In a medium saucepan, heat the tangerine juice, zest, brown sugar, and maple syrup over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the cranberries and brandy and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the cranberries burst and the sauce has thickened slightly about 15 minutes. Let the sauce cool to room temperature before serving.
The SF LGBT Center received sponsorship from some amazing liquor companies for their annual Soiree. And, after some thoughtful consideration – I decided to mimic a cocktail that almost everyone has tried at least once. A Long Island Iced Tea. But, since I don’t live on Long Island – I have christened this one – The Tender Nob Iced Tea! See you later!
In advance make the Pilonchillo syrup by simmering 2 cups of water with a 3”-inch piece of chopped pilonchillo and the rind of the limes and lemons over medium heat until it is fully dissolved.
Pour into a jar and let it come to room temperature. Add ½ cup each of lime and lemon juice.
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Tender Nob Iced Tea
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour the vodka, gin, rum, bourbon, Cointreau, and Juanita’s Sweet & Sour Mix into the shaker. Cover and shake vigorously to combine and chill. Pour the mixture, ice and all, into 2 tall glasses and top off with the cola. Garnish with lemon wedges.
For the brownies
8 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
4 ounces roughly chopped bittersweet chocolate
3/4 cup unsalted butter
Cold unsalted butter (6 ounces), cut into small pieces
1 2/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
For the caramel
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon Lyle’s Golden Syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Maldon Salt Flakes, for garnish
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in the center of the oven. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line the pan with two pieces of parchment paper that have been doubled, letting the ends extend over the rim of pan. Use metal clips to keep the parchment in place.
Melt the 8 ounces of the bittersweet chocolate and butter in top of a double boiler, stirring to combine. After it has melted, remove from the heat, and set aside to let cool a little bit.
Whisk the sugar and huevos in a large bowl until pale in color. Add vanilla, coffee liqueur, kosher salt, and then the melted chocolate; whisk until combined. Add flour, whisk a little bit more until combined and fold in the remaining 4 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for about 35 minutes until the brownies are set, and let cool on a wire rack.
For the salted caramel
Whisk together the sugar, 1/2 cup water, and Lyle’s Golden Syrup in a bowl. Pour into a saucepan and cook without stirring, until mixture boils and turns amber in color, about 10 minutes. Remove caramel from heat, and immediately pour in cream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Stir in the pieces of butter and salt, and stir until incorporated. Allow allowing the to sit and thicken a bit.
Once brownies are cool, pour all of the caramel sauce evenly on top of the brownies. Sprinkle with Maldon’s sea salt. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.
Drink pink with 21 SEEDS Grapefruit Hibiscus tequila. Our alluring all-natural pink tequila gets its beautiful hue from hibiscus. The refreshing Juanita Lipstick cocktail will definitely be at the top of your list and is the true color of Juanita MORE!’s lip rouge.
Agua de Jamaica “hibiscus water” is sweet and tart at the same time and a typical agua fresca in Mexico. The added fizz of the addition of some grapefruit soda keeps this colorful cocktail light.
Combine the 21 Seeds Grapefruit Hibiscus tequila, lime juice, and hibiscus tea syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and double strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Top with the grapefruit soda and garnish with a grapefruit wheel and a sprig of mint.
Hibiscus Tea Syrup
1-cup water, cold
2 tbsp dried hibiscus flowers
1 tablespoon agave
Place cold water and add the dried hibiscus flowers in a small pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the agave, stir to dissolve and allow it to cool. Pour the concentrate through a strainer to remove the flowers.
I just got the chance to chat with Miss Peppermint about eating in and eating out! She is best known as a runner-up on the ninth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the actress and singer will be making her Broadway debut as part of The Go-Go’s inspired musical Head Over Heels. The show previews here in San Francisco at the Curran Theatre starting tonight before making its way to New York where Peppermint will be the first trans woman to originate a principal role on Broadway.
I’m hosting a reception for the musical on Wednesday, April 11th, where drink proceeds from a “Miss Peppermint” inspired cocktail will go to TRUTH (TRans yoUTH), a joint program between Transgender Law Center and GSA Network. The program seeks to amplify the voices of trans and gender non-conforming young people by offering a safe place to share struggles, learn empathy, and build public understanding. Please join us!
Miss Peppermint Eats Out
What is your favorite dessert?
Mint chocolate chip ice cream.
What restaurant would you call your home?
