TIFF Teanie

Mixed drinks in teacups?? These new drinks of choice inspired by Prohibition and 1920’s parties of drunken debauchery are popping up all across the city! The newest way to drink a cocktail!

The Library Bar at the Fairmont Royal York (Toronto) launched a new “teacup cocktail” last week for the opening of the Toronto International Film Festival. Named the “TIFF Teanie” this is the hottest new teacup cocktail. Featuring chilled organic jasmine tea, pear vodka, Galliano, freshly squeezed lemon juice and a dash on simple syrup served on the rocks in fine china with lemon zest and a scone. High tea move over!

TIFF TEANIE

Ingredients:
- 2 ounces chilled Fairmont organic jasmine tea
- 1 ounce pear vodka
- ½ ounce Galliano
- Dash freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Dash simple syrup

Directions:
- Garnish with fresh lemon zest and a fresh mint sprig
- Gently stir and serve on the rocks in fine china

photo credit: the globe & mail

SANGRIA

Drink of the week: SANGRIA.

A Spanish classic perfect for patio drinks and cooling off in the summer heat. A great drink to serve at parties, at the lake or backyard BBQs.

Sangria is kind of like a punch. It consists of red wine (generally from the region of La Rioja, Spain), chopped fresh fruit, a sweetener (honey, sugar, simple syrup), brandy or triple sec, soda and ice. It can also be made with white whine for those of you who aren't big red drinkers...and generally I am not, but Sangria just works!

Vineyards in La Rioja, Spain

When I was living in Spain, I took a cooking course with a famous Spanish chef. On one of our cooking nights we whipped up some Sangria to accompany our meal. It is so simple and so Spanish! Later in the year when I was in Seville my friend Lindsay and I cooled off from the southern heat by relaxing on a patio drinking fresh Sangria.

Give this drink a whirl this summer! It will not disappoint!

Bobby Flay's Red Wine Sangria

Ingredients:

- 2 bottles red Spanish table wine (from La Rioja if possible)
- 1 cup brandy
- 1/2 cup triple sec
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 cup pomegranate juice
- 1/2 simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, heated until sugar dissolves, cooled)
- orange slices
- apple slices
- blackberries
- pomegranate seeds

Directions:

- Mix all ingredients together and let stand in a tightly sealed container or pitcher preferably for 24 hours before serving.
- Served chilled with a cup of ice


photo credits: my images

DRINK OF THE WEEK: MOJITO

What could be a better refreshing drink during those hot summer days then a MOJITO! The original Cuban drink is now popping up everywhere - even in pre-made forms at the liquor store! Mojito's became one of my drinks of choice when I first went to Cuba about 7 years ago. They were so delicious, and sooo easy to drink! After Cuba, my friend Kate and I learned to make them ourselves. They are so easy, and trust me, will make your summer. My dad is a HUGE fan of the Bacardi pre-made mojito's, such an easy drink for the dock.

Mojito's are a summertime classic and a drink that I now order on the regular!

Mojito's are traditionally made with five main ingredients: white rum, sugar (or sugar cane juice), lime, sparkling water and mint. The drink combines sweet, refreshing citrus and mint which compliment the potent kick that the rum produces - making it an extremely popular summer drink!

There are a few theories as to where the name "mojito" comes from. One thinks that it relates to mojo, a Cuban seasoning made from lime and used to flavour dishes. Another thinks that it is derived from the Spanish words mojadito = a little wet, or mojado = wet.

Mojito's were Ernest Hemingway's favourite drink, and the bar La Bodeguita del Media became famous for their mojito's. The wall in the bar even says, "mi mojito en la Boedguita." (My mojito at the Bodeguita). The expression is still there today in Hemingway's handwriting.

To make a delicious mojito:

Ingredients: For a batch of six

- 1 part white rum
- 3 parts club soda
- 12 mint leaves
- 1/2 lime
- 1/2 part sugar

Directions:

- Place 12 mint leaves, 1/2 part sugar and 1/2 lime in a glass
- Muddle (mash ingredients together to release the oils from the mint leaves)
- Add rum
- Top off with club soda
- Stir well and garnish with a spring of mint or a lime wheel (for a fun trick - garnish with a rock candy stick)

photo credit: google images

CAESAR WITH A TWIST

Who doesn't love a good cold caesar during the summer months. They are refreshing and a perfect drink on a patio or the dock. You can now buy pre-made caesar's but making your own is the way to go. Chuck Hughes is a Montreal based chef with his own show on Food Network called "Chuck's Day Off." He is a great chef, with great ideas that are always a little outside the box. Here is his recipe for a caeser with a twist!

Chuck's Snow Crab Bloody Caesar

Ingredients:

- 2 wedges of lemon 
- steak spice 
- handful of ice
- salt and pepper
- dash worchestershire sauce
- dash hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated horseradish
- 2 ounces vodka
- 4 ounces Clamato juice
- 1 celery stick
- 1 Snow Crab claw

Directions:

- Rim your glass by running a lemon wedge around the edge, then dipping the rim into a small dish of the steak spice
- Put ice into a tall glass
- Add a dash of salt and pepper to the ice
- Add dashes of Worchestershire and hot sauce
- Peel and grate some fresh horseradish into the glass
- Add the vodka (or omit if you are making a non-alcoholic drink)
- Top up with juice.
- Garnish with a lemon wedge, celery stick and crab leg

photo credit: foodnetwork.ca & google images