Sunday, August 23, 2009

A Bloody Experiment


I was at Fresh Market yesterday buying produce for my gazpacho, and in the refrigerated section I saw a pretty bottle of juice. I've heard of blood oranges, and even purchased them a few times, but for eating out of hand I found them to be too juicy. It occurred to me then, as I was standing in front of the chilly case, that blood orange juice would be fantastic in a margarita. Let them do the work of extracting every drop of tangy sherbet-colored nectar!

Before I start with the recipe, let me make something clear. I don't do frozen margaritas. Unless I'm sweltering in Mexico or on a sultry Caribbean island, I prefer my slurpees to be non-alcoholic. There's the brain freeze, the sensitive teeth issue...I realize in July I did a pina colada recipe, but the fresh pineapple kept it liquidy enough and the Superblender pulverized the ice into oblivion, just the way I like it.

Anyway, I called my neighbor to gauge her interest in this experiment, and she was all in. I was pleased to see that this particular brand of blood orange juice was from Mt. Etna, in Sicily, the site of a live volcano which I visited my senior year in high school on a Camerata trip. I have fond memories of the burping mountain that spewed ash all over my coat, so I knew this juice was going to be good. I compiled my ingredients: silver tequila, the juice, a lime, and triple sec. The recipe is below, and the results were fantastic. It was tangy and sweet and thankfully lacked the overacidity of a traditional lime margarita. I couldn't have wished for a more perfect late summer cocktail.

Blood Orange Margaritas
Makes 1 cocktail
1 1/2 ounces of silver tequila
4 ounces blood orange juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
lime wedge for garnish
ice

Fill a margarita (or any) glass with ice. Pour tequila over ice, top with juices. Stir and garnish with a lime wedge.


2 comments:

Unknown said...

You can also do a salted rim here but not being a margarita purist, I don't.

Unknown said...

Instead of triple sec (which I always find to be harsh) try Grand Marnier or Cointreau--much smoother than ordinary triple sec!