Mojito Slushy

Mojito Slushy –heat relief in a glass

Thanks to my sweet Connie for writing this post.  And, thanks to Labor Day weekend for finally being able to dig through my photos and FIND the pics so I could finally post this.  Since he wrote the original post we've made another round - this time with crushed blackberries added.  YUM!

The old saying goes, “Everybody complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it.” (Charles Dudley Warner, 1821 – 1900) (not Mark Twain, although they were friends).  Well folks, Tyler Florence has made a contribution that, while it hasn’t solved the heat wave, it has at least made it more bearable.

The weather has been hot.  How hot was it, Kate?  It has been so hot that you could fry an egg on an ice cube!  Ba da bum!  Okay, enough for the feeble cooking humor.  Regardless, it has been miserable all across the country and we are looking for whatever little relief we can find.

Kate opened the weekly e-mail from Food Network describing the Mojito Slushy and was definitely intrigued.  She forwarded it to me and, don’t you know, it was on the menu that very evening.  This is absolutely one of those recipes that is right in the strike zone, not too sweet, yet sweet enough.  It uses the ingredients that are abundant right now even in the midst of the drought.  Cool, refreshing.  Are you getting the fact that we REALLY liked this drink?  To top it all off, it has very low alcohol content, and I am not talking about some teeny, tiny shooter.  This took an hour to finish, yet it had only one ounce of alcohol. 

Ditch the alcohol and serve it to your kids as a dessert!  You might want to do that outside, because this has not been tested for carpet staining resistance.  Even then, it is more water than sugar and your kids will love it.

We think that the secret to this drink is actually very subtle.  We have had many mojitos and the lime zest really adds a depth of flavor that delivers the essence without overpowering the mint and sugar.  I do believe I am going to try the zest in a regular mojito as a test.

One disclaimer, Tyler’s recipe has you make 1:1 sugar syrup as preparation for this drink.  We swear by 2:1 (sugar to water and have posted it here on the blog) and have it made in the fridge.  It is so essential to regular cocktail preparation that it is worth the effort to prepare it beforehand.

I bring you, courtesy of Tyler Florence, The Mojito Slushy. 

Mojito Slushy (for two)

4 oz Simple Syrup (2:1 as usual, see our recipe)
2 oz fresh lime juice (zest one of the limes first)
1/8 cup fresh mint leaves
1 lime, zested (told you!)
2 oz light rum (we use Bacardi’s)
4 cups crushed ice
Mint sprigs and lime wedges for garnish

Put the simple syrup, lime juice, mint leaves, lime zest and rum into a blender and blend until very smooth.  Add the ice and blend until slushy.  Pour into frosty glasses, garnish, kiss the one(s) you love, and enjoy!

Canton Ginger Mojito

I've said this before, sometimes you begin with the ingredients and back your way into finding a recipe.  We made our own ginger vodka in the past.  That was a muse speaking into my ear thing.  We had some trouble finding the appropriate recipes to match the creation.  Whatever!


One day though we were in the liquor store and found Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur.  It really sounded too good not to try.  I'd read some drinks calling for the liqueur and knew we love ginger so what the heck.  We have had one or two recipes.  Today however we were unloading our CSA (community supported agriculture) basket and found mint.  Not what we really needed since we have beaucoup mint in the herb garden, but it is a shame to waste it.  I jumped on the net and found the recipe below.  This is the best so far of the ginger liqueur drinks.  It is very fresh, spring-like and mild.  Definitely a good use of mint!  And, a drink we'll make again soon.  Connie did say that he'd use crystallized ginger as a garnish next time instead of the lime slice - or maybe in addition to...


Canton Ginger Mojito

Ingredients:

 Fresh mint leaves

Lime wedges

4 oz Domaine de Canton Ginger liqueur

1 oz white rum (we used Bacardi's)

Club soda (we used Canada Dry)


Directions:

Muddle mint leaves and a couple of lime wedges in a cocktail shaker.  Add the ginger liqueur and the rum.  Add ice and shake until almost too cold to hold.  Strain the mixture over ice in a highball glass.  Add a couple of mint leaves and top with club soda.  Stir slightly to mix.  Garnish with a lime wedge and a mint sprig.  Toast your love and enjoy!


adapted from http://www.barnonedrinks.com/

The Great Mojito Mint-Off

You remember the kids visit?  Where we tried a different cocktail every night?  Usually, Sunday nights are our cocktail nights.  Connie gets out his drink cookbooks and hunts for something new and different.  Or, sometimes one of us will be hungry for an old faithful.  A lemon drop.  Or, Clegg's margaritas.  No experimenting.  Just relax and enjoy something we know we love.  So it was to be the evening we had mojitos.  An old faithful.  Well, Matt wasn't having any of that!  There were three kinds of mint in the herb garden and we needed to try each and have a mint-off.  Ok, fine.  Sounds like fun to me.  So, we made three kinds of mojitos.  One with peppermint.  One with spearmint.  And, one with chocolate mint.  When all was said and done, the chocolate mint won hands down.  It was softer.  Played better with the other ingredients.  All five of us agreed.  Therefore, in the future, chocolate mint it is.  Whether it's proper or not :-)

Chocolate Mint Mojitos

2 parts rum
juice of 1/2 lime
1 part simple syrup
8 chcocolate mint leaves
club soda to taste
1 spring chocolate mint sprig for garnish

Muddle the mint leaves with the lime and simple syrup. 
Really, it doesn't always take a committee to make the drinks.  But, it's a lot more fun!

Pour in the rum.  Shake in a cocktail mixer with ice until thoroughly chilled.  Pour into glasses and top with club soda to taste. Garnish with a mint sprig.

And, serve with a smile!