Daiquiri

Daiquiri is served 'straight up' without ice.

45 ml. white rum
20 ml. lime juice
5 ml. sugar syrup (1 part sugar, 1 part water)

Mix in shaker filled with ice cubes. Strain into glass and serve.

Caipirinha

Caipirinha (caipira = peasant).

Half a lime per glass
2 - 3 teaspoons raw sugar or sugar syrup. I bought a bottle of Monin Pure Sugar Cane Syrup. Update: I I make my own syrup by dissolving some sugar in water. One tablespoon seems to work.
50 ml. Cachaça 61 (best brand I could find outside Brazil)
Crushed ice

Cut lime in small chunks (remove end caps, quarter the lime and remove white inside; cut each wedge in 4 chunks). Place lime and sugar into old fashioned glass and muddle. Fill the glass with crushed ice and add the Cachaça. Mix with spoon or transfer to other glass.

Black straw: courtesy of Michiel Poodt.

On the rocks; poured over ice.

Iced Matcha

Repost from www.hibiki-an.com.

Sen no Rikyu (1522 - 1591) who created the Japanese Tea Ceremony, unfortunately did not include a recipe for Iced Matcha in his teachings. It was invented later by an instructor of the traditional Tea Ceremony. But this instructor had to enjoy it by himself in secret because only hot Matcha was allowed in the formal Tea Ceremony. Fortunately today we do not need to be secretive about enjoying delicious Iced Matcha!

* Cool the Matcha bowl in the refrigerator in advance.
* Sift the matcha in order to prevent lumps, so the flavor and texture will be smooth and mellow.
* Pour 2 Chashaku of sifted Matcha into the Matcha bowl that has been cooled in advance.
* Pour 70ml of 0 Celsius temperature water into the Matcha bowl and whisk with the Chasen until the tea gets frothy. Matcha gets frothy when it is mixed with either cold 0 Celsius temperature or hot boiling water.

[source]

Winter cheese 'vacherine' and red wine

I bought some vacherine cheese and a bottle of red wine, which should go well with the cheese.

The wine (a Beaujolais): Morgon 2006. Le Clos de Lys. Domaine J. Chamonard, propriétaire-récoltant à Villié-Morgon (Rhône).

It's an excellent wine, about 16 euro's in The Netherlands. Probably 10 euro's in France. A very light-bodied wine. Highly recommended.

Made from Gamay grape (?), which has a thin skin and few tannins.

The Ultimate Brownie

Tall like a cakey-brownie, but dense like a fudgy-brownie.

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

* 200 gram 70% dark chocolate
* 125 gram butter
* 4 or 5 eggs
* 400 gram raw sugar
* vanilla [ First read this: http://www.vanillareview.com/ ]
* 200 gram flour + baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 150 gram chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

Preparation:

Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat; set aside. In a mixer, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla at high speed for 10 minutes. Blend in chocolate mixture, flour and salt until just mixed. Stir in the nuts. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. (Don't overbake.)