This is a great drink to wind down your holiday parties. Or to warm up a winter night.

• 6 ounces hot coffee
• 1-2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 shot of Irish whiskey
• 1-2 tablespoons whipping cream

1. Place the sugar in the bottom of a mug. Add the coffee and stir till sugar dissolves. Stir in the whiskey.
2. Shake the whipping cream in the carton. Hold the back of a spoon over the coffee. Pour the cream onto the spoon so that it lightly drips into the coffee. Serve.

(Serves 1)

I generally don’t really measure what I’m pouring into the mug. This is just to give you an idea of the proportions.

The cream bit is the hard part. Shaking the cream incorporates some air into it to make it lighter. Sometimes I do a good job with the pouring. Other times I do not. Either way, it still tastes good.

Featured in Full Plate Thursday.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

Mike is the fruit eater in our house. He goes through quite a bit each day. Grapes and bananas are perpetually on the counter or on the shopping list. I’ve been drinking lots of green smoothies lately, and we were discussing bananas in smoothies (something I’m not particularly fond of as I think the banana always blocks out other flavors). Anyway, the conversation ended with this smoothie.

• 1 banana, peeled and cut in slices
• 1 cup grapes
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1-2 tablespoons soymilk (optional)

1. Place grapes and banana slices in the freezer for 30-45 minutes.
2. Once they are chilled, place grapes, bananas and peanut butter in a blender, and blend until smooth.
3. If smoothie is too thick, blend in soymilk. Serve.

(Serves 1)

Most people I know like their smoothies cold, hence the chilling in the freezer. However, you don’t want your grapes to freeze as their juice is the liquid for the smoothie. The smoothie is thick, but certainly drinkable without the milk. It feels “hearty,” which is probably saying something for a smoothie. Thin to your desired consistency.

I’m sharing this recipe in These Chicks Cooked, Full Plate Thursday, Wellness Weekends, Premeditated Leftovers, and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

Here’s a good stiff drink to get your week started.

I go through cocktail phases. Last year, I was meeting with some friends from high school, and the restaurant had this drink on the menu. I’ve been smitten ever since.

Creme de Violette is a violet-infused liqueur. It’s what gives the drink it’s lovely purple hue. Maraschino liqueur is distilled from Marasca cherries. These were the original maraschino cherries, not the Red #4 sugar bombs we think of today. Maraschino liqueur is clear, and while sweet it also has some bitter flavors. Unfortunately, you will have to do some searching to find both of these liqueurs. I suggest looking for large liqueur wholesalers. Or buy them online. I think it’s worth the effort.

• 2 ounces gin
• 1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 ounce creme de violette
• 1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur
• lemon peel or maraschino cherry (for garnish)

1. Place a few ice cubes and cold water in a martini glass and set aside to chill.
2. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add in all the ingredients except the garnish. Shake well. Dump the ice and water out of the martini glass. Pour the drink into the chilled glass. Garnish and enjoy!

(Serves 1)

Measuring in a plain old shotglass works, but a mini-measuring glass makes it much easier and more precise. Especially with such small measurements. Some people in my family think 1/4 ounce of the creme de violette and the maraschino liqueur is too sweet, so they make it closer to 1/6 each. You’ll have to give it a try and see what you think.

Do you have a favorite cocktail? If so, mention it in the comments. I love finding new drinks to try.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

It is hot. Right now, weather.com is telling me it’s 97 feels like 111. It is 82 degrees inside of our apartment because the A/C can’t keep up. Bleh.

In light of this weather, I figured it would be a good time to work on The Gluten-Free Homemaker’s monthly challenge to create a gluten-free beverage. This is a perfect challenge for me, as close friends and family will tell you, because making (and making up) drinks is a favorite activity of mine.

If you can ignore the weather, one advantage of the summer is the abundance of fresh basil available. It’s especially nice when other people grow it and you get to use it, as was the case with this basil we received from my mother-in-law.

Anyway, lemonade is the quintessential summer drink, and basil my favorite summer herb, so I combined them into a fancy drink for you.

Basil-infused simple syrup:

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup fresh basil, well-packed

1. Combine the water and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved and mixture is clear. Remove from heat.
2. Allow simple syrup to cool. (It doesn’t need to be room temperature, but it shouldn’t be steaming.) Place basil in a large container with a lid, pour simple syrup over the basil. Cover and refrigerate. Allow basil to steep around two hours. Remove basil and return simple syrup to the refrigerator until ready to use.

(Makes ~3 cups)

Basil-infused sparkling lemonade:

• 2 cups basil-infused simple syrup
• 2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4 cups sparkling mineral water or club soda
• ice cubes
• fresh basil (for garnish)
• lemon slices (for garnish)

1. To make individual glasses: Fill a tall tumbler with ice. Add 1/4 cup simple syrup and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Top with 1/2 cup sparkling water. Stir well. Garnish. Repeat with remaining glasses. Serve immediately.
2. To make a pitcher: Mix simple syrup, lemon juice, and sparkling water in a pitcher. Stir well. Pour into ice-filled tumblers. Garnish. Serve immediately.

