Monday, February 1, 2010

Its Happy Hour! Nigella Style....

Although I am a total slacker and I haven't posted a submission for I Heart Cooking Clubs in WEEKS, suffice it to say that after the week I have had, I was completely in tune with this week's theme - Happy Hour. For whatever reason, posting a recipe every week seems to be too much of a struggle for me lately, and this was actually meant to be my submission for the recent "Exotic Places" theme. When I think of exotic places, I think of one of two things; Asian food, or swim-up bars in Mexico. Don't ask me why, its just how my mind works.
Thinking this over, I remembered seeing a recipe in Nigella Bites for a Watermelon Daiquiri. Recalling that when Ginny and I went to Cancun, watermelon was my fruit of choice, this struck me as a perfect solution.
Keep in mind, it is January. And I live in Illinois. I wasn't convinced that I would be able to find watermelon at this point in the year, but I ventured out in search of it anyway. My local grocer was a bust (no surprise there), but imagine my delight when I walked into the produce section at walmart and strolled right up to several seedless watermelons, presenting themselves to me happily (ok, maybe they weren't actually "happy" watermelons and it was just the thought of the alcoholic beverage to come that was influencing my vision)!
I quickly chose my victim, paid my $3.98, and headed for my kitchen.
So, what do you do when you cut into a seedless watermelon and find it overrun with little black seeds? If you're like me, you curse a lot. Then, you attempt (briefly) to scrape them out of the melon, only to discover that you are losing more melon than seeds. Had this been a regular watermelon, I probably could have picked them out and been fine, since those seeds are large and visible. However, I'm guessing since this melon was MEANT to be seedless (damned over-achieving fruit), the seeds were small and plentiful, and there was just no recourse. My next question is, can you return a hacked up melon to walmart and complain about it not being "as advertised"? I chose to refrain. I'm not very attractive when I'm being kept from my goal.
That being said, I had fortunately had the foresight to also purchase two lovely mangoes while I was at the store, so I peeled those, chunked them up and threw them in the freezer. It was at that point that the week got away from me and I didn't get a chance to make the daiquiris.
However, when I saw that this week's theme is Happy Hour, I decided it was the perfect time to liberate the mangoes from the frozen tundra (and gift myself with a lovely little libation in reward for a nasty week).
Nigella's recipe for the daiquiris is simple. Frozen fruit, rum, and a little sugar. Rev up the food processor and you're ready to go. Since I don't like my beverages overly sweet, I skipped the sugar. In the processor went two mangoes, chopped and frozen, and about a third of a cup (thanks to a buddy of ours who left a nearly empty bottle on my wine rack) of Captain Morgan 100 proof (hope he wasn't really planning on using that the next time he comes to visit).
Just look at this lusciousness.... I enjoyed this frozen treat with a spoon, wrapped up in my fluffy robe, reading Like Water for Chocolate on my couch last night. The hint of spice in the Captain Morgan mingled nicely with the mango, and I really enjoyed getting tiny little bits of fruit in every spoonful. Ahhh Happy Hour indeed. SO, it wasn't technically a Nigella recipe, since I substituted every ingredient, but its the thought that counts, right?
Cheers!

5 comments:

natalia said...

Wonderful I love mangoes !

Kim said...

I'm laughing at the thought of you taking back a hacked up watermelon to Walmart! Can you imagine the looks on their faces:D I almost like the idea of a mango daquiri better though and it sounds fruity and delightful. Just received my copy of Like Water for Chocolate. I'm going to try and play along with Cook the Books this time around.

NKP said...

Mmm, that does look yummy!
The market story reminds me of Seinfeld. "Fruit is a risk!" ;-)

Krista said...

That is frustrating about the watermelon...although I'm kind of glad that it didn't work out for you because I would've never thought to make mango daquiris if you hadn't suggested it. Now I want one! Next time my sisters come to visit I'm making these!

LOL at "I'm not very attractive when I'm being kept from my goal."
That is SO me!

Deb in Hawaii said...

Mango always wins over watermelon in my book anyway! ;-) They look great!