Mind Block = Time for alcohol!

Ok that makes me sound like an alcoholic, WHICH ISNT TRUE, but I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of another weird and interesting super food to give you guys the three that I promised. So far I keep just coming up with blueberries and salmon and turkey… all stuff that people have heard of and know what to do with, so it’s a bit boring. One fruit I found which was interesting and apparently has diabetes reducing properties, called the Mangosteen, would have been ideal to do a piece on, but I couldn’t find it to buy anywhere, which means that I couldn’t test anything out with it and give you guys a recipe… total fail :(



So instead… whilst I figure out where I can get it from, I decided to look at the respectable collection of alcohol that has been accumulated in the family home. Now, funnily enough, no one in my family drinks asides from my brother, and me but out of respect neither of us drink at home or within eyesight of my parents. However, people always seem to give us alcohol as last minute Christmas or birthday or new year’s presents…. Lol we collected so much over the years that eventually mum and dad bought a small drinks bar, which is now well stocked enough to satisfy a student social! This is awesome for me as you can imagine, as alcohol (the good stuff) is expensive, but if its there then its really cool to experiment with. Conveniently I am not only a trained chef, but also a trained cocktail waiter (needed to make some money whilst at uni)

There were also some lychee kicking around the fruit bowls so set to work.



Lychees have a weird flavour and I would argue that along with pomegranates are the most filddly and awkward of all the fruits.

A hard, rough and spikey shell that covers a very watery white flesh…. Which is again hiding a giant seed lol… very annoying, however, the taste is unique enough to make all this effort worth it!



I have a terrible sweet tooth so I wanted something to match, but not be overtly sugary, and after 3 attempts I came up with this deliscious recipe for what I have aptly dubbed;

“The Charm”

Ingredients:

5 Lychee flesh (without seeds, also fresh will taste better than tinned)
3 drops of Angostura bitters
12.5ml Midori (Melon Liqueur. From Japan I think)
25ml Vodka
25ml Mango juice
100ml Lychee Juice
¼ Lime

Method:

Take the Lychee and the ¼ Lime and add them to a strong glass(If you are lucky enough to have a professional cocktail set then add these to your boston glass) and then using a muddler (or the end of a rolling pin if you don’t have a muddler) crush the ingredients to release as much juice from them as possible.

Once you have done this, you will need to add the alcohol (excluding the Angostura bitters and some ice.

Place about half way up the glass full of ice, and then add the alcohol (excluding the Angostura bitters), add a secure lid to the glass, and Shake it like a combination of Shakira and Beyonce in a tumble dryer lol!

After shaking with the ice (this releases more juice from the fruits, as well as cooling down the alcohol, which smoothens the taste of vodka and sharpens the sweet midori) add the mango and the lychee juice and stir about 30 times.

Pour the contents through a sieve into whichever glass you will serve the drink in, and decorate as you see fit. Then put 3 drops of Angostura bitters ontop of the finnished drink. I did not decorate mine because I was on my own…. With alcohol…. Late at night… maybe I am becoming an alcoholic… haha bad times.



Enjoy!