Hot Fun In The Summertime

"Why is the rum always gone?"

                        - Jack Sparrow

Summertime usually means cold, adult beverages.   I know I have enjoyed quite a few over the years.  Sometimes you just need a change from wine or beer.  Like pirates before me I like rum.  I also have a fondness for tequila.  

Flying my colors! 

I thought I would share some of my favorite cocktails for summer this week.   Some have been around for years.  Others, I have created myself.  If you make any of the recipes, snap a pic and tag me on Twitter or Instagram! I would love to see it!  @jjthecook for both.  Enjoy and happy, responsible drinking!

Measurements are approximate. 

J.J.'s Scurvy Buster

• 2 oz Rum – I prefer spiced
• 1 oz lime juice
• 2 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz orange juice
• 2 oz coconut water
• 1 oz simple syrup if desired

1. Shake or stir to mix – serve over ice.
2. Garnish with cherry and orange slice if desired.
3. Serves one.

Frozen Rum Runner

• 3/4 ounce spiced or gold rum
• 1/4 ounce blackberry liqueur 1/4 ounce creme de banana liqueur
• 2 ounces orange juice
• 1/2 ounce grenadine
• 8 ounces crushed ice
• 1/4 oz. dark or 151 proof rum

1. Add spiced or gold rum, blackberry liqueur, creme de banana liqueur, orange juice, grenadine and crushed ice in a blender.
2. Blend until slushy and pour into glass. 
3. Float with 1/4 oz. dark or 151 proof rum
4. Serves one

Dirty Banana

• 2 oz. Tia Maria or Kahlua
• 2 oz. dark rum
• 2 oz. rum cream liqueur
• 4 oz. milk
• 1 oz. simple syrup
• 3/4 banana
• chocolate syrup
• Ice

1. Fill blender 3/4 way with ice and all ingredients.
2. Blend until thick and smooth.
3. Pour into glasses
4. Drizzle chocolate syrup on top for garnish
5. Serves two
   

 Paloma Ala J.J.

• 2 oz tequila blanco (silver)
• Juice of half a lime
• 3 oz pink grapefruit juice
• 3 oz soda
• pinch salt
• Lime wedge, for garnish

1. Combine tequila, lime juice and a pinch of salt in a highball or Collins glass.
2. Add ice
3. Top with grapefruit and soda.
4. Stir gently
5. Serve with a lime wedge garnish

Have a cupcake and drink it too!

Today is National Blueberry Popover Day!

In today's issue...

• Blueberry Popovers
• Vodka!

 Blueberry Popovers

In honor of today being national blueberry popover day!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 6 equal-sized pieces
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or you could use blueberry vodka!
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, or to taste
• 1 lemon, halved

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.    Put a piece of butter into each of 6 large muffin cups.
3.      Put muffin tin in preheated oven until butter melts, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
4.      Beat milk, eggs, 1/4 cup sugar, and vanilla together in a large bowl. Whisk flour into the milk mixture until you have a batter. Divide batter between muffin cups. Drop even amounts of blueberries into each batter portion. Stir 1 tablespoon sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl; sprinkle evenly over the batter portions.
5.   Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and continue baking until popovers are no longer moist in the center, about 25 minutes. Dust tops of popovers with confectioners' sugar. Squeeze lemon juice over popovers. Serve warm.

 Yield: 6

I remember ages (and I do mean ages) ago when I turned 21 there was one type of vodka or one type I knew about...the plain old kind.   Then around 1999 Absolut came out with Mandrin and it just exploded from there. I wasn't much interested in flavored vodkas until I was introduced the the adult cherry Coke made with cherry flavored vodka or the delicious cotton candy vodka by Pinnacle.  

Cupcake Martini

Ingredients

• 1 1/2oz Cake Vodka
• 1 1/2oz Whipped Cream Vodka
• 1 1/2oz White Creme de Cacao
• 1/2oz Amaretto 
• 1/2oz White Chocolate Liqueur
• 1oz Heavy Whipping Cream
• Ice
• White Icing
• Sprinkles

Directions

1. Place ice in martini glasses to chill the glass.
   
2. Place sprinkles on a shallow plate that is a little larger than the mouth of your martini glass.
3. In another shallow plate, cover bottom with white icing.
4. Dump ice out of glass.
5. Dip the rim of the martini glass in icing.
6. Dip glass into sprinkles to rim the edges.
7. Combine remaining ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake for about 30 seconds.
8. Strain into martini glasses and drink!

