Category Archives: Beverages

Drink Recipes

Beverages, Recipe

OLD FASHIONED LEMONAde

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PREP TIME  10 Min

INGREDIENTS:

6 lemons

1 cup granulated sugar

6 cups cold water

DIRECTIONS

Juice the lemons to make about 1 cup of juice. Don’t forget to roll those lemons on the counter top before cutting them in half. It makes the whole juicing thing easier.

In a gallon size pitcher, combine the lemon juice, sugar, and icy cold water. Stir. Adjust water or sugar to taste. Chill and serve over ice cubes.

NOTE:

You can also make this by the glass as I did on Friday. The per glass instructions work like this: One lemon, juiced and poured into tall cocktail shaker, sans seeds. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar and one and a quarter cups cold water. Shake well. Serve over ice with a straw.

Beverages, Recipe

THE BELLINI COCKTAIL

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This is a beverage I believe started in Italy. Hence the preferred use of Prosecco in this cocktail. Plus, Prosecco is a sweeter champagne.

GADGETS

Champagne flutes

INGREDIENTS

4 to 6 ounces Prosecco

2 ounces of Peach nectar

DIRECTIONS

Start with 2 ounces of peach nectar in a champagne flute. I purchase Goya Peach nectar on sale for this drink and my sangria. Now, fill the champagne flute SLOWLY with Prosecco. The bubbling action of the champagne will mix the beverage together. Garnish with a slice of peach for an added flair of elegance.

Beverages, Recipe

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

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            I realized when writing my last post, BEVERAGES, it would take a while to get all my drink recipes posted. As an “old man”, or so I am referred to by Sam, I have a superfluous number of drinks stored up in the “old” noggin.  I hope that I can get them all written down before I kill those brain cells with alcohol.

            I have since created a BEVERAGE LIST to make ALL our lives easier at TMPP (The Magic of Perfect Pairing) in order to find a particular drink recipe. As we go through the year, I can add the links to various drinks there.

           Fresh squeezed orange juice is something I first did as a kid. I remember my youth fondly. I had it pretty good growing up.  I lived in the suburbs just outside NYC. If I was not outside playing with my friends in the neighborhood, then I was inside watching television. Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, and The Electric Company were all relatively brand new shows on TV back then. I even remember watching Julia Child cooking and some guy called Jack LaLanne who did a physical fitness show. Why am I going off on this tangent? It’s because I don’t know where I got the idea from, but one day, probably some rainy dreary day when I was stuck inside, I decided to make fresh squeezed orange juice.

My mother did all the grocery shopping alone back then and occasionally she met my Aunt Betty and they went shopping together. That was great for us because we got to order Pizza for dinner. She usually went grocery shopping while I was at school, so pizza was not a regular meal in our house. She did however ALWAYS purchase whatever we liked to eat and then some. Like I said, I was lucky, we always had food on the table and always enough to eat. One of the things she purchased was fruit of all kinds. She liked pink grapefruit and apples. I liked Red Delicious Apples back then so there were always at least two of those in the fridge. There was also other fruit depending on what season it was. Oranges always seemed to be in the refrigerator as they were available year round. Navel oranges I think I remember best and ate one of those once in a blue moon. That leads me into the “fresh squeezed story”.

I knew my mother had a lemon juicer because I had seen her use it in the past.  It looked just like the one below pictured below from Amazon.

I dug the juicer out of a draw that was located under our stove. I can still hear the exasperation in my mother’s voice as clear as a bell as I opened the draw: “What are you doing now?” My reply was as if I did this everyday: “Just making Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice” Ma: “Oh Jeeze, I just cleaned up your mess from breakfast. Try not to make another mess, please.” I made a mess. I’m sure of that.

