ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Blood Orange Martini Edition

It’s been a while since I posted about a Fresh Cocktail Hour. In the past, my friends and I have conjured up Bloody Marys and jalapeño margaritas from scratch. At last I have a new addition to the canon. Last weekend, in a fit of impromptu citrus indulgence, I decided to buy some blood oranges at the farmer’s market for no real reason. I didn’t know what I’d do with them, but I figured at the very least I could make some sort of alcoholic beverage, and really, isn’t that good enough? Well, my friend NikkiSpice happened to be in from out of town; so to celebrate her arrival, we decided to make good use of my fresh produce and attempt some blood orange martinis. Photos of our mixology after the jump…

The saga begins as many others do: with a reamer firmly in hand.

Cheesing out with my lil’ kitchen tools.

Retrieving various supplies (ie. a shaker) from my bar.

The stage is set.

Behold the mighty blood orange. Significantly less controversial than blood diamonds.

Time to juice.

Oooh. The bloody innards!

Seeing how this looks to be a messy affair, I quickly don an apron to protect my designer duds.

Surprisingly, these blood oranges aren’t terribly forthcoming with their bounty. I barely get a fraction of the required 1/4 cup of juice from this first orange.

The aesthetic appeal of entrails with the refreshing scent of citrus. Appetizing!

Seriously, where the HELL is the juice?

After a particularly violent reaming.

The stains were worse than those of a beet. A SCATHING INDICTMENT!

Eventually, I manage to wring enough juice from the oranges. Next up: the vodka!

In goes half a cup of fire water.

According to Martha Stewart — whose recipe we were using — we then had to add two tablespoons of simple syrup, seen here.

Time to employ the shaker.

Oh, and ice too. Here I am breaking up the bag with a mighty whack on the floor.

Into the shaker it goes.

A strangely maniacal look overcomes me as I hone my inner Tom-Cruise-in-Cocktail. I suppose it makes sense.

Now I’m perplexed.

This is exciting as it’s the first time I’ve used my new silver-rimmed martini glasses that I found at a thrift store. Just over a dollar each!

The momentum drags to a halt when the shaker top proves to be incredibly stubborn.

Finally I get it open. Libations are poured.

NikkiSpice and I toast to our fresh cocktails.

The official tasting…

Despite what my face might display, the martini is actually pretty good. Not great, however. There’s a bit too much simple syrup, thus overpowering the orange flavor. Those wishing to make these would do well to start with but a mere tablespoon of syrup and work up from there.

That being said, there is nary a trace of vodka flavor in this cocktail; thus making it very easy to sip indeed!

Reamer, postmortem.

NikkiSpice and I move the party outside to enjoy martinis overlooking the city.

Despite being too sweet, we are clearly more than happy to down these beverages.

Instant onset drunkenness.

I should note that our second batch of martinis from the shaker tasted much, much better as the ice had melted somewhat and had diluted the sweetness. Joy ensued.

And here comes the beer.

I was all excited to have found these mugs in a thrift store also. I had been looking for this style mug ever since a trip to Eastern Europe two years ago. Needless to say, I snatched these up as soon as I found them. Since then, I’ve seen the mugs in three different stores — including the 99 Cent shop. So much for the fantastic “find.”

I’m salivating.

Okay, this is no longer an adventure in domesticity. I’m just taking pictures of beer.

AND WHY NOT??

NikkiSpice toasting to the good times (and the Phil Collins playing on the stereo).

Somehow our one round of martinis has turned into a booze and snack-filled endeavor. The orange stuff: Trader Joe’s red pepper hummus (courtesy of my friend Jenny). The white bowl: homemade tarama brandade, courtesy of a Julia Child recipe. Sorry, I was too lazy to take pics. Needless to say, it was super easy to make, and if you like the Greek meze taramasalata, you’d like this (just blend potato, carp roe, cream, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and pepper — sounds strange, but it’s delicious. I should note that NikkiSpice detested it though).

Not a fan of tarama brandade. Nothing that more booze couldn’t fix.

And that’s it! For those wondering, here’s Martha Stewart’s blood orange martini recipe:
1/2 cup citrus vodka (I used regular)
1/4 cup blood orange juice
2 tbs simple syrup (start with one and add more to taste)
Shake it all with ice in a shaker and pour!
And for those people curious about the tarama brandade, here’s the recipe (adapted from Julia Child):
2.5 cups cooked potatoes (I nuked three potatoes in the microwave for about ten minutes or so)
1/2 cup tarama (salt carp roe — available at Whole Foods in a jar)
1 or more cloves of garlic, puréed
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of heavy cream
lemon juice
ground white pepper
a few drops of hot pepper sauce
Put potatoes in a food processor with a steel blade and purée. Then add garlic and tarama, puréeing some more. Then, with the processor running, alternate the olive oil and cream until the mixture loosens up to a hummus-like consistency. You might need to add more olive oil or cream (but add the lemon juice first, and be sure to be liberal with it as the acid give it a refreshing bite). Takes about ten minutes total. The key though is to let it sit for at least an hour. If you have it right away, it sort of tastes like fishy mashed potatoes. It’s strange. The longer it sits, the more the potatoes absorb the ingredients, and by the second day, it tastes pretty damn amazing (and not potato-y at all). Of course, with the presence of fish roe, this dip is a bit of an acquired taste; so if you don’t like taramasalata, you probably won’t like this.
As for the leftover roe (which I’ve frozen), I plan to make actual taramasalata in the near future. Will let you know how that compares. Steel yourselves!