…from the Happy Hour BarHow you doin’? Cool refreshing cocktails are perfect as we go into the Labor Day weekend. There is nothing better than “cool” cocktails made with the essence of summer fruit. In my restaurant bars, we would make our own special vodka… peach, watermelon and strawberry vodkas (check our Blog Recipe #78 on our website). Well, now the makers of Grey Goose Vodka have come out with a line of vodkas infused with fruit and herbs. These make amazingly exotic and refreshing end-of-summer cocktails. These flavored vodkas include Watermelon-Basil, Strawberry-Lemongrass and White Peach-Rosemary. You can make vodka cocktails without the bother and mess of trying to make your own infused vodkas. Another great benefit is they are consistent in flavor and don’t depend on the ripeness (or lack thereof) and flavors of seasonal fruits. To my taste, refreshing watermelon is one of the best cocktail mixers you can try, so please give this easy-to-make, low-calorie cocktail (only 73 calories)—Watermelon-Vodka-Basil & Soda a try. It’s perfect as an aperitif, for brunch or just any warm weather season. Prep time: 5 minutes Yield: 1 cocktail Ingredients 1-1/2 ounces Grey Goose Essences Watermelon & Basil 4-1/2 ounces soda water Garnish with fresh basil, a small wedge of fresh watermelon and a lime twist Directions
ChefSecret: If you’re out in the backyard or near the pool use plastic cocktail glassware! Quip of the Day: The best new word of 2021 “Airgasm—the intense pleasure of leaving a public space and removing your mask.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021
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… from the California KitchenHow you doin’? More and more nutritionists are suggesting that we eat at least one non-meat meal per week. That may sound scary to some of my carnivorous friends, but vegetarian recipes don’t have to be tasteless or boring. This recipe for easy-to-make Meatless Sloppy Joes brought me right back to my high school days when I looked forward to Sloppy Joe Wednesdays. We used to call it Mystery Meat Sloppy Joes owing to the fact that they were probably made with textured soy protein. In my recipe I still have all the protein you need in the form of lentils and black beans; I don’t suggest using a canned sauce or spice package. I’ve tried to make this recipe a little more health forward than the “good old days.” My recipe is as delicious as it is healthy, even though it’s vegetarian-friendly and the wonderful, tomatoey Sloppy Joe sauce is made from scratch. This Meatless Sloppy Joes recipe offers all the flavors from the recipe that Mrs. Kurtz (cafeteria manager) used to make, minus the meat and preservatives. It shouldn’t be a huge surprise to anyone who uses ingredients like bell pepper, lentils and black beans in place of beef or turkey that these replacements cuts down on fat. And, while you might think the amount of protein would suffer, each serving of these Sloppy Joes provides a whopping 17 grams! Additionally, by using lentils and black beans, these Sloppy Joes will give you a healthy dose of fiber, as well! Even though this is a “from scratch” recipe my super simple stove-top version will be ready to enjoy in about 30 minutes. If you’re not used to cooking without meat, this recipe is a delicious way to try your hand at a meatless meal! Add a little bit of a healthful side by making a batch of air fried French fries or grilled corn on the cob. Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes Yield: Makes 6 servings Ingredients For the Sloppy Joe filling 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 3 teaspoons garlic minced 1 cup chopped yellow onion 1 cup chopped bell pepper, red, green or orange 2 cups red lentils cooked (1 cup dried)—follow the directions on package 15 ounce canned black beans drained and rinsed 2 tablespoons chili powder 1 cup chopped green onions finely chopped, tops and bottoms 6 whole wheat hamburger buns, toasted For the Sloppy Joe sauce 15 ounce canned tomato sauce 3/4 cup chili sauce 3 tablespoons maple syrup 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce 2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika Directions To make the Sloppy Joe filling
Quip of the Day: “The husband asked his wife, why do you keep buying all these house plants? All you do is kill them. She replied, just to remind you what I’m capable of doing.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Entrees #Sandwich #SloppyJoes #Vegetarian #MeatlessSloppyJoes #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 …from the Happy Hour Barow you doin’? Can you believe it? We’re almost at the end of August? Peaches are coming close to the end of their peak, sweet season. A frozen cocktail is a great place for older peaches that may have gotten a little too ripe, past their prime and somewhat squishy. Try using Blanco tequila and Suze (a French apéritif) both of which have an earthy flavor profile that makes them an excellent foil for the peaches. Try pre-batching and chilling the cocktail mixture the night before you serve it to give you a cold base to start with, requiring less ice in the blender and less dilution in the drink. Or better yet start with peaches that have been frozen and forget the ice. Ingredients 6 ounces Blanco tequila 2 ripe peaches, pitted, frozen and cubed 1/2 cup fresh-frozen pineapple chunks 2 ounces fresh pineapple juice 1-1/2 ounces Suze 8 mint leaves 1 cup ice (optional if starting with frozen fruit) Garnish with mint leaves and extra pineapple chunks Directions
