Digest This!

Entries from July 2008

White Sangria

July 14, 2008 · 1 Comment

Traditional Sangria Pitcher

Traditional Sangria Pitcher

Here’s a delicious twist on a summer classic. White Sangria is very sweet and delicious in hot weather. Try it with dessert like vanilla ice cream. This is extremely easy to make and a great beverage to take to a BBQ or summer birthday party.

  • 2 bottles of inexpensive light white wine like Pinot Grigio, Viognier, Gewurtztraminer, or Sauvignon Blanc
  • 1 to 1/2 cup sugar (to taste)
  • 2 cans Hansen’s Mandarin Lime Soda
  • Handful of green grapes, sliced in half
  • 2 apricots chopped
  • 2 nectarines chopped
  • 1 peach chopped

Pour the wine and sugar into a 1-gallon pitcher. Chop all the fruit into pieces about 1/4″-1/2″ square and add to the mixture. (Grapes should be sliced in half.) Add the 2 cans of soda and fill in any remaining space in the pitcher with more fruit.

Stir until sugar is completely dissolved and refrigerate for an hour or more before serving so that the fruit flavors have time to infuse a little. Pour over plenty of ice in a pretty stem glass & serve with some of the fruit at the bottom of the glass.

Prep time: 15-20 min. Makes 1-gallon.

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Pasta Ranchera

July 10, 2008 · 1 Comment

Pasta Ranchera

Pasta Ranchera

My boyfriend wiped his bowl clean with a tortilla and commented that this was ‘Mexican Fusion’. Laughing, I informed him that it was really just made out of whatever I had lying around the house. Sometimes those become my very best recipes. Lemme tell ya, this turned out so great, I took an after-the-fact photo and I’m posting the recipe even without the other pictures.

So without further ado, here’s how to whip this one up:

Pasta Ranchera

  • 2-4 cloves of garlic, sliced and chopped
  • 3-4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lb skirt steak, flat meat, carne asada meat or other very thinly sliced steak – don’t buy it chopped up
  • 5-6 mushrooms chopped into small pieces
  • 1/2 red onion chopped
  • 1/2 bell pepper chopped
  • 1 jalapeƱo chopped
  • 3 tomatoes chopped
  • 2-3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 lime juiced
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 4 tbsp sour cream
  • 1 lb pasta of your choice
  • salt
  • pepper
  • cotija cheese grated

Heat the olive oil and toss in the chopped garlic. Salt & pepper both sides of the meat and sear it on all sides quickly. Remove from the heat immediately and set aside. Turn heat off. Chop all your veggies and toss them into the skillet (heat off) except for the tomatoes. Slice the meat into long 1″ strips going with the grain. Then slice it against the grain at 1/2″-1″ apart. Put the meat in with the veggies and the Worcestershire sauce. Cover and simmer over low heat. Now you can slice your tomatoes.

When meat is almost cooked, add the tomatoes and simmer for another couple minutes. Then add the chili powder, lime juice and cumin. Stir the sour cream into the sauce and simmer for another minute or so.

Scoop over the pasta into bowls and then grate a little cotija cheese over the top. Let set for a minute or two while you finish setting the table so the sauce can thicken. Dig in!

I recommend margaritas to go with it!

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