Vegas Yum

Cocktails with Rum – Nevada Cocktail

Susan — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:59:06 +0000

Nevada Cocktail

Ingredients for a Nevada Cocktail

Ingredients

3 ounces golden or light rum
3 ounces freshly-squeezed red grapefruit juice
1-1/2 ounces freshly-squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons sugar or use simple syrup
2 to 3 dashes Angostura or Peychaud’s bitters
lime/sugar rim for the martini glass*

Serves 2 (unless you’re a big drinker!)

Shake with Ice

Since the cocktail is made with fresh juices, combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker (or a large bottle) over cracked ice and shake, shake, shake. Strain into a martini glass. Hint: if you’re using sugar..dissolve the sugar in the room temperature rum before adding the other ingredients.

Nevada Cocktail

When you are making this cocktail, squeeze the fresh juices just before combining. It really makes a difference in the taste. The red (or pink) grapefruit gives the drink a beautiful color–but white grapefruit work just as well taste-wise.

Making Lime Sugar

* To make the rim: grate some lime rind-just the green part- and mix the rind with a little sugar. Run a fresh lime half around the rim of a martini glass and place the glass in the freezer. The longer the glass sits in the freezer, the more the sugar rim dries out and the longer it last as you drink the cocktail. So do this hours before you make the drinks.

Lime Sugared Rim

Garnish your Nevada with a slice of grapefruit or a slice of lime.

The Nevada Cocktail

Delicious….perfect before dinner drink. Bittersweet & tart, the floral flavors of the rum & juice really shine.

Slow Cooker Pork Ribs

Susan — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:40:29 +0000

Slow cooking really makes these ribs tender and the sauce insures they are full of deep flavors. After you make the sauce, the slow cooker does the rest. Right before these are eaten, just finish them off in the grill if you want that extra BBQ taste.

Finishing the Pork Ribs

Slow-cooker sweet and sour Pork Ribs

INGREDIENTS

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped

6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

6-inch piece of ginger, peeled, in 1/4-inch slices

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 12 oz jar apricot jam

6 oz (3/4 C) can frozen pineapple juice concentrate

6 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

5 tbsp rice vinegar

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

6 lbs baby back or St. Louis-style ribs (4 racks)

salt + black pepper to taste

2 tbsp cilantro leaves, chopped

Pork Ribs Sauce

DIRECTIONS

Place onion, pepper, garlic and ginger in food processor and pulse till finely chopped, about 8 pulses.

Heat oil in medium frying pan over medium-high heat. Add vegetable mixture and tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is softened and slightly brown, about 7 minutes.

Stir in jam, frozen juice, soy, sugar, 1/4 cup vinegar and red pepper flakes. Bring to simmer and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Pat ribs dry with paper towels; season with salt and pepper. Stand upright in slow cooker insert, winding them around in a spiral, meaty side toward the wall of the cooker. Pour sauce over ribs. Cook on low 4 to 5 hours until tender.

Fitting Ribs in the Slow Cooker

Finished in the Slow Cooker

Transfer ribs to cutting board; tent with foil and rest 20 minutes.

Finished with the Crock Pot

Let cooking liquid settle 5 minutes; pour off fat. Strain through fine-mesh sieve into medium pot.

Bring sauce to simmer and cook down until it measures about 2 cups, about 15 minutes.

Stir remaining tablespoon of vinegar into sauce; correct seasoning. Place the ribs for about 10 minutes per side on a hot grill, brush with reduced sauce to glaze.

Saucing the Ribs on a Grill

Slice ribs between bones, toss with sauce. Serve on platter garnished with cilantro.

Slow Cooker Pork Ribs

Makes 6-8 servings.

Bing Cherry Daiquiri

Susan — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:25:33 +0000

This wonderful cocktail only has 3 ingredients. So they have to be top quality for the drink to succeed. I infuse the rum myself each spring but I’m pretty sure you can just buy cherry infused rum (Cruzan brand I believe) and make it really simple. Still, nothing beats the flavor of fresh Bing cherry infused rum. Here’s how I do it:

Ingredients for a Bing Cherry Daiquiri

Cherries are ideal for fruit infused spirits because they are dense with flavor and color. I infuse for about 5-7 days to allow the rum to pull all the flavor and color from the cherries.
When making an infusion, use a container with a mouth wide enough to fit your hand in. Always pack the fruit to within an inch of the top of the container and cover the fruit entirely with alcohol (this prevents the fruit from oxidizing). When dealing with cherries, its best to pit them first as pits can impart a bitter flavor.

