Drinks – Simple Comfort Food – Recipes that are simple and delicious.

Maple Glazed Spiced Nuts

August 26, 2017 Dax Phillips Leave a comment

It wasn’t too long ago where a lot of our family members gathered for yet another wonderful wedding. Don’t you just love weddings, and wedding weekends? I can’t say that it was all fun and dance for me in particular due to my recent circumstances, but what it was, was almost like a really great reunion of cousins, uncles, and grandparents that just brought joy and smiles to everyone’s faces. Love that stuff. During this time, our Canadian cousins decided to come bearing gifts, of which was this awesome Canadian maple syrup. My kids love syrup, as does my wife, and to be honest I don’t really use it all that often with the exception of when I may make some chicken and waffles. After some time, I decided to come up with a snack for one of the parties and see how it would go over. I like doing that, you know?

That’s when I decided I would make maple glazed spiced nuts, along with some fresh turmeric that my friends in Hawaii recently harvested from their yard and sent our way. I mean who doesn’t love turmeric and maple syrup, right? I was about to find out.

I came up with this recipe after thinking about some nuts my parents used to make during the holidays. They were sweet, and lightly salted, and that was the direction I was trying to head, but in a slightly more savory application.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

4 cups walnuts halves and pieces
1 cup roasted peanuts
3/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
1 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

During this time, get a large mixing bowl together and dump everything into the mixing bowl. Mix well to incorporate all of the nuts, sugars, and syrup together.

Get a large baking sheet out, and line it with parchment paper for easier cleanup.

Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes being careful not to burn. About half way through this time, stir them, carefully. The goal is to get that sugars to melt into the nuts, making small clusters of deliciousness.

After you have achieved this, remove them from the oven, slide them into a bowl from the parchment paper, and let them cool before digging in.

I brought a majority of these to the party, yet reserved some only to make an ice cream with them with my daughter a few days later. Was that good as well? You betcha!

Hibiscus Iced Tea

June 23, 2017 Dax Phillips Leave a comment

I love shopping at my local Mexican grocery store. I have said it before and I will always say it as to how much fun I have browsing the aisles. Granted I’m pretty much the only gringo roaming the aisles, but that is just ok by me. At my particular store, one of the end caps is loaded with dried chilies and an array of spices. There are things I have never heard of before, such as different dried flowers for cooking, but one recently grabbed my attention, and one that I knew. Hibiscus flowers. These dark burgundy looking dried flowers were grabbing my attention, only to be brought home and turned into a refreshing tea, that I knew my wife and I would love.

If you are not familiar with hibiscus tea, don’t worry. This stuff is brewed all over the world, has a great taste, and is super easy to make.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

2 oz bag of dried hibiscus flowers
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 whole cinnamon stick
8-10 cups of water
Additional items could be lime, ginger, or allspice berries

Start by adding 5 cups of water, sugar, and cinnamon stick to a pot. Bring to a simmer, add in the dried hibiscus flowers, and let this steep for about 30 minutes. If you want to explore with lime, ginger, or allspice berries, go ahead.

After 30 minutes. Strain the mixture, reserving the hibiscus concentrate. This is your base, so if you are wanting to use this right away, mix about equal parts of concentrate to cold water, served over ice. My batch was pretty much gone in one day due to everyone loving it so much.

This hibiscus iced tea is comparable to a blended cranberry juice flavor with that kick of cinnamon. Not only is it super refreshing to drink but it’s loaded with awesome health benefits such as lowering cholesterol, great for the liver, blood pressure, and it has anti-cancer properties, all of which my body probably needs.

If you are looking to impress some guests and help boost their immune system, why not give this hibiscus iced tea a try. It’s a winner! Hope you enjoy…

Homemade V8 Juice

September 6, 2016 Dax Phillips 2 Comments

I don’t know about you, but our vegetable garden is officially in full bloom. We are picking tomatoes, like big bowls of them, every day, along with cucumbers, beans, peppers, chilies, and broccoli, and I love every minute of it. It’s something I like doing after work, and at the end of the week I look at all of the bowls of tomatoes, peppers, and chilies, and think of things to make with them. So on a recent trip to our local farmer’s market, and while as was chatting it up with a couple of the local farmers, a lady approached them and asked to buy a huge basket of tomatoes. Of course I was going to ask this lady what she was going to do with all of those tomatoes, and her response was ‘I batch out large quantities of spicy v8 juice for bloody mary’s for football season’. As one of the farmer’s chimed in regards to the same process, I was intrigued to say the least.

