Cold Drip Iced Coffee

I know this method was all in the news last year, but I just got around to trying it this weekend. This makes two weeks worth of concentrate and is significantly less bitter than hot brewed coffee poured over ice. And, its easy.

3/4 lb (1 12 oz bag) of good quality beans, coarsely ground

8 C cold water

Soak grounds in filtered or distilled water overnight in the fridge. Strain grounds through sieve or cheesecloth and store concentrate in a pitcher. To serve, pour into a tall glass filled with ice and top with water or milk.

A few notes from the InStyle article:

• Use micro-lot organic premium beans, grown in the shade for the best quality brew. I used beans from Cameron's.
• Using filtered water makes the coffee smooth and more flavorful, same goes for ice cubes.
• This type of coffee is much sweeter and less acidic

I'm buzzing from my cup this morning, the concentrate is much more concentrated than I realized. I could have added a lot more ice cubes! I added some mint leaves from our garden and used the grounds as mulch around our tomato and pepper plants.

Asian Pear Mojito

Anthony and I ate at PF Chang's on Friday night and since we were trying to make a movie, we ate at the bar. I had the Asian Pear Mojito, which was excellent. Not too sweet, not too overpowering, just right. When I told the bartender how much I liked it, she offered to give me the recipe. Uh, yeah!

Asian Pear Mojito
1.5 oz Bacardi Limon
1 oz Apple Pucker
mint leaves
3 lime slices
Splash of pineapple juice
Soda water

Pour Bacardi and Apple pucker into glass, add mint and lime slices. Muddle together at bottom of glass. Add ice, pineapple juice and soda water. Enjoy.

Spiced Cranberry Sangría

Makes 2 1/2 quarts-

By dressing up classic Spanish sangría with Spiced Simple Syrup and tart cranberries, Chef Jose Garces has created an ideal cocktail for a winter holiday celebration. Chef Garces serves this with an apple chip garnish for a more elegant finish, but even without it it’s delightful.
What to buy: If you can’t find a Tempranillo rosé, a less earthy Grenache rosé is a suitable substitute.

For the fruit:
2 cups fresh cranberries
2 Granny Smith apples, large dice
1 cup Spiced Simple Syrup (sugar & water -2 c each, cinnamon sticks & cloves- or other spices you desire)
3/4 cup Cointreau
1/2 cup ruby port wine

Combine all ingredients in a 3-quart container with a tightfitting lid.
Cover and refrigerate at least four hours or preferably overnight.

For the sangría:
"1 750-milliliter bottle Tempranillo rosé"
1/2 cup ruby port wine
1/2 cup Cointreau
1/2 cup cranberry juice

Add all ingredients to the fruit mixture and stir to combine.
Refrigerate until chilled, and serve over ice.

Mike's Spiced Cider

Picked up some of this Mike's Spiced Cider last night. Tasty. I had it warm, but I'm sure its good cold.

Carnivale's Mojito Recipe

For the drinkers of the group...

I went to a mojito class last night at a Cuban/Latino restaurant here in Chicago called Carnivale: http://www.carnivalechicago.com/. Supposedly they have been voted as having the best mojitos in town- now we can all be the judge!

For the seasonal fruit variety, we had a blueberry one and it was delish- perfect blend of sour and sweet!

8-10 mint leaves (remove stems)
1/2 lime quartered
1.5 oz. white rum
1 oz. simple syrup (use equal parts sugar & warm water- simmer until sugar dissolves)
club soda

In a highball glass, muddle limes and mint, then add rum and simple syrup.
Fill glass to top with ice and top off with club soda.
Pour all ingredients into a shaker and back into the highball glass. Serve with a straw and ENJOY!

For seasonal fruit flavored mojitos, use recipe as noted above but only use 1/2 oz of simple syrup and 1 oz. of fresh fruit puree (to be added before rum and simple syrup).

To make fresh fruit puree, stew your desired fruit over low heat with a bit of water. Once fruit is soft, drain any remaining water and blend into a syrup.