Martha Stewart Living (July 2012)
There's a Mexican place around the corner from our apartment. It actually serves authentic Oaxacan food -- think organic duck in a mole sauce or Oaxacan queso topped with fried grasshoppers.
And there's something about the place that is oh so tempting every single time we walk by. (No, it's not the grasshoppers.) It's their margarita menu. Every day the place features a different flavored margarita, temptingly described on a chalk sign out front.
Blackberry margaritas. Blood orange margaritas. Prickly pear margaritas.... Have we mentioned that we have to walk past this place every day on the way home from work? Somebody should give us a medal for not dropping in every single night.
Bad news, though: The margarita temptation has now followed us home.
We loved the sound of the four simple cocktails featured in the "Good Things" section of the July issue of Martha Stewart Living. There's a Basil Gimlet Fizz flavored by big cubes of watermelon, and a Grilled-Peach Old Fashioned (which we'll write about soon). But we just had to try this Chili-and-Cucumber Martini.
It couldn't be much simpler: Combine diced cucumber with spicy sambal oelek (or a similar spicy red chili paste) and let it sit for a few hours. Then simply stir into your favorite margarita.
The result is a hot little cocktail that's spicy and cool at the same time. It's got an awesome kick that we really loved.
In fact, it might even be good enough to go up on that chalk board at the place around the corner.
And on that note, we leave you for the week. We're heading to the beach to celebrate the 4th. We'll be catching some sun, cooking up some fresh fish, and maybe -- okay, definitely -- mixing up one or two of these margaritas.
Chili and Cucumber Margarita
Martha Stewart Living (July 2012)
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(This photo: Martha Stewarting Living)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup peeled, seeded, and diced cucumber
- 1 tablespoon sambal oelek (Asian chili paste)
- Your favorite classic margarita, such as the Perfect Margarita
Directions
- Combine cucumber and sambal oelek; let marinate in the refrigerator up to 4 hours. Mix 1 to 2 tablespoons into a glass of your favorite classic margarita.