When the rum is a beautiful red color and fragrant with cherry scent…I just drain it into an old, clean, liquor bottle. Label and store in the refrigerator and it will last for months.

Bing Cherry Daiquiri
Bing Cherry Daiquiri
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 fluid ounces bing cherry infused rum
- 1/2 fresh lime, juiced
- 2 heaping bar spoons powdered sugar – depending how sweet you like it. I used 1/2 oz of simple syrup instead
- 1 lime wheel
Directions
1. Shake all ingredients with ice until well chilled, then strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with a lime wheel—or, if it’s still summer and you can get fresh cherries, a pitted fresh cherry is a beautiful, tasty garnish
2. Bing Cherry Daiquiri

Las Vegas Dining – ENVY

Susan — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 03:56:25 +0000

ENVY didn’t hit a false note all evening.

The restaurant is located inside the Renaissance Hotel on Paradise Rd, and right next door to the Las Vegas Convention Center. The decor inside is nice, it’s casual yet elegant. Comfortable seating with plenty of room between tables unlike some places where they are crammed together.

The Cantonese Cocktail

I started my dinner with a cocktail from their inventive, lounge menu. THE CANTONESE ( $10) which was Stoli Vodka, Domaine De Canton Ginger Liqueur, Fresh Lemon Juice, Hand‐Extracted Strawberry Juice and garnished with a fresh strawberry. Delicious.

Black Pepper Calamari/Rock Shrimp

For an appetizer we ordered the Black Pepper Calamari and Rock Shrimp combo with came with a Ginger-Mirin Aioli and a Marinara sauce. The calamari was tender, the dish was pretty greaseless and everything tasted great.

Classic Caesar Salad

I wanted to try the Classic Caesar Salad that consisted of tender Romaine Leaves, a White Anchovy draped over the dressed Romaine and garnished with a tasty Black Pepper Crouton. Just the right amount of dressing that was spot on as far as Caesar Salad was concerned.

Chopped Salad

Vic had the BLT Wedge Salad which had Iceberg lettuce, Bacon, Tomato, Red Onion and was dressed with a Tangy Tomato &
Tarragon Dressing. He loved it.

ENVY's Bread Basket

Even the bread basket was good: a white artisan-type loaf, a walnut white chocolate bread and grissini.

Sea Salts

Then our waiter (Josh was an excellent server) brought a tray of three different sea salts out for our dinner. One of them was a smoked salt that was a standout on the steak.

We decided to split an entree as we were full at this point…Josh split it for us. With the bone-in ribeye…we ordered the Maker’s Mark bourbon creamed corn… and the Truffle-Reggiano Fries.

Thank goodness we decided to split the steak…everything was so, so good that we kept eating even tho we were stuffed.

Truffle Parmesan Fries

Fries first. Hugh (enough for a table of four), hot, crispy, with Parmesan sprinkled lightly on top and scented with truffle oil. Addictive.

Makers Mark Bourbon Creamed Corn

Creamed corn…wonderful dish, probably their most popular side. Sweet, creamy yet the corn retains it’s texture….

Bone-In Ribeye

Finally the Ribeye. Again, just melt in your mouth tenderness and lots of beefy flavor. Cooked perfectly and served with a mushroom jus. We ordered two glasses (Cab I think) to go with the meat and just enjoyed the rest of our delicious dinner at ENVY.

Ribeye & Fries at ENVY

Sweet n’ Spicy Glazed Nuts

Susan — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 19:08:09 +0000

Roasted, mixed nuts are delicious. Everyone loves them and all you have to do is open the package and serve. However, with just a few more ingredients and a little more time–you can turn the nuts into something really special. And these nuts keep beautifully in the freezer, waiting for friends to drop by!

Sweet N' Spicy Mixed Nuts

Spicy Glazed Mixed Nuts

Ingredients for Glazed Nuts

from david lebowitz

2 cups mixed nuts (untoasted); any combination of cashews, whole almonds, pecan halves, and hazelnuts, walnuts (I used a package of roasted, salted mixed nuts and just didn’t do the first baking or use any extra salt and they turned out great)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse or kosher salt

1
Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and roast in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes, stirring once for even toasting.

Sweet/Spicy Coating

2
In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, cayenne, and maple syrup. Add the warm nuts, pretzels, and salt, and stir until the nuts and pretzels are completely coated.

Baking the Glazed Nuts

3
Spread the mixture back on the baking sheet and return to the oven for 10 minutes, stirring twice during cooking. Remove from oven and cool completely, separating the nuts and pretzels as they cool.

Cooling Glazed Nuts

Once cool, they can be stored in an airtight container for 4 days. Or, freeze them for weeks. Then they’re ready to bring out for a snack to serve your guests…something special.

