A Well Crafted Pantry Archives – Page 8 of 61

Peach & Orange Blossom Sangria

June 14, 2019 1 Comment A Well Crafted Pantry

This summer sangria makes for a beautiful botanical sangria! While you can certainly make this peach & orange blossom sangria as a single serve cocktail, it also works great in a batch!

This drink was first featured in my Instagram project #NightcapwithJenni. Follow along each Sunday evening when I share a new beverage and some things I’ve been thinking about in my Instastories!

This post is not sponsored by the companies with products featured. There are some affiliate links in this post, affiliate links give a small portion of products purchased to this blog. Thank you for supporting this blog! This recipe is created for those of legal drinking age. Please drink responsibly.

Summer and sangria = perfect pairing. While we are not technically at summer yet, lately we’ve had some gorgeous weather and I’ve been soaking it in! I’ve greatly been enjoying my newly decorated outdoor deck area. Having a cocktail and good book in hand has only made me enjoy it more!

Ingredients of Peach and Orange Blossom Sangria including frozen sliced peaches, mint, peach and citrus soda, reisling, and peach and orange blossom voda.

Summer Sangria Ingredient Choices

Typically a sangria is going to feature both a wine and some sort of liquor. Often you’ll see a beautiful red wine and brandy or orange liquor. I chose to make a bit of a lighter sangria with this combo of vodka and Riesling. I think it is a good fit for a summer cocktail!

I’m a sucker for a good Instagram or Facebook ad. One Friday afternoon (right before my husband got off work) I had scrolled through my feed and saw an ad for Ketel One Botanical vodkas and I simply had to have him pick it up on the way home! Ketel One (I think recently) released three botanical vodkas (Grapefruit & Rose, Cucumber & Mint, and Peach & Orange Blossom) they feature no artificial flavors, no artificial sweeteners, no sugar…. to me that is the ideal type of infused vodka.

I knew I immediately wanted to pair the vodka with a peach soda of sorts, but also knew it would need a little sweetness. In came one of my favorite Rieslings… A to Z Winework’s Oregon Reisling. I’ve been a fan of A to Z Wineworks for their affordable but tasty Oregon wines but also because of their commitment to be a business with intention. They are a four time – B Corp ‘Best for the World’ business. B Cor’s work to be sustainable,healthy businesses for good workers, the community, and the environment.

Sangria served over crushed ice and garnished with mint and peach.

How to Make a Peach and Orange Blossom Sangria

Read on to see ingredients and directions for a pitcher of this Peach and Orange Blossom Sangria as well as directions for a single serve cocktail. The pitcher of Sangria serves approximately 6 glasses.

Pitcher of Sangria Ingredients:

9 oz Ketel One Peach & Orange Blossom Vodka
18 oz Riesling (on the sweeter side) I used A to Z Wineworks Riesling
4.5 oz Simple Syrup
1 Can Fresca Peach Citrus Soda* (Affiliate Link) Or any peach or orange flavored soda water… Fresca is slightly sweet, but that lends a nice sweetness to this sangria)
Frozen Peaches
Mint for garnish

Pitcher of Peach Orange Blossom Sangria Directions:

Pour the vodka, Riesling, simple syrup and frozen peaches into a pitcher and chill.
Right before serving, add the Peach and Citrus Soda.
Serve over ice — I chose to serve over crushed ice as it is much more festive!
Garnish with mint.

Single Serving of Peach Orange Blossom Sangria:

Pour 1.5 oz Peach & Orange Blossom vodka, 3 oz Riesling, .75 oz simple syrup in shaker with ice. Shake.
Pour into a glass — no need to strain.
Top with approximately 2 oz of Peach and Citrus soda.
Garnish with a slice of frozen peach and a sprig of mint.

Sangria served with peach and mint featuring ingredients.

Prefer it in a martini glass served up instead of a glass of ice?

Simply wait to add in the soda water, pour into a shaker with ice and shake vigorously (You are trying to melt the ice a bit in the process of chilling the cocktail and mixing ingredients.) Then strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a peach and mint spring.

What is your favorite summer drink go to? Share in the comments or @ me, @JenniBost!

And don’t forget to check in this upcoming Sunday around 6 PM PST (or the week after) for this week’s #NightcapwithJenni. I’d love to have you in the conversation.

A Well Crafted Pantry

Grilled Peaches & Brie Summer Cheese Board

June 10, 2019 4 Comments A Well Crafted Pantry

Cheese boards are having a big moment right now and I’m here for it. I love a good cheese board, charcuterie platter, or grazing table. This grilled peaches and brie summer cheese board is not only a showstopping party dish, but also so easy to put together that it works for a nice weeknight meal!

This post is not sponsored by any of the companies or products mentioned below. There are affiliate links within this post. Purchases made from affiliate links help support this blog without any additional cost to the buyer. Thank you for supporting this blog as it allows me the opportunity to create new content!

I am a part of a Facebook group in which group members are always sharing photos of everything from super simple cheese boards to extravagant platters. I think that this type of dining works so well these days because people are all on different diets and because they can be put together without a ton of cooking skills.

This cheese board was inspired by an email or pamphlet I received from Fred Meyer’s with a recipe for Cedar Plank Grilled Peaches and Brie. I have linked the recipe here and you are welcome to follow it as it is very close to what mine ended up being, but I did make a couple of small changes that I feel like made a nice difference.

I wanted to make a the grilled brie and peaches to go with a few small items to create a nice charcuterie board or cheese board. However, as I was serving it as dinner, I also served a vegetable platter which is why you are seeing the artichokes on the grill in pictures. (I’ll share the vegetable platter in another post.)

