The Pink & Gray – My Signature Drink

One of my favorite and hardest things on my list of 30 things to do before I’m 30 was #16: create my own signature cocktail.  Steve is famous for his “Stever” and so I needed one of my own!  I enlisted the help of a my good friend Tom Olcott who is an excellent mixologist –  he created Motto so… yep, I went to the right person.  May I introduce to you the Pink & Gray!

pink&gray

p&gingredientsThe Ingredients:

  • 2 oz of  tequilla blanco
  • 2 large fresh basil leaves
  • 2 oz of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
  • 3/4 oz of agave
  • 3/4 oz of Pom
  • Club soda
  • Pepper

p&gcitrus

Grab your citrus squeezer and start juicing those grapefruits!

p&gsqueeze

A 1/2 a grapefruit usually yields about 3-4 oz.

p&ggrapefruitHow to make it: Fill your cocktail shaker with a handful of ice.  Roughly break up the basil and add it to the shaker.  Now add the grapefruit juice, tequila, agave and Pom.  Shake it up!!
p&gbasilPour into a glass and top with a little club soda.  (It is delicious strait up or on the rocks.)   And now for the gray… A little garnish of pepper!
p&gpepper

And here she is in all her glory…The Pink & Gray on the Gray lady! p&ggrayladyEnjoy!!

Choc Peppermint Rice Krispy Treat

Monkey and I are back with an easy Holiday treat recipe –  Chocolate Peppermint Rice Krispy Treats!

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons of Butter

6 cups of mini PEPPERMINT marshmallows

6 cups of Cocoa Krispies

Choc Peppermint Rice Krispy Treat  1

He was posing all cute and on his best behavior for like 3 seconds, and then he stuck his hand in the marshmallows.

Choc Peppermint Rice Krispy Treat 2

Monkey really tries to be helpful.  He carried the pot over for me… and then did this amazing front flip into the pot.

MonkeyFlip

Then all of a sudden he pulled out some mistletoe.  Mistletoe.  Where does a monkey get mistletoe from ??  He even did the spiderman upside down kiss thinking that would help him get lucky!  And it did ;)

Choc Peppermint Rice Krispy Treat 3

Then we melted the butter, added the marshmallows, stirred them until they were melted, added the cocoa krispies, stirred,  then poured it into a buttered pan and smooshed it down.

Choc Peppermint Rice Krispy Treats 4

They turned out great!  Easy and simple!  Done in minutes and ready to eat!   Some recipes called for extra peppermint extract but I think they were pepperminty enough (but not too strong).

I was trying to take pictures but all he wanted to do was get his hands on a treat!  I kept shooing him away and then he came in all Tom Cruise “Mission Impossible” style!

chocpeppermintmonkey

  Cooking with a monkey is not always easy… but there is never a dull moment with him!

Roasting a Chicken – It’s easy!

Time is ticking and one of the things on my list of 30 things to do before I’m 30 is to roast a chicken.  Check!

Lesson Learned:  People, we should not be afraid of roasting a chicken!!  It is super easy, so delicious and totally rewarding.  You will be totally impressed with yourself that you can do this!!

I’ve been inspired by Julia Child’s famous roasted chicken recipe and Jamie Oliver’s “naked chef” cooking techniques and this is what I’ve come up with:

Here is what you will need:

Whatyouneedroastedchicken

  • A 5lb (give or take) chicken
  • Lemon
  • Fresh thyme & rosemary
  • 1/2 stick of butter
  • Salt & pepper
  • Cooking string
  • A 10 inch stainless steel sauté pan.  If you don’t have this, just use a baking dish that leaves about an inch of space between the chicken and the dish. (I would avoid non stick).

Here are the steps:

Clean the chicken: Remove whatever is in the inside cavity of the chicken.  (So technical right?!)  Rinse the chicken inside and out with hot water and pat dry with a paper towel.  Cut out the wishbone for easier carving.  (Here is a youtube video for prepping a chicken)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Reserve 1TB of butter and then melt the rest of the stick in the 10-inch sauté pan.

Salt and pepper the cavity of the chicken.  Cut the reserved butter in 4 pieces and put 2 of the pieces in the cavity of the chicken.  Take the lemon and pierce it all over with a fork. This is your moment to let out some aggression!  (Although don’t hurt your hand) Throw that lemon inside the chicken.  Add some springs of thyme & rosemary and the remaining butter pieces.

Truss the Chicken – which is the fancy way of saying tie up that chicken.  Here is a step by step guide.

Trussthechicken

Now place the chicken in the pan of melted butter (move off the heat). Baste the chicken with butter.  Generously season with salt & pepper and add thyme & rosemary leaves.

prepthechicken

Now just throw it in the oven!  Cooking time is always tough depending on your oven.  I cooked mine  for an hour and 10 minutes.  Pull it out about halfway through and baste.

The chicken is done when your meat thermometer registers at 165 degrees.  When you pull out the thermometer, the juices should run clear.  Baste the chicken again.  Lift the chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes.  This is so important because it allows the juices to evenly distribute through out the chicken.  Cut away the string and remove the lemon.

Roasted Chicken

To carve begin by cutting right down the middle of the bird.  (Removing the wishbone allows you to do this easily).  Then cut out the breasts by running the knife on the outside of the bird.  Remove the legs and serve it up!!

Carving

It was so delicious that I forgot to take a pretty plated picture. Oh well…  I hope you all give it a try!!  Let me know how it goes or if you have any tips!