The City Diner on 91st and Broadway in New York City.
What is the strangest or most inspiring thing you’ve ever eaten?
Vegan crawfish made of burdock root!
What was your favorite breakfast cereal as a kid?
Fruity Pebbles
What is your favorite food to pig-out on after the club?
Any type of breakfast food
What is your favorite cocktail?
My favorite cocktails are Midori sours but I don’t drink them LOL
Curran partners with Humphry Slocombe to create “We Got The Beet,” a limited edition ice cream flavor celebrating the pre-Broadway engagement of Head Over Heels.“We Got the Beet” incorporates homemade raspberry jam and hand-squeezed lime juice to create a flavor that is light and fruity. The creamy pink creation made with Straus Family Farm Organic dairy carries a sweetness from the beets, highlighting the all natural ingredients in the handmade ice cream. Flavor available during the month of April at all Humphry Slocombe Bay Area locations.
Rub the pork all over with the salt, pepper, and cumin and set aside. Heat lard in a Dutch oven over medium heat, add the pork and lightly brown on all sides. Remove pork from pan and add the chorizo, cooking until bubbling and separated about 5 minutes. Add the onions and carrots and cook until soft about 5 minutes. Add garlic and the pork back to the pan, stirring to combine and fragrant.
Add wine and reduce by half, followed by the chicken stock, 1 teaspoon salt, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a low boil, then reduce to a simmer. Partially cover and cook, turning the pork a few times, until tender, about 2 hours.
Stir in the hominy and continue to simmer, uncovered, about 1 more hour. Add peas during the last half hour of cooking. Remove the bay leaf and thyme branches. Light a dried avocado leaf on fire and stir the ashes into the stew.
Serve with assorted toppings like lettuce, lemon, avocado, radish, diced white onions, and radishes.
My quest for the perfect brownie continues. This recipe is from Martha Stewart. Everyone loved them! I might try adding chunks of bittersweet chocolate next time.
Chewy Brownies
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for baking pan
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
7 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped (1 1/3 cups)
3 tablespoons safflower or coconut oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan. Line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides; butter parchment.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt chocolate and butter with oil. Remove from heat. Add both sugars and whisk 10 seconds. Add eggs and whisk vigorously until glossy and smooth, 45 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, stir in dry ingredients. Pour batter evenly into prepared pan, smoothing top with a spatula.
Bake until set and a tester inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 20 minutes, then remove using parchment; let cool completely on a rack before cutting into squares. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container up to 2 days.
In a mixer combine the almond paste, sugar and salt and beat in the butter until incorporated. Add the eggs and the liqueur and continue beating until smooth and fluffy. Stir in the flour.
Peel and slice the persimmons.
Preheat the over to 400*
Roll the galette dough into a 10-inch round. Spread 1/2 of the almond mixture onto the dough leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Place persimmons in decorative pattern on top of the almond mixture. Crimp the edges of the galette dough and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Brush the dough edges with melted butter and sprinkle the entire galette with the sugar.
Bake in the lower third of the over rotating occasionally for about 45 minutes.
Galette dough
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup ice water
In a bowl, mix the flour with the sugar and salt. Using a pastry blender cut in half of the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal, then cut in the remaining butter until the pieces are the size of peas. Drizzle the water over the dough and stir with a spoon until moistened. Gather up the dough and knead it on a floured surface until it comes together. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Pear and Cranberry Galette
⅔ cup dried cranberries
2 pounds Comice pears, ripe but not too soft, peeled, cored and cut in half – slice keeping its form
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of clove
1/3 cup toasted walnuts
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon raw brown sugar
1 egg white for egg wash
Sugar for dusting
1 Tablespoon butter
Combine the walnuts, flour and brown sugar in a food processor until smooth. In a bowl combine the lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Peel and core the pears. Slice them anyway you want – I’ve chosen to keep them together at one end. Place them in the bowl with the lemon juice mixture and gentle toss.
Roll out your galette dough. Leaving 1 1/2-inches around the edge and sprinkle with the walnut mixture. This will help absorb the juices. Place the pears slices on top of the walnut mixture. Brush some of the egg white on the dough edges and fold the dough all around – overlapping where necessary. Refrigerate the galette for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400*
Top with cranberries. Brush the top edges of the dough with egg white and sprinkle generously with sugar. Dot with butter and bake in the lower half of the oven for about an hour.
I just got the chance to chat with 
Juanita Eats Out 