Agua de Tuna - Fresh Prickly Pear Water

Oh the stories I've heard about what happens when you eat too many tunas.  I'm not going to share the specifics, because can I just say...it's not pretty.  When Mexi was just a wee niño, he and his cousins had tunas at their fingertips (not to mention the nopales/cactus paddles that go hand in hand...how cool! ...says the girl raised in the Midwest).  Tunas, otherwise known as cactus fruit or prickly pears are fabulously juicy and refreshing hot weather treats.  The purple variety stain your hands as if you were handling peeled beets or berries, yet they taste like a cross between a watermelon and a cucumber (to me, at least).  The pesky part comes in the seeds that run throughout the fruit.  Usually you just swallow them...but to make some long stories short, if you're going to swallow the seeds, don't eat more than a couple of tunas at a time.  Or your drain will get clogged.  Which may lead to painful doctor visits.  I've always heeded this warning because said stories conjure up some painful thoughts...and I am NOT going there.  That said, if you blend them and strain out the seeds, you have nothing to fear.  No little hard pellets to get stuck anywhere unpleasant.  Enough said?

Agua de Tuna
Fresh Prickly Pear Water
yield: ~2 qt.

1½ lb. tunas (prickly pears), purple or green
~8 c. cold water, or to taste
~1 c. superfine sugar, or to taste

Peel your tunas (prickly pears), halve them and throw them into the blender with a couple of the cups of water; purée until smooth. 

Strain through a sieve into a pitcher to remove the seeds and pulp.  Stir in remaining water and sugar.  Adjust water (and/or serve it over ice) and sugar amounts to suit your tastes.

I am sharing this post with:
Tasty Tuesday at Naptime Creations

YES...you can add alcohol!

While Agua de Jamaica is fantastic on its own...flavorful with health benefits...it mixes up perfectly in a cocktail, too Dani.  I apologize for the quick posts this weekend...unless you're enjoying the quickies, in which case, I do what I can...I've been dealing with some sort of "bug" that is ravaging my sinuses and internal functions, so I'm just pulling out some photos that have been waiting in the wings...for their moment in the spotlight.  Just looking at the computer screen for this short amount of time has made me dizzy all over again...ugh.  Mommy.

Jamaica Sangria

from the kitchen of girlichef

1 bottle Chardonnay

2 c. Agua de Jamaica

1/2 c. Triple Sec

juice of 2 oranges

fruits for bottom, cut as seen fit:

peach

apple

orange

lime

currants

Place all the fruit in the bottom of a pitcher and pour liquids over.  Stir and refrigerate until very cold.  Serve over ice.

Hibiscus Margarita (on the rocks)

slightly adapted from Antojitos by Barbara Sibley & Margaritte Malfy

1 lime, quartered

Piquín Chile Salt recipe below

ice cubes

8 oz. blanco tequila

6 oz. sour mix recipe below

4 oz. Agua de Jamaica

4 oz. Triple Sec

splash of freshly squeezed orange juice

lime slices, garnish

Rub rim of each glass w/ a lime quarter. Spread chile salt on small plate and dip each rim into the salt to coat. Set glass aside. 

Mix all the liquids together and chill thoroughly.  Fill glasses with ice cubes and pour margaritas into prepared glasses. Garnish w/ lime.

Sour Mix
yield: ~8 c.

4 c. water
3/4 c. sugar
4 c. lime juice

In a saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Let syrup boil for ~3 minutes, or until sugar is thoroughly dissolved and syrup is clear.  Remove from heat and cool eopletely.  Add lime juice a little at a time, stirring constantly.  Transfer mix to jar w/ tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Piquín Chile Salt
yield: ~1/4 c.

3 Tbs. kosher salt
~1 Tbs. piquín chile powder

Mix together in small bowl.  Use right away or transfer to jar w/ tight fitting lid and store at room temp.

Salud!

Quieres Agua de Jamaica?

Agua de Jamaica is another super-refreshing Agua Fresca or Agua Preparada to ease you through these dog days of summer.  Made very similarly to tea...and even simpler than the Agua de Tamarindo, it packs a punch that is bound to make you think of cranberry or pomegranate juice.  it is made using dried Hibiscus flowers.  And while I'm talking about drinking it super cold here...over ice preferably, it is actually a pretty comforting...all warm and floral-y...warm tea, as well.  I was introduced to it by Mexi of course, this was another thing that was just a regular part of life for him.  It is also rumored to be a means of reducing high blood pressure and cholesterol when drunk in quantity...natural medicine, if you will.  I like to brew a couple quarts at a time and use it as a component in other drinks, as well...which I'll be posting very soon!

