Watermelon margarita

Heirloom watermelons and I have got a few things going.  I think I'm smitten with their red ripe juice, and their pretty bulky bodies. Even the seeds have something sassy to say to me. So I blended them up and shushed them with fresh lemon, tequila and simple syrup. 

Omit the tequila and simple syrup if you just want a variation of a watermelon cooler. These watermelon margaritas are delicious, simple, and refreshing. 

The heirlooms available to me are moon and stars (gorgeous!) and Charleston grays. 

Watermelon margaritas

Yield: 2 margaritas

Ingredients:

2 cups watermelon, optional to remove seeds, plus a few small wedges for garnish

1/4 cup simple syrup (directions below)

handful ice cubes

freshly squeezed lemon juice from 1/2 of a large lemon

3 oz tequila

Directions:

1. Fill a low-ball cocktail glass with ice and water. Set aside. 
2. Cut up the watermelon from the rind into large chunks, remove the seeds if desired, and place into a blender. 
3. To the blender add in 1/4 cup simple syrup and ice cubes.
4. Top with freshly squeezed lemon juice and tequila.
5. Blend together until combined well. Meanwhile remove the ice and water from the cocktail glass. 
6. Strain into chilled cocktail glasses, garnish with a few ice cubes and a watermelon wedge. If the seeds are left in they will fall to the bottom, but they give a nice flecked appearance when served immediately.

Note: to make simple syrup add an equal part water and an equal part sugar in a small saucepan. Heat the sauce pan over medium-low heat stirring until the sugar dissolves completely. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Store in a glass jar in the fridge for several weeks. 

Pineapple top shelf margs

It was warm and sunny today; a balmy 65 ºF at the end of January. That's winter in the south my friends. The hubs is on dinner duty tonight (chili cheese enchiladas!) so I pulled out some pineapple from the fridge and made margaritas.

The fresh pineapple and freshly squeezed orange juice is really killer. However, they could easily be subbed with frozen or canned pineapple, and commercial oj. I bought a sample pack of bitters (lime, cardamom, chocolate, and grapefruit), and the lime bitters made a tasty addition. However, I would've just added lime juice if I didn't have them.

On a side note, this weekend was spent exploring some nearby hometown digs. The Sloss Furnaces
in Birmingham were visited, followed up with a visit to Avondale Brewing Company. The Sloss Furnaces are a historic site with preserved intact post-industrial steam furnaces used to make iron and pig iron. I learned why Birmingham is called the Magic City, and that it was founded at the junction of two railroad crossings. The iron factories would operate all day and night, and when the iron was being poured out it would light up the budding Birmingham skyline a gleaming orange. That, coupled with tremendous growth, caused Birmingham to rapidly change, as if magic had miraculously expanded the city.

Avondale beers have a distinct flavor. They have a jolly rancher-esque tang that permeates the saison-styles, and is on the nose of many of their other beers. The hubs enjoyed a few pints of the oud bruin, a Flemish-style red, and I liked the Miss Fancy's Belgian-style tripel. It's always fun to hear the Flemish words pronounced in the American way. Oud sounds like ode, when it should be the "ow" that you hear in town; bruin was pronounced "broon,"  but should be said like it's English translation, "brown." Duvel gets it the worst. Everyone here thinks Duvel is French and pronounces it the French way, but (alas and sigh) it's Flemish and is said like "doovle" and not "du-VEL" with the emphasis on "vel." Alright folks my snobby self is leaving you with these margs: which is said exactly like it's spelled.

Pineapple Top-Shelf Margs
Yield: 2 margaritas for 2 greedy people, or enough for 4

Ingredients:
1 cup, fresh pineapple chunks (frozen pineapple would be great)
Juice of 2 medium oranges or approx 1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup tequila (I used Don Julio)
1/4 cup triple sec
2 T brown sugar (or 2 T simple syrup)
lime bitters (optional), I used Scrappy's Lime Bitters, but feel free to sub in fresh lime juice
ice
pineapple wedges for garnish

Directions:
In a blender, add all of the ingredients from the pineapple to the ice. Blend on high speed until fully blended. Pour into mason jars, or festive glasses, garnish with pineapple chunks, and a swizzle stick. If you don't have a swizzle stick, a single chopstick works well. The margarita tends to separate into 2 distinct layers, so a swizzle is nice.

Of course, you can substitute rum for the tequila, and some coconut milk for the orange juice, for a top-shelf colada.

Top Shelf Margs

Is there anyone else that gets super annoyed when ordering a margarita at an upscale dining restaurant and then served a super-sized syrupy drink made from lime juice concentrate? I'm less offended, and much less picky, when it involves patio sitting and nacho eating. However, a good margarita should have some bite from the tequila and only use freshly squeezed lime. 

So that covers at least two of the key ingredients: tequila and fresh lime juice. Many recipes feature triple sec or Cointreau (a fancier French triple sec), ice, and salt. I'm a bigger fan of Cointreau, as it lends a dry, just sweet enough finish, but I think any triple sec will do.  Salt or no salt? I prefer no salt, it is not bringing out any flavor essences, or adding depth. The addition of salt to the rim of a glass is often zealously overdone. On one too many occasions, I've scraped the salt off the rim of the glass to find it measuring out to about a teaspoon. Salt is good for a lot of things, but in my opinion, keep the salt out of these top shelf margs. 

I recently picked up a bottle of Don Julio Anejo, which is a quite good sipping tequila. Armed with my Williams and Sonoma Bar Guide book, a new Boston mixer, and the proper ingredients I have been attempting various versions of a classic margarita (more to come). My suggested pairing is for serving these margaritas whilst waiting around for the Tex-Mex chili gravy enchiladas (you're welcome, Sara Wobs). 

Margaritas

Adapted from Williams and Sonoma The Bar Guide

Yield: 1 drink, approx 3.5-4 oz

Ingredients:

2 fl oz tequila such as Don Julio Anejo

2-3 tbsp triple sec, such as Cointreau

freshly squeezed lime juice from about 1/2 a lime (depends on size)

ice

mint or basil for garnish along with a wedge of lime. 

Directions:

1. In a Boston mixer, or other cocktail mixer, mix all ingredients together except garnishes. When I did not have a mixer, I just used a Mason jar that I could shake the crap out of.

2. Shake back and forth until well mixed. Pour into a chilled glass, add a few ice cubes, and garnish with some lime slices, and mint or basil if you wish.

Side note: do you ever buy mint or basil from the market or grocery store to add to a few dishes, and then it gets piled under several other things, and it comes up later black and moldy? I often add them to drinks as a garnish.