Beyond Sweet and Savory

food and life through our lens

Drinks

Spiced hot chocolate with cardamom cinnamon and rum

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On a recent trip to Seattle, I was introduced to Intrigue Chocolate Company where I had the best hot chocolate ever. I initially picked the Jamaican hot chocolate because of the interesting name but was completely blown away by the flavor when I had my first sip. No ingredients were listed on the menu but I could taste the richness of dark chocolate spiced with cardamom and cinnamon, a slight note of vanilla, and a touch of rum. Since coming back from Seattle, I have been obsessed with recreating that Jamaican hot chocolate. While this cup of hot chocolate won’t be the exact replica of Intrigue Chocolate’s, it’s pretty darn good and perfect for sipping on these chilly fall days.  If you’re serving it to the kids, don’t forget to skip the rum.



Spiced hot chocolate

1 ¾ cup of milk
1 cup of heavy cream
¾ cup of semi sweet chocolate, chopped
7 cardamom pods, crushed with a pestle and mortar
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp rum
1 vanilla bean, splitted
½ tbsp sugar (to taste)
Marshmallow and cocoa for serving


1. In a small saucepan, heat milk and heavy cream over medium-low heat.

2. Add the crushed cardamom, cinnamon stick, and vanilla bean. Let it simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.

3. Add in the chopped chocolate and whisk until dissolved.  Whisk in the sugar.

4.Remove from heat and strain the hot chocolate.5.When ready to serve, stir in the rum, garnish with marshmallow and cocoa powder.

Beet and Carrot Juice

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Today, we’re sharing another favorite juice that we have on regular rotation at our house, root vegetable juice–consists mainly of the carrots and beets grown from our garden.  If you don’t have home grown root vegetables ready at your disposal, they are abundant at your local farmers market. 
Carrots and beets have many wonderful vitamins (vitamin A, B and C) and minerals (calcium, magnesium, iron and many more) due to all the nutrients they absorb from the soil and sun.  Some people shy away from root vegetables when it comes to juicing but they’re quite delicious in a juice, a bit earthy, sweet, and much milder in taste than perceived.  We hope you give it a try!   
Beet and Carrot Juice (yield ~12 oz)
5-6 small organic carrots, about 2 cups, scrubbed and top cut off
2 small organic beets, about 1 cup, scrubbed and top cut off
1 cup of organic kale, washed
2 small organic apples (Fuji or Pink Lady apples), washed
1 .Cut the carrots, beets, apples, and kale to fit the juicer.
2. Start the machine and place the apples and kale leaves into the feeder of the juice extractor.
3. Next, add the carrots and beets into the feeder of the juice extractor.
4. Pour the juice in a glass and add a handful of ice cubes and enjoy as soon as possible.
Cook’s note: if you use organic carrots and beets, you don’t have to peel them.  For the freshest juice and highest level of nutrient, drink juice within 24 hours.  Otherwise refrigerate your juice in a airtight glass bottles for up to 72 hours.  Weck jars and Ball mason jars work very well.

Green machine smoothie

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Remember our green goodness juice that we shared a few weeks ago?  Well, we also have a green version for smoothie.  Vu’s sister made us smoothies every single day we stayed with her last month.  She made smoothies seem effortless and delicious.  Throw everything in a blender, fresh or frozen, and you have a healthy treat to start your morning, a delicious afternoon pick me upper, or easy dessert at the end of your busy work day.  


Aiden seemed to really enjoy the smoothies so we went back and forth about investing in yet another kitchen gadget.  With only eight teeth, he still prefers soupy meals, juices, and smoothies.  In the end, we decided on the Nutri Ninja Pro Blender over NutriBullet after reading numerous reviews and asking friends and family about their experience.   


