The Lush Chef

I just finished doing a BluePrint Juice cleanse the other day, but in preparation for it, I picked up a couple of their juices at Whole Foods and had one last drink before I succumbed to a no-alcohol policy for a few days.  Yes, the Lush Chef occasionally doesn't drink!  Louis Anderman from Miracle Mile Bitters and I have always joked about how these juices would taste even better in cocktail form, with bitters, of course.  Well, I finally took a crack at making one with their Lime Ginger Lemon Agave flavor.  I decided to make a margarita, although Louis said next time something with Flor De Caña 7 Year Old Grand Reserve Rum and some of his Yuzu bitters would be pretty amazing.  I couldn't agree more.  Because the juice I was using has such a light flavor, I found I needed to double up on the amount of juice and also put in an extra squeeze of lime.  After tasting it, I thought it needed something more...so I added in a few dashes of Napa Valley Bitters' Tamarind Lime Chili flavor.
BluePrint Cleanse Margarita 
Ingredients:

• 2 oz tequila (I used Patrón Silver)
• 1 oz Cointreau
• 2 oz BluePrint Lime Ginger Lemon Agave Juice
• Juice from half a lime
• 3 dashes of citrus bitters (I used Napa Valley's Tamarind Lime Chili)
• Salt to garnish
• Lime wheel to garnish

- Run a lime wedge round the rim of a glass and dip into a plate of coarse salt.
- In a mixing glass filled with ice, add the tequila, Cointreau, BluePrint juice, lime juice and bitters and shake.
- Strain into your ice-filled glass.
- Garnish with a lime wheel

Halloween isn't until next week, but everyone I know is going to start celebrating this weekend.  I've been doing a ton of apple cocktails so far this fall because of the large bounty of apples I picked.  For this holiday though, I really wanted something with pumpkin in it.  It just seemed more fitting...

The Rundown recently posted a couple of Halloween cocktail ideas by Stacy Nikkila at The Swizzle.  I opted for the Midnight Pumpkin, which is essentially a pumpkin-flavored margarita and has a beautiful festive orange color.  Note to self - this could totally work for Thanksgiving as well! Unfortunately, I didn't have any reposado tequila on hand, so I just used some Patrón Silver.  I think next time I make this, I'll opt for the reposado because it has that spicier finish and complements the light flavors from the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar.

Midnight Pumpkin
Ingredients:

• 2 oz tequila (preferably reposado)
• 1 oz Cointreau
• 1 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 1 oz pumpkin purée
• Cinnamon, nutmeg & sugar, for garnish

- Rim a glass with cinnamon and sugar and fill with ice.
- In a shaker filled with ice, add the tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and pumpkin puree.
- Shake and strain into the glass.
- Sprinkle some nutmeg on top.

Libations used: 2 Tbs Cointreau
Libations left over: make yourself a Children of the Sun cocktail!
The Lush Chef was having a boozy holiday brunch, so of course I had to find a way to sneak libations in just about everything I served.  I still had some apples from an orchard trip that needed to be used up before I went home for the holidays, so this Rustic Apple Tart from The Kitchn looked easy enough.  Guests are always impressed by tarts, so let them keep thinking how accomplished you are.  They look impressive and hard to make, but they're one of the easiest pastries to pull off.  I actually find these free-form tarts are much easier to make than round ones.  You don't need to roll it out into a perfect rectangle, because you can shape it after.  And you can have messy edges because you'll just fold it over and hide it with whatever fruit you put inside!  Make sure you slice those apples thin so they cook through all the way, but don't be meticulous about spreading the almonds on perfectly—you want to preserve that rustic look.  It's then finished off with an apricot glaze that contains orange liqueur (I used Cointreau).  Just make sure to evenly spread that glaze on before you start licking the spoon.


Rustic Apple Tart with Cointreau - serves 6-8
Ingredients for the Tart Pastry:

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 7 Tbs unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1-3 Tbs ice water

Ingredients for the Filling:

• 4 small to medium-sized baking apples - I always like to use a combination, so I did Mutsu and Braeburn
• 2-4 Tbs brown sugar, based on the sweetness of the apples
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/3 cup toasted, sliced almonds
• 3 Tbs unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

Ingredients for the Glaze:

• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 2 Tbs Cointreau or orange-flavored liqueur