ChefSecret: Plan ahead by freezing the fruit —peaches and pineapple—a day ahead before making the cocktail. For added sweetness, rim the glass with sugar by dipping it in fruit juice and then sugar. Quip of the Day: “You know you’re getting up in years when you’re going to bed at the same time you used to get ready to go out.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Cocktail #FrozenPeaches #Peaches #Tequila #Suze #SummerCocktail #Cheers# QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 …from the Happy Hour Bar How you doin’? I received two emails today asking if I would write a couple of recipes for them since we cut down to just three per week and have so much extra time on my hands. I love you guys. I did a cooking show for about 10 years on ABC called Stump the Chef. So, if I survived that I can help you with a couple of extra recipes. Look for them in your mailbox. A modified version of this recipe came up on my Gelson’s ad blog this morning. The subject was very dear to my heart because it came from the Happiest Place on Earth—Disneyland. I worked for the Disney Company in several areas, from rides and attractions design to food and restaurant development. Lots of great memories. Allow me to share one with you. This month is the 57th anniversary of Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room. When it first opened in Disneyland, in 1963, its claim to fame was the first-ever audio-animatronics—featuring talking birds. If you’ve been lucky enough to enjoy the show you will remember that a quartet of chatty macaws hosted a Hawaiian-themed floor show, performed by a few hundred warbling birds, flowers, and tikis. It sounds old hat now, but at the time, it was so awe-inspiring that even the show’s barker, Juan the Toucan, drew giant crowds of people, who jammed the entry to the show, mesmerized by a talking bird hawking the show’s many delights (thunderstorms!) and cajoling passersby to come inside. Enough bird stories! The Enchanted Tiki Room was sponsored by Dole, the geniuses behind the snack bar’s signature frozen treat—the one and only Dole Whip. The drink is a delectable whirl of frozen pineapple chunks, coconut milk, banana and some sugar. There’s also some lemon and lime juice in there to keep the thing from getting too sweet. The result is a thick, sorbet-like drink that’s sweet-tart and very pineapple-y. It tastes amazing with a couple jiggers of rum added… this addition was never offered in the show. So, my dear friends, in honor of the 57th anniversary of The Enchanted Tiki Room, lifting of Covid restrictions, and being that its Happy Hour Friday let’s celebrate! Freeze time: 2 hours Prep time: 10 minutes Yield: 2 servings Ingredients 16 ounces frozen pineapple chunks, from fresh, not canned 1/2 cup canned coconut milk 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon lime juice 1/2 frozen banana 2 tablespoons ice water 3 ounces gold rum (not part of the original Disney/Dole recipe) Fresh pineapple, sliced and quartered, for garnish Directions
ChefSecret: Make it a little fancy and fill a pastry bag with the drink mixture and pipe into the two glasses. Garnish with a tropical orchid if you have one. At one time, you could get the adult version of the Dole Whip at the very exclusive Club 33 above Pirates of the Caribbean. Quip of the Day: “Please drink responsibly! To me that means don’t spill any of it.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Cocktail #HappyHour #Rum #Pineapple #Disneyland #EnchantedTikiRoom #DoleWhip #SummerCocktail #Cheers #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 … from the Happy Hour Bar How you doin’? As spring turns to summer with hotter weather on the way, it’s now open season for backyard barbecues, lounging by the pool or just sitting outside on the porch swing to watch the sunset. Of course, warmer weather calls for an updated bar menu, so here are a couple of cocktails to get you started. Get into the summer Spirit! Summer breezes call for more refreshing drinks and you will want to stick to clear spirits. This doesn’t mean you can’t have brown spirits (dark rum, whiskey), but be aware of the downsides. Being out in the heat and sweating can already make you dehydrated and drinking any alcohol without enough water can lead to hangovers or worse. In case you didn’t know, darker spirits are more likely to provoke longer and more severe hangovers the next day. Calorie-wise, there isn’t any significant difference between dark or clear liquors. The caloric content of any hard liquor is mainly a function of the liquor’s proof. Since 1 gram of alcohol contains 7 calories, the higher the proof, the higher the calorie content. If you’re watching calories for your diet, you’re better served by paying attention to your mixers, which usually are filled with sugar and empty calories. Here are a couple of tried-and-true drinks that we’ve all heard of. These are familiar to most people, require only a few ingredients, and are quick to make. While they may not satisfy a curious professional mixologist, they can still provide a lot of refreshment for your lazy summer weekends. Although this is traditionally a gin drink, there are some who prefer vodka. With vodka, this drink tastes mostly of the grapefruit juice, while the gin version has more depth and complexity (if you like gin, of course). Although not an especially common drink, it’s simple to make and is bright and refreshing for sipping outside on a hot summer day. The Salty Dog is a variation on this drink with salt on the rim. Ingredients 2 ounces gin 1 tablespoon coarse salt (for glass rim) Ice cubes 4 ounces grapefruit juice 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 spring of thyme (for garnish) Directions
Dark and Stormy (It’s Hurricane Season Down South) Although most of these drinks use clear spirits, this one is an exception. The Dark and Stormy is made with dark rum, but don’t let that scare you away. It’s a great drink for sitting out on the porch and listening to a summer thunderstorm roll through. This is also the easiest drink to make since no real mixing is involved. Ingredients 1/2 ounce lime juice 4 to 6 ounces ginger beer 2 ounces dark rum 1 lime wheel (for garnish) Ice cubes Directions
Paloma Paloma is Spanish for “dove,” and while the margarita may be the most famous tequila-based cocktail, it’s not necessarily the only one or the best. Grapefruit soda may seem an odd ingredient in a tequila cocktail, but the citrus works well with tequila and the carbonation gives it a wonderfully light bubbly effervescence. Ingredients 1 tablespoon coarse salt 2 ounces Blanco tequila 4 to 6 ounces grapefruit soda (Fresca, Jarritos or Squirt are the most popular brands) 1 teaspoon lime juice Ice cubes 1 lime wheel (for garnish) Directions
ChefSecret: When salting a glass rim, use coarse margarita or kosher salt. Quip of the Day: “It’s summer and time flies when you’re having a good time. Remember, there are only 27 weeks, 3 days until Christmas.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. We have added a new search feature to make it easier to navigate through our blogs. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Cocktail #HappyHour #SaltyDog #Greyhound #DarkAndStormy #Paloma #Rum #Gin #Tequila #SummerCocktail #Cheers #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 |
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