Blueberry Cocktail

A few years ago we were in LA at @cara_hotel , it’s the chicest boutique hotel located in the Los Feliz neighborhood. The food and cocktails were incredible!

With blueberry & blackberry season upon us, we thought we would share a few recipes. From mocktails to cocktails- pop on over to our blog! Theparishouse.com

One of the easiest methods is is to simply muddle with a little sugar & fresh mint add some lemon/lime slices. Or make a blueberry or blackberry reduction on the stove with a little water, sugar to taste & fresh berries. (We pick ours from our gardens) chill in fridge then from there you can make mocktail or cocktail versions. We linked the blueberry smash recipe on the blog with vodka. I like to add to sparkling water for a delicious mocktail. You can press through a sieve but we prefer the taste and texture of keeping it as is!

Add mint if you like or some violette liquor top with Prosecco. Definitely add a pesticide free edible flower for garnish

There are so many variations on this. Another helpful tip is to freeze your berries on a baking sheet then add to zip lock bags & freeze.

Should we put this on the Paris House Garden party menu?!

#travel #mocktails #travelinspiration #losangeles #flowerpower #travelwithme #travelgirl #travelawesome #exploretocreate Recipe from Bon Appetite

Cocktail mocktail Los Feliz travel travel writer

Recipe Bon Appetit

Ingredients

6 to 8 Servings

2

lemons, sliced into rounds

2

limes, sliced into rounds

1

cup fresh blueberries

1

/2 cup (loosely packed) fresh mint leaves plus sprigs for garnish

1

1/2 cups vodka

3

/4 cup St-Germain (elderflower liqueur)

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Using a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon, coarsely mash lemon and lime slices, blueberries, and mint leaves in a large pitcher. Stir in vodka, St-Germain, and 2 cups of ice cubes.

   Step 2

   Divide drink among coupe or highball glasses; top with more ice cubes. Garnish each drink with a mint sprig.

Nutrition Per Serving

7 servings

1 serving contains: Calories (kcal) 220 Fat (g) 0 Saturated Fat (g) 0 Cholesterol (mg) 0 Carbohydrates (g) 16 Dietary Fiber (g) 2 Total Sugars (g) 11 Protein (g) 0 Sodium (mg) 0

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Steak Frites (With the easiest shortcut to make delicious Truffle Gorgonzola Fries) We top our Steaks with Maitre D’ Hotel Herbed Butter!

Steak Frites & a glass of red wine transports me right back to a bistro in Paris. We make ours with fillet tenderloins and they are so delicious! We love The Balthazar cookbook and use their recipe. I will outline here & go over making “Maitre d’hotel butter”

Let’s start things off with a very quick & easy version of Gorgonzola Truffle oil French fries ( I also included a lengthier version below from a recipe graciously given to me from The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach Florida). I have taken cooking classes & shopped food markets & mercado around the world for years. I love bringing back inspiration from my travels to my home kitchen and hopefully inspiring our readers, friends, & family to “Get Cooking”

Shortcut Gorgonzola Truffle Fries

1 bag thin cut frozen French fried

Good quality truffle oil (we used black truffle oil

A small sprinkling of sea salt (optional)

Fresh ground black pepper

Block of Gorgonzola cheese

Preheat oven to 375

Spread thawed fries out on baking sheet

Add a little sea salt & cracked pepper

Bake in oven until they begin to crisp up

Remove from oven

Drizzle a small amount of truffle oil over fries & toss

Crumble Gorgonzola on top of fries ( use as much or as little, depending on how much you like) I typically use about half of the block of Gorgonzola. Don’t over power the fries.

Return to oven and continue to bake

*** I like to then broil for a few minutes to get the fries nice and crispy. But please take care to NOT walk away as they can burn very quickly. I watch them closely

I typically do this while my steaks are cooking, either on the stove in a grill pan ( we love Le Crueset) or on an outdoor grill

Remember to let your steaks rest after grilling to lock in all that delicious juice.

Maître d’hotel Butter

(Herbed Butter)

FOR THE MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL BUTTER

Adapted from Balthazar, (however, we made several changes in our version below)

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (personally we like using one stick salted & one stick unsalted)

2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

½ teaspoon chopped fresh sage

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Combine ingredients & roll into cylinder, wrap in plastic or parchment and chill in fridge.

•FOR THE STEAKS

Adapted from Balthazar Cookbook

We used fillet

4. steaks, about 10 ounces each, about 1 inch thick

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

Plate your steaks and Gorgonzola truffle fries and add a little Pat of Maître d’hotel butter on top of steaks letting it melt gloriously onto hot steaks!

*** adapted from The Breakers Hotel & my article was published for a cooking sit several years ago. For those of you who prefer, we added a lengthier version, if you feel like trying this instead of our quick shortcut recipe above! Gorgonzola Truffle Oil French Fries with Citrus
6 Idaho potatoes, one package of gorgonzola cheese, a triangle wedge 1 cup of heavy cream 2 tbsp of truffle oil (either black or white) – I used black, because that is what I had on hand. The juice of half an orange, sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste Scrub potatoes clean, keeping the skin on. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and place the potato half in the slicer, pull down the lever to make even fry-shaped slices.
Fill your deep fryer with vegetable oil to the appropriate level indicated in the directions. Fry potatoes in batches until golden brown, taking care to not crowd them.
Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sea salt
Add the heavy cream to a saucepan and reduce over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in chunked up pieces of the Gorgonzola cheese. Add the truffle oil, continuing to stir. Remove from heat and add the juice from half an orange slat and pepper to taste. Place French Fries on a decorative platter and drizzle with gorgonzola sauce and serve.

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