To make the tart pastry:
- In the work bowl of a food processor with a metal blade (you can also do this by hand), combine the flour, sugar and salt.
- Add the butter and process with short pulses until the mixture is coarse.
- With the processor running, add the water through the top, 1 Tbs at a time, until the dough begins to form a ball.  If you end up adding too much water, just add more flour.
- Gather into a neat ball and flatten into a disk.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Roll out the pastry dough to a rough 9"x15" rectangle (remember, it's rustic so it doesn't have to be perfect!).  If the dough splits at all, toss it back in the fridge for 5-10 minutes.
- Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Fold over the edges of the dough so that it forms a shallow lip and feel free to create a decorate edge.
- The pastry shell should be about 6"x12"
- Pierce the bottom of the shell with a fork and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

To make the filling:
- Preheat your oven to 400.
- Peel, core and thinly slice the apples (should be about 1/8 inch).
- In a medium bowl, gently toss the apples with the brown sugar and almond extract.
- Arrange the slices in 3 lengthwise rows so that they overlap in the tart shell.
- Sprinkle the almonds along the top.
- Top the tart with the tiny pieces of butter.
- Bake the tart for 40-50 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender.

To make the glaze:
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the preserves and Cointreau to a boil, stirring often.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture thickens (if there are large chunks of fruit, transfer the glaze to a blender/food processor and blend until smooth).
- Strain the glaze through a fine mesh sieve into a small bowl by pressing the glaze with a large spoon or rubber spatula.  Try and extract as much of that liquid as you can!
- Spread the warm glaze on top of the finished tart.

A beach afternoon on Labor Day always calls for a little cocktail time.  The strawberries are still in season and my basil plant was begging to be picked.  Malbec and Hefeweizen love their spicy cocktails and I had some leftover jalapeño-infused tequila.  These various ingredients may seem like an odd combination, but trust me—it works.  The slivers of basil add another level of flavor, and when combined with strawberries, reminds you of the dog days of summer.  So whip up a pitcher and sneak it onto the beach...

Spicy Strawberry Basil Margaritas - serves 6-8
Ingredients:

• 12 oz jalapeño-infused tequila
• 6 oz Cointreau
• Juice of 4 limes
• About 16 strawberries
• 6 basil leaves, chiffonade
• Ice

- Infuse the tequila - check out my Children of the Sun cocktail recipe if you haven't done this before.
- Purée 10 of the strawberries.
- Combine the tequila, Cointreau, puréed strawberries, lime juice and basil.
- Add ice and stir.
- Quarter the rest of the strawberries and garnish each drink with a few pieces.

Normally, the Lush Chef does cocktail postings on a Friday, but for all you Children of the Sun heading out to the desert like I am, I figured it'd be helpful to pick up some ingredients for Coachella cocktailing beforehand.  Just because you're dressed like a desert hippie, doesn't mean you need to forgo having a classy drink.  I was inspired by Las Perlas, my favorite tequila and mezcal bar downtown, when I made this drink last summer.  The Lush Chef and "Malbec" have come to crave spicy cocktails, and neither of us like our margaritas sweet and syrupy, so this one really wanted to make us salsa and have seconds.  The tequila is infused with jalapeño, and you can easily adjust the heat to your palate.  Because I didn't have mezcal (and still don't...I need to remedy that), I used Salish salt from Spice Station to rim the glass.  It gives the drink that smoky flavor that mezcal has, and you can easily substitute regular salt for those who don't like that kind of finish on their drink.  This cocktail is perfect for lounging around a pool in the desert before heading off to the Empire Polo Grounds - because who really wants to wait in that beer garden line?

Children of the Sun Cocktail - serves 4

• 8 oz tequila
• 4 oz Cointreau
• 4 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 jalapeño 

- Slice half of the jalapeño longways and remove the seeds.  I remove the seeds because I don't like digging them out of my tequila, and the long slices can then be repurposed as a garnish.  Add the slices to the tequila and let sit for a minimum of 2 hours.  If you desire more heat, let it sit longer.  I like to do mine at 4 hours.
- Run a lime wedge around the rim of the glass and finish in the smoked salt.
- When tequila's done infusing, add Cointreau, lime juice and shake with ice.
- Strain over a glass with ice, and top with a jalapeño slice.

If you're looking to do this for a big group, here are the adjustments.  I recommend just making this in a pitcher and letting it chill for a while, so you're not having to deal with playing bartender.

Serves 15

• 3 3/4 cups jalapeño-infused tequila
• Scant 2 cups triple-sec - sorry kids, but I'm not busting out the expensive stuff in the desert
• Scant 2 cups lime juice
• 2 jalapenos
• Smoked salt to rim the glasses