Tres bebidas Jueves (or 3 Drink Thursday)

In honor of one of my most favorite of all alcohol-related holidays, and my very favorite alcohol (tequila), here are tres muy delicioso recipes for your drinking pleasure! 

Recipe #1: The Mexican Martini

I first tried this when I was in Austin, TX last year for work.  Though I was a bit hesitant about this blending of ingredients, to my surprise and delight, it was one of the tastiest combinations I've ever come across.  If you enjoy a salty beverage (or a dirty martini) this is a great drink for you!  It is one of my favorite drinks of all time, when it is made correctly.  Unfortunately, a quick google search for recipes produced a LOT of incorrect (not as yummy or strong) recipes. If there's a recipe that calls for sprite or sweet-and-sour mix or similar, it's wrong.  Use this one instead:

Ingredients:

Coarse salt (for glass rims)

2 1/2 oz. Clear Tequila (the drink looks prettier with clear rather than gold.)
3/4 oz. Grand Marnier or Cointreau

1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Olive Brine from Jar (i like mine extra dirty, so I sometimes add a bit more.)
2-3 Olives (for an extra Mexican kick, use jalapeno-stuffed olives, but normal cocktail olives are fine.)

Lime wedge, to garnish glass  

Directions:

Salt the rim of a chilled martini glass. Skewer two to three olives & place in glass. In a shaker 1/2 filled with ice, then add tequila, cointreau, lime juice and brine. Shake. Pour liquid ingredients into the glass and Voila! (or the Spanish equivalent to "voila.")

 

Recipe #2: A Beer Margarita

I tend to be a bit of a margarita "purist."  I like a lot of tequila, salt, some lime juice and very little else.  But I will occasionally mix it up, especially to partake in a good "Beer Margarita."  These are fantastic for summer because they are very refreshing, and you can make a large quantity of them inexpensively. (cheap cervesas + cheap tequlia = delicious drinks on a budget)  ;)  This recipe does not call for any water or sprite, although, you might want to add a little to cut the limeade concentrate.  I like my drinks on the stronger side, but if you're serving it at a party, a little more filler will help to keep your guests from becoming instantly intoxicated.  

 

Ingredients:

Coarse salt (for glass rims)

2 12 oz cans or 16 oz bottles of your favorite beer, chilled

1 12 oz can of frozen concentrate limeade, thawed

1/2 cup chilled tequila

Ice cubes

Lime wedges for garnish

Directions:

Salt the rims of four chilled margarita glasses. Combine beer, limeade, and tequila in a pitcher and blend well. Fill prepared glasses with ice, then with margarita mixture. Garnish with remaining lime wedges. Serve immediately.

Clearly a classy drink. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe #3: Skinnygirl White Sangria

Bethenny Frankel is well-known for "creating" and mass-marketing her "Skinnygirl Margarita."  If you haven't her bottled version of the stuff, I highly recommend it.  Though nothing can beat the real thing, it tastes a little bit like Gatorade....and goes down a little too easily.   But aside from her signature margarita, Bethenny has also come up with an interesting recipe for sangria.  Her recipe calls for Prosecco.  But, I'm not the biggest fan of the bubbly, so I substitute an inexpensive bottle of chardonnay...or three as the recipe dictates. White zinfandel might also be a yummy substitution and might also add some color, but I haven't tried that....yet!

 

 Ingredients:

8 peaches, pitted and sliced

4 white plums, pitted and sliced

1 pound green grapes, cut in half

3 bottles Prosecco (an Italian sparkling wine)

One 12-ounce can Fresca or diet lemon/lime soda

One 12-ounce can club soda

Directions:  Combine all ingredients. Chill for at least one hour.  Serve over ice. (Couldn't be easier, right?) 

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm....all of these recipes are making me very excited for cocktail hour! and summer....how far away is Memorial Day again??

Beef Stir-Fry Success!

I don't usually post pictures of my food.  Mainly because I don't cook much food myself, and what I do "cook" (or throw together) is typically not attractive.  But, last night I whipped up some beef stir-fry that not only looked pretty but was also quite tasty!

Blackberry picture (not as pretty as real-life.)

I had bought a pack of three top round steaks last week and eaten all but one.  I find that when I try to eat less calories than usual, in order to lose weight, I tend to eat more meat than I normally would.  I know the meat/protein intake is there because it's replacing carbs I'd be eating, but I'm not convinced that it's the healthiest way to be dieting.  I worry I'm eating too much cholesterol and fat when I do this, and in general eating too many "heavy" foods.  So, instead of just having a steak and a side-dish of some sort, I decided to chop up my steak and make stir fry.  This became even easier when I found a bag of frozen stir-fry-ready veggies waiting for me in my freezer. 

I didn't follow a recipe.  I sliced my steak into thin strips and set them aside.  Then I put some sesame oil into a frying pan (I don't have a wok) and added some garlic powder, pepper and soy sauce and set my stove on HI.  I thought I had some hoisin sauce hiding in my fridge, but I couldn't find any. (As I said, I don't cook much, but my brother does. Very often. So, I tend to find my ingredients--that I've carefully preserved for months, sometimes years--go missing because Brian's had a culinary inspiration.  Fortunately, that's also why I was able to find garlic power and sesame oil in my cupboard. :)) 

I put the veggies in the pan (mostly broccoli, but also mushrooms, onion, water chestnuts, carrots, snap peas, and a red pepper bit.) and stirred them up with the oil-mixture.  I kept them going until they were almost hot and ready to eat, then I added in the strips of steak.  At the last minute, I took about a tablespoon of peanut putter and added that in too for a little more flavor....The steak was already cooked, though it was still pretty rare, so I didn't leave it in the pan too long.  Once everything was well mixed, I took it off the heat and put it in a bowl. It was delicious! 

It was also really filling.  I only used one steak (about the size the palm of my hand) and I had enough stir-fry for dinner last night and lunch today.  So, I feel like I'm getting a few extra nutrients than if I'd had a steak with a side of veggies, as I usually do.  I was proud that I had made something that was healthy, yummy and not terrible to look at.  Maybe this will not be my last food-picture post. ;)

Happy Friday!