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Lemonade


jaybee

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So I made up a batch of basilade this afternoon, basically following Matthew's recipe (though I made the syrup a little stronger.)  Pretty good-- the herbs add a nice refreshing touch-- but I used a big handful of basil, which was a little too much.  I'd say a small handful would do it.

About half a cup (loosely packed whole leaves) is right. But I used about a cup yesterday & upped the lemon to a cup.

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Out of curiousity, what do you all use to juice your lemons? Reemer? Juicer? Citrus press?

I currently use a manual juicer, but I find I'm developing wrist pain ( a dozen lemons at a shot can do that to you) so I'm looking for another option.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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How about the recipe that appeared in the NY Times recently for Roasted-Lemonade With Vanilla Bean?

To paraphrase for posterity: you take 5 halved lemons, a split vanilla bean, one cup of sugar and one cup of water; roast in oven 1.5 hours at 400F, turning and basting several times; let cool in syrup; scrape pulp from roasted lemons and puree together with syrup and one hollowed-out lemon half in a food processor untill smooth; pass through fine strainer and discard solids; add juice of two non-roasted lemons to puree. Assemble drink by placing 2-3 Tbsp of puree in tall glass and adding cold water and sugar to taste. Serve over ice.

(Mods, please delete paraphrasing above if it violates copyright.)

--

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Andrew Fenton Posted on Jul 7 2003, 11:15 AM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

QUOTE (enthusiast @ Jul 7 2003, 11:06 AM)

a nice addition is a raw egg (don't bother to remove shell) 

Whaaaa...? I don't get this part: how does it work (and why)? 

the egg shell gets sieved out with the rest of the peel/rind etc. the egg gives the lemonade a depth and richness and also makes a great foam on the top.

of course you could crack the egg into the blender - i was trying to demonstrate how easy it was - particulalry useful if you have thirsty kids wanting a drink now!

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I like to make up a big batch of simple syrup and keep it in the fridge.  Less work and a more consistent product than mixing sugar into a cold beverage.

Thats what I would do. You can also add lemon rind to the simpe syrup during cooking. That gives a much better result than attempting to dissolve sugar in cold water.

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All you need to do to make delicious lemonade is to be sure to rasp the clean lemons in your sugar. Spread the sugar over a couple of pieces of wax paper, and rasp back and forth. The oil (flavor) from the lemon is absorbed in the sugar. This makes for a better tasting lemonade (in my opinion) My grandmother made the best, cold lemonade in town. Even the hobos would come across town to get a glass of it. Her lemonade was tart/sweet/ice cold. :wub:

Do not allow your lemons to sit in the lemonade. This makes the lemonade bitter. You can place a thin slice of lemon and perhaps a sprig of mint in glass as a garnish. :raz:

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I am planning on making a batch of chili infused lemonade this weekend. I had a similar drink at a local indian restaurant and it was really great! I am still trying to decide how to infuse the chili flavor and heat. I might do it along with a simple syrup...

Ben

Gimme what cha got for a pork chop!

-Freakmaster

I have two words for America... Meat Crust.

-Mario

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Well, this thread inspired me. I had a big bunch of mint and lots of lemons so I made some mint-infused lemonade. It was extremely refreshing.

City Bakery is selling Farmer's Lemonade which is lemonade with heavy cream in it. Has anybody tried this? I'm wondering whether it's worth trying.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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The "Fresh Herbs" thread is suffering from an abundance of lemon balm (or is it lemon verbena?). I wonder how that would work out if used like the previously mentioned basil, etc.?

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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The "Fresh Herbs" thread is suffering from an abundance of lemon balm (or is it lemon verbena?). I wonder how that would work out if used like the previously mentioned basil, etc.?

According to my herb guy at the greenmarket, lemon verbena is great infused in lemonade. I'm going to try it this coming weekend.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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  • 1 year later...

We were just about packed up for a camping trip when I noticed that I had a bunch of lemons, limes and an orange sitting on the counter. I didn't want to throw them away but I had no idea what I could do with them so I did a quick search online. Of course, lemonade! I had never made it before (how is that possible?) so I had to find a recipe to show me proportions.

I got almost 2 cups of juices. After I picked out the biggest seeds, I poured the juice in a mason jar and added 3/4 cup of sugar. And then it was time to hit the road.

After we set up our tent, we sat and relaxed. I poured one part juice and added 3 parts water. Took one sip and knew that I would be making my own lemonade from that point on. :wub: It was so refreshing. And easy. I was hooked.

- kim

If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. - Carl Sagan

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in my area, they sell Pineapple Sage plants, with a grapefruit-y aroma. just occurred to me that'd be awesome with iced tea...  :smile:

Sadly, Pineapple Sage leaves have no Pineapple flavor and no real culinary use.

The flowers are kind of tasty, and make a nice garnish, though.

Lemon or Rose Scented Geraniums might be nice.

---

Erik Ellestad

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck...

Bernal Heights, SF, CA

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I hesitated to mention our party lemonade, but all the basil, etc., made me think it's not too far off track.

Make your favorite lemonade recipe---ours is juice, simple syrup, water, and zest from several lemons, removed with vegetable peeler in long strips, as thin as possible.

For 1/2 gallon, slice a medium unpeeled cucumber, float the slices, refrigerate, stir now and then. Color it pink if you wish---adds to the mystique. Remove cucumber or not, it's up to you. Serve after an hour or so...guests will ask time after time for "That Watermelon Punch."