Cedar Plank Grilled Brie and Peaches

This is the most labor intensive part of this whole platter and it takes around 20 minutes aside from prepping your cedar plank. Cedar planks are going to be important for two reasons: 1) to impart a nice smokey flavor to your dish and 2) to prevent the peaches or brie from just melting right into the grill. You’ll want to make sure your cedar plank gets a good soak in water so that it doesn’t just burn on the grill.

Grilling brie and peaches on a cedar plank prevents leaking.

Cedar Plank Grilled Brie and Peaches Supplies/Ingredients:

1 Cedar Plank *(Affiliate link) soaked in water for approximately 2 hours
1 wheel of brie
2-3 ripe peaches (not too ripe as they will just get mushy)
1/4 cup honey + extra for drizzling after
2 tablespoons olive oil
Fresh thyme- approximately 1/4 teaspoon
Salt & Pepper to taste (I used sea salt flakes and fresh ground pepper)
Grill (an alternative is using your oven and broiler but again, it is essential that your cedar plank has been properly soaked)

Cedar Plank Grilled Brie and Peaches Supplies/Ingredients:

Soak your cedar plank in water. I put mine on a baking dish and cover in water for two hours.
Heat grill (or oven) to approximately 350 degrees F or medium heat.
Slice peaches, discarding pit.
Mix together olive oil, thyme, and honey in a bowl.
Toss your peaches in the olive oil and honey mixture. Remove from bowl and set aside.
Brush your brie with the remaining olive oil and honey mixture.
Place the brie and peaches on the cedar plank and place on grill. If there isn’t room for all of the peaches and brie on the plank then grill your peaches first, and then move to your brie.
Cover the lid of the grill and let cook for approximately 10 to 12 minutes. The cheese will be warm and melted (it will still hold its shape with the rind, but you should be able to see that it might be starting to seep through a bit. The peaches should be warmed through and softened a bit. If using the oven, you can put the broiler on for a moment at the end to help caramelize the peaches a bit.
Place on platter, salt & pepper to taste, drizzle with some honey, and serve!

How to serve grilled peaches and brie

You can do so many different things in serving this dish starting with just adding some grilled bread or tasty crackers and calling it a day. I wanted to add a bit more bulk to the dish so I added prosciutto, blackberries, apricot jam* (affiliate link), and sliced baguette.

What other summer fruit or vegetables would pair well with grilled brie? Share your thoughts in the comments below or @ me @JenniBost!

A Well Crafted Pantry

A Legit Coffee Cocktail with Rolling River Spirits Coffee Spirit

April 20, 2019 5 Comments A Well Crafted Pantry

I like the word legit. I likely use it too much. But, I have had my share of coffee cocktails that taste more like a milk shake than a coffee drink. This cocktail isn’t like that. Sure, it has some sweetness to it and creaminess…but, you can taste the COFFEE. That is in small part due to a good double shot of espresso and in large part to the smooth coffee infused spirit created by Rolling River.

I was sent a complimentary bottle of the Rolling River Coffee distilled spirit. All opinions, recipe, and photos are my own. To purchase Rolling River Spirits you can find stores that carry it in California and Oregon as well as online retailers. Thank you for reading and sharing as your support helps support content creation for this blog.

I’m a huge fan of Coava coffee (I order it online for my home coffee now that I live too far from stores that carry it!) and was thrilled to see that the Rolling Spirits Coffee feature coffee roasted by Coava. Upon tasting I was immediately impressed that this coffee flavored liquor wasn’t laden with sweetness as most coffee liquors seem to be!

The Coffee Spirit was distilled from organic, non-GMO hard red winter wheat in small batches. There is an initial distilling process then it is mixed with a brew of the Coava coffee and distilled a final time. That last distillation brings out clean flavors and a nice clear finish on the spirit. See– no added sugar!

I could totally see a coffee lover drinking this liquor chilled and neat. However, I knew that I wanted to test out my ability to create a coffee cocktail that wasn’t overly sweet and tasted like COFFEE. A cocktail that one might bring a coffee-loving mom with her Mother’s Day breakfast in bed. HINT.

My husband and I have a supreme dedication to beverages in our home. There is our normal bar, our cabinet full of non-alcoholic beverages, a hot tea bar, and our coffee bar. Our coffee bar is complete with burr grinder, coffee maker, french press, pour over carafe, and espresso machine. None of it is top of the line…because, well, budget. But, we do value it.

Because we do have all those fun tools. I was thrilled with the opportunity to use my espresso machine for this cocktail. However, it isn’t needed! You can easily sub a strong brewed coffee or great cold brew. (Stumptown makes a delicious strong cold brew that would absolutely work in this drink and is carried in a lot of locations.)

A Legit Coffee Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients:

2 ounces espresso (or strong coffee) chilled
1 3/4 oz Coffee Spirit by Rolling River Spirits
1 oz Dark Rum
1/2 oz (or to taste) of simple syrup or honey (whatever you like in your coffee!)
1 oz of heavy cream shaken
Optional garnish of cocoa powder

(Keep scrolling for the recipe!)

Directions:

In a shaker, pour the Espresso, Coffee Spirit, Simple Syrup, and Dark Rum over ice. Shake to incorporate and thoroughly chill.
Strain into a martini glass
Pour your heavy cream in a jar that can close — I used a small jam jar. Shake vigorously. You want it to become pretty frothy, but not full on whipped cream. It took me about 15 seconds of shaking.
Pour the cream into your martini glass.
Sprinkle cocoa powder on the top and enjoy!

I really love that it tastes truly like coffee and has that extra kick of rum. The rum really brings out the flavors of the coffee in my opinion without overpowering it. The husband was a fan too. 😉 It’s legit yummy.

Like this recipe? Check out my other tasty cocktail recipes!