Horchata - from Chow

spotted this on the Chow website, I haven't tried it yet but I will, especially for my dairy free friends. It's still got sugar... but looks tasty. With rum it might be fatal.

Horchata

By Amy Wisniewski
A common drink found alongside aquas frescas in Mexican taquerias, horchata is a milky-looking, yet dairy-free, libation. Made with ground-up rice, toasted almonds, a bit of cinnamon, and some lime, it’s a perfect summertime refreshment and is even tastier when spiked.


Game plan: Start this recipe a day ahead, as the ground ingredients need to soak overnight.
TIME/SERVINGS
Total Time: 10 mins, plus soaking time
Makes: 4 to 6 drinks (1 quart)

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups long-grain white rice
2 (1/2-inch) cinnamon sticks
1 cup blanched, sliced almonds, toasted and cooled
4 cups water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 (2-inch-long) lime zest strip, removed with a vegetable peeler
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice


INSTRUCTIONS

Pulverize the rice and cinnamon in a spice grinder in batches until the mixture resembles a fine powder. Place in a 2-quart container with a tightfitting lid. Next, pulverize the almonds in the spice grinder until finely ground but not a paste. Add the almond powder to the rice-cinnamon mixture, pour in the water, and stir to combine. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 12 hours.

Add the sugar and zest to the mixture and, using a blender, blend in batches on high until smooth. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer placed over a bowl. Using a rubber spatula, press on the solids to extract all of the liquid, then discard the solids.

Stir the lime juice into the horchata, then transfer the beverage to a pitcher and chill in the refrigerator. Serve over ice.

Worth a go?

mulled wine, alcohol free

Agonising about how to make a good substitute for potent, punchy and booze laden mulled wine, for the school Christmas Concert I started researching how to reduce alcohol from wine, as well as the many varieties of spice used to give that lovely flavour. I do like a bit of heat and the alcoholic hum you get from hot spicy booze, but it just wasn't an option.

Alcohol in wine varies hugely, scanning the shelves most were 14%, the lowest I found was 8%. It seems a while since most wine maxed out at 11%. Received wisdom says that if you boil wine or spirits for 30 seconds th alcohol is reduced to almost nothing. That's still almost, not nothing. The answer? Grape juice.

1l grape juice (good quality red)
500ml cranberry juice
500ml orange juice
6 heaped tbsp demerera sugar
1 slice lemon
orange or clementine, sliced
cinnamon stick
6 cloves
heaped tbsp garam masala

make a bag out of an old bit of cloth (clean of course), knotting the corners on the diagonal
with all the spices inside

put the bag of spices (use a sachet if you like) and the sugar into a large pan
add lemon slice, grape juice, cranberry and orange juices
heat to just under the boil and allow to brew for 15m
taste and add more sugar if needed

This delicious alcohol-free mixture was very popular, and soon sold out. In fact quite a few people had several glasses, two said it had helped their sore throat and two others asked for my recipe.

drink up!