La Paloma

The cocktail of the week:  La Paloma

For spring break we traveled to Puerto Vallarta.   Enjoying the Mexican Pacific coast, we really just hung out at the beach.  In my never ending search for cocktails that I have not tried before, I engaged my bartender asking him to make me the traditional drink.  He asked if I wanted a margarita.  I said I wanted something that was traditional and perhaps not that popular.  I suggested that maybe something the local people here would drink. He offered La Paloma. I hadn't hear of La Paloma and it was the perfect refreshing drink for the 80 degree weather and the brisk breezes from the coast.  

I loved the La Paloma - I ordered it everywhere we went.  It's a simple drink and different enough from the margarita, that I think you may like it as well.

Recipe:

Highball Glass

Salt and Lime Juice for the rim

1/2 oz Lime Juice 

2 oz Reposado Tequila

4 oz Grapefruit soda (Fresca or Jarritos)

set up two plates - squeeze the juice of one lime on one plate, place enough margarita salt on the second.  Moisten the rim of the glass in the lime and then salt the rim.

Add ice to fill the glass, pour in lime juice, Tequila, and Fresca to fill the glass. Serve with a straw (optional).

Watch the sunset as you sip this quencher.  #CotW . #LaPaloma . 

Click here for the YouTube Video on the ChezMacBistro Channel 

La Paloma 

Papi's Margarita

Cocktail of the Week: Papi's Margarita

In the early 80's, before it was legal for me to drink, my father would whip up a batch of margaritas for the family to enjoy.  He used a glass pitcher and these really cool coupe glasses, that we only used for Margarita's.  They were tasty drinks that went down smooth and OMG they were wicked.  

I asked him for the recipe and he told me 3 parts to 1 to 1.  I said that sounds pretty easy and the next time I made my dad's margarita I followed his recipe to the tee:  3 to 1 to 1.  Unfortunately, it did not look right and it certainly did not taste right.  I had assumed that 3 was for the roses.  Back then, the only "mixed" drinks I had ever made were Bloody Mary's or Screw drivers which were 1 shot of vodka and fill the glass with the juice.  The 3 parts was for the tequila.  Needless to say I was able to save the drink by adding two shots of triple sec and 5 shots of tequila - enough for each of us to have two drinks.

Recipe for My Dad's Margarita:

3 oz Blanco Tequila

1 oz Triple Sec

1 oz Roses Lime Juice

Mix all three ingredients in a pitcher with ice and stir.  Pour margaritas into salt rimmed coupe glasses.

Enjoy my father's margarita.  And remember to drive responsibly, someone has to look after me!

#CotW

Introductions

Chez Mac Bistro

~ Dedicated to the Bon Vivant ~

Hello!

Welcome to my bistro.  For many years, the people I have entertained in my home have asked me when I am going to open my own restaurant, to which I have invariably responded - that's just not going to happen.  Early on in my life I worked briefly in the food industry; I have three friends who all worked in the industry.  Its grueling work.  The grind is relentless and the sausage that is your life after a 16 hour day is not as appealing as the sausage you plated earlier that morning.

I truly admire those culinary masters that have the wherewithal to make it through the food life doing the thing they love to do.  And they have such great passion exploring the many ways to entice and surprise the tastes.  

Food is love.  

When I feed my family or when we entertain our friends,  I put as much love as I can into every morsel, every ounce of flavor, I hope that my guests enjoy the foods and drinks I put in front of them. Of all the things I do outside of my work, my family, and chasing my sons from field to court to field, the one thing that brings it all home is the dinner table.

Food is fun.