Pineapple Mimosa with Caramelized Orange and Sage

Blah Blah Blah Drinks!!

Briana Riddock

If you love brunch as much as I do, you will enjoy this simple upgrade of caramelized orange slices to the afternoon breakfast classic. The most work that has to be done is baking the orange slices to caramelized perfection. I wanted to incorporate a fresh woodsy herb, and sage was the best to pair with citrus. I had a specialty cocktail at a swanky New York bar that featured sage oil! That gave me the inspiration to add sage to my version of the pineapple mimosa. Wedding season along with the warmth of the spring is quickly approaching. If you are hosting a bridal shower or baby shower, consider serving this pineapple mimosa for the intimate occasion.

The color of the mimosa starts to change to a darker amber color the longer it soaks with the orange. The burnt sugar from the orange adds a slight butterscotch flavor. By baking the sage along with the orange, it allows the sage flavor to be infused into the orange. Guests at  your brunch party will be completely astonished and impressed by the sophistication that the sage and orange add. Traditionally, dried sage is used to ward off evil spirits by burning it throughout your home! It has multiple purposes outside of the kitchen. If you cannot find fresh sage in your local grocery, you can substitute it with with rosemary or thyme

Pineapple Mimosa with Caramelized Oranges and Sage

Recipe Type: Drinks

Cuisine: Cocktail

Author: seasoningbottle

Prep time: 8 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 23 mins

Serves: 6

This pineapple mimosa is the way to go for your next brunch with friends and family. The touch of burnt sugar from caramelized oranges add a deeper sweet taste.

Ingredients

• 2 cups pineapple juice

• 1 bottle of champagne, chilled

• bunch of fresh sage

• one orange

• 4 tablespoons brown sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Cut orange into 1/4 inch slices and place on a cookie sheet. It would be wise to line your cookie sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up.

3. Add 1-2 leaves of sage on each orange slice and sprinkle with evenly with brown sugar.

4. Bake oranges for 10 minutes and flip. Bake for an additional 5 minutes until dark golden color. Sage leaves may fall off when you flip the orange slices, but its ok!

5. Remove orange slices from oven and allow to cool.

6. In a large pitcher combine pineapple juice and champagne.

7. Place an orange slice in each champagne fluke. Pour mimosa over orange slices.

8. Garnish with additional sage leaves.

Senegalese Bissap

I drink a version of bissap every Christmas season with my family and didn’t even know it. It was not until I went to a restaurant in Little Senegal, a Senegalese neighborhood in Harlem,  where I had bissap and I found a connection between my Jamaican culture and African heritage. Bissap is the national drink of Senegal and can be enjoyed at every meal. It’s floral aroma has a slight tang with citrus undertones. Commonly known as sorrel in the Caribbean or flor de Jamaica in Mexico, bissap goes by a few different names depending on which tropical climate you have it in. The deep ruby colored drink comes from a hibiscus flower native to West Africa. If you drink hot hibiscus tea in the morning, bissap is its cooler counterpart that is traditionally served cold. Bissap is simply sweetened with sugar, but it easily transforms into a spiced drink with the addition if ginger, cloves, allspice seeds, or orange peels.

When I am in New York and Atlanta I know exactly where to find dried bissap or sorrel petals. I go to any Caribbean, Latin, or African food market and I know I’ll find it. Oddly (or not so oddly), I knew exactly (well not exactly, I did a little wandering) where to find bissap here in Paris where I currently live. I headed to Chateau Rouge, a district in Paris where shoppers can find speciality products and foods from North and Sub-Saharan Africa. I roamed a few narrow streets passing hair braiding shops and seamstress shops. I found a quaint grocery store where I spotted a bag of dried bissap almost immediately, along with a few other spices I was in need of. I roamed further to discover a full market of vendors on the street selling meats, fresh produce, and roasted chestnuts charing on an open flame.

I am very excited to have this post be included in a virtual Black History Month Potluck. This potluck feature recipes from black bloggers that have unique cultural inputs to the culinary world. Be sure to check out other bloggers of color from our Facebook page – We Love Black Food Bloggers.