Nowadays, we juice twice a week and make smoothies the other five days.  Juicing can be quite laborious and take up half of our morning.  With smoothies, we toss everything in the Ninja and in less than five minutes, we have a delicious treat.  We added the chia seeds for the boost in fiber, protein, calcium, antioxidants, and omega-3s (you can find more info here).  If you’re skeptical about putting greens in your smoothie, give it a try and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  




Green Machine Smoothie (yield 24 oz)
½ cup kale, chopped
½ cup spinach
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks (frozen is ok)
1 banana
1 small Hass avocado, pitted and peeled
2 tsps chia seeds
1 cup coconut water (you can also use soy milk, almond milk, or other nut milks)
a handful of ice cubes

1. Put all the ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.
2. Add more ice or liquid as needed to get the consistency you like.

Note: this smoothie has about 450-550 calories

Green Goodness Juice

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We have juiced sporadically over the years and recently started juicing on a weekly basis after ditching our Jack LaLanne Juicer for the Omega Masticating Juicer.   It’s impossible for us to eat all of the recommended daily servings of vegetables and fruits so juicing has become a way to incorporate a lot more green leafy vegetables in our diet.  We enjoy juicing and think of them as a treat rather than a cure all or weight loss miracle.    

Even Aiden likes this juice even though they’re loaded with tons of greens like kale, spinach, and celery, hence the name “green goodness”.   This is the only way we sneak greens into his diet since he’s quite a picky eater.  


The apple provides s a sweet flavor that balances the harsh taste of kale, spinach, and celery.  Another immediate benefit that we have seen with this juice is Aiden’s bowel movement becoming more reqular and constipation becoming a non issue.  


Besides providing a lot of fiber, kale and spinach have high amount of vitamins (vitamins K, A, B, C, and E) as well as minerals (manganese, copper, calcium, potassium, iron, phosphorous, and magnesium) necessary for a growing toddler.  If you’re new to juicing, give this recipe a try! 

Green Goodness (makes about 1 cup)
1 cup of spinach
1 cup of kale leaves and stems
2 celery stalks
1 medium-large Fuji apple
1. Soak kale and spinach in a cold water bath for 5 minutes.  Rinse and let them dry in a colander.  Cut the kale leaves into 1 inch pieces.
2. Wash and cut both the celery and apple into 1 inch pieces.
3. Juice the spinach and kale first.
4. Juice the apple next and celery last.
*All of the vegetables and fruit for this juice are organic.  For the freshest juice and highest level of nutrient, drink juice within 24 hours.  Otherwise refrigerate your juice in a airtight glass bottles for up to 72 hours.  Weck jars and Ball mason jars work very well.

Crack coffee

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You’re probably wondering what the heck is crack coffee?  “Cafe sua da” or Vietnamese iced coffee of course!  My friends and I call it crack coffee because it’s quite addictive.  
At our house, cafe sua da is an integral part of our morning ritual.  Both my husband and mom can’t live without it.  And one cup is never enough.  Growing up in Vietnam, I remember going to the supermarket with my mom and we couldn’t take a few steps without seeing another “quan cafe” or coffee shop.  Men congregate at the coffee shops as early as 5 A.M., getting their morning fix and enjoying a game of chess before starting their busy day.  
Although the French colonists introduced coffee to Vietnam in the mid 19th century, Vietnam has become one of the leading coffee exporters in the world.  Vietnamese are quite proud of their coffee and cafe sua da has become a quintessential drink of Vietnam.  Coffee is both a social and cultural part of Vietnamese life.  If you get a chance to travel to Vietnam, take in the cafe scene in Saigon.  It’s quite an experience.  Cafes cover every corner of the city  in the form of casual street stalls and rooftop patios to independent coffee houses.  No longer are the men dominating the cafe scene but University students, both guys and gals have integrated this into their daily ritual.  They drink coffee as a mean to catch up with friends and hang out.  
At its purest from, “cafe sua da” is made with Vietnamese dark roast coffee individually brewed with a “ca phe phin” or small metal drip filter.  At our house, we prefer Cafe Du Monde with chicory and Trung Nguyen premium blend.  The coffee slowly drips into a cup containing condensed milk, then stirred and ice added.  No sugar.  No cream.  Although most drink it with condensed milk, a small group prefers Ca Phe Chon, also known as civet coffee beans, at an outrageous price of $700 per kilogram.  Personally, I don’t prefer my coffee coming from an animal’s other end no matter how good it is.  My aunts who recently vacationed in Hanoi told me  that Hanoi people prefer their cafe sua da with a dollop of yoghurt or cafe sua chua.  We can’t wait to try this variation!  For now, we’ll share with you our recipe for cafe sua da.  Enjoy!

