One of our fave places in the city is Frontera Grill, one of Rick Bayless’ always booked, always tasty Mexican restaurants.
And my fave drink at Frontera is thier Margarita Mimosa, which goes as well with dinner as it does brunch.
It also, in this, my version, works a treat at a gathering of friends at home for food and conversation and dreams of someday, with luck, all gathering to slouch about the French Quarter and eating all the food.
And, of course, drinking all the drinks; but, for now, let us stick to this, my Key Lime Margarita Mimosa.
INGREDIENTS
Sour Mix:
•1 cup water
•1 cup sugar
•1 cup lemon juice
•3/4 cup Key lime juice
Margarita:
•1-1/2 cup tequila
•3/8 cup (6 tbsp) Cointreau
•1 cup orange juice
•1 cup Sour Mix
Mimosa:
•Chilled Margarita
•Sparkling wine
Note: this will make enough for five or six Key Lime Margarita Mimosas; for our gathering, I doubled the recipe and had two bottles of Key Lime Margarita stashed in the fridge to make mimosas. Leftover sour mix can be kept in the fridge for a week or two.
First things first, make a simple syrup by stirring the sugar into the water in a medium pan over moderate heat.
Stirring often, cook until the sugar has totally dissolved into the water, leaving you this crystal clear syrup.
Remove the simple syrup from the heat and set aside to cool completely.
Once the syrup is cooled, you can make your sour mix by stirring in the lemon juice and Key lime juice and mixing well.
You can stash this in the fridge until needed, or, do as I did and make your Key Lime Margaritas and have them at the ready in the fridge, nicely chilled and ready for sparkling wine.
Note: most any sparkling wine will work, but I find that, for my taste, extra dry is best.
Combine the Key Lime Margarita ingredients together in a large pitcher and chill until needed.
When ready to serve, pour some of the Key Lime Margarita into a glass, then top off with your chosen sparkling wine.
Delicious. Not the same as dining out at Frontera, but still quite nice.