A breakfast martini? Well, OK then.
My wife recently picked up a copy of My Grill by Pete Evans, an Australian chef. The recipes are making me salivate — mixed kabobs with beer damper… Indian-spiced grilled fish in banana leaves… trout with mild mushrooms, proscuitto and garlic. I hope to try some soon, but in the meantime we’ve tried out two of his drinks. His book is divided into chapters, more like themes, like “getting away”, “lazy days” and “into the evening.” And the food and cocktails from fish house punch to the raspberry lemonade mocktail fit the occasion. We tried the breakfast martini, which he uses gin for, and the paloma. The latter drink we barely altered. He calls for a bit of simple syrup, or sugar syrup as he calls it. Since we were using a store-bought 100 percent juice and not squeezing our own, we figured it was sweet enough. Here are the two recipes, with our adaptations.
Oh the wonders of tequila
The Paloma
- 7 ounces tequila
- 7 ounces pink grapefruit juice
- juice from two limes
- 2 ounces club soda
Put ingredients in a pitcher with ice and stir. Pour into highballs. Serves four.
Before moving onto, the Breakfast Martini, let me just say we really mucked about with this one. Not only does it call for gin, but some lemon juice and simple syrup. Instead, we used limoncello, to which we’re partial, fresh orange juice and of course vodka. Also, so the yummy marmalade bits didn’t get lost in the shaker, we put half of the marmalade in the glass and half in the shaker.
The Breakfast Martini
- 3 ounces vodka
- 1 1/2 ounces limoncello
- 1/2 ounce triple sec
- 2 tbsp marmalade
- juice from one orange
Divide one tablespoon of marmalade between two martini glasses. In a shaker with ice combine remaining marmalade, liquors and juice. Shake, and if you’re an American, say something like crikey that smells good and giggle. Pour in prepared glasses and garnish with orange slices.
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They. Look. Awesome.
I’m a huge fan of the Paloma. Very refreshing, more south of the border than down under though. My understanding is that it is more Mexican than the Margarita. Definitely worth a try for any who have not!
That makes sense, just trying to give credit to our inspiration!
But of course. Sounds like a cool book!
I can’t believe I just gave away my shaker!! Uh-oh. Maybe I could invite them back as a guest and shake up your recipe for us both.
Paloma is a great drink for summer! I haven’t had one in a while — I think you’ve inspired me.
That breakfast martini looks heavenly! I still have a few martini glasses that haven’t broke yet, so I think I just may put them to good use. The rest of the martini glasses broke recently when I was cleaning. Sigh. That’s what I get for trying to clean the house. Maybe the next time I get the urge to clean the house, I’ll make this martini instead.
Not sure what would happen to the rest of my day if I start it with a breakfast martini. Both cocktails sounds scrumptious.
🙂 Mandy
Mm, so refreshing – definitely something to save for the weekend! Not sure how much of a good idea it would be for something like thin right before driving to work 😉
I bought some martini glasses and we filled them for a cocktail and found we were on the floor pretty quickly because of how much we had drunk. Then I looked at the box and saw that it said “Martini style dessert dishes” 🙂 Love the sound of both of them, and “crikey” breakfast cocktails, “what a simply marvellous notion”…that was my Noel Coward voice by the way!
I nearly stopped reading at breakfast martini! Gotta get me one of those!
The Paloma I have never tried, however we add club soda or sparkling water to my kids juices all the time instead of giving them soda pop. Next time when I have grapefruit juice and clubsoda on hand, I’ll sneak in some vodka for me and the mister!
The breakfast martini sounds delicious, I love lemoncello and I bet the marmelade really gives it an extra kick sweetness too! Great now i’m thirsty for one of these drinks and it’s only 7am! lol
I’m up for that breakfast martini. How cool is that to add marmalade! Was the drink then strained or was it served with the bits of marmalade? I think I’d enjoy it either way.
I think he called for straining them, but we liked the bits of marmalade so we strained some added others to the glass.
