Tangelo slice and a Mimosa to go with it

Initially I made this as a garnish for the post below, Coconut Panna Cotta with Minneola Tangelo Coulis, but one thing led to another, and I found multiple uses for these beautifully oven dried Tangelo slices, so figured a Mimosa to go with it. I am reluctant to admit it but it's true...I am not very sophisticated when it comes to cocktails, wines and ales. Some drinks I am allergic to including red wine, most make me numb and sleepy.  But then some like beer, champagne and margaritas I do like, make my lively personality, to put it mildly, even livelier.  Only few sips will do the trick, am not a great drinking buddy, I fault my Indian genetics. My first and probably last hangover was when I was thirty in Israel.  Jonathan had a project there with an American company, most 'kids' on the project were Europeans and Americans in their 20's, single, dating or newly married.  We were the only ones with a five year old.  Our energetic son would play soccer (football) on the beach with the Europeans and play Football with the Americans.  This young, hip, beautiful and professional crowd partied and we partied with them.  One of the parties was at a club right on the Mediterranean, an open bar, jello shots and all.  Had no clue what jello shots were, and they slid really easily.  My first hangover and my last:).

Let me back up a little, come to think of it, I will be helping out a friend, who is marrying off her daughter soon, with a brunch at her home for out of town guests.  What a perfect cocktail and presentation this would be for that occasion as well as your Holiday brunch. I got these California Minneola Tangelos at Whole Foods for $2.99/3lbs. They were firm and fresh with an explosion of flavor. Tangelos are a hybrid of a grapefruit and a tangerine, it's quite fascinating reading about it even superficially on Wikipedia. I make it an habit to find fresh, often local produce and then figure out where I take it in the kitchen.  The recipe is really simple, set the oven timer as a reminder when the drying is done couple of hours later. Sources are from all over and with my little adjustments and experimentation. Made couple of batches of tangelo slices while playing with different heat levels, amount of sugars and type of sugars. I also played a bit with the cocktails 'cause' Minneola Tangelo has a high acidity level as opposed to an orange, and therefore adding lemon juice might not be necessary altogether.  I reduced the levels of lemon juice.

Minneola Tangelo Slices:

Ingredients:

3-4 Minneola tangelos

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

(syrup is enough for 4 tangelos)

Directions:

Slice tangelos into really thin slices, minimum 1/16 inch slices on a mandolin, or as in my case, I used a steak knife. Layer and set aside in a large rectangular deep pan.  In a sauce pan bring sugar and water to a boil, turn down heat immediately after boiling point is reached and mix to dissolve sugar.  It's a quick process, maybe 2 minute long.  Let cool.  Once cool, pour syrup over the tangelo slices, cover and let immerse for couple of hours. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, Line slices on parchemnt and bake at 350F for first 5 minutes then reduce to 225F for two additional hours.  Set the oven timer.

Note: Oven heat varies, mine was high, so I reduced heat to 200F for the last 1/2 an hour.  You do not want the crisps to carmelize or burn.

Minneola Tangelo Mimosas:

Ingredients:

7 tablespoons Minneola Tangelo juice, Freshly squeezed

1 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

Chilled Champagne

Fresh mint leaf

Directions:

In a champagne glass add Tangelo juice, lemon juice and Grand Marnier.  Fill the rest of the flute with Champagne, mix, and garnish with mint leaf and Tangelo slice and serve. Enjoy!

For those of you drink mixers, I've tried:),