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ITALY IN A GLASS – MAKE YOUR OWN PESCHE AL VINO ROSSO

August 19, 2014 · Edible DC

Italy in a glass: Make-your-own Pesche al Vino Rosso After a Pick-Your-Own Trip to Homestead Farm

by Giacomo Abrusci

I just rolled back from Homestead Farm in Poolesville, MD, a mere 45 minutes from downtown DC, where every variety of peach is now at its peak. Even if you didn’t make it to Puglia, Italy this summer, you can still drink like you are there when you have a freshly-picked peck of peaches. While it’s true that southern Italy is not famous for wine-based sangria, the fruit is literally dripping off the trees there during the summer months, perfect for soaking in your favorite red wine.

My uncle Giovanni will exclusively use nectarines, while my sister Angela will usually choose the juiciest peach in the house. So grab some delicious fresh summer tree fruit and follow my lead tonight: before you start to prepare dinner, roughly chop two to three ripe pitted peaches or nectarines, drown them in a pitcher of red wine, and throw it into the fridge. Thirty minutes to an hour later — or whenever you’re ready to eat, because this fruity concoction only gets better with time — pull out your chilled wine and pour yourself a heavy glass.

Settle in and enjoy your dinner while nursing your peach-infused wine and finish off the evening with a few pieces of drunken fruit for dessert. Give it a try now while the trees are still loaded with ripe fruit, bursting with flavor!

You can visit Homestead Farm several months out of the year to pick your own produce, from spring berries to pumpkins.

QUICK TIP: frozen berries and champagne

Keeping a bag or two of mixed berries in your freezer is always a good idea whether you make smoothies or not.  Bump up a regular glass of champagne with a couple berries and not only will it add a sweet tang but it might even keep your glass cooler (if you magically let it sit around long enough to get warm) 

Now THAT is a bloody mary.

I can’t remember who sent me this photo so I there’s no credit but lemme just say I can have about 40 of these over the course of an afternoon. 

great 3 ingredient smoothies

(Image by Sarah Flotard)

These are some great 3 ingredient smoothies from buzzfeed!  http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessseinfeld/8-easy-3-ingredient-smoothies

GOOD FIND: CRISPIN Cider

Ahhh MAZING.  Slightly sweet, fresh, great body, and perfect when you'd like a kick up from a beer but aren't ready for a heavier wine.  I clearly recommend drinking it poolside in the company of plastic flamingos.  I found this at Whole Foods but I'm sure you can get it around.

REVIEW: Church Lady Punch @ Hanks

As if Hanks wasn't amazing enough. Church Lady Punch is a lovely bowl of vodka, sparkling wine, fresh fruit juices & sherbert.  Perfect for a summer brunch.  Honestly though, ALL their cocktails are well above par. Hanks Oyster Bar 1624 Q Street NW, Washington DC 20009

best summer beverage.. maybe ever

One bag of mixed frozen berries + a couple bottles of chilled prosecco = enough said.

(add some mint leaves if you wanna get fancy)

watermelon kebabs

What a fun, easy and brainless idea!  I saw this at the White House on the 4th of July but this is the perfect dessert or snack any time of year.   There's bound to be lots of scraps that don't make it on the skewer but just toss them in the blender and add a little vodka and serve over ice for a watermelon cooler cocktail! 

GOOD FIND: Santa Cruz Peach or Cherry Lemonade

I haven't posted a "Good Find" in a minute but holy frijoles these are so good.  Just found peach lemonade and cherry lemonade at Whole Foods.  So great and refreshing for the summer and I'm thinking not a bad mixer with some vodka crushed ice and mint garish.

NEWS: REPOST: PROTEIN INFUSED VODKA

Ladies and gentlemen, here we have it.  Vodka with a rumored 2 grams of protein per shot.  Who's gonna go first, Jeffries or Von Storch to put a bar in the lobby of their next gym (common Doug!)?  Turns out the protein cuts the bitterness normally associated with vodka and apparently helps with a hangover.  Seems like the only place to purchase this sweet thang is Cali or New Jersey.  I might need to pick some up next time I head up the Turnpike!

