What can I say? It’s been one of those weeks.
June 25, 2011
May 5, 2011
Arriba, abajo, al centro, para adentro!
(up, down, center, inside – a slightly uncouth toast to use at Cinco de Mayo)
And while you are being uncouth, how about a last minute, very tasty salsa. This is so easy and so tasty. Use it on the Carnitas if you are making them, on chips, on eggs the next morning (pardon me, huevos).
SIXTY-SECOND SALSA
- -1/2 small jalapeño minced
-1/4 small red onion , peeled
– 1small clove garlic , minced or pressed
– 2tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves (Or one tablespoon cilantro paste)
– 1/4teaspoon salt
– pinch ground black pepper
– 2teaspoons lime juice
– One (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
– One tablespoon Corzo Silver Tequila
*Pulse all ingredients except tomatoes and tequila in food processor until minced. Add tomatoes and pulse until roughly chopped, about two 1-second pulses. Place in bowl, pour out a small bit of juice and stir in tequila.
March 18, 2011
Voodoo Tiki Tequila
A guest post by intrepid reporter/photographer Leona Shanana, covering the launch of Voodoo Tiki Tequila at the Tiki-Fabulous Waldorf Hotel in Vangroover.
Snazzy! It was really impossible to get a clear shot of the coloured glass inside the bottle due to refraction. No, those are not waterlogged gummi bears in there; they are little tiki gods in technicolour.
These are 3 stages of aged tequila. The bartender was mixing with the Platinum Silver; the Reposado is aged 6 mos and the Anejo one year. Massey also had another bottle secreted away under the table that was top of the line stuff – only 1000 bottles made a year, most of which get snapped up by the American market. I must have chatted up the right guy (not pictured) because I got a taste of it! The Voodoo Tiki guys’ main point seemed to be that we haven’t had access to really good tequila in Canada up til now, except for Patron which is so costly [ed. note: and Don Julio]. So this tequila is intended to fill the niche between Patron and tequilas that are fit only to be tossed back fast and chased with salt and lemon to cut the sicky feeling. This stuff is meant to be sipped, like good scotch.
The Green Dragon is exactly like a lime margarita with no ice and really scrumptious actually; and the Private Collection 1000 bottles a year stuff I would describe as smooth drinking, sweetish and slightly smoky flavour. Gentler than scotch and it barely even tasted like tequila as we know it. It was almost viscous.
Here’s the guy who was chopping the tops off coconuts. I am kicking myself for forgetting his name. The bar must have gone through 100 coconuts. The way they worked it was, when you came in, you received your lei, green tiki shotglass and an ounce of Green Dragon, which is a blend of tequila, mandarin and lime (like a margarita with no ice). Once you had drunk that you got a coconut, and then you brought the empty coconut back and Shaun would fill it with a Diablo.
The charming hostesses/coatcheck girls, Ashlee and Anastasia. Anastasia is holding one of the green tiki god shotglasses we all got to take home (don’t worry, I grabbed you one [thanks! can you ever have enough?]). Eventually, Voodoo Tiki will market minis in bottles that shape.
Shaun (sp?) the handsome bartender, mixing a Diablo. This is Silver tequila over ice, house ginger beer (chunky!) and cassis. Really yummy! and once the bar had heated up and everyone was getting drymouthed, he switched to pineapple juice instead of ginger beer. Refreshing!
Sometimes the morning after the night before begins before you’ve managed to get home. We feel your pain, Mark.
Cheers! A little mood music, anyone?