Grandma’s Wheat Grass Cocktail

  » By Keith Prickett

June 30th, 2008 - Posted in Drink | Leave a comment (0)

We took a trip to Grandma and Tom’s cabin this weekend and had such a relaxing time.  I often think that my inspiration for cooking [and eating] comes from Grandma’s great food!  Every Christmas and Summer when I was a child my family would go over the river and through the woods to Grandma’s house.  Every morning there would be hearty oatmeal, fluffy pancakes, or homemade muffins baking in the oven.  We’d always sit around the table and have dinner as a family.  Grandma always (and still does) serves salad, bread, entree and at least two sides with every meal.  Needless to say I would have my fair share.  The food is always delicious and cooked with the experience only Grandma can serve up.

I’m going to write about ribs Tom (Grandma’s husband) cooked a little later but I wanted to share first about the wheat crass cocktail Grandma whipped up for me one day.  I saw a pile of wheat-grass growing (along with the rest of the HUGE garden they  have) and asked what it was for.  Grandma proceeded to show me, with great delight I tried the concotion and enjoyed the grassy flavor.  Pure wheat-grass juice was a bit too strong, but when she added apples, carrots and cucumber it brightened it up.  I’ll admit it looks a little radioactive but, I’ll assure you, it’s healthy!  Here’s what she did:

Ingredients:

• Juicer (She said you really needed a special one made for wheat-grass.)
• Two or three large handfuls of freshly cut wheat-grass
• 1/2 apple, sliced
• 1 whole carrot, sliced
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to the juicer according to manufacturer’s instructions, pour into your cup, stir and ENJOY!

I hope you enjoy it!

Steamed Homemade Hot Chocolate with Real Whipped Cream

  » By Keith Prickett

June 20th, 2008 - Posted in Dessert, Drink | Leave a comment (0)

Heavenly!  Pretty much sums up this delicious cup up of rich, chocolatey goodness.  I have to admit, I am a coffee snob.  I like my coffee so I go to a lot of good coffee shops.  When I first saw someone order a hot chocolate at my favorite coffee shop downtown I was amazed to see them steam the milk and use REAL chocolate sauce.  To top it all off they put fresh whipped cream on top — something we didn’t have very often growing up.  I suppose it’s this attention to quality and freshness that makes Red Horse my favorite to begin with.  The point is, their hot chocolate amazed me!  I started noticing other coffee shops made it like that too and they were delicious!  Some still use the powder and water method which usually tastes either too watered down, not rich enough or slightly like tin.

Last night I felt the urge to have one of these hot chocolates.  Luckily Rachel bought me (us) an espresso machine for Christmas last year so I had everything I needed.  Most importantly, I had the steamer!  I made a cup for Rachel and I and we were truly in Heaven on Earth!  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients (per cup):

• 8 0z milk
• 2-3 tablespoons chocolate syrup (like Hershey’s)
• Fresh whipped cream (heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract)
• Dash of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Make the whipped cream (basically whisk heavy whipping cream with small amount of powdered sugar and vanilla extract in your mixer)
2. Prepare your steamer or espresso maker for steam
3. Steam milk and chocolate syrup together until the mixture reaches about 180 degrees Fahrenheit.  The mixture will about double in size with all the foam it creates so make sure to have a container big enough or do it in 8-oz batches like I did.
4. Pour the milk and chocolate mixture into your mug
5. Top with whipped cream
6. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and serve immediately.

For a holiday flare you can serve it with a candy cane, or anytime you can serve it with a chocolate stick (just like every drink at Red Horse!! YUM!)

Rosemary Lemon Rhubarb Spritzer Recipe

  » By Keith Prickett

June 15th, 2008 - Posted in Drink, General | Leave a comment (0)

Thanks Elise!  Your spritzer was great!  I followed Elise’s spritzer recipe and it turned out wonderfully.  Since Rachel is working at Stahlbush and the first rhubarb harvest of the year is just finishing we enjoyed tons of leftover rhubarb samples from their lab.  Rachel had mentioned they were harvesting, I had some fresh rosemary growing in our tiny garden and Elise posted this recipe.  It was a match made in heaven.  Serve this drink at a party (especially one with a pink theme) or just to enjoy the creatively unique flavors on your palate.  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of frozen cut Stahlbush rhubarb (or other frozen/fresh)
• 2 cups of water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary (Elise used more but I think it was nice and strong with 2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• Soda (Carbonated) water, chilled

Directions:

1. Simmer rhubarb, sugar, water and rosemary in a sauce pan for about 15 minutes (until rhubarb dissolves)
2. Remove from heat and let it cool for a bit
3. Strain well into a separate container (I used cheesecloth, Elise used a fine mesh strainer)
4. Add the lemon juice
5. Chill and serve 1/3 cup of syrup with 2/3 cup of soda water.

I hope you enjoy it!