I've been craving ice cold lemonade, and considering that Nashville is the hottest city in the nation this week, the time is ripe. There's a restaurant here in East Nashville called The Silly Goose that has the most delicious herb-infused teas and lemonades, and I think about them an inappropriate amount. This week I started experimenting with lemonade + fresh herbs. Tessa was excited to help squeeze the lemons and to turn our kitchen into a lemon graveyard, although she alternately requested pink or blue lemonade before settling resolutely on blue. We did one batch of rosemary lemonade and one batch of basil lemonade. Both were super great, but the basil was my favorite because the herb flavor was a little more subtle. Here's how we did it:
Basil Lemonade
1 c. lemon juice
1 c. basil
1/2 cup sugar
5 cups water
Muddle 1 cup of fresh basil with 1/2 cup sugar. This sounds like a lot of basil, but it takes a lot to get a little flavor. Muddle for several minutes until basil is very bruised. Add one cup of fresh-squeezed lemon juice and stir until sugar dissolves. Then strain, and add 5 cups cold water. Serve on ice with a basil leaf as garnish.
Rosemary Lemonade
1 c. lemon juice
2 sprigs rosemary
3/4 cup agave nectar
6 cups water
Bring 3 cups of water to boil with 2 sprigs of rosemary. After bringing to boil, turn off stove and let steep for 30 minutes. Then strain rosemary water and add 1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice, 3/4 cup agave nectar, and three cups cold water. Stir well and serve over ice with some rosemary as garnish.