(Makes 2 quarts, serves ~8 people)

If you hadn’t bothered to do the math, the basic ratio for the lemonade is 1 part simple syrup:1 part lemon juice:2 parts sparkling water. Scale up or down to suit your needs. As you’ll notice, I left you with some extra simple syrup to play with. My suggestion: basil mojitos. I will also note, you can make a great cocktail by spiking the lemonade with whiskey. (Or probably just about any other liquor, but I’m only vouching for whiskey.)

The simple syrup and lemon juice can be mixed ahead of time, but don’t add the sparkling water until you’re ready to serve, otherwise you’ll lose the fizzyness.

The simple syrup can be infused for longer or shorter periods depending on your taste preferences. The lemonade had a very subtle basil flavor once everything was mixed. I would probably let the basil sit a bit longer next time. The other point to keep in mind is that the longer you steep the basil, the darker your simple syrup will be, which in turn may affect the color of your lemonade.

This recipe is also being shared in Full Plate Thursday.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

Apparently I’m on a dessert kick. There’s been lots of desserts in my recent roundups and my last two posts were ice cream and cupcakes. Hope you don’t mind.

Really this recipe was all about trying to use up some nuts we had leftover from vacation (Mike eats a lot of nuts, so we stockpiled). The only thing that popped into my head for hazelnuts was a hazelnut smoothie. I’m not really sure what fueled this notion, as I’ve never had or made a hazelnut smoothie before, but I couldn’t come up with anything else, so here you are.

• 1/4 cup raw hazelnuts
• 1 1/4 cups milk of your choice
• 4 scoops of ice cream, vanilla or chocolate
• 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast until hazelnuts are fragrant and swollen in size with cracked skins, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
2. Once hazelnuts are cooled, place in a towel and rub vigorously to remove skins.
3. Put hazelnuts in a blender and blend until finely ground. Add the milk. Blend until hazelnuts are thoroughly incorporated into the milk. (You may need to scrape the bottom to remove ground hazelnuts from beneath the blades.)
4. Add in the ice cream and chocolate syrup and blend again until completely mixed. Serve immediately.

(Serves 2)

I really liked the hazelnut flavor. I wasn’t sure how much you’d be able to taste it, but it came through loud and clear. And the nuts make it healthy, right?

I should note that this smoothie is much thinner than standard smoothie or milkshake consistency. It pours easily. Decrease the amount of milk for a thicker consistency.

[An aside: I love this blender. This one belongs to Mike's parents, but my parents had pretty much the exact same model--which I ended up taking to college. Whenever it came out, someone would walk into the kitchen and say "my parents have the same blender!" Whoever would have guessed a blender could be a conversation piece? Of course what's really most impressive is that it's 30 years old and still going strong. Yay tan Osterizer that never dies and teaches you the word frappe.]

Could you get by without removing the skins? Probably. Your smoothie might not be as pretty. Maybe you don’t care. As you can see from the picture above, mine did not come completely off. (Most likely they needed more toasting.)

You do probably want to use toasted hazelnuts (whether you toast them yourself as listed in the recipe or buy toasted hazelnuts is up to you). I think the flavor is much better. If you really prefer raw nuts, give it a go.

Our nuts were not salted. Given that this is a dessert, I think most people would want to go the unsalted route. However, I also know that when you dip french fries in milkshakes it’s delicious, so maybe the salty and sweet thing would work?

I actually used chocolate chip ice cream because that’s what was around. Chocolate will clearly make a more chocolatey smoothie. I pondered adding some coffee powder to make a mocha hazelnut smoothie. Coffee ice cream would do the same job. Mix and match to your tastes.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

This is one of my favorite ways to prepare portobello mushrooms. I realize using portobellos as a meat replacement is not exactly an inspired choice. But these mushrooms are especially delicious,  so I’m going to tell you about them anyway.

Even though we are edging into spring, it’s still cool enough around here that it’s okay to fire up the oven. In the summer these mushrooms can be grilled instead. (And I will envy you, as we don’t own a grill.)

• 4 portobello mushrooms, cleaned and de-stemmed
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 heaping teaspoon dried rosemary
• sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 small bell peppers
• 2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

1. Place mushrooms in a casserole dish. Cover evenly with oil and vinegar. Divide the garlic and rosemary between the mushrooms and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Set aside to marinate for 1-2 hours.
2. Roast the bell peppers over an open flame until the skin is blackened. Alternatively, cut peppers into quarters and place skin side up on a baking sheet. Place under a broiler until black all over. Once peppers are blackened, place in a bag or covered dish to steam. When peppers are cool enough to handle, rub the outside with a towel to remove the blackened skin. Cut into thin strips. Set aside.
3. When mushrooms are finished marinating, preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Roast mushrooms for 20-25 minutes.
4. Remove mushrooms from the oven and top each one with 1/4 of the peppers and 1/2 ounce of blue cheese. Serve immediately.