Agua de Jamaica

from the kitchen of girlichef (although it's made pretty much just like this, with a variation on what type of sugar people use, all around the world)

yield: 1 gallon

1 c. flor de jamaica (dried hibiscus flowers)

1 gallon water

1/2 c. agave nectar

If it is a scorching hot day and the sun is beating down, place the dried hibiscus flowers and the water in a large, glass jug and let it sit in the sun all day to steep...if it's not, or if you're in a hurry, simply put them both in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and let bubble for ~10 minutes.  Let cool a bit, then strain.  Stir in the agave nectar.  Hold under refrigeration and enjoy cold over ice...or reheat and enjoy warm, if you desire.

Agua de Tamarindo

Up until about 10 years or so ago, I didn't know much about the tamarindo (family Leguminosae).  Not much beyond a Jarritos bubbly beverage or a delicious, sour, hot, chewy candy that could be quite addictive.  My hubby on the other hand was quite familiar with that sticky fruit that surrounded pit-like seeds and lay enclosed in a hard, brownish pod.  Growing up, my suegra (mother-in-law) used to give him and his hermanos cut up pieces of tamarindo instead of candy.  To them it was like watching all the other kids in the neighborhood get an ice cream cone from the ice cream truck while he had to have a popsicle from his own freezer...like eating a "house burger" when all the other kids were eating Mc D's.  If only we had known then what we know now, huh?

 

Ha ha ha ha....okay...back to tamarindos.  Another thing mi suegra makes is Agua de Tamarindo.  Tamarind Water.  It is called Agua Fresca (fresh water) or sometimes an Agua Preparada (prepared water).  I'm definitely going to be making several kinds of Agua Frescas over the summer...they're so cooling and, well, fresh go figure.  This is mi suegras method for making Agua de Tamarindo...I've added in "amounts" for the ingredients, but they are really up to your own tastes.  Like most all of the seasoned home cooks in Mexico...and elsewhere, just fits my story to say Mexico...my MIL uses her hands and her eyes to measure.  I've given you the measurements I came up with while making it her way...

Agua de Tamarindo
from la cocina de mi suegra

~1/2 - 3/4 lb. tamarindo pods
~1 1/2 qts. water
~1/2 c. piloncillo, crushed  (if you don't have access to piloncillo, you can substitute brown sugar)

Begin by peeling the hard pod away from the sticky fruit inside.  Grab the stem-end and snap it.  There are strings that run the length of the pod...gripping the stem, pull down, releasing the strings from the fruit.  This will crack the pod on the way down.  Peel off what remains of the pod.  You will be left with a long, sticky tamarindo.  The bumps are the areas where there are seeds.  You do not need to remove the seeds now for making the Agua Fresca, but they do pop out pretty easily if you make a little slit in the side.  Or just take a bite off and slide it off in your mouth.  It's sour, but delicious! And you will be left with sticky fingers once all of your tamarindos are shelled.

Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy pot.  Add the shelled fruit and the piloncillo.  Boil for a few minutes to dissolve the sugar and loosen the tamarindo from the seeds, then cover and turn off the heat.  Let the pot sit for 3 or 4 hours...or even overnight.

Remove the lid and stick in your clean hands and massage all that tamarindo pulp around...make sure it's mashed up good and that it's released from the seeds.  Strain it into a pitcher that holds at least 2 quarts.  Press on the pulp and seeds to make sure you get all that great flavor out.  If you don't like the cloudy sediment (which is delicious and harmless), then strain it again, but this time set a damp coffee filter inside your strainer to hold all the larger sediment.

Add enough cold water to make 2 quarts.  Taste and if you like it sweeter, stir in a bit more crushed piloncillo.  Mi suegra sometimes just makes the water initially w/out the piloncillo and sets a whole cone of it in the water while it's sitting...letting it dissolve as it will.  You can do it either way...whatever you like!

That's it! Serve it nice and cold.

I store and serve it in my favorite clay pot, but I wanted to give you a clearer view of it, too...so here it is, a little more visible.

This is my entry into My Legume Love Affair from Susan at The Well Seasoned Cook and hosted this month by Diana at A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa.



*I am also entering this in Recipe4Living's Summertime Sipper Contest (thanks Sophia!!)!

AND OF COURSE THIS IS MY REAL FOOD POST FOR TODAY...TWO FOR TUESDAYS!!