Tomato Margarita

This cocktail may sound a little weird with the tomatoes, but it's actually really good. My wife was the first to try it at La Cava del Tequila in the Mexico Pavilion at Epcot years ago and was blown away by it. Between her and one of my daughters, I think they polished off four of them that day. We knew there was obviously tomatoes in it, but it also had this nice, really bright watermelon character and with lime juice it was so refreshing in Florida's heat and humidity.  

If you don't already know, Disney restaurants and bars will often share recipes if you ask. However, not all restaurants are owned by Disney and this appears to be the case with La Cava del Tequila.  In those cases they may not be willing to share some or even any recipes with park guests. This was essentially the case with the Tomato Margarita when we first asked. Each time we visited we asked for the recipe and were told they couldn't share it. We tried our best to replicate it on our own but we couldn't figure out the watermelon character (we tried puree, straight juice, etc.) and the tomato character always seemed too prominent. 

At some point they pulled the drink off the menu (maybe it'll come back in the future?) which was a bummer, but I think this was the key to us finally being let in on the secret.  One time a bartender who shall remain nameless, finally filled us in with the recipe below. The hardest part may be finding a good watermelon liqueur. You do not want to use the artificially flavored sour watermelon liqueur garbage.  If you can't find a good one, it's really easy to make your own.  I've included the recipe I used below, but definitely don't use the "pucker" stuff. For the cherry tomatoes, use your favorite. We used both heirloom cherry tomatoes and some of the extra sweet hybrids and they all worked well.

Tomato Margarita Recipe

2 oz Teremana Tequila Blanco 

2 oz Watermelon liqueur (not sour watermelon liqueur)

1oz lime juice

5 cherry tomatoes 

1 oz agave syrup (1/2oz for less sweet)

~1 cup ice

Blend until mostly smooth but don’t over blend to the point that all the ice turns to water.

Optionally, add a dash of gum powder while blending. This is available in better cooking stores and on Amazon and will help prevent separation. IME it will separate without it, but you can meditate it a bit by stirring it ... but use gum powder if you have it.

Watermelon Liqueur Recipe

Basically what you're doing is creating a sweetened watermelon tincture. This is one of those cases where a slightly overripe melon can be the best choice to get the strongest watermelon character. You really don't care about texture so it's fine if it's a little mushy. Seeded tend to have more flavor and aroma than seedless, so that's something to consider as well, but I'd probably recommend removing as many seeds as possible before pureeing.

2 cups pureed watermelon

1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

2 cups vodka. 

Blend watermelon and sugar until sugar dissolves then combine with vodka in an airtight container for a week, and store in a cool dark place. The alcohol should prevent any fermentation from occurring, but you could also put it in the fridge if you're worried.  After a week, strain out the solids and store it in a bottle (flip top bottles or an old liquor bottle work well). I got some ultra fine strainers off Amazon that did a great job of filtering out solids for tinctures. Most of the red from the watermelon will be filtered out so you'll be left with a straw colored liqueur. That said, you may see a little pink/red and could even get a little sediment if it lasts long enough. If you store it in a cool dark place, it should last for months before the flavor and aroma start to fade.

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Cigarettes and Coffee Cocktail

This recipe comes from an awesome restaurant in Costa Mesa, CA named ARC. One of the really cool things about ARC is that pretty much everything is cooked over wood or in their wood-fired oven. All cocktails are also made by hand (you won't find any blenders here). One of my favorite cocktails at ARC is Cigarettes and Coffee. The hardest ingredient for me to find was the Fugit Gran Classico. It seems to be more available in the western US than anywhere else, but I would suggest using it rather than a substitute. Also, the smoke character was fairly intense with my Smoke bitters; I'd start at two dashes rather than five and add more if you want it more smoky.

1 1/2 oz. George Dickel Rye

1/2 Luxardo Amaro Abano

Barspoon of Gran Classico

5 Dashes Smoke Bitters (I used Australian Company Smoke Bitters)

5 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Stir ingredients in a short glass, add hand-cut ice or a single large cube.  

Garnish with a finely grated coffee bean. A microplane works best.

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Smoked Candied Salmon

This is a great recipe I stumbled across years ago. I haven’t been able to find it again, so I’m not sure who to give credit to. This became a favorite of most of my kids, which says quite a bit for a fish recipe. Usually you’ll want to use a mild smoking wood like alder or a fruit wood. That said, I’ve even used hickory and really liked the results. Here it is as I make it:

You’ll need one 2.5 to 3# salmon filet

Marinade 
1c Brown sugar, packed
1c Water
3/4c Soy sauce
2 Garlic cloves — minced or finely chopped 
1t Ginger — fresh, chopped

Process 

1. Mix the marinade ingredients together in a non-reactive pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
2. Cut the fillet into half pound sized pieces. Put the salmon in a non-reactive container (plastic, glass, zip-lock bag) and add the cooled marinade. Let the salmon marinate for 48 hours in the fridge.
3. When you are ready to cook, bring your smoker up to temp…if your smoker can do it, shoot for 180F, otherwise go with 220-230F.
4. Add a generous amount of fresh ground black pepper to the salmon.
5. Place the salmon – skin down – on a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil in your smoker.
6. Cook until the salmon reaches 125F degrees in its thickest spot or until the edges are brown and the inside is opaque. I actually cook mine a little longer and render out more oil/fat. I basically cook it until the whole filet flakes easily with a fork … which I’m sure would really upset some true salmon connoisseurs, but that’s the way I like it. If your smoker can do 180F, feel free to increase the temps up to 220-230F after a bit.

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