the caesar: redux

At the camp I work at every summer, myself and my fellow counsellors have a mascot. He's a stuffed lobster, and he sings 'Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot' when you squeeze his claw. Many inside jokes aside, we decided to create a cocktail that might reflect Pinchy's tastes (yes, the lobster's name is Pinchy). Then we went a little nuts and created not one, but two deluxe cocktails. Here's the first one.

A note: I'm not a big caesar person. Did you know the second ingredient in Clamato is glucose/fructose? And there's that clam juice issue, not to mention the MSG. I also hate vodka. So caesars aren't looking so great for me. However, I love the idea of a vegetable-based cocktail, something with a fancy salt rim and endless possibilities for garnishes!

Here it is: a truffle salt rim, pickle juice, sriracha, gin, a tomato juice base, and enough garnishes to keep you snacking throughout the whole drink. It's not a casear anymore - which means it's my kind of caesar.

The Garden Pinchy
Makes four delicious cocktails.

1 lime
1/4 cup truffle salt
juice from pickle jar
sriracha sauce
8 oz. gin
4 cups tomato juice
8 olives
4 dill pickle spears
toothpicks and tiny umbrellas for garnish
4 tall rocks glasses
Ice

Cut the lime into 8 wedges - the bartender way. Cut it in half, lengthwise, then make a 1/2 inch cut into each side, crosswise. Then, slice each half into 4 wedges. You should have a handful of wedges with a small cut in them, so you can easily slide them on the edge of a glass. Set four aside for garnish.

On each glass, take a lime wedge and run it around the rim. Pour the truffle salt in a saucer, and twist each glass in the salt, creating a salt rim. Toss a handful of ice in each glass. Pour a splash of pickle juice in each glass. Next, add a tiny bit of sriracha to each glass. Add 2 oz of gin to each, and top up with 1 cup of tomato juice. Stir each glass to combine. Stick a pickle spear in each glass, add a few olives on a toothpick, an umbrella, and a lime wedge.

Too much garnish? You can tone it down if you like, but I like snacks built into my beverages. It's like a salad in a glass.

cocktail time!

Here you go: some not very seasonal drinks to get you through the end of the winter/spring/not-summer-yet blues. I made these two for my birthday- and they would look great with a paper umbrella, or some of those retro paper straws. If you have either mango or watermelon in your freezer, go ahead and use these for the recipes, making them into a frozen-slush kind of drink. Perfect for the freak warm weather from last week!

watermelon gin fizz
to make watermelon juice, puree chunks of ripe watermelon in a blender or food processor. Makes one large cocktail, or two small.

1 cup watermelon juice
handful of ice
1 oz. simple syrup
2 oz. dry gin
splash of club soda
3 or 4 mint leaves
2 or 3 lime wedges

In a martini shaker, muddle lime wedges and mint leaves. Add ice, watermelon juice, gin and simple syrup. Shake, and strain over ice in a tall glass. Top with club soda and garnish with a lime wedge and mint sprig.

mango mimosa
makes 4 cocktails.

1 ripe atulfo mango, peeled and cut in chunks
1 lime
1 bottle of sweet champagne or muscato

Puree mango chunks and juice of lime in a food processor, adding a few tablespoons of water to thin. Divide the mango puree in four champagne glasses, then top with champagne or muscato.

(The real reason for all these fruity drinks? Besides the occasion of my 25th birthday? I made these fruit plates for an event, and there were a lot of mangled chunks of fruit that didn't make the cut. Ever cut up 70 dollars worth of fruit? This is what it looks like.)