Category: Tequila

Frosted Tomato Cocktail

The frosted tomato cocktail was my pick from the Adventurous Appetizers section of The A-Z of Cooking. 

Frosted Tomato Cocktail
Frosted Tomato Cocktail

But first, each section of The A-Z of Cooking comes with a sentence or two to introduce it vis a vis:

A is for… ADVENTUROUS APPETIZERS: start a dinner party or special family supper with a new and exciting idea.

Booooooring.

How much more fun if they’d done them all in verse:

There was a young girl called Eliza

Who wanted to make appetizers

She tried the tomat-er

As an exciting new starter

And the result did really surprise her.

Yeah, I know that was hardly “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” but the A-Z of Cooking is hardly The Larousse Gastronomique either.

You know what they say, water finds its level.

I nearly chose a recipe called Sweetcorn Scallops but the only thing scallopy about them was that they were served in scalloped shaped dishes or shells, neither of which I own.

I feel they were already drawing a slightly long bow in naming it. If I’d made it in a normal dish you guys would have left wondering if I’d lost my mind…

I can hear it now  “Errmmmm, that’s bacon, honey, not scallops”

Sweetcorn Scallops
Sweetcorn Scallops

Anyhow, I really liked the picture of the Frosted Tomato Cocktail  from The A-Z of Cooking which is why I chose this one to make. I love that glass.   And  just so you don’t think it’s me, they love a long skinny photo in The A-Z of Cooking.

Frosted Tomato Cocktail - Picture
Frosted Tomato Cocktail – Picture

Here is the original recipe:

Frosted Tomato Cocktail - Recipe
Frosted Tomato Cocktail – Recipe

This was really nice.  So refreshing.  It would be a gorgeous starter for a hot day in mid summer when tomatoes are at their very best.  Or even as a palate cleanser between courses.

However, I felt it was missing something.  Because you know what?  As far as I’m concerned if you’re going to call something a cocktail, it better damn well have some booze in it.  Also, you really needed to ramp up the flavourings in the original.  .

My fennelly  take on the Frosted Tomato Cocktail was inspired by this Serious Eats recipe. You could put the fennel salt around the rim of the glass as they suggest or just include it in the mix like I did.  Celery salt would also be great here, in which case, I would garnish with a celery stalk instead of the mint.

I wanted mine to be vegan so I also omitted the Worcestershire and replaced it with tabasco. It may also be the most delicious thing I have ever made that is zero fat.

Frosted Tomato Cocktail 2
Frosted Tomato Cocktail 2

We’ll be sticking with the letter A for the next sortie into The A-Z of Cooking where we will be looking at the world of after school snacks.  And I might try a haiku.

Have a great week!

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Frosted Tomato Cocktail

A lovely refreshing start to a meal with a slight kick of heat!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 kilo tomatoes, skinned and chopped
  • 125 mls tequla
  • 4 tbsp water
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • juice of 1 lime
  • dash of Tabasco Sauce
  • 1 tbsp sea salt, I used Maldon
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • Mint Leaves to garnish
  • Pepper

Instructions

  1. Toast the fennel seeds in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant. Place the salt and toasted fennel seeds in a mortar and grind until they are well combined and the seeds have broken down. Pass through a very fine sieve and set aside.
  2. Place the tomatoes, tequila, lime juice, and sugar into a blender and puree until smooth. Add the fennel salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce to taste.
  3. Pour mixture into large ice cube trays and freeze. Just before serving remove from freezer, take the frozen cubes out of ice tray and place them back in the blender.
  4. Puree until smooth but still frozen.
  5. Spoon into chilled glasses, garnish with mint and serve immediately.

 

Grapefruit, Thyme and Pepper Cocktail aka the Mexican Standoff (Spice Peddler)

Ay Carumba this was good!!!

Spice Peddler Grapefruit, Thyme and Pepper Cocktail

Yeah, not for me the humblebrag…This was awesome!

I was really worried that it would be an epic fail…It was the garlic in the spice rub that threw me, how would that work in a cocktail? However, in the end the strong flavour in the simple syrup was the thyme with the pepper and spices providing more of a background notes and warmth.  (Yes, I’ve been reading wine labels again!)

I based this on a recipe from Martha Stewart which you can find here.

I also used tequila not vodka.  Just because I had some that has sat on my drinks trolley for about 10 years.  Seriously.  I think it was given to me as a housewarming present for the last house I moved into.

The all important drinks trolley

I really, really wanted to use the Spice Peddler Big 5 mix in a cocktail but I  thought it would be better to infuse the mix into the simple syrup.  So, I mixed a teaspoon of the pepper mix into the sugar and water, and then I threw the thyme in as well to make a thyme and pepper simple syrup.  Dammit, I should have thrown the grapefruit rind in as well…ah well, next time! Maybe some chilli too…

 

Grapefruit, Thyme and Pepper Cocktail

Then I kind of completely forgot about it as we were trying to hang some pictures in the new house and either the beloved or I have a skewed view of reality because it took us over 30 minutes and the use of  spirit level before we could agree that a painting was straight….and this was before we started on the cocktails.

Thyme and Black Pepper Simple Syrup
Thyme and Black Pepper Simple Syrup

So what I ended up with was the thick black syrup you can see in the photo above.  What you can’t get from the photo is that this mix of thyme, sugar and pepper smelled ridiculously like marijuana.

Or so I was told.

By the complete stranger who just  happened to knock on the door at that exact moment.  Then disappeared equally as quickly.  Didn’t catch his name, Officer.  So sorry.

Which in turn reminded me of something that never happened and is a total figment of my overactive imagination.

So imagine if hypothetically you turned up unannounced at your parent’s house.  And the imagine that said house smelled overwhelmingly of….erm…thyme and pepper infused simple syrup.  And imagine they were being a little silly and giggly.

Move over Quentin Tarantino, I think I just bested you in the Mexican Standoff stakes…

The  problem with accusing your parents of  “imbibing the thyme and pepper simple syrup”  is that then then they know that you are also familiar with “thyme and pepper simple syrup”.

So, what do you do?

Borrow the drill you came to get and GTFO of Dodge is what.

Cos, you know  possibly they were also just  making cocktails.

I mean, if that had ever happened.

Which it didn’t.

Grapefruit, Thyme and Pepper Cocktail3
Grapefruit, Thyme and Pepper Cocktail3

Wow, this post is making my head spin.  What will not make your head spin, or spin only in the right way is this cocktail.  Which is super. – tangy from the grapefruit ,zingy from the pepper, aromatic and resiny from the thyme….

Drink it, enjoy, have a fabulous, fantastic Christmas everyone!

Special thanks to Mercy and the team at The Spice Peddlers for their trust and belief in me.

And major thanks to everyone for reading and your kind words over the year.

Without you, this would just be fun.

With you,  it’s super awesome.

 

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