Cafe sua da (Vietnamese iced coffee)
2 ½ to 3 tbsps Vietnamese coffee (Cafe Du Monde with chicory)
2 tbsps condensed milk to taste
½ cup of boiling water
ice
1. Pour condensed milk into a small glass.
2. Remove lid and metal screen from coffee filter.  Add coffee.  Gently twist screen back on until it stops.  Don’t push screen all the way down or it will take longer for coffee to drip, unless you prefer a strong brew.
3. Place filter over the glass and add boiling water.  Place lid back on filter.
4. Let coffee drip for 5 minutes or until all the liquid has drained from filter.  If coffee stops dripping sooner, gently loosen the filter to relieve pressure.
5. Once coffee has finished dripping, remove filter.  Mix coffee and condensed milk together with a spoon.
6. Add ice, stir, and enjoy.

My Mojito

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When Vu and I visited Puerto Rico last month, we took a rum tour at the Bacardi Distillery.  It was surprisingly not cheesy but quite enjoyable.  The tour started with a short video of the famous rum’s origin dating back to 1862 and how the company has evolved over the years. Then the guide took us to a replica of Bacardi’s first distillery in Cuba and indulged our olfactory bulbs with the various rums that the company produces.  I was amazed at the different notes that the rums carry depending on how long they had been aged and what they were infused (ie berries, apple, etc) with.  Imagine wine tasting, but with rum.  And of course, we weren’t allowed to take pictures so I don’t have anything to share with you.  

We were ushered to another room, a recreation of the original VIP bar in Cuba where the Bacardi family and their close friends frequented.  At the VIP room, a bartender demonstrated how the cuba libre (rum and coke), daiquiri, and mojito are mixed.  The tour concluded with everyone’s favorite part, or at least my and Vu’s, free cocktails at the Bacardi bar.  It was an entertaining experience and left us with a newfound appreciation for Bacardi rum, or just rum in general.   
Today, I’m recreating that awesome mojito, which has become one of my favorite cocktails.  A mojito is a Cuban highball, simply made with only 5 ingredients but so refreshing.  Don’t be surprised if you indulge in a few.  Here goes!       

Mojito (one serving) 

6 mint leaves
1 oz of lime juice (about 2 medium size limes)
1 oz of white rum or light rum
5 oz of club soda
2 tbsps sugar
Crushed ice
Extra lime wedges and mint sprigs for garnish
1. Muddle mint leaves with sugar and lime juice in a tall glass.
2. Stir in club soda and rum. 
3. Add crushed ice, and garnish with a lime wedge and mint sprig.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!

Spiked Passion Fruit Sparkler

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I love lazy weekends, waking up late, trying to stay underneath the warm blanket just a tad longer, and not hurrying anywhere.  Even Betsy, our maltipoo, feels the same.  Work has been hectic for both Vu and I.  We sat on our balcony, enjoying the warmth of the glorious San Diego sun.  Sorry East Coast peeps!  The heat was making our throat a bit parched so I made a spiked version of the passion fruit drink we had in Vietnam.  So simple yet refreshing!  Vu and I enjoyed our drink while reminiscing about our Vietnam trip back in 2009, wondering when we will see the motherland again.  A trip shorter than three or four weeks would not be worthwhile but we cannot afford a vacation that long. There are many regions of Vietnam that we have yet to explored.  Oh well! Until then, we have plenty of memories, pictures, and passion fruit drink.

 

 

Spiked Passion Fruit Sparkler
2 cups club soda
2/3 cup vodka (more if you like)
1 cup passion fruit pulp
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups of crushed ice
Mint for garnish
1. Combine the club soda, sugar, and passion fruit together.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Stir in the vodka.  Add ice.
3. Garnish with mint before serving.