The hard drive on my laptop went belly up this week. Died quickly in my arms, I don’t believe it suffered. There wasn’t any warning that it was sick. One minute the screen saver was frolicking and the next minute everything went black. Several attempts to recesitate by powering on and off  failed. We even called in the finest surgeon in town, not even the Dell technician couldn’t bring it back to life. It’s now at the morgue (data extraction business) for an autopsy.

During the whole ordeal I found myself heartlessly dreaming of a new Apple Powerbook but the Hub cheerfully announced that he had purchased a three-year warranty…drat. So I’m back in business with a shiny new hard drive. The Powerbook will have to wait until the next tragedy.

So what else do you do during crises but drink.  Let’s talk about Micheladas.

I think you all know by now that my favorite food to eat, smell, cook,  look at and talk about is Mexican. A couple of weeks ago, we went to my new favorite restaurant in town and saw this Mexican cocktail on the menu. I must preface by saying that I can’t even remember the last time I had a beer. I’m not a beer drinker…don’t like it one bit. But, with the discovery of this tasty combination, I could see myself sporting a healthy beer belly in no time.

I read that Micheladas have been around for decades in Mexico and have been especially popular in the Northern areas of Mexico. The Michelada stemmed from the usual practice of adding a squeeze of lime and a dash of salt to a beer. Now there are as many recipes as there are bartenders. I opted for a Rick Bayless version. Let’s take a look at what’s in this wonderful Mexican beverage  (pronounced mEE-shaw-lah-da)

• Coarse sea salt for the rim of the glass (I used a pink Hawaiian)
• Plenty of ice cubes
• 2 12 oz. cans Mexican Beer, such as Bohemia, Tecate or Corona
• 6 – 8 limes, enough to squeeze into 1/2 C. lime juice
• 1 t. hot sauce such as Tabasco or Tapatio.  (We used the latter, I believe you should use a heat as strong as your threshold can handle)
• 1 t. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 t. Maggi or Soy sauce

In a bowl combine lime juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire and Maggi and whisk well. With two chilled glasses take a chunk of the lime and press around the rims. Invert the rims onto a plate containing the sea salt. Add ice cubes to fill about half way into the glasses. Next divide the sauce mixture evenly into each glass pouring over the ice.  Slowly add the beer so that the thick mixture remains cozy in the bottom of the glass. Top the glasses with a slice of lime or maybe even a small chili pepper for a festive look.

Serve with a long straw. Why? For the first few sips you want to suck up some of that thick rich hot sauce from the bottom of the glass and then chase it with a sip of the cold sparkling ice cubed beer from the top and a crunch of sea salt that is beautifully fringed on the glass. This makes for a unique flavor sensation.

The flavors in this cocktail are as exciting as it’s appearance.  Deliciously spicy and refreshing.  About half way through, stir it all together and let the lime jump in for a swim.  It tasted wonderful sitting in the warm fall sun on the back deck while waiting for the grill to heat for a sizzling steak dinner.

Micheladas…It’s Whats For Happy Hour

One year ago:  Rode Kool, braised red cabbage, a Halloween Tradition