Real Food for Real Life

Monday, May 10, 2010

A very nice Mother's Day...

Classic Margarita on the rocks

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day, I certainly did.  Breakfast was made for me, and while that itself is not uncommon, the face that I did not have to clean up the kitchen afterward was a treat.  My three guys took me out for a late lunch to P.F. Chang's China Bistro; it's a chain, but we love it anyway.  We enjoyed our meals very much, and the spicy Dan Dan Noodles that I ordered shall have to be recreated a home sometime soon (the leftovers made for a fabulous lunch today).  We really didn't have dinner per se, but when the hunger rolled around again we had some buffalo wings (cheated here, these were from the Kroger deli), with a tasty cheese spread I had whipped up earlier in the afternoon.  The lemon zest and scallions made this cheese spread exceptionally good and fresh tasting.
  
Last week we had eaten at Chili's where I had the the World's Freshest Margarita, made with fresh lime juice, not a mix.  This was actually a very good margarita that I wanted to make at home, because I always find the purchased mixes to be too sweet.  Mother's Day was the perfect time to try this out.  I found a recipe that called for 3 parts tequila, 2 parts lime juice, and 1 part triple sec.  I gave this a try and one taste was a bit much, so I added more lime juice (this was in a pitcher, I didn't put this many shots into one drink).  I salted my glass rim, put in the ice, and poured my self the first margarita.  Well, I had too much salt on the rim (see the photo) and had to knock about half into the sink, and, this drink was STILL a butt kicker, so I topped off the glass with some lime flavored sparkling water.  Mission achieved, margarita perfection!
Margarita Perfection

Take the sparkling water to the table and let your guests top off their drinks to their personal preference.  You will want to double or triple this recipe for a pitcher.  It is important to use a good quality tequila as the flavor of it shines through (I used Jose Cuervo Silver).

3 parts good quality tequila
3 parts lime juice
1 part triple sec
a slightly sweetened lime sparkling water
lime slices and margarita salt, for serving

Pour the tequila, lime juice, and triple sec in a pitcher and stir to combine.  Serve over ice in a salt rimmed glass (optional) with a lime wedge, topping off the glass with the desired amount of sparkling water (just give it a twirl with your finger in the glass)

3 Cheese Spread

8oz. reduced fat cream cheese, room temperature
4 oz. bleu cheese crumbles
4oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 scallions, thinly sliced, thinly sliced
zest of one lemon
generous grinding of black pepper
milk or half and half, to thin to desired consistency

Beat the cream cheese in a bowl to a nice creamy consistency then stir in the remaining cheese, scallions, zest, and pepper.  If you would like a thinner consistency (I did), stir in small amounts of milk or half and half to achieve the desired consistency.  I knew that I was going to be thinning this, so I actually did this step while beating the cream cheese so that I would not break up mu other cheeses too much.  Refrigerate for several hours before serving to allow the flavors to meld.  This was very good spread on both the buffalo wings and crusty baguette slices.

3 comments:

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