20130222

MUCHO MARGARITA RECIPES!



Frozen, over ice, with fruit or without, everybody loves a Margarita and I'm  no exception. Here are a few of the ways I've enjoyed them.

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Updated 9-2021
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20130221

Homemade BLUEBERRY VODKA & LIQUEUR (Cordial)



LOOKS GOOD, RIGHT?
Blueberry Liqueur + Dash of Blueberry Bitters!
Updated November 19, 2015

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE
BLUEBERRY VODKA & BLUEBERRY LIQUEUR


What do you do with a Barrel of Blueberries?
YOU TURN THEM INTO BOOZE! 
Recipes for Homemade Blueberry Vodka and Blueberry Liqueur:

BLUEBERRY VODKA RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1 - 750 ml. Bottle of Vodka
1 Full Cup of Blueberries, Slightly Mashed

TOOLS
Quart Size Mason Jar
Large Metal Strainer
Cheesecloth
1 Quart Bowl
Funnel

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mash your fresh blueberries to release their flavor.
2. Put them into your Mason Jar.
3. Pour the vodka over the berries.
4. Seal up with the lid.
5. Store in the fridge for a minimum of 2 weeks and up to a month.
6. Shake every day or two.
7. Strain through a cheesecloth lined strainer into a clean bowl.
8. Pour back into original bottle or a decorative bottle, label & enjoy.

After I got through bottling up my Blueberry Vodka I still had some blueberries left and about a cup and a half of vodka staring at me from the bottle so...

BLUEBERRY LIQUEUR RECIPE
enhanced with lemon, fresh ginger, cilantro & mint! 

INGREDIENTS
1-1/2 C. Vodka
1 C. Fresh, Blueberries, Halved
Handful of Whole Blueberries
1/2 Tsp. Grated Fresh Ginger
3 Lemon Twists
1 Tsp. Chopped Cilantro Stalks
4 Leaves of Fresh Mint, Chopped Loose
1/4 C. Sugar (+/- depending on your tastes)


TOOLS
Quart Size Mason Jar
Large Metal Strainer
Cheesecloth
2 Quart Bowl
Funnel

DIRECTIONS:
Combine all the ingredients together in an infusing jar. Cap off, store in a cool, dark place and allow to infuse for a minimum of a week.  Shake jar every day and check for flavor intensity every few days after the first week.

The times here are minimum.  The longer you infuse, the deeper your blueberry and other flavors will be.  I've never made it to two months and I was tasting a pretty nice flavor within a week, but I left it to distill for a whole month, filtered it and let it sit for another 2 weeks and the flavor was even deeper with the fruitiness of the blueberry at the front, followed close by the lemon then hitting you on the back with the ginger, cilantro and mint! Just PERFECT!!!

Now, you wouldn't think I could do anything more with blueberries but you're wrong!  I still had enough left over to make
BLUEBERRY SALSA and BLUEBERRY NACHOS!

My tongue might be blue but I'm not after all those blueberry antioxidants!

Cheers!
 



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ACADEMY AWARD OSCAR MARTINIS



Good luck to all the nominees!



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20130220

HEIRLOOM TOMATO VODKA INFUSION RECIPE INFOGRAPHIC



HEIRLOOM TOMATO MARTINI

 INGREDIENTS
2 Oz. Heirloom Tomato Vodka*
Juice of 1/2 Fresh Lime
3 Mini Heirloom Tomatoes
4 Fresh Basil Leaves
Pinch of Smoked Paprika
3 Tablespoons of Sugar
1Oz. Club Soda
Lime Twist

 DIRECTIONS:
Mix the paprika and sugar together in a flat  plate.
Rim your martini glass with some lime juice, then dip in the sugar.
Chill your glass in the freezer.
Muddle the lime juice, 3 of the basil leaves and a teaspoon of the sugar & paprika mix in the bottom of your cocktail shaker.
Add one cup of ice then pour in the tomato vodka and shake until well chilled.
Add a splash of club soda, stir then strain through a mesh strainer into your chilled martini glass.
Garnish with the mini tomatoes, 1 basil leaf and a lime wedge.

Try out my other
BLOODY MARY RECIPES

Updated 9-2016

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20130216

The case of the Mistaken MARZIPAN MARTINI


I love licorice and I also love liquorice liqueurs. One of my favorites is Sambuca, an aromatic liqueur made with anise, star anise, liquorice and elderflowers. When you order Sambuca in Italy it will often come served with coffee beans floating in it. Either seven, representing the Seven hills of Rome, or three, for health, happiness and prosperity or just one coffee bean which is called Sambuca con la mosca or Sambuca with the fly.

It's fun and I love Sambuca with coffee but I had a better idea, one that involved a fun way to play a trick on my friends. Making an olive out of marzipan and serving it in a clear cocktail that looked like a gin martini sounded like a good prank to play. I'd made a marzipan flavored martini before with vanilla vodka and amaretto but it was really sweet and my tastes have changed considerably since then. When I switched to the coffee vodka with Sambuca and bitters I ended up with a much better cocktail.

