Crying Onions

Lemonade is a summer classic. On a hot day, drinking a glass of cool, refreshing lemonade is like being transported straight to heaven. The best thing about lemonade is that it only needs to meet three criteria to be great. It has to be

1. tart,
2. sweet, and
3. cold.

Beyond this, lemonade is infinitely flexible; it can tolerate any number of additions from fruits to alcohol, it can be frozen, served with ice, or on its own. It can be strong or weak. Perhaps that’s what made lemonade stands such a staple of childhood; it’s easy, fast, cheap, and it always hits the spot.

When I went to Mexico recently, I was served a glass of cucumber lemonade layered with with grenadine on the bottom. It was such a delicious and unexpected treat that when I found myself with extra grenadine on hand, I decided to try it at home. The result: cool, classic lemonade with a bright, refreshing twist.

What you need:

• 1 large cucumber
• 1 c lemon juice
• 1 c sugar
• at least 4 c cold water
• optional: grenadine

What to do:

1. Make simple syrup: Put 1 c water and sugar into a saucepan and heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and chill in the fridge.
2. Combine Lemon juice, 1 c simple syrup, and cucumber in a blender. Blend until cucumber is fully broken down.
3. Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Pour into a pitcher and dilute with water until it reaches your desired strength
4. To serve: pour over ice into tall glasses. If desired, pour grenadine down the side of the glass, where it will layer nicely on the bottom.

Tags: fruit

Posted August 2nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm. Categories: drinks. Leave a comment or trackback from your own site.