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Cocktail Recipes

Churrascaria Plataforma Tribeca’s classic caipirinha recipe

The refreshing caipirinha (pronunced “ky-pee-REE-nyah ) is national cocktail of Brazil, consisting traditionally of only three ingredients: cachaça, sugar, and lime. Cachaça (pronounced “ka-SHAH-suh”) is a high alcohol Brazilian spirit distilled directly from sugar cane juice. It is available unflavored and in several fruit flavors. It can be found easily in larger liquor stores, accept no substitute to stay truly authentic.

Churrascaria Plataforma Tribeca is a Brazilian Steakhouse located in the heart of midtowns theater district in NYC. Receiving rave reviews from Yelp, Churrascaria Plataforma is not only a meat lovers dream, but cherished for their authentic caipirinhas. Yelp reviewer Dan B states:

“The drink is phenomenal. I had planned on only getting 1, but 5 ended up being a more beneficial number for me.”

Ha!

Today we are pleased to bring you the restaurants original Caipirinha recipe, shared by Chef Edi Crastequine. Cheers!

The Classic Caipirinha
Chef Edi Crastequine, Churrascaria Plataforma Tribeca

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 lime
4 Tbsp of sugar
Crushed ice or ice cubes
Cachaça 4 ounces (120 cc or 1/2 cup)

Cut the lime into small cubes and place into an old-fashioned glass. Add sugar and mash with a pestle. Fill glass with ice, add cachaça, shake well and serve.

Cocktail Recipes

Simply Delicious: The Strawberry Basil Martini

When we lived in NYC, we escaped frequently during the summer, just to get away from the intense heat. One year we went driving upstate with no destination in mind, and somehow landed in paradise: the Mohonk Mountain House. Picture this: a gorgeous Victorian castle built in 1869 in an enchanted forest on the clear blue waters of Lake Mohonk. Only an hour and a half from Manhattan, our lazy weekend consisted of paddleboating on the lake, horseback ridding on carriage roads, and shameless spa indulgence topped off with amazing food and service.

Today’s summer cocktail recipe comes to us thanks to the talented chefs from the Mohonk Mountain House Restaurant. Simply delicious and easy to make, it’s a Strawberry and Basil Gin Martini, meant to be sipped and enjoyed at the end of a hot summer day.

Strawberry and Basil Gin Martinis
(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

8 fresh strawberries
10 fresh basil leaves
2 ounces of gin
2 ounces strawberry-infused vodka
1 ounce of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce of simple syrup

Preparation:
In a cocktail shaker, muddle strawberries, basil and simple syrup. Add ice and the remaining ingredients and shake well. Strain into martini glasses and garnish each drink with a fresh strawberry.

Cocktail Recipes

Chef Harry Hawk’s Klondike Beer Milkshake

Klondike bar via flickr user ♥ellie♥

Water Taxi Beach is a summertime only venue in Long Island City (Queens), complete with trucked in sand, neon plastic palm trees, and a spectacular sunset view of the midtown skyline.

In addition to being co creator of the NYC Food Film Festival, Chef Harry Hawk runs the Burger Shack at Water Taxi Beach. Today he shares with us a recipe for an adult milkshake made with two of our favorite ingredients: Klondike bars and beer!

Chef Harry Hawk’s Klondike Beer Milkshake

Ingredients
2 chocolate Klondike bars
1½–2 oz. Dogfish Head World Wide Stout or Chicory Stout or Indian Brown Ale

Instructions
Place Klondike bars in blender with stout or beer.
Blend until well mixed.

“The bitter dark beer turns the milk chocolate ice cream into a dark chocolate treat. With the right ratio of ice cream to beer, you taste neither the beer nor the original ice cream flavor. With World Wide Stout’s alcohol content (18%), the overall effect is of a chocolate truffle confection.”

Cocktail Recipes

Chef Video Recipe: Homemade Limoncello!

What better way to conquer steep drink prices than to make your own? Wine and beer, meh, too complicated and who can afford expensive equipment when one hardly can afford to drink. We’re deeply sinking into a major recession! When life gives you lemons, make….. Limoncello!

Properly pronounced “Lee mon CHELL oh” this sweet and sinfully potent lemon liqueur was born in the beautiful Amalfi coast of Italy, and is traditionally made with delicious Sorrento lemons and served after dinner. It’s minimal ingredients are this: strong alcohol, lemon zest, sugar, and water.

This video features Miami Chef John DiRocco in his home sharing his simple family recipe for limoncello. He is truly quite the amusing character!

Recipe courtesy of Chef John DiRocco and the Miami Dish.

12-16 lemons, preferably organic and unwaxed
1 bottle Everclear
1 bottle of water (use the Everclear bottle)
1-1 ½ cups sugar

It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to do the initial preparation (mainly peeling the lemons and shaving out the bitter white pith.) You can also do the prep work gradually, doing two lemons at a time and tossing them in the alcohol, until all of the lemons are done. The peels should ferment a minimum of three weeks.
The more of the white lemon pith that you leave, the more bitter the limoncello will taste.
The type of sugar affects the color of the limoncello. For John’s “limoncello naturale,” use a darker raw cane sugar.
If you can’t get a hold of Everclear, you can use ½ Grey Goose vodka and ½ Absolut. For a poor man’s version, strain cheaper vodka though your Brita pitcher 3 or 4 times.
Store your limoncello in the freezer. It should be completely liquid. If it’s slushy, you used too much water.

We also found this adorable Italian video from Villa Massa honoring the Sorrento lemon and limoncello!