Thin Mint Irish Coffee

I love being a part of The Secret Recipe Club because it motivates me to cook and try new recipes and also it forces me to get them posted which is my major downfall.  Because of the club I have found some wonderful new cooking blogs and made some great new recipes including Home Style Chicken Curry, Holy Guacamole, Cilantro Lime Chicken, Nutella Crêpes and Welsh Cakes. 

Each month we are assigned another participating blogger and secretly from their blog we make any recipe of our choice, as written or with any changes we need or desire.  We are informed of the time and date to publish and then at that assigned time, all the participating bloggers go live with their posts and we get to see who cooked from our blog and what they decided to make.  The Secret Recipe Club has grown from just a handful of bloggers all in a once a month posting group to where it is now, with four groups of approximately 75 bloggers each.  I am part of group ‘A’ and this month my posting date was on the tenth and I published a wonderful recipe for Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies.   

Sometimes bloggers sign up for the month and assignments are made but things happen and for one reason or another they can’t complete their assignment so as not to have a blogger left out and not have someone cooking from their blog, reinforcements are brought in and that is why I am doing a second Secret Recipe Club posting this month.  About a week ago, Amanda, the brain behind this group contacted me and asked if I could fill in and cook from a blog where the original assignee had to back out.  I of course jumped on the opportunity especially when I saw which blog I would get to cook from, Rhonda’s The Kitchen Witch. 

Rhonda seems like a very cool lady who knows who she is, speaks her mind and doesn’t pull any punches.  She’s funny and witty and I love reading her posts.  Her tastes in food span the globe as do her travels and her pictures of it all, well they’re just gorgeous.  Our food tastes are very similar and a few of her recipes are virtually the same as the ones I make.  Rhonda makes grilled pizzas very much like my Blacksmith Pizzas, her Tiramisu and Hummus are almost identical to my recipes as is her Lemon Curd.  We both make Jalapeno Poppers but she has a very unique way of stuffing them which I’ll have to try the next time I make them.  Rhonda also makes one of Eammon’s favorite appetizers which I’ll only make for him once a year as she has the dish nailed when she calls it Heart Attack on a Stick.

I was first drawn to Rhonda’s blog a few months ago when she posted a recipe for Roasted Butter Chicken which just looks beyond delicious and sounds super easy to make.  Right away when I found out that I was going to be cooking from her blog I knew, just KNEW that I was going to make that chicken for this post…but then I looked at some of the other recipes I had bookmarked from her blog and I was torn.  I adore asparagus and she has two recipes, Grilled Asparagus Wrapped in Boursin and Prosciutto and Grilled Asparagus Gruyere Tart which I know I would love.  I’ve also been eyeing her Chili Rubbed Pork Steak with Cilantro Lime Butter and Grilled Pineapple and if you read my blog at all you know that cilantro, lime and chili are favorite flavors here in the Cook Lisa Cook home.  Sometime around the holidays I’m planning on making Rhonda’s Brown Sugar and Smoked Sea Salt Brussels Sprouts as Eammon loves Brussels Sprouts and I’m always on the search for new and delicious ways to prepare them.  Then, how cute and delicious looking are her Mini Pizzatizers and how perfect they would be for not only a party but to put in Maisie’s lunch or for a snack at gymnastics practice.   

In the end and after debating over which recipe to make I finally decided on Rhonda’s Thin Mint Irish Coffee.  It had turned cold and rainy here in Georgia and what better than a wonderful hot drink laced with booze to warm ourselves on a cold and wet night.  Plus does Eammon and that Irish face look like he’d ever say no to a good Irish Coffee?  Eammon declared the coffee gorgeous, perfect and brilliant so needless to say it was a hit, such a big hit that we’ve enjoyed a drink or two a few nights already and I’ll be making it again and again.

My cup runneth over!

Thin Mint Irish Coffee (Adapted from here)
For one drink

1/2 oz. Kahlua Mocha
1/2 oz. Crème de Menthe
1 oz. Irish Whiskey
1/2 cup strong coffee (I used Fresh Market’s Wake Me Up Before You Cocoa)
3 oz. whipping cream
1 tsp. Crème de Cacao
1 tsp. sugar
1 Thin Mint cookie, chopped for garnish plus a few for snacking
Green decorating sugar sprinkles

Mix Kahlua Mocha, Crème de Menthe, Irish Whiskey and coffee in an 8 oz. mug.  In a cold bowl whip together the whipping cream, Crème de Cacao and sugar until soft peaks form.  Top the coffee with the whipped cream and garnish with the cookie crumbs and sprinkles.

Enjoy!!