I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

tequila

Thirsty Thursday: Bloody Maria

Bloody Maria

This week’s Thirsty Thursday theme is TEQUILA!!!! Clearly, Amanda picked it 🙂 Well, I don’t mind at all, well Price doesn’t mind since he gets to enjoy whatever I mix up. And after thinking of several drinks I ‘settled’ on a Bloody Maria since one of our favorite drinks is a Bloody Mary.

About 5 years ago, Price spent a semester living in a trailer on a Salvation Army camp in Biloxi, MS a year after Hurricane Katrina helping design and rebuild homes. Since I was still up in Boston in school and he was in Biloxi we decided to meet up in New Orleans the one chance we had to see each other for his birthday in September. Well, it was such a great weekend together drinking Hurricanes on Bourbon Street, eating beignets, and enjoying the best Bloody Mary’s ever. EVER.

Price took the bus to NOLA a few more times for some weekends away from that lovely trailer next to the railroad tracks… seriously. Well, during his visits to New Orleans he would basically set up shop at The Old Absinthe House and drinks Bloody Mary’s from Dawn the bartender. Hands down the best Bloody Mary’s we have ever had so we constantly try to recreate them from the recipe that he got out of her.

In this case I made some adaptations from our favorite recipe to best go with a kick that comes from tequila. A spicy tomato juice base, some bite from the Dijon, and a spicy rim all do wonders for this Bloody Maria!

Amanda recently really hurt her finger so she soothed the pain with a few of these Guanabana Margaritas. I think it was a smart move… hold an icy glass filled up with a fruity margarita. Good strategy. Plus Guanabana sounds so interesting and yummy. Gotta try it!

Bloody Maria_01

Bloody Maria

Makes 2

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces of tequila
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon dill pickle juice
  • 3 dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 16 ounces of spicy tomato juice
  • 1 cup of crushed ice, divided

Rim Seasoning

  • Equal parts of black pepper, garlic salt, celery salt, chili powder.

Garnishes

  • 2 celery spears
  • 2 dill pickle spears
  • 2 lemon wedges

Process

  1. Mix together all of the ingredients for the rim seasoning in a bowl, set aside.
  2. Combine the tequila, mustard, pickle juice, Worcestershire Sauce, and lemon juice, mix well.
  3. Take the lemon wedge and run it around the rim of the glass. Flip the glass over dipping it into rim seasoning.
  4. Pour in half of the ice, tomato juice, and tequila mixture into the rimmed glass. Stir to mix. Garnish with the celery, pickle, and lemon wedge.

Thirsty Thursday: Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita

Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita

We have never gone through so much propane for our grill in such a short time as we have done this year. Just burnin’ through it. But I can’t complain since it just means we have been enjoying the most amazing grilled things. Plus, it’s nice to get out of the kitchen and enjoy the nice weather while we wait.

Since I pretty much always have grilling on my mind during the summer, we decided to go with a grilled recipe for this week’s Thirsty Thursday recipe. It would be so much fun to incorporate something grilled into a drink. Grilled fruit or herbs would be a fun way to add a lot of flavor to a drink. Love to elevate flavors in a unique way.

Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita_01 Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita_02

I had a big bowl of peaches so I decided to grill them up to bring out their natural sweetness into a drink. But then what? I was thinking of a drink with bourbon but decided on using tequila. Hmmm… a grilled peach margarita sounded great but what else? Well, I realized I had some jalapenos so I decided the margarita could use some heat and decided to that them as well. In the end the Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita was the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. Loved it!!

Have you ever had a Smoky Margarita before? Well, I think you need have one. Amanda has made would that has my mouth watering.  So get your grill going and enjoy. Yum!!!

Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita

Makes 2 large margaritas

Ingredients

  • 2 large peaches, quartered
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 3 cups of ice
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup tequila

Process

  1. Place the peaches and jalapeno on a medium-high grill. Try not to move the peaches much to get nice grill marks on their surfaces. Rotate the jalapeno to darken and blister all the sides.
  2. Remove the peaches and jalapeno from the grill and let cool 15 minutes. Peel some of the blistered skin from the jalapeno, then slice in half length-wise and remove the seeds inside.
  3. Combine the ice, peaches, half of the jalapeno, ice, lime juice, and tequila to a blender. Blend for a minute, or until all ice is slushy and the ingredients are combined. Try the margarita for it’s level of spiciness and add more jalapeno if you prefer.