I retrieved an orange from the fridge and a knife from a drawer. I sliced open the orange just as I had watched my mother do with lemons.  Why was doing this? I have no idea, maybe I had just watched Julia Child on TV and got the crazy idea stuck in my head I was going to be a chef now. Heck, I was a kid. It’s what kids do. I squeezed both sides of the orange and poured the juice into a glass. I remember thinking; wow, that is not a lot of juice for one orange.  I did this over and over. Maybe it was three or four oranges later, but I did not fill the whole glass before I stopped. Squeezing oranges by hand was a lot of work. Did I mention these were navel oranges because they were. Not very “Juicy” navel oranges.

Soon, I had made a complete mess on the dining room table as my mother watched from the kitchen while doing other things. I decided now was a good time to taste my culinary delight. I tasted my newly made OJ concoction and it was terrible. I distinctly remember not wanting to drink it all but took more than one sip to be sure it was terrible.

Mom: “Now you’re not going to drink it? You’re wasting all those oranges.”

Me: “It’s gross. Not at all as good as Minute Maid.” We also used to get Tropicana Orange Juice before that. My mother was very brand loyal.

Mom: “Maybe it tastes different because those are not juice oranges.” Always the pragmatist my mother was.

Me: “Oh, maybe. I guess so.” and I poured the rest of the juice down the drain and helped clean up a little by throwing away the orange peels. My mother was stuck cleaning off the table and doing the dishes. She never complained though. Well, certainly not often.

Therefore, the first lesson in fresh squeezed juice is to use the right oranges. Good fresh squeezed orange juice comes from good fresh Florida Juice Oranges. They are not the best for eating and have pits but they have more juice then navels and are sweeter. They are also “chewier” if you try to eat one. Most navel oranges come from California by the way.

Whether it’s lemons, oranges, or limes, when juicing citrus fruit I always roll it on the counter under my hand before I cut it in half. I call this the “presqueeze”. I think it makes it easier to squeeze. I am usually squeezing lemons now as an adult more so then oranges.

I buy OJ in the container in the dairy aisle. I however do not always buy the same brand all the time. If it’s on sale, it will taste very good with a little vodka in it. Hence, the Screwdriver drink is next.

Well, until our next beverage recipe, be well, drink well, and have fun in the kitchen.

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Also on INSTAGRAM @ DRUNCKENCHEF82

Beverages

CHOCOLATE MILK

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GADGETS

24 ounce Cocktail Shaker

INGREDIENTS

2 Cups Ice Cold Milk

2 tablespoons Heresy’s chocolate syrup

DIRECTIONS

Pour two cups of milk into a cocktail shaker. Add chocolate syrup and then shake vigorously for 60 seconds.

Most people would use a glass and stir with a spoon. This works but many times the chocolate gets left on he bottom of the glass plus the milk is not as “frothy”. This is why the premade chocolate milk is so popular. “It’s shaken NOT stirred.” – Ian Fleming reference

Beverages, Recipe

COFFEE

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INGREDIENTS:

7 to 9 Tablespoons of ground coffee

8 six once cups of filtered water (six once cups?! What? That is what those stupid lines are for! Who knew? So, a whole pot of coffee is not even a whole 8 cups! Why?!) So be careful, there are 8 ounces in 1 cup therefore ¾ cup = 6 ounces in America. I use the damn lines! Sheesh!

DIRECTIONS:

