Herbal Summer Lemonade

This lemonade recipe is actually not one of my own.  Someone I know tried it last spring at a food show up in Cleveland, and I had a lot of fun adding an alcoholic twist to it.  I haven't attempted to figure out the ratios of liquor to make a large batch, but it's delicious with or without, and leaving it non-alcoholic makes it appropriate for gatherings with kids, too.

To make the lemonade

Yield:  About 2.5 gallons

Build:

24 oz Fresh squeezed lemon juice

24 oz POM Wonderful pomegranate juice

4 cups sugar*

144 oz Cold water

Add:

4 oz Fresh Dill

4 oz Fresh Mint

4 oz Fresh Basil

2 oz Fresh Rosemary 

Let steep to desired strength**.

* I've discovered that dissolving the sugar in the lemon and pomegranate juices before adding the water seems to work best to dissolve it as entirely as possible.  After that, I add the water, stir to blend, and add the herbs.

** Personally, I think about 24 hours is perfect, though you can generally start serving it after just a few hours of steeping, and you're not going to want the herbs in there much past a day and a half or so.

Alcoholic Version:

Method: Build

Glassware: 10oz Collins

Garnish: Edible orchid bloom

Ingredients:

1 oz Hendricks gin

.5 oz St-Germain elderflower liqueur

Add ice, fill with steeped herbal lemonade, and garnish.   

Pinajito

Summer's Last Stand: Part III

The past handful of days have been sadly autumnal :-(  I know we'll have a nice little late kick of summer in the next month or so, but I think autumn is here to stay for the most part.  So, with a bit of sadness in my heart, here is the last installment of my Summer 2011 Mojitos.

I got the initial idea for this Mojito from when I used to work at Cheeseburger in Paradise, once upon a time.  They had a Pina Colada Mojito that...well...the execution was lacking in, frankly, but I thought there was real potential in the idea.  My recipe is much different than theirs was, but the concept is there.  More than a couple of my servers LOVE this one, so I clearly did something right...ha!

Pinajito (aka Pina Colada Mojito)

Glassware: 10oz Collins

Method: Muddle, and Box to finish

Garnish: Mint sprig and Lime wedge

Muddle:

3 Lime wedges
6 Mint leaves

.5 oz Simple syrup

Add:

1 oz Cruzan Coconut rum
.5 oz Bacardi Silver rum
1 oz Pineapple juice

 
Fill with ice and top with soda water.  Box once to mix it all together and make it pretty.  Garnish.

Summer Mocktail: Watermelon Cooler

One of my major weaknesses in mixing is N/A mocktails.  When it comes to cocktails I like to think "What liquor will work well with these flavors?" or "what liquors will work well together?"  or...well...something along those lines.  I really have a hard time finding the right balance with mocktails.  In working on my summer cocktail list, though, I really wanted to have some nice non-alcoholic choices with summer flavors.  According to my staff on Wednesday night, this one is a clear winner:

Watermelon Cooler
Method:  Shake/Box
Glass:  16oz Pint
Garnish:  Mint sprig

Shake with ice:
2 cubes watermelon
2 slices cucumber
6 mint leaves
2 lime wedges, squeeze and discard
.25 oz Simple syrup

Fill glass with ice and add about 2 oz of Sprite (or other lemon-lime soda/pop)***.  Top with a splash of club soda and box.  Garnish with a fresh mint sprig.

***Don't shake the carbonated sodas with the listed ingredients.  You don't want to flatten the carbonation.

Raspberry Breeze

I was so entertained by the outcome of creating this drink that I just had to post the recipe right away.  One of our regulars, as dinner was winding down, asked if I had some time to spare to mix him something new.  After a couple of questions he decided he wanted something not too sweet and with vodka.  Got it.  I went for a twist on a mojito.  The end result made him say, "This tastes like spring!"  Perfect :-D

Raspberry Breeze
Glass:  10 oz Collins
Method:  Muddle, Box
Garnish:  Lime wedge and mint sprig

Muddle
2 lime wedges
6 mint leaves
.25 oz Simple syrup
.5 oz Monin Raspberry syrup (have I mentioned that Jungle Jim's carries an amazing array of Monins?  They do.)

Add and Box:
1.5 oz Ciroc vodka
.25 oz Stoli Razberi vodka
 Top with Gosling's Ginger Beer

Garnish and enjoy!

I walked away for about five minutes and the two girls next to him had decided they had named the drink.  I  was highly entertained for the rest of the evening (and still am, actually).  I won't repeat their name here (it's not a bad name, but sometimes inside jokes are best left as inside jokes ;-)).  I think I made about three or four more between the bar regular and other people around the bar.

Giving back

I have always been a huge fan of restaurants using sales to give back to their communities or the world at large.  When the earthquake and tsunami hit in Japan last week, I knew immediately that I wanted to help out in such a way--every little bit helps, and if people are buying drinks at the restaurant anyway maybe I can entice them to buy one that can also benefit others.  I had already had an alcoholic fauxtini variation on the Shamrock Shake in mind for St. Patrick's Day called the Shaken Shamrock (I've since seen a few recipes doing the same sort of thing...I guess I'm not the only one who thought that might be fun!), and I thought I could go ahead and use both that and maybe a more summery, fruity fauxtini (and I had an extra thing of red sugar I had ordered for the SATC2 and my Eclipse promotions when I worked at Bar Louie that I wanted to use for...something.  A variation on a Lemondrop seemed a good idea).  $5 from each sale is going to the Red Cross for Japan earthquake and tsunami relief.  Today I'm going to post both recipes.  They vary a bit from what I usually like to mix up, but even fruity vodka fauxtinis have their place, in my opinion.  I try really hard not to be too much of a cocktail snob and appreciate that people like what they like, and I want my menus to offer everybody something they will enjoy.

The Shaken Shamrock
Glass:  Large cocktail/martini
Method: Shake and Strain
Garnish:  Whipped cream and a cherry (just like this year's shake)

Ingredients:
1 oz Absolut Vanilia
.75 oz Green Creme de Menthe
.25 oz Creme de Cacao/Cocoa (I had to do a double take when one of my bartenders pointed our that DeKuyper's label now says "Cocoa") 
.25 oz Simple syrup
1 spoonful Vanilla bean ice cream
2 0z Heavy Cream 

Build ingredients in a mixing glass and shake with ice.  Strain into a large cocktail glass and garnish with whipped cream and a cherry.


PAMAdrop
Glass:  Large cocktail/martini
Method: Shake and strain
Garnish: Red sugar rim 

Ingredients:
1 oz Vodka
.5 oz PAMA pomegranate liqueur 
.5 oz House made Pomegranate grenadine (1 part POM Wonderful pomegranate juice and one part sugar, shaken until sugar is dissolved)
1.5 oz Fresh lemon juice
1 oz Simple syrup

Build ingredients in a mixing glass and shake with ice.  Strain into a large cocktail/martini glass rimmed with red sugar.