Citrus Sangria

Sangria is one of my favorite drink @ Spanish restaurants. One liter of this yummy concoction will cost an average of $20 in restaurants. This will usually give 4-5 people a glass each. Now, making it at home will of course cost less (just like every other food you make yourself!).

There are many versions and many ways to make sangria. You can add almost any kind of fruits to this “punch” and it will still be good. There are even white wine versions of Sangria which are equally yummy. It’s all about your personal preference. Just be sure to serve it ice cold though! And don’t water it down too much! =)

CITRUS SANGRIA RECIPE

Ingredients;

• 1 Large Bottle of Merlot (1.5 L), Chilled
• 1 Cup Orange Juice
• 1 Cup Water
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1 Orange, Thinly Sliced
• 1 Lime, Thinly Sliced
• 1 Lemon, Thinly Sliced
• 2-3 Cups Ice (or more)

Method:

Put 1 Cup of water and sugar in a pot over medium high heat and let mixture cook until all sugar has dissolved. Set syrup aside and let it cool.

Empty a whole large bottle of merlot, orange juice, syrup (half or all) and fruit slices. Let mixture sit for about 30 minutes to an hour (or more) in the fridge. Add ice into the bowl  before serving.

June’s comments: I used Sutter Home’s Merlot which cost less than $10 for a large 1.5L bottle. Feel free to garnish your wine glass with a slice of citrus tucked at the rim of the glass for garnish! You don’t need to use all the syrup for the Sangria. This is up to you on how you like your Sangria, on the sweeter side or not. This large bowl of Sangria was enough for 5 people, about 2 glasses each.

Homemade (Sweet) Soy Bean Milk

I love drinking sweetened soy bean milk and unfortunately do not get the chance to drink it that often. The only time I drink them is when I get them from Chinese grocers. In recent years, with all those food safety problems with food products from a certain country, I have been trying to avoid drinking them unless it’s freshly made or if it’s manufactured in a more reputable country. =)

Anyways……this would be my second time making soy bean milk. It’s not that tough to make a pot of fresh soy milk and it’s definitely comforting to know that there are minimal preservatives (if not none) in that glass of soy milk!

 

SWEET SOY BEAN MILK RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Soy Bean
• Water
• 3/4 – 1 Cup Sugar
• Pandan Leaves, Knotted (**Optional)

Method:

Wash, clean and cover soy beans with lots of water, overnight (about 12-14 hours). The bean will double/triple in size and you will also see some loose hull floating. Discard water and hull. Fill the bowl with water again, and with two hands rub the beans to remove as much hulls as possible. Once this is done, drain the beans and set it aside. I ended up with 5 cups of reconstituted beans.

Add one cup of beans and 2-1/2 cups of water into blender and process until beans are finely blended. Pour mixture into a cheese cloth and hand squeeze liquid into a pot till beans are dry. Remove the insoluble content (okara) from cheese cloth and set aside in a bowl. Repeat step until all beans have been blended squeeze out. If you like, add 3-4 cups water to the okara, let it sit for 5 minutes and pour mixture into cheese cloth and squeeze out liquid. If not, just add the water directly into the pot. The okara can be used in other cooking if preferred.

Boil soybean liquid with pandan leaves over medium high heat for about 20-25 minutes. Stir milk constantly and add sugar to taste at the last 5 minutes. This should give you about 13-14 cups of homemade soybean milk! Serve soy milk warm or cold. Store soy milk in refrigerator for up to 3 days. I like my soymilk chilled. =)

The beans on the left have been reconstituted after being soaked for about 12-14 hours. The beans on the right are dried soy beans.

Orange Strawberry Smoothie

Here’s an easy refreshing summer drink/smoothie, made with minimal ingredients! Great frozen treats for the hot summer days! =) No need to pay $3-4 per fruit smoothie from Jamba Juice or any of those Smoothie stand, just make your own smoothie!!! =P. This just cost me less than $3 to come up with some frozen goodness. =)

ORANGE STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 Oz) Bag Frozen Strawberries, Slightly Thawed (5-10 minutes)
• 2-3 Cups Orange Juice, Chilled
• 2-3 Tbsp Sugar (**Optional)

Method:

Add everything (usually skip the sugar) into a blender and just pulse for 2-3 seconds  at a time until everything has been blended and is smooth! I used the “Crush Ice” function on my Cuisinart blender. Adjust thickness of the smoothie by adding or reducing the juice. You may need to occasionally give the smoothie a stir to make sure everything has been blended. Be sure to turn the blender off when you do so! =P

With 2 cups of juice used; you get 5 cups worth of smoothie…enough for 2-3 servings. With 3 cups of juice; you get 6 cups worth of smoothie enough for 3-4 servings. =)

You can always add other frozen fruits such as mangoes or pineapple and blend it with your choice of juice =) Enjoy!