Thursdays in the Kitchen – 4th of July Backyard BBQ Spectacular Class at Fullerton Arboretum

Fourth of July is just around the corner and OurLocaltopia and the Fullerton Arboretum has you covered! Tonight’s class covered a menu of multiple meats, cocktails and side dishes that will make your BBQ the hit of the neighborhood! Here is the recipe booklet from class tonight: 4th of July Backyard BBQ Recipe Booklet. Share it with your friends, or print a new one since yours is probably covered in BBQ! Read on for the beer cocktail recipe and some pictures from tonight’s class…

A michelada is a beer-based cocktail native to Mexico. Lager is commonly mixed with tomato juice or clamato and the drink seasoned with sauces that are salty, spicy, and rich in umami – soy, hot pepper, worcestershire, and magi seasoning (a.k.a. MSG – the vast majority of the population is not adversely affected by MSG and it is oh, so savoury so get your umami on once in a while!). The drink is commonly served in a chilled glass with a salted rim and a slice of lime. This recipe is a fresh, garden-ready, continental take on the Michelada.

Recipe – Makes three servings of 500ml each

For this recipe you will need three pint/large beer glasses, a food processor, a fine-mesh sieve, ice, and two friends (or the better part of an evening).

Ingredients

3 cans of “affordable” American or Mexican lager (you can buy better beer if you must)

6 medium tomatoes – extremely ripe fruits are preferable

2 limes

1 cucumber

Tabasco sauce

Worcestershire Sauce

Kosher or Coarse Sea Salt

Finely Ground Black Pepper

 

Peel cucumber and halve lengthwise reserving half of the cucumber for garnish

Roughly chop half of the cucumber and all of the tomatoes and add to the bowl of a food processor

Process until very smooth (an immersion blender will also work if you do not have a food

processor)

Pass blended mixture through a fine-mesh sieve

Season the strained mixture with the juice of 1 lime, several dashes of Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and a generous pinch of salt. The mixture should taste quite salty and very savoury.

Moisten the rim of each glass with a wedge of lime and dust with salt and finely ground black pepper

To each glass add ice and ¾ of a can of beer and fill with tomato-cucumber base

Garnish with a baton of cucumber and wedge of lime; green olives would be nice here too

And enjoy some photos from class…