I first met Joanne Weir back in 2002 when I was managing the culinary program at Sur La Table’s Arlington, VA store. She has become one of my favorites chefs and being from California, she held a special place in my heart. Joanne loves to teach. Everything she does allows you to absorb the very essence of everything she says and does. Her style of teaching is very hands-on and very deliberate. She is thorough and thoughtful at the same time. When she describes a dish to you, your mouth starts to water as she conjures up a visual of the dish to come.

A few years ago Joanne started a group called Agave Girls, women who appreciate tequila. 100% agave tequila – not the aspirin-inducing kind we remember from college days. It wasn’t long before the buzz about Agave Girls gained national attention (and tequila became the fastest growing spirit in the U.S.), and pretty soon Joanne’s agent called to say her book proposal for TEQUILA: A Guide to Types, Flights, Cocktails and Bites was accepted!

TEQUILA is an aficionados guide with 60+ recipes for both cocktails and food! One of the cocktails she created is the Surly Temple, which the media is going crazy over and other recipes were contributed by top tequila bartenders around the country.

Joanne recommends the heavenly Prado cocktail developed by Kacy Fitch at the Zig Zag Café in Seattle, WA – it pairs perfectly with my tequila-infused recipes including savory Chorizo Hand Pies and incredibly delicious Coco Loco Tequila Cupcakes.

Prado
Serves 1

A prado is a grassy “meadow” or “field” in Spanish. This aptly named drink is the loveliest green. Airy and light, with a generous dose of agave, this cocktail is sure to impress. Its heavenly foam crown is most easily made by employing an interesting technique: remove the spring from your cocktail strainer and use it in the shaker as a whisk!

2 ounces blanco tequila
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1 ounce maraschino liqueur
1 egg white
1 flamed lime peel (see below), for garnish

Combine all of the ingredients except the garnish in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and shake vigorously for 5 seconds. Using a whisk or the spring from the cocktail shaker, whisk the drink to create a little bit of foam. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with the flamed lime peel.

Flamed Citrus Peel
Remove a 2-to-3-inch long piece of citrus peel using a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler. To flame the peel, light the end of a toothpick or bamboo skewer with a lighter. Hold the burning toothpick or skewer about 2 fingers above the rim of the glass and warm the outside of the peel. Then, holding the peel just above the flame, sharply squeeze it, propelling the oil from the peel through the flame and into the glass. Drop the flamed peel into the cocktail.

Reprinted from TEQUILA: A Guide to Types, Flights, Cocktails, and Bites by Joanne Weir. Photography by Lara Hata. Copyright © 2009. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA.

Joanne will be doing a book tour and will also be doing a few cooking classes highlighting some of the food and drinks from Tequila. Visit www.joanneweir.com for more information on where she will be and for lots of recipe ideas!

Joanne has had several shows on PBS, most recently she is in her newest season of Joanne Weir’s Cooking Class. Prior to that she had two successful series “Weir Cooking in the Wine Country” and “Weir Cooking in the City”. In addition she has had several cookbooks such as From Tapas to Meze, companion books to her PBS series, most notably “Weir Cooking in the City” which won the 2005 James Beard Award. Other titles include: Joanne Weir’s More Cooking in the Wine Country; Weir Cooking : Recipes from the Wine Country; and You Say Tomato as well as several titles for Williams-Sonoma. Joanne also conducts several culinary tours to France and Italy each year.