Make ahead: For a big party, mix up a big batch of these and store in a large pitcher in the fridge. Shake a glass at a time over ice whenever ready to serve!

Adult Cherry Coke 

  Ingredients

• 1 1/2oz  Cherry Vodka
• 3 floz Cola
• 1/2oz Grenadine 
• Maraschino Cherries

Directions

1.   Fill glass with ice. 
2. Add Cherry Vodka, cola, and grenadine. 
3. Stir well. 
4. Garnish with cherry.

Beer. Now there’s a temporary solution!

So, I have been taking it upon myself to learn about beer in addition to wine. I will admit I have never been a fan of beer. I like to cook with it and I will drink it, but it has never been a first or even a second choice while drinking. Where I live there are several micro breweries. The significant other is quite fond of them. I am tying to learn about beer so we are able to enjoy the craft brews together.

My knowledge of beer up until lately has been: You rent it...as in it makes you pee. Everyone seems to love Budweiser, I think it is horrible. I tolerate Miller Light the best, but if it is cold enough I can deal with Coors Light, Rolling Rock, or National Bohemian aka Natty Boh. I do like Redds Apple Ale, but that has a sweet taste. I also quite enjoy Crispin, but that is another cider.

I find the taste of hops unpleasant. (Hops are the female flowers [also called seed cones or strobiles] of the hop plant. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor. Hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine.) This is the root of my dislike of beers. I have always been sensitive to bitter and that is what I don't like about the hops. In my research I have found most all beers fall into one of two categories: ales or lagers. Crazy right?

Ale is brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste. Most ales contain hops, which help preserve the beer and impart a bitter herbal flavor that balances the sweetness of the malt. Ale is the oldest kind of beer.

Types of Ale

• Barley Wine - Use of the word wine is due to its similar alcoholic strength as a wine; but since it is made from grain rather than fruit, it is, in fact, a beer. There are two primary styles of barley wine: the American which tends to be more hoppy and thus more bitter with colors ranging from amber to light brown and the English style which tends to be less hoppy and thus less bitter with more variety in color ranging from red-gold to opaque black.
• Bitter - An English term for pale ale. Bitters vary in color from gold to dark amber. English bitter is widely considered by English drinkers to be the best beer in the world, as a result of its style being difficult to find elsewhere.
• Brown Ale - They range from deep amber to brown in color. Brown ales from northeastern England tend to be strong and malty, often nutty, while those from southern England are usually darker, sweeter and lower in alcohol. North American brown ales are usually drier than their English counterparts, with a slight citrus accent and an aroma, bitterness, and medium body.
• India Pale Ale - The body will be golden to amber and it is extremely hoppy. It was first brewed in England in the 19th century.

  

  I wouldn't drink it, but the name is hilarious!

• Pale Ale - is a beer made by warm fermentation using predominantly pale malt.
• Porter - a dark style of beer originating in London in the 18th century, descended from brown beer, a well hopped beer made from brown malt. The name is thought to come from its popularity with street and river porters.
• Stout – A dark beer made using roasted malt or roasted barley, hops, water and yeast. Stouts were originally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest porters. There are several variations of stout.
• Wheat Beer - A beer that is brewed with a large proportion of wheat in addition to malted barley. wheat beer is the oldest style still in existence today.
  
  

Lager is light in color and is aged at cool temperatures. Lager was developed by German brewers who discovered that aging beer in natural caves after the initial fermentation produced a cleaner beer and made their brews less susceptible to contamination. Eventually this aging, called lagering, led to the isolation of yeasts that thrived at lower temperatures than the traditional ale yeasts. This bottom fermenting yeast is more aggressive than ale yeast yielding a drier beer with almost no flavor or aroma contributed by the yeast itself. Lagers are typically served cold. 