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One of the most delicious herbal infusions I've ever tried was 2 parts Mint, 1 part each Basil and Cilantro, chopped and steeped into hot simple syrup. Just throw the leaves into a blender or food processor, add the still hot syrup and puree. Let cool overnight and strain. 1 cup of mint, 1/2 cup each of basil and cilantro and two cups of 1:1 simple syrup was a good basic recipe.

This was absolutely delicious in lemonade, or better yet mixed with Bourbon and Ginger Ale. :cool:

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

Cheers!
Bartendrix,Intoxicologist, Beverage Consultant, Philadelphia, PA
Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals, Aphrodite of Alcohol

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

Bump. It's hot here (finally, and I'm happy!), so made lemonade this morning using this recipe. I think what makes it so wonderful is that it is so infused with lemon peel oils.

And, perhaps part of the appeal for this particular recipe is the circumstances. Learning to make it in the kitchen with the grandma's, all in their faded house dresses -- gabbing about kids, neighbor kids, tomatoes, planning a jelly making session. I always got the seat of honor -- on the kitchen counter. These women who had raised babies and teens together, and were aging together. Then, the sweaty pitchers and jelly jars, and all of us kids racing around, hoping that someone would put a sprinkler on, but not until the linens had been retrieved from the clothes line. Then plates of sliced ham, deviled eggs, platters of sliced tomatoes and potato salad. The men would rouse themselves and head to the field to pick the sweet corn -- the water would already be boiling, and we'd have churned butter that day. Then desserts -- pies, mostly. Then the babies resting on the grandma's bosoms while they both napped, and us girls headed to the attic to return with formals from another era for dress up, as our adult parents sat around and caught up on who'd be doing what.

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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it sounds like you've been to heaven and back, snowangel

as for lemonade- its one of those things thats got endless possibilities

i don't ever have a set recipe, just some concepts and guidelines i subscribe to:

don't ever ever ever use the pith. i know some say you can pressure cook or boil to death or roast your fruit to leach out the volatile's, but having before tasted lemonade which was made with the pith, i am very leery of its inclusion. bitter beyond bitter.

so- don't put whole lemons in your simple syrup, don't puree whole lemons, and don't let anyone convince you "it doesn't matter" haha it does, in a big, nasty way.

my personal favorites in terms of herbs are tarragon and chervil. separate, together, whatever, they make a great addition. I've never tried steeping them in hot simple syrup, i've only put 'em in the blender.

and on that note- if you're gonna put whole leaves of tarragon or chervil or whatever herb in the blender, start with a very smallll amount of your lemonade, or else the leaves will just buzz and whir around and never get torn up.

i've heard of this, but never tried it-

apparently thickened lemonade is wonderful. i heard from a friend something about using kudzu starch to thicken the lemonade into a milky consistency. sounds worth a try

so usually i do something along the following lines:

zest my lemons

zest goes into simple syrup on the stove, cook and strain

juice lemons, strain

combine juice, syrup, and water down

pour just enough of the lemonade into a blender to cover the blades

throw in your picked herbs

blend to your hearts desire

pour in the rest of your lemonade and give it a whir

come to think of it, steeping your herbs in the simple syrup is actually a better method because the green herbs will turn brown in the acid if let to sit for too long, and thats no good for presentation

as for presentation- crushed ice and condensation. something i bet would look great and be functional- slice your lemons super thin, cook in simple syrup, dry in the oven, lay on top of the glass to float.

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Snowangel, that's how I make mine :). I don't use so many lemons (our pitcher is too small and our lemons are usually very juicy), but the hot water to get the flavor from the zest works well. We just moved from CA to WI, so I'm trying to get used to the concept of no more giant lemons. The corner grocery where I usually got mine would have lemons the size of both my fists held together, with a strong lemony fragrance if they were in season (Decemberish to March). They always were very heavy with juice, and a single one would sometimes produce too much juice for 2 quarts of lemonade.

I use a wooden citrus reamer for juicing. I use a microplane for zesting. I don't use simple syrup. I have fun stirring, so I've never seen the need.

Most people don't bother to make fresh squeezed lemonade, and they drink it so fast when I do I've never thought to dress it up.

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  • 2 weeks later...
This is the best recipe for homemade lemonade I've ever tried:

Take 6 lemons, them in a large bowl and pour boiling water over them to cover.  Leave a minute or two (this is to remove the wax retailers put on the outside to make them prettier), and dry them off vigorously (also helps to release juices).

Slice them as thinly as you can (rind and all!) and put in a large, non-reactive bowl, sprinkling each layer with sugar (about a cup and a half of sugar total for 6 lemons, if I remember correctly--I'll double check when I get home tomorrow).  Also add a pinch of salt to this mixture.  Leave to macerate for an hour, more or less.

With a wooden spoon, press out juice from the lemons without breaking up the pulp.

Add cold water (somewhat less than a half gallon is what I like, but can be more if you like your lemonade weaker.....taste as go along!), serve over ice (duh!).

this is a wonderful recipe thank you :biggrin:

why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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  • 10 months later...
I like the drink called the Arnold Palmer. Simply put, its half iced tea, half tart lemonade, mix together with ice and serve.  A very refreshing drink I have all Summer.

Porkpa

Bumping this up because It is starting to get a bit warmer here in DE - I am looking forward to Lemonade weather.

I love this with green tea - I get it at Starbucks with no extra sweetener, even though the lemonade is "lemonade concentrate" and might be too tart on its own, I like a tart drink. I have to start experimenting so I can make my own for the summer...

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