Lychee Martini

This is one of my favorite martinis. I'm going to put two different recipes. One will be a traditional martini while the other one will be a bit of a short cut. Here is how it is traditionally made.:

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 cup drained canned lychees (15 to 20, from a 16- to 20-oz can)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

6 oz (3/4 cup) vodka (preferI used Grey Goose)

1 1/2 oz (3 tablespoons) Cointreau or other orange-flavored liqueur

Instructions

1. Heat sugar and water in a 1-quart saucepan over high heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved, then pour into a heatproof bowl set in a large bowl of ice and cold water. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until syrup is cold, about 3 minutes.

2. Purée lychees with sugar syrup and lemon juice in a blender until smooth, then force through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids and then discarding them.

3. Fill cocktail shaker halfway with ice cubes and add lychee purée, vodka, and Cointreau. Shake 15 seconds and strain into Martini glasses.

Now here's my lazy version. This one I use for my mom since she happens to be the biggest light weight I've ever encountered.  In the cocktail shaker pour 1/2 a cup of the lychee juice from the can. Add a shot of vodka (or half a shot when it comes to my mother), a tablespoon of agave, squeeze a little bit of lemon juice and toss in some ice cubes. Shake for a few seconds and then strain into Martini glasses.  You could garnish with a few whole lychees from the can. You could also rim the glass with sugar or as in the case of my picture some coconut and sugar.

Balsamic Infused Strawberries over Ricotta

A pretty and healthy alternative to the junk I've been eating lately.

Ingredients

• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons honey/agave/pure maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 (16-ounce) container strawberries cut to pieces
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. Put the ricotta cheese, honey and vanilla extract into the small bowl of a blender  and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. In a small saucepan combine the vinegar and sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer over a medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool completely.

3. In a medium bowl, toss the berries with the basil and the balsamic syrup.

4. Divide the cheese mixture among 4 cocktail glasses, top with the berry mixture and serve.

Kalua Pork

This tastes great with a little hoisin sauce on top or if you can get a hold of Mang Tomas All Purpose Sauce (it's a Filipino sauce).

When I first came across this recipe I initially thought that the kalua referred to the alcohol. This recipe definitely doesn't use kalua. It's actually a traditional Hawaiian pork dish. This recipe is amazingly easy and produces such tender shredded pork. You just have to plan ahead with the recipe since it takes more than 12 hours to properly cook.

 
Ingredients:

·         4 to 5 pound pork butt

·         1 tablespoon liquid smoke

·         2 1/2 tablespoons sea salt  

Instructions:

1.      Place pork in the crock pot and stab it all over with the tip of a knife.

2.      Rub sea salt all over pork.

3.      Drizzle the liquid smoke all over.

4.      Set the crock pot to low and cook for about 16 hours. Shred with two forks.

Green Beans With Bacon, Cranberries and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

• 1/4 pound bacon, roughly chopped
• 1 pound of fresh green beans, washed and trimmed
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup dried crnaberries
• 1 logo f goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup chopped dill

Instructions

1. Cook bacon in a latge skillet until crisp, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfor to a paper towel lined plate to let drain.

 2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add green beans and cook until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl.

 3. Toss green beans with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and transfer to a large platter.
4. Scatter bacon, cranberried, goat cheese and dill over the top and servecaption

Mango Lassie

Mangos are my favorite fruit. That's why I try to incorpotate mangos in so many drinks. Here is a very simple recipe for a mango lassie. In a blender combine 2 cubed mangos, 1/2 a cup of ice cubes, a cup of greek yogurt, a tablespoon of honey or agave, and some milk ( depending on how thick you want your lassie to be). Pour into a glass and serve with a sprig of basil on top. God I love this warm weather. : )

Spinach Smoothies

I recently bought a new blender and I felt a need to test it out. I also had a lot of spinach and I knew we had to utilize them before they went bad.

This delicious smoothie is made from a handful of spinach, 6 mint leaves, 3 tbsp of vanilla yogurt, and 1/2 a cup of skim milk.

Another recipe involves some spinach, 1 banana, 1 tbsp of peanut butter, soymilk.

This one was made from 2 handfuls of spinach, 6-7 frozen strawberries, a drizzle of agave, about a 1/4 inch of finely grated ginger and a cup of water. 

Pisco Sunrise

So one day I wanted to make a drink with some of my pisco. I always thought that tequila sunrises were really pretty but I was never a huge fan of tequila. So I decided to make a drink that catered more towards my taste. So here is a pisco sunrise AKA a mago sunrise. Be warned that this is a really sweet drink. Some people make prefer a little more alcohol than what I put. If you can't find any pisco I'm sure the spirit of your choice will work as well. It's all about the different densities of the liquids that create the look of a sunrise anyway.

In a glass of your choice pour:

• shot of pisco
• mango nectar an inch from the top
• 1-2 tbsp of grenadine