Types of Lager

• Bock - Bock originated in Einbeck, Germany. It is rich and malty. There is noticeable balancing hop bitterness but the depth of the full malt flavor dominate.
• Dunkel - Dunkel beers are dark lagers. They are generally associated with Bavaria, their region
  
  of origin. They typically range in color from amber to dark reddish brown. They are characterized by their smooth malty flavor.
  
• Oktoberfest/Maerzen - The body is light brown with a white head. This lager is distinctly German.
• Pilsner - It is one of the youngest beer styles in the world and was originally brewed in Plzen, Czech in 1842. Pilsner is brewed all over the world. The head is white and dense and the body is straw colored. The aroma should contain hops with a hint of graininess. The flavor is simple with light grain and hops bittering.

I've recently discovered through research and tasting, I seem to like stouts and porter. IPA's are a no go because the hoppiness of them turns me off. I have also learned that some beers taste better with food. Wines do too.  Who knew!?!

Stay tuned for the next installment of beer! 

References

• Real Beer
• Beer/Wikipedia
• Beer Advocate

Super Bowl XLVII or Festivus Maximus 2013

Super Bowl weekend is upon us soon and it is an a great weekend for me.  My awesome/beloved Baltimore Ravens have made it and only you Maryland people will understand...Festivus Maximus!  (In 2000, the Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick would not allow his players to discuss the possibility of competing in the Super Bowl. Instead, he and the rest of the Ravens players and staff referred to the playoffs as Festivus, and the Super Bowl as Festivus Maximus.)

In my opinion and because I am too lazy to do the research, Super Bowl Sunday is most likely the biggest snacking “holiday” in the USA. Everybody wants to snack during the game and wait for the commercials. And be serious here, unless your team is in the big dance, you only watch for the food and commercials.

As for myself, I will be enjoying the game in Maryland with my Rosy and friends at Hooters.  This however does not effect my collection of recipes I have been gathering and testing for the big weekend.

  'Wannabe' Jalapeno Popper Party Dip

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, and Parmesan cheese together in a saucepan over low heat until evenly blended. Fold in bread crumbs, jalapeno peppers, and red pepper flakes. Cook and stir dip until Parmesan cheese is melted, 2 to 5 more minutes

Brown Sugar Smokies

Ingredients

• 1 pound bacon
• 1 (16 ounce) package little smokie sausages
• 1 cup brown sugar, or to taste 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Cut bacon into thirds and wrap each strip around a little sausage. Place the wrapped sausages on wooden skewers, several to a skewer. Arrange the skewers on a baking sheet and sprinkle them liberally with brown sugar.

Bake until bacon is crisp and the brown sugar melted.


Grilled Bacon Jalapeno Wraps

Ingredients

• 6 fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded 
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 12 slices bacon 

Directions

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat.

Spread cream cheese to fill jalapeno halves. Wrap with bacon. Secure with a toothpick.

Place on the grill, and cook until bacon is crispy.

Candied Bacon Pigs

Ingredients

• 1 (14 ounce) package little smokies sausages
• 1 pound bacon slices, cut into thirds crosswise
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, divided 
• 1/2 (12 fluid ounce) can cola-flavored carbonated beverage
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce, or to taste (optional) 

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Wrap each little sausage with 1/3 slice of bacon, and secure them with toothpicks.

Place the appetizers on a large baking sheet and sprinkle with 3/4 cup of brown sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven until the sugar is melted and bubbling, about 40 minutes; turn the appetizers after 20 minutes.

Remove the appetizers from the baking sheet with a slotted spoon, and place into a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup of brown sugar and the five-spice powder over the smokies, and drizzle with the cola. If desired, add hot sauce to taste.

Set the cooker to High, and cook 4 hours. Serve warm.

Triple-Layer Peanut Butter Brownies

Ingredients

• 1pkg.  (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (13x9-inch pan size)
• 1pkg.  (3.4 oz.)  Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
• 1cup  cold milk
• 1cup  Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/2cup  powdered sugar
• 1-1/2cups  COOL WHIP Whipped Topping (Do not thaw.)
• 3oz.  BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
• 1/2cup Dry Roasted Peanuts, coarsely chopped

Directions

PREPARE and bake brownies in 13x9-inch pan as directed on package; cool. Meanwhile, beat pudding mix and milk with whisk 2 min. Add peanut butter and sugar; mix well. Refrigerate until brownies are completely cooled.