Let us start with the water. Bad water means bad coffee or bad tea. MOST commercial places always have a filter somewhere on the water line that leads into the back of the commercial coffee pot. If they don’t, they should! What do I do? I use the ice-cold water that is also filtered that comes out on my refrigerator/freezer. I fill the pot to the 8 “cup” mark that is located on the inside of the pot. Why cold water? Never cook with hot tap water. That is just nasty, eww. Cold water works better when used particularly with an electric percolator, like the one you own and never use because you purchased it for large parties but then put it in the back of the hall closet. Yes, that one works best when you start with cold water. Next, add a coffee filter to the basket. No one likes grounds in their cup. “It’s the Grim!” Well, that was tea in the bottom of the cup…if you read Harry Potter. I digress. Let’s add the coffee already as I’m falling asleep. Now, plug it in or turn it on and let it do its thing. Mine is manual so I actually have to turn on the stove to high. I have to remain close by and wait for it to start to perk. Annoying huh, but it’s cooking! Then when it starts to perk and I can see it, remember that little clear glass thingy on top? I turn the heat down to medium-low so it remains perky (perky get it? it’s coffee) Never mind, and set the timer for seven minutes. Now, if you like your coffee richer or more flavorful this is where the COOKING part comes in. You can adjust the recipe to YOUR taste. Start by increasing the time you cook the coffee by one or two minutes. Next, you can add a tablespoon or two to the seven already in there. Each time you try something new, make a note of what you did mentally, or if you’re your tired in the morning, make a note of it in your phone! Once you get a perfect pot of coffee, repeat the same steps! Wa-la, you’re cooking! After the seven minutes are up, I turn off the stove and let it stand so the coffee in the basket now filters all the way through (aka finished cooking/perking).

Beverages

MILKSHAKE

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The Chocolate Shake was my first drink recipe as a kid. I started by making them in my mother’s Oster Blender and have progressed to the Christmas gift from my sister in-law shown below.

Hamilton Beach Drinkmaster Double. You can find the single on Amazon for about $40.00

GADGETS:

Hamilton beach mixer or Oster bender

Ice cream scoop

Measuring cup (optional)

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup Milk

1½ cups Vanilla Ice Cream

2 Tablespoons chocolate syrup (optional)

½ Banana (optional)

4 Strawberries (optional)

Whipped cream (optional)

Maraschino cherries (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Add between 1 to 2 cups (approximately) vanilla ice cream to the blender. Pour in about 3/4 cups of milk. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup to taste. Mix or blend well until smooth about 90 seconds. Pour into serving glasses and serve topped with whipped cream, a cherry on top, and a straw.

Beverages, How to Cook "American Style"

How To Make: BEVERAGES

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From iced water to cocktails, everyone needs to drink something. Your choice of beverages can be as varied as the items on a restaurant menu. The first beverages the Scouts learn to make out in the woods are iced tea and fruit punch. More importantly, they learn how to clean the beverage coolers and why it’s important to keep them clean. They also learn that iced tea is not a rehydrating beverage, and water on a hot day or a cold day is a must!

It’s summer time, so the beverage selections are VAST and varied. They are usually cold and definitely necessary on a hot day! When I was in elementary school, the first beverage recipe I learned how to make was a Chocolate Milkshake! I am sure that it might be hard to believe with all the coffee I drink, but I still like the occasional homemade milkshake. I have played with my milkshake recipe over the all these years, ever since I was a kid to get it just right! It will take time to post all the following recipes, so you will be able to come back here and click on any  new links that take you to all the drink recipes over the upcoming months here at The Magic of a Perfect Pairing (MoaPP for short). I will also have to post some kind of list or index I suppose to make life easier. They will be under the new category of BEVERAGES.

This new section will slowly cover all of the BEVERAGES I can think of over the course of the next ten months. Trivia: Did you know why sodas are referred to as being soft drinks? Its designation is made because they have no alcohol in them and therefore children can drink them. As soon as you mix rum into Coke-a-Cola, it is now a cocktail or hard drink. When you mix Rum into Coke, it’s called a Cuba Libre. A diet Cuba Libre is made with Diet Coke and if you ask for a Virgin Diet Cuba Libre it is just plain diet coke. This is all thanks to the television show The Big Bang Theory.

The first list is one of breakfast beverages: Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, Tomato Juice, Apple Juice (yuck), Milk, Chocolate Milk, Coffee, Iced Coffee, Tea, Iced Tea, and even Hot Chocolate. You know how to make coffee, but how about iced coffee or flavored coffee?

The second list is the lunch menu: Iced Coffees, iced teas, lemonades, spiked lemonade, refreshers, beer, and seltzer.

Dessert beverages: Milkshakes like strawberry, banana, and chocolate. Then there are egg creams, floats, cocktails.

