Cara Cara Orange Margaritas

Cara Cara oranges are a revelation to me.  I bought them by mistake.  From the outside they resemble a typical navel orange, but the first time I sliced one open I stopped dumbfounded.  The inside resembled  a pink grapefruit.  I turned it around in my hand, examining the skin, but it was still an orange.  I touched a drop of juice to my tongue:  sweet! 

With out much more time to ponder as I was predictable running late, I sliced the pink fruit into half moons and was on my way.  At lunch I learned the they were very similar to a navel orange if not a bit sweeter, but the color was exceptional.



Daum squeezed them all before I could get a shot.  Oddly enough the juice was more orange than pink.  Sad. 

Enter the margarita.  I'm not a huge fan of margaritas.  I tend to stick to the sangria at Mexican restaurants.  The sour mix used in most places is too sweet and weirdly enough, makes my tongue hurt. 

Little did I know the best margaritas are made with freshly squeezed juice.  Who knew!!? 

Apparently, Daum. 

He makes them with fresh lime juice all the time.  Since I had three beautiful Cara Cara's on the counter we mixed their juice with some fresh lime juice and added some icy tequila and orange liqueur.  What we had was a margarita I could get behind!  It was tart, bright, and refreshing and went well with the spicy bite that the tacos we were also preparing that night had.

Cara Cara Orange Margaritas

                 (Inspired by this)

Make to Order  (they were big)

Ingredients

4 ounces fresh Cara Cara orange juice
2 ounces fresh lime juice
2 ounces Tequila (I used Sauza Blanco)
1 ounce of orange liqueur

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a shaker with ice.  Shake vigorously and strain into a glass over ice.

Variation:  (pictured above) Daum appreciates his spice so he muddles a few jalapenos with some cilantro leaves in the bottom of the shaker before adding everything else and was quite pleased with the results.

I added a little leftover lemon simple syrup for a bit more sweetness.

Brooklyn Slate Company's Fancy Cheese Slate

I have limited space in my apartment.  Having moved five times in the last eight years has taught me how to compact a whole life into one room if necessary.  It's difficult at times.  I can't begin to tell you how many gadgets and gizmo's I would love to give a place to in my kitchen, but alas it is usually not meant to be.

Wistfully, I think.... Someday....

I could use this whole space to blather on about what I want, RIGHT! NOW!  But I won't.  Most of the stuff I see trolling the damn world-wide-web, I forget mere seconds later.  I'm like a goldfish that way.  If I start to document them, then I'll constantly be reminded about things I want, but cannot have. 

Pinterest? I'm looking at you.  I'm sure we would not be friends.

So because I have been a bad little cook lately I will share with you one of my prized, albeit small, possessions.

My Cheese Slate.


~source~

My mother gifted me this beautiful piece of slate from the Brooklyn Slate Company, this past Christmas, and I'm sad to say I've only used it three times since, but I'm making cheese a priority.  If someones got to do it it might as well be me.

My favorite feature is the little piece of soapstone pencil that comes with it so you don't have to fuss with cheese tags, flags or worrying about forgetting which is which.  It has also prompted me to work on my chalk writing skills.  It's not as easy as one thinks, especially since my previous chalk writing experience has been limited to driveways and pieces of chalk as big as my forearm.

It also comes packaged in a burlap bag and tied with twine to give it that rustic, simple feel.


~source~

I'm also in trouble now because as I was researching on the website I came across these. 

Someday.....Wistfully thought.

But till then, I will make do.  And I will eat a lot of this.  The presentation? 

I love.  It makes me giddy. 

Now if this doesn't make you want to tear of a hunk of crusty bread and slather it with a soft triple creme brie and drizzle it with fresh honey comb, then I cannot help you.

A Home For My Booze

It started off with this:

It came through my email on a slow day at work.  Even though the subject of the email was "Wine?"  My immediate reaction was "Swing set?"  A ringer at Pictionary I am not.

Above the picture was two words:  "Like this?"

I tilted my head to the side in confusion and then it all hit me at once.  Ohhhhhhh a wine rack!

My roommate had recently moved out taking with her the glass and steel wine rack/bar where we housed all our drinking paraphernalia.  Ironically enough she was moving it out as I was moving in a brand new case of wine.  So eleven bottles of wine were homeless.  (I magnanimously donated one bottle to my mother) 

I didn't think about it for a while with the new roommate moving in and not being around much, but the corner looked sad. 

I started flooding Daum with links to wine rack from all over the web until he frustratingly stated.  "Can't you wait a week!?"

I'm usually pretty patient, but when I have an idea in my head I'm antsy until I find a solution.  I agreed to wait and wondered what he had up his sleeve.  That's when the "blueprint" hit my inbox.  (Yes, even after all that I still didn't know what it was right away.)

Four days later, with minimal input from me.  "sure 12 bottles will be plenty"  "dark walnut" and "I'm sure it's not REALLY lopsided."  The bar was delivered!

And I love it!  My very own Daum Original.

Don't be jeal!

Blueberry Whiskey Smash

Let's have a drink, yes?

Let's celebrate me surviving the winter.  Let's celebrate me starting to make a commitment to something! 

Let's forget the fact that I made months and months of delicious, warming comforting food and yet did not document it. 

We shall forget! Yes? 

And celebrate the future with a sweet, minty, bright, potent drink!

Blueberry Whiskey Smash

          (Loosely adapted from Serious Eats from Kelly Carambula)

Recipe makes One Drink.  I found it best to make them to order.

Ingredients

6 blueberries

3-4 fresh mint leaves

1.5 ounces of bourbon (I (Daum) chose Jim Beam as the bourbon of choice, but there are plenty to choose from and any will work.)

1 ounce lemon simple syrup (recipe to follow)

seltzer

lemon

Directions

Fill a highball glass with crushed ice.  Set aside.

Add blueberries and mint to the bottom of a cocktail shaker.  Muddle together until the berries release their juice and the mint leaves are bruised and fragrant.  I didn't have a fancy cocktail muddler (not quite sure that's a word) so I used the handle of a wooden spoon, which is now stained purple.

Add a hand full of ice and top with the bourbon and simple syrup.  Cover the shaker and shake vigorously to combine the flavor.  According to Daum this should be about thirteen times.  Why, you ask?  Not a clue.

Pour over the crushed ice and top with a splash of seltzer and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Lemon Simple Syrup

Bring 1 1/2 cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of sugar to a boil in a sauce pan.  Add in the zest of one lemon and the juice of half.  Let the sugar dissolve.

When the sugar dissolves take the pot of the heat, cover and let the lemon steep in the syrup until ready to assemble the drink.

I'm not a bourbon fan and I downed three of these bad boys.  They were light and refreshing.  The citrus kick to the simple syrup made the drink and the blueberries just made it pretty!  Seriously, Daum forgot to muddle his berries one round and the drink came out a weird taupe color. 

Cheers!

Don't forget to muddle!