take the money and run routine.  You're a stupid consumer so you don't know what tastes like crap!!!   But, honestly, how hard can it be?   

Remember the 3 simple rules: fresh fruit, decent tequila and jumbo straws!

Ok, lets break this down.  Where do you naturally see cilantro?  Salsas, right?  So, if you're going to make a margarita with cilantro, its got to be some of the same ingredients!  Now try this recipe and you'll know why I'm so active for my age!  Mango Salsa Margarita Time!

Ingredients:

1 mango

1 lime

1 large bunch of cilantro

1 jalapeno pepper

1 1/2 oz blue agave nectar

2 oz of decent white tequila

1/2 oz of Grand Marnier or if you're a wimp Orange Juice

Preparation:

cut the lime in half, then into four.  Drop into the mixing cup and muddle with fruit of 1 mango, the cilantro and 1 jalapeno pepper.  Add the agave nectar, the grand marnier, the tequila and 6oz of ice.  Shake like crazy and hope the jalapeno stays on the bottom!

Pour into a collins glass and garnish with a sprig of cilantro!  BOOO YAH!

Minted Pineapple Margarita

So soon for another margarita?  I've got a million recipes and 20 of them are REALLY good so I thought that I'd share a couple earlier than later.  Fair enough?

Anyways, here's the rules thus far:  throw out the mixes, use only real fruit and use good tequila.  Now the next rule, if you're going to use a straw make sure it's thick so that the fruit doesn't get clogged  and no one bursts a blood vessel.

Here's the secret behind the recipe:

Vanilla syrup!  Yes, vanilla syrup.  To make it you start with equal parts sugar and water.  Throw it into a sauce pan with 1 vanilla bean. (Darn, you gotta go to Trader Joe's!)  Heat over a low to medium flame for 5 minutes.  Do not let the mixture boil.  Remove from heat and let cool. Throw it in the freezer if you're impatient like me.

Now for the margarita:

Ingredients

1/2 cup of fresh pineapple cubes

1/2 of an orange

nice bunch of mint

1 1/2 oz of the vanilla syrup

2oz of tequila.  Honestly a white tequila works best here, but anything goes!

Preparation

Cut orange into 4 and place into mixing cup.

Add pineapple, mint and vanilla syrup.

Muddle the ingredients (mashing them with a muddler!  if you don't have one, use the bottom of a screwdriver)

Add the tequila and 6oz of ice

Shake for 34 seconds and pour into a drink glass.

Do not strain the concoction.  all that pineapple pulp and orange rind looks cool!

Garnish with a lime wedge for more color and a straw.

Try that and tell me I'm not a genius!

Great margaritas start with great ingredients

Do me a favor.  Throw out anything that says "margarita mix" or "sour mix" if you want to make great margaritas.  Here's the secret and I cannot believe I'm already saying this.  But, if we're going to get anywhere with this blog, we might as well start with the secret to the ultimate margarita.

Use fresh ingredients, period.  Whew, I feel better now that I've gotten that out of the way.  Here's another one:  don't use cheap tequila if its supposed to be part of the flavor profile.  What I mean is that if you go to a bar and order a Frozen Strawberry Margarita, you won't taste the tequila with all that food coloring and sugar that's part of the drink.  In fact, when I first started bartending, I was always told this bit of advise.  Do not put alcohol in the phu phu drinks.  Save the liquor for someone who's going to tip!  

Anyways, I've gotten off track.  Fresh ingredients are key and a decent tequila is helpful.  Personally I like something like Hornitos or Cazadores, nothing too pricey but still better than the bubble gum flavor of a Sauza gold.   And, if you can, substitute sugar or bar syrup with Blue Agave Nectar.  It mixes extremely well, has all the sweetness of sugar, and sounds cool.

So, here's the first recipe on the search for the ultimate margarita:

I called it the classic since its basically a twist on the original margarita made in Texas so many years ago.

Ingredients

Juice of one lime and 1/2 of a lemon

2 oz of a kickin' gold tequila

1 1/2 oz of blue agave nectar

1/2 oz of cointreau

Preparation

Cut lime in half and squeeze into mixing cup.  You can use a juicer if you want to wimp out.

Squeeze the lemon into mixing cup

Add tequila, agave nectar, cointreau and 1 cup of ice

Shake, do not stir for 33 seconds!  so that means you have to have a top of some sort.

Pour into a beverage glass and garnish with a lime wedge.

Personally I'm not into the salt when you use fresh ingredients, but feel free.  Its your drink!