Sweet and Spicy Mixed Nuts

Pasta with Mushrooms and Cream

Susan — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:28:14 +0000

Who doesn’t like pasta with a rich, creamy sauce? This dish is quick, delicious and only calls for a few common ingredients to produce a wonderful dinner for the family or for guests.

Pasta with Mushrooms and Cream

Pasta with Mushrooms & Cream

what you need:

About 12 oz or 300g dried pasta – you can use pappardelle or fettucine or tagliatelle.

2 Tbsp or 25g butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

white wine, about 1/3 to 1/2 Cup

3/4 Cup or 200ml heavy – cream

3-5 tbsp grated Parmesan

About 10 oz or 250g mushrooms – You can use any fresh mushrooms

sea salt and black pepper

what to do:

Bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and pasta and cook until al dente. While the water is coming to a boil:

Sauteeing Garlic in Butter & Oil

Chop your mushrooms and garlic separately. Then saute the garlic in a large saute pan heated, in advance, with the butter and oil.

Sauteeing Mushrooms

Next, add the mushrooms and cook for about 10 – 15 minutess until coloured and lightly softened.

Sauteeing Mushrooms

When mushrooms are ready, add the wine and let it boil down for a couple of minutes.

Adding White Wine

The heavy cream is added next and allowed to simmer gently until it has thickened.

Simmering Heavy Cream

Now is the time to drain your pasta and add to your sauce.

Adding the Pasts into the Mushroom Sauce

Let this cook for a few minutes and you gently mix it all together and allow the pasta to be coated well with the sauce.

Have some heated pasta bowls ready and serve your pasta with lots of Parmesan cheese on top.

Finished with Parmesan

This makes a great company meal too. It’s easy, fast and tastes fantastic. Goes best with a green salad and a crisp, white wine to cut the richness of the pasta dish.

Pasta with Mushrooms and Cream

Las Vegas Dining – Ceres Restaurant

Susan — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:30:38 +0000

Ceres is located in a former Ritz Carlton property which is now the J W Marriot Resort at Summerlin. The property boasts high end design and decoration – great pool area with large waterfall – beautiful grounds and once you walk into the property, you can easily forget you are in Vegas. For visitors, it’s only about 15 minutes from the Strip.

View from Ceres interior

Ceres Restaurant itself is in a spacious room with an elegant, contemporary décor and a handsome bar and lounge, the best feature is the view. Ceres overlooks lush gardens, waterfalls and fountains. From any table in the restaurant, you’ve got beautiful spaces. And the food? First course was a hugh crab cake sitting on mustard slaw with scallions and dressing with a remoulade sauce. Hot, crispy, filled with sweet crab….delicious.

Jumbo Crab Cake from Ceres

Next we had an endive, watercress and poached pear salad with candied pecans and crumbles of blue cheese. Dressed with an herbed vinaigrette, this salad was a great play of yummy contrasts—peppery cress, sweet pear and salty cheese.

Belgian Endive Salad with a Poached Pear

Before the main course was brought out, the waiter gave us an apple and champagne sorbet in a martini glass. I’ve had ‘palate refreshers’ before that were just too sweet to get excited about. But this time I was so wrong. The sorbet was light, refreshing, slightly sweet with a nice acidic punch to it —I loved this.

Apple and Champagne Sorbet Palate Cleanser

Our main course was a sauteed Halibut with a Grilled Filet Mignon. Served with a polenta cake flavored with chevre and baby carrots & asparagus. The sauce tasted like a truffle jus? I can’t remember but it was delicious. The beef and the fish were cooked beautifully, the polenta was crisp on the outside and creamy within. I really tried to eat everything because it was so good but ended up running out of steam and taking home most of the Filet.

Filet and Halibut Duo at Ceres

This was an wonderful dinner—everything was excellent and the service was top notch. I’m absolutely looking forward to another dinner at Ceres.

Halibut & Filet at Ceres Restaurant

Recipe for a Lemon Drop

Susan — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:38:36 +0000

Everyone’s eaten those candy lemon drops that come in a yellow box and are coated with a sweet-sour sugar mixture. I (like most people I know) love those things which I suppose is a lot of the appeal of this drink. The sour bite of a lemon and the sweetness of pure cane sugar. That’s a Lemon Drop Martini.

Lemon Drop Martini

The Lemon Drop was a drink created in San Francisco in the 70′s in one of those ‘fern’ bars that specialized in creating girly yet potent drinks. This one caught on with customers and thirty years later it’s still popular.

