{Day 5} Fizzy citrus and rosemary martini + other miscellaneous

Who’s thirsty?

Hydration is important and with all the jelly making and other cone-shaped food activities: it’s time to have a drink! No one likes a watered-down cocktail, so in today’s post I’m going to feature the mould upside down in the form of a gorgeous and very functional, self-chilling, martini glass.

For the drink of choice, I have decided to give my mandarin sherbet martini a new, slighty savoury lease on life with some muddled rosemary. The original has always been a crowd pleaser, and since I’ve had a few fresh rosemary sprigs leftover from the country-style terrine, it was a case of perfect timing. As far as the choice of citrus goes, I hand squeezed a combination of imperial mandarins, tangelos and a blood orange, which are currently in season and taste best from the local organic markets!

Let me explain the self-chilling function now. Since the mould has to be placed in a glass or mug to ‘function’ upside down, the said glass or mug shoud be filled with crushed ice just before serving to keep the drink nice and cold. Ladies are welcome to enjoy the drink through a straw, while gents can lift the mould out of the ‘chilling chamber’ and sip around the rim. Simple.

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What else I have noticed over the last few days is that the Royal Selangor jelly moulds are like little pieces of art, designed to shine. If they were not they would have been made out of plastic and lived somewhere between all of the other Tupperware containers and the back of the cupboard. Instead, they dazzle. Their polished pewter exterior is gorgeous, the modern mountain-inspired lines simple but eye-catching and they bear the designer’s signature, like any good art piece.

So why not display them as an art piece? On the bookcase, window sill, buffet or dresser? And as I discovered yesterday, they are the perfect place to rest your bracelets and rings even, and highlight their true ornamental value as well. Considering that they also help save lives and help raise breast cancer awareness, they are priceless little heroes to me.

Cheers, I will rasie a glass cone to that!

Giveaway

Don’t forget, each comment on the Royal Selangor Get Your Jelly On challenge posts on my blog (Day 1, Day 2, etc)  is your entry to win an Olympus VG-110 camera. Giveaway is open worldwide! Entries close October 30, midnight AEST. Winner will be announced on the blog on October 31.

Makes 2

Fizzy citrus and rosemary martini

As far as the citrus goes, blood oranges can be substituted by tangelos, and perhaps a tablespoon of sugar as they tend to be sweeter than Valencia or navel oranges. If you don’t want to add sugar you could also top up with extra mandarin juice as long as you get the sweeter variety. I went with 40ml vodka to make the drink lighter on the alcohol, but it will still taste nice with about 60ml of vodka.

Freshly squeezed (not bottled) juice of:

• 2 imperial mandarins
• 2 tangelos
• 1 blood orange

The rest:

• 2 fresh rosemary sprigs
• 40-60ml vodka
• lemondade

You will also need:

• ice cubes + crushed ice

To make the juice: squeeze all fruits using a handheld citrus press – the amount of fruit should yield just under 2 cups.

To make the martini: place rosemary sprigs into your cocktail shaker (or a jug) and muddle with a wooden spoon until the leaves release fragrance. Add squeezed juices, vodka and a handful of ice cubes. Shake or stir for a few seconds for the cocktail to chill. Allow to stand for a minute as you prepare the glass.

To assemble: place crushed ice 3/4 up the glass the mould will be sitting in. Position the mould securely in the glass making sure the ice surrounds the bottom of the mould. Strain the cocktail into the mould. Top with a splash of lemonade to add some fizz to the mix and serve garnished with a little rosemary branch.

Tip: you could reserve a little of the mandarin peel to add a burnt orange flavour dimension to the drink. Simply heat a 5cm long strip of the peel over a lighter then squeeze the peel to release the oils into the drink. You can put the same peel in for decoration.