Dead Sea Dog — A Frozen, Blended, Slush Doggie

It’s true.  I am a salty bitch dog.   Very salty.  And my dog of choice to drive through the Dead Sea is a Greyhound or a Chihuahua.  (Or Slikhua…)

So this is my last word on the Salty Dog / Greyhound breakfast bar drink — it most resembles the huge Dog served at the Morning Glory Cafe in Ashland, Oregon — but even that comparison is lacking.  There’s salt in this — on the rim of the glass — and sprinkled on top with a finishing salt…. Mmmmm.

Meadow Rosemary Infused Flake Salt

You’ll need a large (12-14 oz) red wine goblet for this…. rim it with lime juice, then salt, lime salt, orange salt — your choice.

in a blender, combine:

8 oz freshly squeeze Grapefruit Juice (or Odwalla fresh etc)
4 oz crushed ice
1/2 t kosher flake salt
1 T honey
1 1/2 oz Tito’s Handmade Vodka
5-7 drops of Brooklyn Hemispherical Charred Pineapple Bitters
     (or substitute a high quality citrus bitters of your choice — but the pineapple works best IMHO)

a few flakes of Meadow Rosemary Flake Salt to garnish

 

Trust me and spring for the Rosemary Flake Salt….  it makes all the difference in the world.

Pom Kiss

This recipe calls for Pama Pomegranate  liqueur specifically — but honestly, I haven’t tried any other Pom liqueur, so if you have a different favorite, just stick with your fave.

It’s one of my favorite combinations of flavors in a fruity cocktail — pom, grapefruit, ginger ale, lime, and just a whisper of cranberry —  and it’s equally good served over the crushed ice from a shaker, or whirred into a frosty frozen drink in your blender.  Either way — it makes a tall, icy drink that’s perfect for a late summer afternoon!

4 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice with pulp
1 oz lime juice
1/2 oz unsweetened cranberry juice
2 oz ginger ale (Reed’s extra strong works really well if you like lots of ginger!)
2 oz Pama Pom liqueur
1/2 oz vodka
4 drops cranberry bitters
mixture (1/2 and 1/2)  of salt and sugar to rim glass
1 c crushed ice

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously, then pour into a  rimmed, tall, 16 oz glass and garnish with a wedge of lime floated in the center of the glass!

 

Peach Buzz

Simple and yummy — This one is sweet without being cloying.  Make it with a fresh peach in a blender if peaches are in season, or peach nectar if they aren’t.

6 oz peach nectar
1 oz whipped (whipped cream flavored) vodka
1/2 oz Chambord

Berry (strawberry) to garnish
1/4 c Club soda to top off glass

If you’re using a fresh peach, combine ingredients in a blender with 2 small ice cubes (the equivalent or 1/3 c of water).  If using peach nectar, yu can combine the indgredients in a shaker with 1/2 c crushed ice.  Garnish with half a strawberry.

Boney Wench

One of the lightest and freshest tasting rum drinks you’ll find — this one is actually a combination lock — with both rum and MeKhong, the Thai spiced rum-whiskey.  It’s a lot of  tall, icy drink on a summer day — for not so many calories.

1/2 oz Captain Morgan’s spiced rum
1/2 oz MeKhong
4 oz pineapple juice
dash Burlesque bitters
dash sea salt
1 t lime juice
1 t marischino cherry juice
10 oz La Croix Coconut sparking water
1 c crushed ice
+
cherry to garnish
1/4 c lime sherbet to garnish
powdered nutmeg to garnish

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake until icy cold.  Strain into a tall chilled glass with a small scoop of lime sherbet floated on top, with a cherry and a dusting of nutmeg.

175-190 calories, depending on sherbet

Greyhound, and Greyhound Shots

A classic Greyhound is most like the Screwdriver, except instead of orange juice and vodka, it’s made with grapefruit juice and vodka.  In fact, if you add a salted rim, the Greyhound transforms into a vodka Salty Dog!

Like the Screwdriver, the Greyhound  is sometimes made 1:1 grapefruit juice:vodka.  But even more than the Screwdriver, most Greyhound drinkers prefer a 2:1 ratio of juice to vodka — or even 3 or 4:1.  Why? Because grapefruit juice is so much dryer, it takes more juice to create a flavorful cocktail when mixed with almost tasteless vodka.

Bormioli Rocco Shot Glass

For a Greyhound on the rocks:

Use a double old fashion glass and stir
1 oz vodka
4 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
ice cubes
–100 calories

For a Greyhound Shot:

Use a 2oz shot glass and add
3 T fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1 oz vodka
—80 calories

Southern Belle

The perfect Southern Belle — a little salty, a little sweet, faintly bitter and a little tarted up — with a kick at the end of the night.

