Suzi's Blog
Chef Daniel O’Rourke’s 45 Minute Strawberry Banana Smoothie
My twin grandsons are mirror twins. That’s like being a SUPERTWIN. They look alike, but they “mirror” certain things. One is right handed, and his mirror brother is left-handed. One is artsy, and one is analytical. One is destined to be a chef and the other will be his lawyer.
That’s Chef Daniel in the picture. His brother, Reid, is on the sofa to the right, out of sight. Reid is watching TV. Actually, so is Daniel, which helps explain why this smoothie took 45 minutes to make.
Reid had asked his mother, Michele, for a smoothie. She made him one. Reid, who may turn out to be a food critic and a lawyer, said he did not like it.
“I’ll do it,” said Daniel. That’s when the clock started. Like his father, Daniel is a natural cook but a very meticulous one. He did not use a cookbook here, he did survey every shelf in the refrigerator and freezer and pantry for ingredients, and he was taste testing along the way.
He created the smoothie below. Because Daniel is already preparing his own private collection of recipes, I cannot reveal here the exact proportions of ingredients, but Daniel did agree to share the ingredient list. With Suzen, we have guestimated the ingredient amounts shown below. Daniel may, in the future, choose to share some of his other recipes. Suzen and I will strive for full disclosure.
Oh, Reid tasted this new smoothie and still was a tad dissatisfied. “Too cold,” he commented.
These guys may be mirror twins, but they do share one characteristic: they are total perfectionists. Twenty years from now, you really will be astonished at the food in Daniel’s restaurant while you sit with Reid going over every detail of the contract he has drawn up for you.
As their grandfather, all I can do is hope for a discount.
Daniel’s 45 Minute Banana Strawberry Smoothie
Yield: 1 drink
Ingredients:
- 1 banana, peeled of course
- 1 cup of fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
- 1 small container of strawberry yogurt
- 1 cup of ice
Preparation:
| Place the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Adjust the ice as necessary to attain the texture you desire. Add more yogurt to increase fluidity. |
Source: Chef Daniel Scott O’Rourke, Austin, Texas
Mothers’ Day Cocktail: Mexico 70
Mothers’ Day is tomorrow. When you bring her breakfast in bed, or serve her brunch, or offer that dinner you and the kids made, well, what is she going to drink? Something different. Something special. She deserves no less.
She deserves a Mexico 70.
I look forward each year to the publication of the Food & Wine Cocktail books. The 2012 edition has just been published and there, on the cover, are two sensational cocktails. That’s a classic Margarita on the left with agave leaves. And on the right, with the lime slice, is the Mexico 70. This year’s version, Cocktails 2012, includes the reinvention of over 40 classic cocktails. The Mexico 70 first appeared in 1970 when Mexico hosted the World Cup. Mexico did not win the cup, but drinkers everywhere can sample this wonder born that year.
The flavor here is deep and earthy. There is the natural heat and smoke of tequila, the powerful sweetness of agave, and the tingle of sparkling wine. That’s pleasure on many fronts, and surely Mom is entitled to that. [Dad, too!]
Mexico 70
Yield: 1 cocktail
Ingredients:
- 1 ounce blanco tequila
- ½ ounce fresh lime juice
- ¼ ounce agave nectar
- 3 ounces chilled dry sparkling wine
- 1 lime wheel or lime twist, for garnish
Preparation:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the tequila, lime juice and agave nectar and shake well. Fine strain into a chilled champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine. Garnish the drink with the lime wheel or twist.
Source: Food and Wine Cocktails 2012