What was kinda cool too is that the food color in my marzipan olive slowly made the drink look like a dirty martini so anyone arriving late could still be deceived.

You'll notice I specify in the recipe to chill the vodka and the Sambuca as well as the glass. This is so your cocktail will be cold. If you mix Sambuca with ice or water it will most likely louche (turn milky), which would keep the cocktail from being clear and ruin the deception. If you're not trying to play a trick on somebody, feel free to shake the cocktail with ice.

MARZIPAN MARTINI

INGREDIENTS:
2 Oz. Coffee or Espresso Vodka, CHILLED
1/2 Oz. White Sambuca, CHILLED
2 Dashes Chocolate Bitters

GARNISH: Marzipan Olive (marzipan recipe below) or Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

GLASS: Cocktail  (aka Martini)

TOOL: Cocktail

DIRECTIONS:
Chill your glass in the freezer.
When your glass is well chilled, pour in the chilled coffee or espresso vodka, the chilled Sambuca and stir gently. Tap on the chocolate bitters, garnish and serve.

HANDMADE MARZIPAN
1 - 8 Oz. can of almond paste
1-1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1-1/3 cups sifted confectioners sugar
Gel or Paste Food Colorings

Candy Glaze:
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup water

DIRECTIONS:
Prepare your glaze ahead of time by bringing the water and corn syrup to a boil and mixing until the sugar dissolves. Once dissolved set aside to cool.
Place your almond paste in a bowl. and add the corn syrup.
Knead in the corn syrup.
Slowly add your food colorings a little at a time until you get the desired color for each section of dough.
Separate the dough into as many sections you need for the colors you want to work with.
Slowly add your food colorings a little at a time until you get the desire color.
Sculpt into the shapes you desire
Brush on a coating of glaze and set on waxed paper to dry.
Chill in the refrigerator overnight.
Store finished candies in airtight containers.

You can pre-color your marzipan or you can work with uncolored and paint or airbrush on food coloring. In this case I pre-mixed the colors I wanted for each sculpture.

P.S. How adorable is my little Marzipan Candy Olive??

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20130214

CUPID'S SHOTS - Valentine Cocktail Shots


http://popartdiva.com/The%20Martini%20Diva/Pages/HOLIDAY%20Martinis.html#valentine_martinis

VALENTINE'S DAY SHOTS


SWEET-TART VALENTINE SHOT
1 Oz. Pomegranate Vodka
1/4 Oz. Lemon Juice
Splash of Grenadine
Lemon Twist


BERRY VALENTINE SHOT
1 Oz. Strawberry Vodka
1 Oz. Raspberry Vodka
Drunken Dried Cherries


CHOCOLATE CHERRY VALENTINE SHOT
1 Oz. Cherry Vodka
1-1/2 Oz. Chocolate Vodka
Maraschino Cherry


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SPICY CHERRY SOUR COCKTAIL to Heat Up Valentine's Day!


Recipe for The
HOT CHA CHA CHERRY MARTINI
or
How to Put the Sweet & The Heat into Happy Hour
for Valentine's Day!

The Hot Cha Cha Cherry Martini is my riff on a Cherry Sour Cocktail, inspired by some great gifts sent to me from Benjamin Twiggs, Purveyors of Fine Cherry Products.  A few weeks ago I was chatting food and cocktails on a Tweetchat when Julie from Benjamin Twiggs and I got to chatting. When she realized I actually created cocktails (and my name wasn't just an indication of what I did for fun), she asked what I might be able to do with some of her company's products.

Oh, Julie, you know not what you let yourself in for!!! First of all, as everyone who reads this blog regularly knows, I adore cherries. Secondly, I will put cherries in just about anything, including cocktails and savory dishes!  So when the package came and I opened it up and found not only their lovely Cherry Juice Concentrate BUT also a jar of their Cherry Pepper Jelly, some Cherry Salsa and a package of Dried Cherries I sort of went into cherry shock!!


I couldn't think what to do first!! Cocktail? Glaze on a Roast? Accent on an h'ors d'oeuvres? Drunken Cherries??? So I pretty much did them all!!

Today I'm posting up the first cocktail I made using the Cherry Concentrate, Cherry Pepper Jelly (as the cocktail sweetener) and the Dried Cherries (soaked in gin for the Drunken Cherry garnish).  To these I added some lovely dry Gin, Lemon Juice and some Chipotle Sauce to add a little extra kick to the Cherry Pepper Jam.

I happened to have a cute Chocolate Valentine Heart I had made and I like chocolate and peppers and cherries so I garnished my own cocktail with this - I ate the Drunken Cherries before I remembered to take the photo, lol.....ah, well, who can blame me??

Buy the recipe card for the HOT CHA CHA CHERRY MARTINI

Updated 2-2017

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