SPREAD over brownies.

MICROWAVE COOL WHIP and chocolate in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min., stirring every 30 sec. Spread over pudding; top with nuts. Refrigerate 1 hour, serve.

And now for a drink...I have posted this before, but it can stand to be posted again since it fits! Happy Festivus Maximus!


The Baltimore Raven-tini

• 3 oz Vodka 
• 1 1/2 oz of cranberry juice 
• 1/2 oz blue curacao
•  1/2 oz sweet and sour mix
•  1/2 of lemon-lime soda 

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake gently.  Add more Blue Curacao if color isn't purple enough.  Serve in a chilled Martini glass. Rim with sugar if desired.

I need a drink...

So...I have moved from Maryland to North Carolina and boy do I need a drink! A huge shout out to my awesome friend T for the help and support!  I am still feeling overwhelmed with unpacking, unhappy cats, my various injuries, and the search to find a bar so I can watch my Ravens game.  So in honor of my Ravens here is a great drink recipe.

The Baltimore Raven-tini

• 3 oz Vodka 
• 1 1/2 oz of cranberry juice 
• 1/2 oz blue curacao
•  1/2 oz sweet and sour mix
•  1/2 of lemon-lime soda 

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake gently.  Add more Blue Curacao if color isn't purple enough.  Serve in a chilled Martini glass. Rim with sugar if desired. 

Horrible Photoshop, I know!!! 

Stay Tuned!

The weather sucks...but this cake doesn't!

Pink Lemonade Cake...an old friend submitted it to me.  She has also sent me the Frozen Lemonade Pie...me thinks she likes lemonade.  Anyhow...this thing was freaking incredible.  Of course I had to make my own adjustments, which I will describe below.  As for now enjoy this entry and hope this fat kid survives the week of earthquakes and hurricanes in Maryland...speaking of hurricanes....that's one of my favorite adult beverages.  Think I will enjoy one with a piece of this killer cake!  

The hurricane is an extremely sweet alcoholic drink made with fruit juice, syrup or grenadine and rum. It is one of many popular drinks served in New Orleans.

 The creation of this passion fruit-colored relative of a Daiquiri drink is credited to New Orleans tavern owner Pat O'Brien. In the 1940s, he needed to create a new drink to help him get rid of all of the less popular rum that local distributors forced him to buy before he could get a few cases of more popular liquors such as scotch and whiskey. He poured the concoction into hurricane-lamp-shaped glasses and gave it away to sailors. The drink caught on, and it has been a mainstay in the French Quarter ever since. It is more commonly served in a disposable plastic cup, as New Orleans laws permit drinking in public and leaving a bar with a drink, but prohibit public drinking from glass or metal containers.   ---Got some irony to it doesn't it?

Hurricane

 Ingredients:

•2 oz light rum
•2 oz dark rum
•2 oz passion fruit juice
•1 oz orange juice
•juice of a half a lime
•1 Tbsp simple syrup
•1 Tbsp grenadine
•orange slice and cherry for garnish

 Preparation:

1.Squeeze juice from half a lime into shaker over ice.
2.Pour the remaining ingredients into the cocktail shaker.
3.Shake well.
4.Strain into a hurricane glass.
5.Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice.

Pink Lemonade Layer Cake

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen and Kerri

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more, for coating pans
• 1 (18 1/4-ounce) box white cake mix
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons sweetened pink lemonade drink powder - I used unsweetened
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar
• 5 tablespoons frozen pink lemonade concentrate - I added more for a better lemon taste
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper or waxed paper.

Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions. To the batter, stir in the lemon zest, vanilla, and pink lemonade powder. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Carefully turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting by beating together the confectioners' sugar and remaining 1 cup butter until fluffy. Beat in the remaining frosting ingredients until combined.

Transfer one cake to a cake stand or large platter. Using an offset spatula, spread the top of the cake with a layer of frosting. Place the second cake on top of the first. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of both layers.

I got fancey and garnished it for the photo!