Top secret recipes_ sodas, smoothies, sp - Todd Wilbur [8]
sliced strawberries, thawed
1½ ounces pineapple juice
1½ ounces papaya juice
1½ ounces apple juice
1½ ounces club soda
GARNISH
1 fresh strawberry
1. Fill a 14-ounce glass with ice.
2. Pour strawberries, with syrup, and juices into a shaker and shake well.
3. Pour drink over the ice, and add a fresh strawberry to the rim of the glass. Splash the club soda over the top and serve with a straw.
• MAKES 1 DRINK.
SMOOTHIES
Frozen blended fruit drinks weren’t called “smoothies” back in the 20s when Orange Julius first made them popular. That name, and the many different ingredients used in the drinks today, didn’t catch on until the 1990s.
The trend toward smoothies as we know them these days may have started in health club shake bars where a wide variety of juices and fruits were mixed with ice, protein powders, and vitamins in a blender. Sometimes ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sorbet was added to the mix to give the drink a smooth texture.
These juice bars would eventually break away from the health clubs and become independently run outlets or large chains, such as Jamba Juice. Soon, established ice cream chains such as Baskin-Robbins and Dairy Queen were offering their own versions of smoothies, and today the drink is everywhere.
You can make smoothies very easily at home with the same type of ingredients the pros use, as long as you have a blender. Professional smoothie makers have blenders designed specifically for the job. Industrial-strength models speed up and slow down automatically and stop on cue when the drink is just right. These machines make the job much easier for the cats behind the counter when multiple orders are flying in.
You can use a regular home blender, though, to create perfect smoothies like those you get at a chain.You may have to stop your machine once in a while to stir things up a bit with a long-handled spoon, but when the ice is all crushed and the drink is smooth, you will have re-created the refreshing smoothie experience without waiting in any pesky lines.
APPLEBEE’S BANANABERRY FREEZE
Ah, if only kitchen cloning were an exact science. While researching this one I saw the same bartender make the drink two different ways on two different days. Only after a firm grilling did I get her to admit to her personal “improvement” to the chain’s secret recipe.The official clone includes the ingredients found below. But if you want to add a little pineapple juice—as some independent-thinking bartenders are apt to do—you might discover you have indeed created a tastier version of this refreshing smoothie. On that day the cloning gods shall be looking the other way.
But, for heaven’s sake, be sure your banana is soft and ripe. This is a detail the gods won’t ignore.
1 10-ounce box frozen sweetened
sliced strawberries, thawed
cup pina colada mix (from
recipe on page 230)
2 cups ice
2 ripe bananas
GARNISH
whipped cream
2 fresh strawberries
1. Use a blender to puree the entire contents of the thawed box of frozen strawberries.
2. Addcup pina colada mix and 2 cups of ice to the blender.
3. Cut the end off each banana—set these pieces aside to use later as a garnish—then put the bananas into the blender.
4. Blend on high speed until the ice is crushed and the drink is smooth. Pour into two tall stemmed glasses, such as daiquiri glasses.
5. Slice each strawberry halfway up through the middle and add one to the rim of each glass.
6. Cut each banana slice halfway through the middle and add one to the rim of each glass next to the strawberry. Top with whipped cream and serve with a straw.
• MAKES 2 DRINKS.
BASKINS-ROBBINS PEACH SMOOTHIE
Dairy Queen’s got twice as many stores, but Baskin-Robbins is still the country’s second-largest ice cream chain with around 2,500 outlets spread across the nation. And, naturally, when the chain known for its 31 flavors of ice cream noticed the smoothie craze building in 1997, it hopped right on board with its own selection made from sherbet or vanilla fat-free frozen yogurt. In the stores, servers use a pineapple