So as I went back home, I decided to give my take on a v8 style juice, and man oh man was it ever good, and fresh to boot.

Homemade V8 Juice Recipe

This recipe, as it may not be the prettiest of juices, is not only easy to make, put it has just the right amount of spice (in my opinion) and you know that you put all of that fresh produce into it.

Let’s get started.

1 lb of tomatoes (I used a variety from my garden)
1 whole green bell pepper, diced
1/2 whole red onion, quartered
1 serrano chili, chopped (remove seeds if you do not want it too spicy)
1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
generous pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
2 cups of water, divided

To a medium sized saucepan, add 1 cup of water and all remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer, and cook for about 30 minutes, covered.

Remove the cover, add in the remaining cup of water, give a good stir, then remove from the heat and let it cool for about 15 minutes.

Add the mixture to a blender, and blend until you think everything is nicely pureed.

Next you will need to strain the mixture. I use a chinois but if you do not have that then try and use a fine-mesh sieve, and place in a large mason jar. Discard or compost the remaining solids.

Chill the juice in the refrigerator, and when you are ready to serve, pour over some ice or a virgin bloody mary, or add a bit of vodka if you are making a cocktail.

The result is really, really good. I typically have to add stuff to my v8 drink to make it a bit spicy, but this combination was perfect. So if you are looking to use up some of those vegetables from your garden, or better yet supporting your local farmers, then give this one a shot. It’s well worth it. Hope you enjoy!

Homemade V8 Juice

Author: Dax Phillips

Recipe type: Juice

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 5 cups

Ingredients

1 lb of tomatoes (I used a variety from my garden)
1 whole green bell pepper, diced
½ whole red onion, quartered
1 serrano chili, chopped (remove seeds if you do not want it too spicy)
½ bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
generous pinch of salt
¼ tsp cracked black pepper
2 cups of water, divided

Instructions

To a medium sized saucepan, add 1 cup of water and all remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer, and cook for about 30 minutes, covered.
Remove the cover, add in the remaining cup of water, give a good stir, then remove from the heat and let it cool for about 15 minutes.
Add the mixture to a blender, and blend until you think everything is nicely pureed.
Next you will need to strain the mixture. I use a chinois but if you do not have that then try and use a fine-mesh sieve, and place in a large mason jar. Discard or compost the remaining solids.
Chill the juice in the refrigerator, and when you are ready to serve, pour over some ice or a virgin bloody mary, or add a bit of vodka if you are making a cocktail.
The result is really, really good. I typically have to add stuff to my v8 drink to make it a bit spicy, but this combination was perfect.

Peach and Mint Soda

July 8, 2016July 8, 2016 Dax Phillips Leave a comment

Peaches, and other stone fruits have been in abundance lately, and as I typically buy a handful of them during the week, only for my daughter to devour, I decided to buy some extras so that I could come up with a refreshing summer drink. I typically buy an array of fresh fruit, placing them in a bowl on our kitchen counter to show my kids how many different fruits there are in hopes that they get curious and try them. This is pretty much only successful with my daughter. She eats everything from mangoes, star fruit, kiwi, different apples, and everything in between. I love that about her. So as my wife and daughter were playing an intense game of Stratego this past weekend, I decided to whip up a fresh peach and mint soda for them.

This drink is way too easy to make, and is really refreshing.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

1 peach, cut into segments
1 small bunch of fresh mint
Ginger Ale, or Seltzer water
Simple Syrup
1 lime, optional

If you have not made simple syrup before, then add 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water to a small pot. Place on medium heat, and cook until the sugar dissolves. Once dissolved, let it cool before using.

To a cocktail shaker, add in about 4 segments of the peach, along with about 6 mint leaves. Using a muddler, begin to lightly smash the peaches and mint together, releasing the juice and oil from both.