Actually — this started out as a Salty Dog — then I realized the only vodka was a flavor that wouldn’t possibly work.  So — when the going gets tough — we reach for Southern Comfort.  In this case, Southern Comfort Lime.

8oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1/2 oz marischino cherry syrup
1 1/2 oz Southern Comfort Lime
1/2 t sea salt
dash of Ume Plum bitters

Combine all in a shaker full of ice — pour into a tall glass with a straw!

Mimosa

One of the growing list of “brunch drinks” — the Mimosa should be an exercise in quality ingredients.

this image of a Mimosa is borrowed from the Food Network to give you idea of the glass —

Traditionally, a Mimosa is orange juice and Champagne, but the truth is — any mid-range sparkling white wine should do the trick.  If it is too dry it may upset the balance of the drink, but other than that, it’s a matter of personal choice.

Similarly, the Mimosa will be shockingly better when made with fresh, in-season oranges.  But Odwalla or one of the other fresh pasteurized juices will be very close.  Avoid canned OJ, and especially avoid sugar-added juice that is more cocktail and less juice.  You want “full impact” orange flavor to balance the sparkling wine.

Choose your glass — anything from 8 to 12 oz is appropriate.  A long champagne flute is traditional.

Fill the 1/3 full of crushed ice, the pour a 1:1 mix of OJ and sparkling wine.  Garnish with a sliced strawberry, or a thin slice of orange.

Crimper

I’ve never ordered this drink in a bar — but I’ve made it, and had it with friends.  And “Crimper” is just what I’ve always called it because it was what I was told.  Since I can’t find a reference to it in bartending books, I guess we can just pretend it’s a real drink and keep calling it Crimper….  It’s a little tart, has a dash of bitters for depth — but just sweet enough for a slow sip.

5-6 oz 7-up or Sprite
1 oz Southern Comfort (or SC-lime)
1 oz Cranberry juice
1 oz lime juice
dash of Grapefruit (or lime) bitters
lime slice
crushed ice

Combine Southern Comfort, juices, and bitters with crushed ice in a shaker, then pour into a collins glass and add 7-up to top the glass.  Use the slice of lime to doll it up!

PB and J *3 Ways* — as a Shot, Fizzy, and On the Rocks

This works equally well as a shot or as a rocks cocktail — I’ll give measurement for the variations  (although, it’s easy enough to figure out….) 

SHOT

1/2 oz Van Gogh PB&J vodka
1 oz Welch’s 100% grape juice
3 salted peanuts

(everything goes in a 2oz shot glass — too easy.
50 calories

PB&J ON THE ROCKS

In an old fashion glass:

5 oz Welch’s 100% grape juice
1  (or) 1 1/2 oz Van Gogh PB&J vodka
handful of salted peanuts
ice cubes

I acutally like the fizzy and rocks versions better with just 1 oz of vodka — because it leaves enough wiggle room to drink another!

It’s a straight mix over ice — with peanuts that add a little salt and a built-in snack, lol.  So put a spoon in the glass to fish out the peanuts!
130 calories

even better than it sounds

FIZZY PB & J

In a collins glass:

5 oz Welch’s 100% grape juice
3-4 oz sparkling water
1 t sugar
1  (or) 1 1/2 oz Van Gogh PB&J vodka
handful of salted peanuts
ice cubes

Disolve the sugar in the juice and add vodka and peanuts, then pour it over the ice and add sparkling water to the top.  Serve with a long-handled spoon.
145 calories

Berry Patch

Not great alone – but excellent as a mixer

It’s no secret that I like a mixed drink with a lot of mixing involved…  And this is one of those drinks.

Lots of juicy flavors go into a single glass, so chill the ice, find the reamer and slicing knife —

1/2 oz raspberry flavored vodka
1/2 oz blackberry flavored vodka
1/2 oz strawberry flavored vodka
1/2 oz huckleberry vodka
1 T Marichino cherry syrup
1 T pineapple juice
1 T orange juice
1 t lime juice
1 t lemon juice
1 oz white grape juice
4 oz Ocean Spray Sparkling Cranberry
1 strawberry sliced in half, 2 raspberries, 2 blue berries

(The trick here is not to add too much orange juice since it can so easily overwhelm the berry flavors.)

Add crushed ice to a cocktail shaker with all ingredients except the sparkling cranberry.  Shake vigorously, then pour into a chilled Collins glass.  Top with cranberry, then add berries to the glass and give it a little stir so they begin to submerge and mix into the drink.

NOTE  This is a very easy recipe to turn into a pictcher/punch drink — all the measurements by 8 for a pitcher.  1/2 oz OR 1 T becomes 4 oz.  1 oz becomes 1 c.  4 oz becomes 1 qt.  Anything that’s measured in  1/2 teaspoons — use 2 oz — it’s not exact, but it will work.