The breakfast martini?? How have I missed out on this one??? I’ve never had damper made from beer either. I must be living in the wrong place. 🙂
That does sound like a rather awesome cookbook – love the themed chapters too – very clever. Vodka is off my list but I’m totally excited about a new way to serve up tequila!!
So funny, most people are the other way around.
Really? Tequila is by far our favourite – my husband and I are convinced it must have something ‘special’ in it because we feel better on tequila than any other form of alcohol…
I don’t know if I can handle vodka for breakfast, but I love the idea of putting marmalade in a martini. I might give this a go on a Sunday morning when I know I can go back to bed after having this!
We actually had it on a Saturday night.:)
I need to get that Breakfast Martini to give a kick start to my Summer!!!! Utterly amazing!
I love the idea of a breakfast martini! I wonder if I could convince my boss it’s a good idea… 🙂
Wonderful, they look incredible and sound it too….RaeDi
Love those drinks, but I’m excited to see the Indian-spiced grilled fish in banana leaves!
I just planted the banana tree, so give it time.:)
Who could say no to a breakfast martini? OK, well, maybe not before 10 a.m.? Both of these drinks sound delicious and refreshing. I particularly like the one with limoncello. 🙂
I have to admit, I adore Katherine’s taste. Another party recipe for my drinking friends.. I’m really getting some great stuff from this blog 🙂
Ha, Kay. Of course I have great taste, look who I married! We need to come up with another non-alcoholic drink for you!
Brilliant Aussie drinks!
a Boozie breakfast. Brilliant. 🙂
I love that you post recipes using ingredients that I have lying around the the house but never know what to do with. Bringing out the limoncello!
Both of these drinks sound spectacular. Marmalade in a martini? Intriguing.
Crikey that smells good! Teehee! I must try these.. especially the breakfast martini.
I quite like a lot of Pete Evans recipes. I like the sounds of the breakfast martini, although cancel the rest of the day if I start with that. Limoncello is always a good thing…. ever had crema di limoncello?
I have, but I don’t make that. Hmm…. you’re giving me ideas. Glad an Australian weighed in, I wasn’t sure how popular Evans was.
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perfect for summer. so bright and sunshiny!
Hi, this is my first visit on your blog and after a quick walk around your posts I must say I am very happy to find such a great source of cocktail recipes. Not to mention the food of course!
Thank you for giving me the idea of what to do with the bottle of limoncello I really hate (I was offered it since everyone thinks all the women love sweet alcohol…). It will be perfect in your Breakfast Martini!
I have also once made Paloma with fresh juice and was very proud of my slight modification… Apparently I am not the only one 🙂
Thanks for stopping by! I’d offer to take the limoncello off your hand, but we like it so much I make my own. I try to post a cocktail a week, but I’ll warn you some are quite “girly.” You might want to check out the Italian Sidecar post my wife did: https://rufusguide.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/the-italian-sidecar/.
Thank you for the quick answer! I will go and look at the Italian Sidecar!
(I like “girlie drinks”, especially in the terms of colours. I just put less sweet ingredients or add something acid 😉 ).
I love Pete Evans! I kinda have an obsession with a lot of Aussie chefs, Matt Moran, Pete Evans, Neil Perry, Adriano Zumbo, Donna Hay, Peter Gilmore.. I could go on, but I won’t. These drinks look fantastic and a must try for me, thanks for sharing!
Cool, we just haven’t heard of many so I’m glad an expert weighed in. His food is really cool.
I have forgotten to say I made the Breakfast Martini last night (since I saw it in the afternoon I couldn’t stop thinking about it..). It’s quite strong and fantastic! (Although I added some lemon juice, it was too sweet for my sour drinks habit). I loved it. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Cool, glad you liked it.
My favorite part of being on vacation is having some sort of cocktail with breakfast or brunch… mimosas, bellinis and now breakfast martinis. Love the paloma just for that cute pink color! Cheers 😀
Any drink with grapefruit juice is good by me. They look delicious!
I’ll have to check out that book due to my obsession with that part of the world (or rather, next to it). 😉 This sounds like an awesome tasty beverage!
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