Hump Day Happy Hour: Tecate Mojito

My hubby and I are huge Rick Bayless fans.  We have loved him on Top Chef, Top Chef Masters and he also has a show on PBS called One Plate at a Time.  We have a cookbook of his that we swear by…  I was meandering around on his site and ran across this drink recipe that I thought I definitely need to try!  Try it out with me!

Tecate Mojitos

3/4 cup sugar
48 large mint leaves
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup white rum or silver tequila
Four 12-ounce cans of Tecate beers (or other light, citrus-y tasting beer)
Ice

In a small saucepan combine the sugar and 3/4 cup water.  Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Cool.

For each drink, place 6 mint leaves in the bottom of a 10 to 12 ounce glass.  Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar syrup plus 1 tablespoon each of the lime juice and rum or tequila.  Crush (muddle) the mint into the liquid with a muddler or the back of a spoon or fork to release its flavor.  Fill the glass about 3/4 full with ice cubes.  Slowly pour in half of one of the beers, stir well with a long-handled spoon and serve right away.

(makes 8 drinks)

recipe via rickbayless.com

Chipotle Shrimp

I think I’ve said on here before that my husband is the main cook of the family. I know, I totally nailed it on picking the right one! So he does the day to day cooking and I do what I like to call “party” cooking. Today I’m going to share with you a recipe that has secured a spot on our weekly menu and I get PUMPED about it because it’s THAT good. This recipe is a modified version of a Rick Bayless recipe, the rice is a not-so-secret-anymore-hubby recipe.

Chipotle Shrimp & Rice
1/4 cup butter
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup red wine
1 1/2 tbsp worcestershire
2 tbsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 lb shrimp

Melt butter. Saute garlic for 30 seconds. Add remainder of ingredients. Add shrimp and cook for 5 minutes. Fold rice in…see below for rice recipe.

Rice (seriously best.rice.ever. it’s a ricegasm)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1/2 chopped onion
1 tsp minced garlic (or that little jar of roasted garlic sooooo easy)
1 tsp salt
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth

Heat pan on medium heat and and add olive oil and butter. Add chopped onion, stir and let sit for a minute. Add minced garlic and heat until onion is soft. Add rice and stir to coat the rice. Heat until rice turns a slight
brownish color. Add salt and chicken broth. Increase heat to boil, turn heat down to low. Heat on low for 14 minutes, stir.