Margaritas for Everyone!

Margarita’s for Everyone!*

(* including a non-tequila recipe!)

One of Mexico’s best gifts to the world is the famous drink, the Margarita. A good restaurant makes the Margarita from scratch and has a particular signature style of Margarita.

And I bet you did NOT know margaritas are often made with white wine in the Southwest USA, did you? Well, they are. And Wine Margaritas are very tasty too!

The bottles of pre-mixed Margarita drinks are not cheap and often have below quality ingredients. You can control how good your Margaritas are by preparing them with ingredients of your choice. Also, the recipes below are less expensive than the Margarita mixes!!

There are a great many articles written about Tequila. One restaurant in Phoenix advertises over 100 types of Tequila. As you will see in my favorite recipe, I have no expertise in selecting Tequilas!

There are several versions of who invented the Margarita. All versions of the story take place from the 1930s to the 1940s. So, the Margarita is a relatively new drink!

Here are a couple of versions of who invented the Margarita and why they invented it. Carlos/Danny Herrera invented the perfect summer time drink in Tijuana Mexico in 1938 for a movie star who could only consume tequila and not any other hard liquor. An American socialite visiting Acapulco invented the perfect summer drink for her friends.

Want more on the Margarita?

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2009/05/the-history-of-the-margarita/

So, this will be about the basic Margarita and several derivations, including my particular favorite. Please note that these are decidedly New Mexico style!

Basic Margarita (in a pitcher)

1 lime (sliced for the glass rim)

1 can frozen limeade

Kosher salt

4 shots tequila (may increase shots to taste)

6 T. Triple Sec

A can (12 oz) of lemon/lime soda VERY COLD

Ice cubes

Rim the glasses with the kosher salt and a slice of lime

Mix all ingredients but the ice cubes in a pitcher

Pour over ice in the glasses

Serve

You may crush the ice in a blender and make it a frozen Margarita

OR

Dessert Style Margarita

1 lime (sliced for the glass rim)

Kosher salt

2 pints of your favorite sorbet….let’s do lime but any tropical fruit sorbet is great!

4 shots tequila

6 T. of Triple Sec….or maybe an orange or lemon or lime liquor? (Try Limoncello sometime!)

Blend and serve in a glass ringed with salt

OR

My Favorite Margarita

1 lime (sliced for the glass rim)

Kosher salt

1 can limeade

1 can (12 oz) lemon/lime soda VERY COLD

Make up this mixture and then pour into a salt rimmed glass—only half full

AND then add a nice chilled white wine to fill the glass up. Stir.

Yes, a Wine Margarita. I like a sweet white wine like a SauvignonBlanc or Riesling. Obviously, you don’t need an expensive wine here. A 3-buck chuck is just fine.

My favorite can also be made with the sorbet and the wine: Think a beverage for a wedding shower.

It doesn’t take much to imagine a refreshing drink such as a Margarita without the alcohol too. Although, I do prefer the wine one!

I first had a wine Margarita as served every Thursday at a restaurant in El Paso, Texas when I lived there. It was the 99-cent special. Our church group met there every Thursday for dinner. The restaurant had a Mariachi Band playing, 99 cent wine Margaritas, and a very very healthy business for dinner that night! Nice, huh!