Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Cinco de Mayo Drinks

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

In honor... 2 awesome latin drinks to serve with your meal:

















I couldn't decide between these two, so I made them both yesterday to drink tonight.

HORCHATA
1 1/3 C uncooked long-grain rice
5 C water
1 C milk
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 Tbs vanilla
1/2 C sugar/splenda + sweetened condensed milk to taste

Blend rice with 2 C water and cinnamon sticks for a minute or two. Add remaining water. Let stand and room temp at least 3 hrs or refrigerate overnight. Strain into a pitcher and discard rice. Stir in milk, vanilla, and sugar/condensed milk, add ground cinnamon to taste. Chill and serve with ice.

*After finishing this, I would actually add the remaining water after straining the rice so that I could pour it over the rice/strainer to get more rice juice out of it. And don't be skimpy with cinnamon or the condensed milk, you could even buy fat free if you worry about that. Me and Brad LOVED it!

The rice/cinnamon sticks looked pretty when I strained it, but I learned uncooked/unsweetened rice doesn't taste pretty. I got the awesome container for the occasion from big lots, $4. I love it!
A perfect compliment to our spicy steak mole tacos! (I should really use a different table cloth for pics once in a while... this is my springiest one :))

Now, I'm not sure if they make limeade like this in Mexico, but I don't even know if they celebrate cinco de mayo down there either...  The family I stayed with in Costa Rica back in the day used to make something like this. This recipe is all over the internet, so I have no idea who is the originator. I made it yesterday, but felt like I could taste too much rind. It's still yummy. I think next time I'll try just squeezing the juice in then zesting the limes...

BRAZILIAN LEMONADE
4 juicy limes
1 C sugar (or splenda)
1/3 C sweetened condensed milk
6 C water
Wash limes and cut into 8 pieces, remove ends. Blend with the water, pulsing a few times. Pour through a mesh strainer into a pitcher. Add sugar and condensed milk, using more milk/sugar if your limes were too bitter. 

1 comment:

***Julia C. Greenfield Vanikiotis*** said...

Awesome - I love horchata!!! Thanks for posting this!!!

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