Very Berry Sangria

Price and I recently had a party at our place for my birthday. It was centered around a Mexican theme so I’ll be posting a few recipes from that that works well for a fiesta or just a great gathering. Enjoy!

I love sangria so much because it works well year round and with so many different add in’s. You can do citrus, stone fruit, or berries, or an combination in between. I really prefer wine sangria but I have been enjoying red sangria more and more. Most of all I love to serve sangria when people are over. It works well for a crowd since you start with inexpensive wine, add fun fruit to it and it really transforms into a great drink.

 

This red sangria is packed with fruity flavor. All of the different types of berries add so much sweet, bright flavor.  Each of the 4 different types of berries provides a different flavor to the sangria. Then when you add the tequila you get a bit of a kick to it in the end. The seltzer adds a nice bubble to the the whole thing to finish it off.

 

Very Berry Sangria

Serves 12-16 people

Ingredients

  • 4 bottles of red wine
  • 1 pound of strawberries
  • 1 dry pint of blueberries
  • 1 dry pint of blackberries
  • 1 dry pint of raspberries
  • 1/4 cup agave, depending on the wine
  • 3 cups of tequila
  • 1 liter of seltzer, or ginger-ale

Process

  1. Divide the 4 bottles of wine into 2-3 pitchers, depending on the size of pitcher. Fill the pitcher about half way full.
  2. Wash all the fruit. Discard an bruised fruit.
  3. Slice the strawberries.
  4. Add all the fruit to the wine, divide evenly.
  5. Add the agave and tequila. Gently mix the wine to incorporate.
  6. Let chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
  7. Right before serving add the seltzer to the pitchers.

Cranberry Ginger Margarita

Poe’s Kitchen at the Rattlesnake Bar and Grill is one of my favorite places to eat. Chef Brian Poe has transformed this bar and restaurant into a place that I actually want to go to. Prior to coming to the Rattlesnake the only reason to go was because of it’s roof deck, and since that was it’s only positive thing the line to get up there was maddening. Now, I don’t give a crap about the patio, I just want the food and drinks. We have been there for several birthday’s now, and  several ‘just because’ times. Just because I would like corn bread time. Just because I would like to go there for brunch, but incorrectly assume it opens at 11, and wait outside for 30 minutes time. Just because it’s Tuesday. (swoon)

When I saw a drink contest posted on their Facebook page, I knew I had to give it a try. I’ve spent the night making Cranberry Ginger Margatias for Price to try and give me feedback on. Such a difficult task!! ‘ Too Sweet” “Not enough tequila” “Needs lime?” “The sugar works, but…” So, I’m hoping that this recipe will make it into the top 3 for voting. Fingers crossed.


The first thing that came to mind was to make a margarita with cranberry juice. Why? Well why the hell not? But really it had everything to do with the upcoming season. The fall just screens cider and cranberries to me. Ruling apple juice/cider out I moved forward with the cranberry base. The second thing that came to mind was ginger. I have been on a major ginger kick this year, mainly making a lot of ginger infused simple syrup for seltzer. Instead of a ginger simple syrup, I decided to use Domaine de Canton, a French ginger liqueur. The combination of cranberry and ginger worked well, so full steam ahead. The rest fell into place- a gingered sugar for the rim, and a squeeze of lime to add tang.

The result is a margarita that has bite, since the cranberry brings acidity, much like the normal margarita. However, the sugar and liqueur bring some sweetnes, to cut the tartness. The Cranberry Ginger Margarita makes for a great fall cocktail because of it’s seasonal flavors. It can even been accessorized with some fangs for Halloween- this margarita has bite!

Cranberry Ginger Margarita

4 oz of cranberry juice cocktail
1 1/2 oz of tequila
2 oz of Domaine De Canton (ginger liqueur)
wedge of lime
cranberries (for garnish)
Sugar for the Rim
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Prior to mixing the drink, combine the sugar and ginger on a plate to rim the glass. Wet the edge of the glass with water, drip into the sugar mixture, remove and let dry while mixing the drink.

Fill a glass half way with cubed ice, pour in the cranberry juice and add the cranberries. Add the tequila and Domaine De Canton. Squeeze the wedge of lime into the mix. Pour drink into rimmed glass.

Enjoy!