Carol’s Comfort Foods

The Mojito is a traditional Cuban cocktail which in recent years has become very popular in the United States. The traditional Mojito is made up of five ingredients: rum, sugar, lime, carbonated water and mint. The mint and lime are muddled together at the bottom of the cocktail shaker with a wooden tool called a “muddler” to release all the flavors of the lime and mint. The remaining ingredients are then added and poured over crushed ice in a tall glass. Garnished of course, with mint. The recipe below is renowned chef, Bobby Flay’s adaptation of the Mojito, including ginger and Thai basil. Delicious!

Yield: 1 drink

INGREDIENTS

2 lime wedges

6 mint leaves

4 Thai basil leaves

1 tablespoon Ginger Simple Syrup

1 ounce club soda

1 ounce white rum

Fine sugar

Ice

Coconut milk

PREPARATION

Place the lime, mint and Thai basil in a cocktail shaker and muddle well. Add Ginger Simple Syrup, club soda and rum and shake well.

Rim a tall glass with fine sugar and fill with ice. Pour drink over ice. Float coconut milk on top of the drink.

Ginger Simple Syrup

INGREDIENTS

½ cup sugar

½ cup water

1 (2-inch) piece ginger, thickly sliced

PREPARATION

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool. Once cool, strain out the ginger.

Source: Bobby Flay – Food Network – Episode# BT0109

3 ounces Champagne
1 ounce Peach Schnapps
1 dash Grenadine

Pour all ingredients into a champagne glass.

1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz light rum
1/2 oz tequila
1/2 oz triple sec
3/4 oz lemon juice
3/4 oz simple syrup
2-4 oz Coca-Cola
In a shaker filled with ice pour in all ingredients minus the Coca-Cola. Shake well and strain into a tall glass filled 3/4 with ice. Top with Coca-Cola. Stir lightly and garnish with a lemon wedge or a twist.

This is by far one of my favorite gin drinks, unfortunately more then once when ordering this at a bar they had no idea what I was talking about and made me a Sloe Gin Fizz.

2 1/2 ounces gin

1 ounce fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon superfine sugar or 1 ounce simple syrup

San Pellegrino mineral water

In a shaker half filled with ice cubes, add in the gin, lemon juice, and sugar or simple syrup. Shake well. Strain into a collins glass almost filled with ice cubes. Top off with San Pellegrino mineral water and stir well.

My favorite gin to use in the United States is Tanqueray No. Ten. Another good option for gin is Bombay Sapphire. Bombay Sapphire may not be quite as good as the Tanqueray No. Ten but it is still quite good and here in Switzerland I have taken to using it as Tanqueray No. Ten is much harder to find without a trip to London or at least a higher end liquor store.

2 ounces gin

5 ounces tonic water

1 lime wedge

Pour the gin and tonic water into a highball glass that has been filled with ice cubes. Stir well and garnish with the lime wedge.

My favorite gin to use in the United States is Tanqueray No. Ten. Another good option for gin is Bombay Sapphire. Bombay Sapphire may not be quite as good as the Tanqueray No. Ten but it is still quite good and here in Switzerland I have taken to using it as Tanqueray No. Ten is much harder to find without a trip to London or at least a higher end liquor store.

This is a great drink to enjoy on Kentucky Derby Day (the first Saturday in May) or any day.

3 ounces Kentucky bourbon

6 fresh mint sprigs

1 teaspoon superfine sugar

crushed ice

Muddle 4 of the mint sprigs with the sugar in the bottom of a rocks glass. Fill the glass almost completely with crushed ice. Add the bourbon, stir with two short straws or a cocktail stirrer, and garnish with the reaming two mint sprigs.

My Favorite Kentucky bourbon is Makers Mark which can be found in most liquor stores in the US or Europe.

4 ounces hot coffee

1 teaspoon raw sugar

2 ounces Paddy Irish Whiskey

2 ounces heavy cream

Pour the coffee and stir the sugar into an Irish Whiskey glass. Add the Whiskey and stir. Float the cream onto the top of the drink by carefully pouring it over the back of a teaspoon.

Paddy Irish Whiskey may be hard to find in the US but is well worth using if you can find it. If you can’t find Paddy then you can use Jameson Irish Whiskey which can be found at any liquor store.