Grating the Fresh Lemon Rind

The version that I made was served by Oprah Winfrey at her famous Legend’s Ball. I’ve made several different versions of this drink and this one is definitely a keeper. The pucker factor is pretty high so the sugar rimming on the glass is a must. You need to be able to lick the sugar coating as you take a sip to balance things out.

Turbinado Sugar mixed with lemon rind

To ‘kick it up a notch’, I used turbinado sugar and grated lemon rind for the coating.

Lemon Drop Martini

Ingredients

Juice of 6 lemons (grate the rind before you juice them)
4 tablespoons sugar
6 fresh mint leaves
4 shots vodka (1 shot is 1 1/2 oz—-so, 6 oz)
Ice in shaker
1 sugar-rimmed martini glass (I used turbinado sugar combined w/ lemon rind)

Directions

Sugar + Vodka + Lemon Juice=Lemon Drop

Mix lemon juice, sugar and vodka in a martini shaker filled with ice. Shake well and pour into sugar-rimmed martini glass. Garnish with mint.

Lemon Drop Martini with a sprig of mint

Makes 2 Lemon Drops

Tobi Enjoys a Lemon Drop

Meatloaf with Bacon

Susan — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:59 +0000

Everything that I’ve ever made from this cookbook (Two Dudes, One Pan) has been wonderful. And this meatloaf was no exception. Once the onion, garlic and parsley are chopped, the rest of the meatloaf is easily mixed together in one bowl and then shaped over the bacon and flipped into your prepared pan.

All this to say—it’s an easy recipe. And delicious.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Dinner

Bacon-wrapped meatloaf

Serves 8

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 1/2 pounds ground pork

1 Spanish onion, chopped

3/4 cup panko (bread crumbs)

2 eggs

1 cup ketchup

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon Tabasco

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

8 thick slices bacon (since I like my bacon crisp–I partially cooked the bacon before using it in the recipe)

Meatloaf Ingredients

1. Set the oven at 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, pork, onion, panko, eggs, ketchup, milk, parsley, garlic, Worcestershire, hot sauce, salt, and cayenne. With your hands, work the mixture until thoroughly combined.

Mixing the Meatloaf Ingredients

Arranging the Par-Cooked Bacon

3. Lay a 16-by-12-inch piece of plastic wrap lengthwise on your work surface. Arrange the bacon strips vertically on the plastic, slightly overlapping. Turn the meat out onto the bacon and form into a loaf shape with your hands by pressing the loaf lengthwise along the bacon first, and then shaping the sides. Use the sides of the plastic to wrap and press the bacon around the loaf. Transfer the loaf to a rimmed baking sheet and flip it over. Gently remove the plastic wrap.

Shaping the Meatloaf

Baking the Meatloaf

4. Bake the meatloaf for 60 to 70 minutes or until it is firm to the touch and the bacon starts to brown. For extra-crisp bacon, place the meatloaf under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, watching it carefully. Set aside for 10 minutes. Use a serrated knife to cut into slices.

From “Two Dudes, One Pan”

Bacon Wrapped Meat Loaf

The house was filled with wonderful aromas as this meatloaf cooked…and it was so tasty. And the best part about making a meatloaf is the great sandwiches you can make from the leftovers!

Meatloaf from Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate”

Kamikaze Cocktail

Susan — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 02:19:08 +0000

We had Tim & Pam over at the last minute on Sunday for dinner and I was looking through my recipes for an interesting but simple cocktail recipe for Pam & I. I’ve been wanting to try a Kamikaze and since Pam is a good ‘drinking’ buddy in that she’s not afraid to try new drinks, I settled on that.

Legend has it that the Kamikaze was first poured on an American Naval base in Japan in the late 1940s, and that the name (not unlike that of The Zombie) is meant to give you an idea of its effect.

Three Ingredients for a Kamikaze

Kamikaze Cocktail or Shot

The cocktail:

1 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1 1/2 oz. vodka
1 1/2 oz. triple sec

Kamikaze Cocktail Ingredients Combined

How to mix the cocktail:
Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add lime juice, vodka, triple sec, and 3/4 oz. simple syrup. Shake well, about 15 seconds, to chill the mixture. Strain into a highball or martini glass for a single drink or, if you prefer, into 4 separate shot glasses. Garnish with a wedge of lime and serve cold.

Lime Sugar for a Kamikaze

Since the cocktail is on the sour side, I grated some lime peel and mixed it with sugar to coat the rim of my glasses which added a touch more of sweetness in the drink.

Rimming the Kamikaze Glasses with Lime Sugar

I used these liqueur (I think) glasses because I knew I needed something small but need to look around for a straight sided bigger shot-type of a glass for the next time I serve Kamikazes.