Mikey and I had the most amazing honeymoon ever on Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico. We stayed at the most precious 12 room hotel on the beach called Hotel Secreto. It was so quaint and cute and there were only 2 other couples there all week! It was so relaxing to do nothing. We slept everyday until 10, would have breakfast on the bed on our balcony overlooking the ocean each morning, go lay by the pool, go to the beach, and would just spend the evenings walking around and exploring the quaint little island. The entire island was so full of color and was very inspiring. Even the water was a perfect turquoise color. I really want to go back and do it all again!
One of our favorite things we discovered at an American owned restaurant on the island were pepper infused margaritas. We had watermelon- jalapeño as well as pineapple-chipotle. They were both delicious, but I knew I wanted to recreate the watermelon one the second I tasted it. It is so yummy and refreshing… sweet but with a surprise kick from the heat of the peppers. With it being so hot here the past couple of weeks, it was the perfect time to whip these puppies up. It is a two step prep process that is very worth it. You need to make a watermelon puree and a jalapeño simple syrup. Mikey made the simple syrup with jalapeños that we had growing so I can’t take all of the credit on this one. We are a good team… Maybe we should get married or something!?!♥
Fresh Watermelon- Jalapeño Margaritas…
- 1 sweet ripe seedless watermelon
- 4-6 jalapeños
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- triple sec
- good tequila
- ice
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- lime wedges for serving
Chop up the watermelon and remove the rind. Puree in a blender until it turns to a liquid. You will need to do this in batches as it won’t all fit in the blender at once. Once each batch is pureed, strain the mixture into a pitcher. Straining is not that necessary, but makes the watermelon juice much cleaner. Refrigerate until ready to use.
To make the simple syrup, mix equal parts sugar and water in a pan with the jalapeños. Bring mixture to a boil until sugar is dissolved and the peppers begin to soften. Let cool and pour into a jar and refrigerate until ready to use. You can keep the leftovers of the syrup in the fridge for a while for future use.
To mix the margaritas, I of course eye-ball it. You can play with the proportions as you wish, as I like my drinks a bit stiff:) In a cocktail shaker, add ice, a few shots of tequila, splash of triple sec, large splash of the simple syrup, and top off with the watermelon puree. Shake until cocktail is well blended.
On a small plate, mix salt and chili powder. Wet the rims of your glasses with lime juice and dip in the salt mixture. Fill glasses with ice and serve up the margarita with fresh lime juice. Ahhhh…. summer, or in our case, Mexico in a glass!!!! And for those of you looking for a relaxing vacation, check out Hotel Secreto. It was a great place run by great people. We highly recommend it.