Senegalese Bissap

Cuisine: African; Caribbean

Author: seasoningbottle

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 8 servings

Bissap is a refreshing traditional drink from Senegal. The deep red color comes from the roselle hibiscus flower.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried bissap petals

• 8 cups boiling water

• 1 cup white sugar

• 5 cloves (optional)

• 10 allspice seeds (optional)

• 3 cinnamon sticks (optional)

• handful fresh crushed ginger (optional)

• 4 ounces overproof white rum (optional)

Instructions

1. When water is boiled remove from heat and add the dried bissap petals.

2. Stir in sugar to dissolve.

3. To make the Caribbean version add cloves, allspice seeds, cinnamon sticks, and ginger.

4. Steep petals for 15 to 20 minutes and strain with a fine mesh strainer.

5. Add overproof white rum to spike the drink!

6. Chill in the refrigerator overnight and serve cold.

Check out the other bloggers in the Black History Month Virtual Potluck:

Meiko and the Dish | Crispy Fried Chicken with Pepper Jelly Molasses

Whisk It Real Gud | Trinidad Oxtail Pelau

Raised on Ramen | Caramelized Plantain Tacos with Pecan-Honey Butter

Dash of Jazz | Aunt Georgia’s Peach Cobbler

Foodie In New York | Twice Baked Yams

Chef Kenneth | Smothered Okra with Shrimp

Savory Spicerack | Po’ Boys with Cajun Tempura Shrimp

Chocolate For Basil | Groundnut Stew (Peanut Stew)

Simply LaKita | Banana Pudding

My Forking Life | Callaloo and Saltfish

Gucci Belly | Swamp Water

Kaluhi’s Kitchen | Ukwaju (Tamarind) Marinated Spicy Chicken Thighs

Sweet Savant | Coffee-Rubbed Lamb Ribs

Salty Sweet Life | Southern Greens Shakshuka

Eat.Drink.Frolic. | Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I Heart Recipes | Southern Fried Cabbage

Jehan Can Cook | Mango Turmeric Smoothie

Margarita’s On The Rocks | Lemon Pepper Fish Tacos with Collard Green Slaw

A Soulful Twist | Slow-Cooker Gumbo (Gluten Free)

The Kitchenista Diaries | Coconut Milk Braised Collard Greens

My Life Runs On Food | Orange Chocolate Smoothie

Butter Be Ready | Skillet Cornbread

Domestic Dee | Shrimp Creole

D.M.R. Fine Foods | Curry Chicken Pot Pie

The Inner Gourmet | Lamb Fried Rice

Marisa Moore Nutrition | Hoppin’ John Patties with Warm Tomato Salsa

The Hungry Hutch | Blood Orange Cornmeal Cake

Coconut Mojito

Jelly jars I clean and saved.

It has been raining in New York and I can only think about the summer days that recently left us for the cooling fall days. I choose a favorite drink every summer and this year it is a coconut mojito. Since there are a few warm days mixed in with gusty chilly days, I figure I could get away with a tropical drink for a week or so longer. The mojito is a traditional Cuban drink that consists of mint leaves, lime, white rum, and sugar. I used a Jamaican white rum from the company J. Wray and Nephew. If you do not chest hairs man or woman this rum will give it to you. It is a powerfully 63 percent proof liquor. A shot of this rum straight is for the daring and crazy. Anytime my mother or family visited Jamaica they toted back a bottle of this rum from the duty-free shops in the Jamaican airport. (PS – Feel free to use less rum! I proportioned it for this recipe but it’s still a high proof rum!)

The lime brings out the brightness of the mint and gives you a tangy tickle on your tongue. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of simple syrup that you can make ahead of time. It is a 1 parts water to 1 parts sugar ratio. I warmed water in the microwave and melt in the sugar. Most recipes call for you to boil the mixture in a saucepan and cool.  

Pouring in simple syrup.

I used the end of my wooden spoon to muddle the lime, mint, ice cubes, and simple syrup.

I went to Thailand over the summer with a group of my close girlfriends. We had constantly had coconuts in our hands. How beautiful is it to drink straight from a coconut without the worry of high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, harmful additives, and salts. I thought the coconut flavor was an appropriate spin for this drink. Coconut water should be available in your grocery store. I love the cans that have actual coconut flesh in it. Tiny bits of coconut adds a juicy caviar texture to the drink.  

I found these cute wooden spoons in a Thailand market.

Coconut Mojito

Cuisine: Cuban drink

Author: seasoningbottle

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 2

Summer is over but we can still enjoy this mint and lime drink into the fall season

Ingredients

• 12 mint leaves

• 1 lime cut into wedges

• 2 tablespoon simple syrup

• 1/2 cup coconut water

• 2 tablespoons Jay Wray & Nephew White Rum (63% proof)

• -or- substitute for lighter proof white rum

Instructions

1. In a jar muddle mint leaves, juice of lime, and lime wedges together.

2. Add simple syrup and ice. Muddle together.

3. Pour in coconut water and rum and stir with spoon.

4. Garnish with additional mint leaves.

Love,

Briana