Tag

infused

Lilac Infused Spanish Gin and Tonic

written by Ali

This lilac infused Spanish gin and tonic is the first cocktail I’ve created in our new home. One of my favorite things about living in a place that’s a little bit more remote and has lots of gorgeous natural resources is the ability to do some backyard or neighborhood foraging. Ok – I confess, I have a pair of clippers in my car and just might have wandered around the place where I work to trim off a few fir sprouts to infuse recently. I waited until everyone was mostly gone for the day. It’s usually much easier when what I’m looking to forage is in my own backyard, like the lilacs I used for this lilac infused Spanish gin and tonic. We are really, really lucky that we have a beautifully landscaped yard at the house we are renting. The rhododendrons are absolutely going crazy and they are so colorful. We also have lilacs blooming.

Lilacs are an edible flower. I’ve seen them all decked out in sugar for cakes, but have also read they can be used to infuse spirits, like gin or vodka. I’ve got lilacs, so I didn’t want to waste this brief window of opportunity to try it out, so cut a couple of sprigs and infused away. I was pleasantly surprised by the end result. The gin becomes very floral, but not overwhelmingly so. In fact, I thought it gained a hint of vanilla flavor, which was lovely.

I kept this drink very simple: infused gin, a few strips of Meyer lemon peel, and about six juniper berries, all topped off with ice and tonic water. It was a perfect quick cocktail for a hectic week. This is also super easy to make, as the lilacs only need to infuse overnight (anything longer and I think they’d become too strong).

Yum

Lilac Infused Spanish Gin and Tonic

Ingredients

1/3 cup lilac flowers, gently washed and separated
6 ounces gin
6 juniper berries
several strips of peel from a Meyer lemon
Tonic water

Instructions

Combine the gin and lilac blossoms in a jar and cover. Refrigerate over night. Strain the gin before using.
Combine 2 ounces of the lilac infused gin, the juniper berries, and the Meyer lemon peel in a cocktail glass. Add ice and top with tonic water. Enjoy!

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Sometimes, I get help. Daisy kept trying to drag off my lilac spray.

May 26, 2017 0 comment

Beverages

Blood Orange Martini

written by Ali

This Friday’s Happy Hour post continues my obsession with blood oranges in the form of a blood orange martini. Would you believe that I’m really almost at the end of doing all my blood orange recipes after I got the box of oranges from my friend in Arizona? I have blood oranges preserved in various ways. I have blood orange bitters infusing through next week. And I have a bag of frozen blood orange juice, which I’ve been using as ice cubes for cocktails, including for this blood orange martini.

I have a tendency to go way overboard with produce. I’ve had years where I’ve ended up going to a u-pick farm and coming home with thirty pounds of cucumbers or sixty pounds of tomatoes. My first year of u-pick, I picked just about every fruit that was available, and we had frozen berries and jams and pickles to last us nearly two years. I’ve been a bit more moderate this last year. I canned thirty pounds of tomatoes into spaghetti sauce. I didn’t bother with pickles, because we still have some. The good thing about being moderate is that by the time the blood oranges came into my life, I wasn’t overly exhausted from preserving all summer long.

One of the best things I did with the oranges was to make blood orangecello. I used the same basic technique I used for my limoncello. I used a veggie peeler to peel five blood oranges. When you do this, use just the outer peel, not the pith. I steeped the peels in vodka for four days in a quart jar (peels + enough vodka to fill the jar). I made a simple syrup of 3 1/2 cups water and 2 1/2 cups sugar. I strained out the peels from the vodka, combined it with the simple syrup and let that sit overnight. The infused vodka and simple syrup go in jars and get refrigerated and that’s that. The blood orangecello did not have an especially red hue to it – it looks like the limoncello. The taste, however, is akin to a good triple sec. It’s really lovely and especially lovely in this blood orange martini.

If you don’t have the time to make the blood orangecello, triple sec or cointreau will also work in this recipe.

The cubes there in the front are frozen blood orange juice. I used these when I made the blood orange martini, defrosting about four to get the juice. I also used these to chill the martini a bit more after I’d made it. The juice melts and doesn’t water down the cocktail.

Yum

Blood Orange Martini

Ingredients

2 ounces gin
1 ounce blood orangecello or triple sec or cointreau
juice from one blood orange

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice or with blood orange ice cubes. Shake. Strain into a cocktail glass and enjoy! Serves 1

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January 27, 2017 0 comment

Beverages

Kiwi Berry Gin and Tonic

written by Ali

Several weeks ago, I noticed that the local markets were selling kiwi berries, which just look like miniaturized kiwi fruit. Usually, I’m quick to try a new fruit, but I’d purchased some gooseberries early in the season and then let them linger in the fridge until they were unusable. I was hesitant to jump on the kiwi berry bandwagon until I knew what I could actually do with them.

But if you linger too long…I finally bought one little pint of fruit and fell instantly in love. It turns out that kiwi berries can be eaten as is – skin and all. They really are just little kiwis, with a slightly sweeter taste. They were so lovely, I went back to the store the next day to get more (because they also looked very photogenic, but I ate/used all of them before I got a good photo for the blog) and they were all gone. I searched around town and couldn’t find any more.

Fortunately, I’d split about half the berries and infused them in some gin, which means I do get to enjoy the kiwi berry season for a little longer than they are available. If you can’t find kiwi berries in your market, you can definitely use regular kiwis for this recipe. The kiwi infuses a slightly sweet tart tone to the gin.

If you live in a mild climate, you can grow your own kiwi berries. I think I see a garden project coming on for next year. In the meantime, I’m going to sit back and enjoy a kiwi berry infused gin and tonic.

The front picture is the kiwi berry infused gin. The back picture is fig infused brandy – I’m sure you’ll be seeing a cocktail inspired by this in October. I love this photo, as it seems a bit mad-scientist-about-to-go-awry.

Kiwi Berry Gin and Tonic
Serves 1

2 ounces kiwi berry infused gin (recipe below)
1/2 lime
tonic water
1 kiwi to garnish (or a few kiwi berries)

Pour the lime juice and infused gin over ice cubes in a cocktail glass. Add the tonic water and stir. Garnish with kiwi slices or kiwi berries. Enjoy!

Kiwi Berry Infused Gin
5 to 7 kiwi berries, sliced in half (or 1 kiwi, peeled and sliced)
Gin to cover the berries or kiwi slices

In a pint jar or similar container with a lid, cover the kiwi berries or kiwi with gin. Refrigerate for at least a week. When the flavor is to your liking, strain the fruit out using cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer. Refrigerate and enjoy!

September 30, 2016 2 comments