On the coast earlier this week She Who Must Be Obeyed and I grabbed some outrageously good grub in a little dive joint serving only the genius combination of genuine slow-smoked barbeque and fried Gulf Coast seafood.
The smokers were humming outside and the place was packed as you might imagine; they were slinging ribs, brisket, fried shrimp, oysters and crab cakes as fast as they could plate it off the cutting table and dump out of the fryer.
They didn’t have a bar, though obviously served a lot of cold beer and gallons of ice tea. However it was impossible to miss the young lady (she had to be 70 at least) manning a big bartender’s blender at one end of their counter.
She was loading it with frozen watermelon, a chunk of jalapeno, a big shot of tequila and some other stuff (see the recipe below) and filling with several handfuls of ice. She’d puree the concoction to a thick consistency and scoop it out into chilled glass sweating on the counter in the summer’s sticky coastal humidity.
It didn’t take a lot to ply the recipe out of her (her name was Tina); she shared it with a smile as she never stopped cranking these out during their busy evening service. She said it’s really the only cocktail they serve during the summer “ ‘cept on margarita nights”, and one sip answered why.
The icy cold, slightly sweet watermelon, with a little bit of pucker from the lime and just a hint of heat from the jalapeno tasted like summer on the beach in a (cold) glass. Your upcoming weekend’s dinner just got a little better.
4 cups watermelon pieces, frozen on parchment lined baking sheet
1 inch slice of jalapeno pepper, with seeds
6 to 7 ounces of good tequila blanco
4 ounces simple syrup
3 ounces fresh squeezed lime juice
3 cups of iceGarnish: Sliced jalapenos, watermelon wedges
Pack everything into your trusty blender and puree until smooth; you want this to be pretty thick in the blender.
Pour into chilled glasses, garnish and go to it. (Makes 2 big or 4 normal sized adult beverages).
Enjoy.
