Sunday, October 17, 2010

Everyday Yumminess: Perfect Margaritas

As part of a Mexican feast last weekend, Stanley and I took it upon ourselves to make the perfect margarita, and we succeeded quite impressively (if I do say so myself)...
The secret to these margaritas is the use of the whole fruit (an idea I stole from Michael Chiarello, but our margaritas are way better than his, since he calls for Triple Sec, which I am strongly opposed to). We broke out my juicer and tossed in two navel oranges, two limes, and two lemons. With a little practice, we learned that it is key to not push the fruit through the juicer too rapidly, lest you don't end up with enough of the zest in your finished juice. The zest, as it turns out, is where the magic happens.
Your essential margarita mix for two margaritas will then consist of 1/2 cup of the whole-citrus juice, 2 tablespoons Cointreau, and 1 tablespoon sugar. (If your oranges aren't very sweet, you can adjust the sugar accordingly. This mix is then combined with your tequila of choice (I prefer to use a nice añejo, but a simple gold tequila is a nice cost-effective option...) in your quantity of choice (I would add 1 C of añejo tequila, maybe 3/4 C of gold...) for a cocktail of the desired strength.
These are the best margaritas I've ever had. The whole-citrus juice is so bright and vibrant, and really takes things to a new level. I'm glad to finally have the perfect margarita in my repertoire...

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