(Serves 4)

It’s pretty easy to come by jars of roasted peppers if you’d like to skip roasting your own. (But really you should roast your own. It’s fun!)

Mike doesn’t like blue cheese, so sometimes we’ll substitute feta. Or I get cheese and he doesn’t.

I think the mushrooms would work equally well as an appetizer or a main course. Above I served them with mixed spring greens. (The marinade is essentially salad dressing.) If you had some nice gluten-free buns they’d make lovely sandwiches too.

This recipe is shared at Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

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Bonus recipe! The Income Tax Cocktail! This post was all ready to go, but over the weekend I came across this recipe for the Income Tax Cocktail. Which I found amusing and timely. I had to share. Taxation is one of the topics Mike writes about, so it’s actually a frequent topic of conversation in our house. (By “house” I mean small apartment.)

Apparently recipes for this cocktail vary quite a bit. After checking out the above recipe, I also scoped it out in my copy of  The Bartender’s Best Friend. I settled on proportions in between the two.

• 1 1/2 ounces gin
• 1/4 ounce sweet vermouth
• 1/4 ounce dry vermouth
• 1 ounce orange juice
• 3 dashes of bitters

1. Fill cocktail shaker with ice, then add all ingredients. Shake well. Strain into a martini glass. Enjoy!

(Makes 1 drink)

I like to chill my glasses. Just add ice and water and let sit before you start making your drink. Dump the icewater just before you strain your drink.

I highly recommend Cinzano vermouth (both sweet and dry). That’s why the Martini and Rossi is hiding in the above picture. Avoid it if you can.

I hope everyone gets a nice refund this year. Cheers!

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

It started getting cold this week. Below freezing cold. And that necessitates warm drinks.

I hadn’t tried making homemade hot cocoa till last winter. It’s clearly better than store-bought mixes. I always meant to post a recipe, but sometimes you just want to drink the hot cocoa instead of taking pictures while it goes cold. Lucky for you, I got my act together. And I humbly present this hot cocoa recipe for you to try.

• 1/4 cup sugar
• scant 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 cups unsweetened soymilk
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1. Put the sugar and cocoa in a medium-sized saucepan. Stir together to break up the lumps of cocoa. (Note: At this point, the stove is not turned on yet.)
2. Heat the water in a microwave until almost boiling.
3. Add the water to the cocoa and sugar. Stir well, until sugar and cocoa are thoroughly incorporated. (It will look like chocolate syrup.)
4. Add the milk and almond extract. Turn the stove on to medium-high heat. While stirring, heat until the cocoa reaches desired temperature and the cocoa and sugar are completely dissolved.
5. Pour into mugs and serve.

(Serves 2)

Mike recently decided he likes cocoa with almond extract the best. Vanilla extract certainly works. Or orange extract, or mint extract, or a mix of vanilla and orange, or perhaps orange and almond. You get the idea.

It’s also nice to add cinnamon sometimes.

You can use cow milk to make this recipe. (Or any other alternative milk.) I like the soymilk over regular milk because you don’t have to worry about the milk scalding and getting that filmy layer.

I should probably also note that we used “dark” cocoa powder, which tastes more like dark chocolate (mmm). Regular cocoa should work just fine. Your cocoa might not look as dark as mine. Also, see that picture of the cocoa and sugar above? Those are the lumps you want to get rid of.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

Summer is drawing to a close, so I thought I’d share one of my favorite cocktails. It’s great for lounging on a patio, enjoying the nice weather.

• 2 ounces dark rum
• ginger beer
• lime wedge

1. Fill a highball glass with ice. Pour in rum.  Add the ginger beer to taste. Squeeze in lime, then garnish with lime wedge. Stir to mix.

The Dark and Stormy is “Bermuda’s National Drink.” To be a “true” Dark and Stormy, you’re supposed to use Gosling’s Black Seal Rum and Barritt’s Ginger Beer, both of which are from Bermuda. I couldn’t find the Barritt’s, so I had to make do with Jamaican ginger beer.

I’ve seen many different listings of the correct proportions. I think it really depends on how spicy your ginger beer is–some pack quite a punch. Add some; if it’s not enough, add more.

Cheers!

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

A quick, refreshing drink.

• 1 small grapefruit, peeled
• 1/4 cup vanilla soymilk
• 1 cup ice
• generous squirt of agave nectar

1. Throw all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy.

(Makes small smoothies for 2 or 1 large smoothie)

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)