Party Cocktails: Pina colada, Whiskey sour, Tom Collins, Martinis, Long Island Iced Tea,  

Summer Smoothies are good for breakfast, lunch or just as a cool refreshing drink.

Cocktail mixology 101– Tools – Gadgets – blender, bottle and corkscrew, cocktail shaker, ice bucket, pitcher, shot glasses, drink glasses, mugs and wine glasses…

Liquor: Whisky, brandy, gin, scotch, tequila, rum, vodka and liqueurs to name a few…

“Mixers” Sodas: Club, coke, sprite, ginger ale. Fresh fruit juices, like lemon, lime, orange…

Garnishes can include : Olives, cherries, fruit, celery or even cocktail onions in martinis.

BEER: Is one of the oldest beverages know to human beings. It dates back to 5000 to 4001 BC. Why? Perhaps because this is when agriculture spread from Western Asia to Southern and Central Europe. Perhaps it could be said, that agriculture spread to produce beer!

In Germany, they take their beer making very seriously. Reinheitsgebot is a beer making law that was introduced in 1516 by Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria. This German law allows only hops, barley, water and, yeast in every Stein. Even though you will find more than 1,200 breweries, producing some five thousand different types of beer, none of it is “craft beer” with any added flavorings like orange, lemon or lime. Here in America, you can find all kinds of craft or specialty beers.

Some beer types and tastes here in America include:

            Ales: These range in alcohol levels but usally remain high in alcohol content when compared to Lagers. They can be sweet, tasty beers or hoppy bitter as in IPA.

         India Pale Ale: Some people liked the higher alcohol and hoppier stronger flavor at the time in the 1800’s. The true reason for the increased hops in bees from Europe was that IPA’s were formulated to survive long voyages by sea better than other styles of the time. I am not a fan of the very hoppy IPA’s but you should at the very least give them try with the right food.

                        Berliner Weisse: This is my beer of choice now. These are wheat based beers and very pale. To me they have a very smooth and refreshing flavor. They include the brands: Blue Moon, Shock Top on the lower end of the mass produced beer and Wiekerke, Hoegaarden, Leffe and Franziskanner on the higher end.

            Lager: This is what I grew up drinking. Budweiser Beer being the most popular in America at the time. It is now owned and brewed by Anheser-Bush InBev that is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. Lager beer is still the most mass produced beer in the world.

        Pilsner is encompassed in the lager family of beers. The brands include: Stella Artois, which is imported from England, and Peroni, from Italy, which pairs terrific with Italian food. 

            If your tastes dictate drinking only one or two beers once in a while, then specialty beers might be for you. These are more commonly known as “craft beers”. They include things like coffee, fruit, and smoke. Some of the most popular name brands include Yuengling, Boston Beer Co., Sierra Nevada, Brooklyn Brewery, Dogfish, Harpoon, and Summit Brewing Co..

Wine types:

            White Varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Grigo or Pinot Gris, Riesling, Sauvigon Blan or Fume’ Blanc like the one I had with the shellfish.

            Red Varieties: Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Syrah, Merlot.

Other:

                        Sparkling

                        Fortified: Vermouth, Marsala, Sherry, Madeira

                        Ports

                        I have a wonderful recipe for SANGRIA that I will post soon!

Serving and storing wine:

            White wine and Champagne should be chilled. I serve it in an ice bucket.

Drink Basics: Garnishes…How to make, Simple Syrup.

Summer drinks: Shakes, Frozen Margaritas, and Pina Coladas.              

Wintertime beverages: Hot Totty, Spiced Cider, Egg Nog and Mulled Wine.

Year Round: Screwdrivers, Bloody Marys, Margaritas, Mimosas, and Bellinis

This is just the tip of the iceberg, or is it ice cube? We (Jules, Sam and myself) will be writing all about all these things and more as we explore BERVRAGES through out the rest of the year!

Enjoy, imbibe and explore….drinks. Until we meet again, be well.

The Drunken Chef (Russ)