DRINK: Chocolate martini

Chocolate martini.  PERFECT for the holidays.  Swirl some chocolate syrup on the bottom of a martini glass then over ice, mix 2oz of vodka (Goose is great for this), with 1/2 ounce creme de cacao and 1/2 ounce Frangelico.  Pour and serve.  If you want you can rim the glass with cocoa powder, add a mint leaf or drop in a cherry, but I like it just like this.

DRINK: blackberry rum

So a month or 2 ago I went with Lita, Vic and a couple friends to Homestead Farms in Virginia to go peach and berry picking.  Tons of fun.  Great relaxing day, you get to picnic, get a hotdog if that's how you roll and just chill in the sun.  Well, we got so many blackberries I wasn't sure what to do with them since pie isn't really my thing.  I ate a bunch, smoothied even more, froze a huge tupperware, and with the rest I divided them into mason jars pack with a washed lemon rind and half a cup of sugar.  Once they're all packed in fill the remaining space with white rum.  Close tightly and refrigerate for at least 2-3 weeks occasionally  turning the jar upside down and right sight up again to help dissolve the sugar. This soon becomes an amazing treat as the blackberries swell with alcohol and the rum turns dark purple.  Try couple spoons of this over vanilla ice cream.  mmmmMMMM

DRINK: cold vino with citrus and bourbon

So refreshing you can drink this all day.  Bottle of decent full-bodied red wine, 3/4 of a bottle of soda water, cup (+ or - ) of bourbon and a thinly sliced orange and lemon.  Combine everything, refrigerate at least for 30 minutes and serve over ice.  Depending on your company you can make this as strong or as light as you like so use your judgement.  Soooooo good.

DRINK: spa water

I first discovered this at Trader Joe's a couple years ago and its the simplest thing.  If you're planning on having a pitcher of water on the table next time you have someone over, make it a spa water.  Spa water shouldn't be a juice, should not be sweet, really shouldn't even have much flavor- just a hint of fruit or herbs.  This pitcher here has a few slices of orange with some lemmon verbina my father had growing on the deck. Experiment with whatever you have, just try to keep it to one fruit and one herb.  Mint and apples.  Cucumber and basil.  Rosemary and strawberry.  Really almost anything tastes great.

REVIEW: Mojitos at the Chesterfield (Miami)

White rum, sugar, lime, sparkeling water and mint. Make it. The perfect summertime drink. Fresh, tastey and aromatic. I have to say there are few things better than relaxing your sunbathed body in the shade while sipping on a mojito watching people pass by. The mojito pictured above with a sugar cane stirrer is from the Chesterfield on Collins in South Beach- instead of spending 16 bucks on one, buy the bottle and make it at home. TIP: make a traditional mojito and garnish with chopped mangos, blueberries, melon or whaever fruit you might have around.

bloody mary time

I think one of the best brunch ideas ever is to have a make-your-own bloody mary bar. Have out the vodka, tomato juice, clamato if you like, A1, hotsauce, black pepper, lemmon wedges, beef broth, old bay, cracked pepper, pickled green beans, celery, asparagus, crispy bacon... the options are endless. This is a great way to get inventive and one of the few occasions where I say "more is more." Today this modest bloody had vodka, tomato juice, worchestershire sauce, a touch of taco seasoning, cracked pepper, hot sauce, fresh parsley, green olives, celery and a lemmon wedge. PERFECTION.

DRINK: prosecco with kiwi

again, the title says it all.. we got a little creative and had a kiwi to use up. turned out to not be half bad. a nice dry prosecco with the sweet tart kiwi sliced inside. let it sit a little while so the the kiwi flavor will have time to infuse the sparkling wine.