or at least put them in a drink....
We have put together a few straight forward, simple and delicious drinks to freshen up any occasion.
To make about 2 litres of really good homemade lemonade, use a sharp knife to thinly pare off the skin of 6 large, unwaxed lemons. Place the peel in a large bowl and pour over a litre of boiling water.
Leave overnight to cool and for the peel to release its lovely aroma and essence. In the morning add white granulated or caster sugar to taste, about 150gram should be about right, but depends on your sweet tooth. Now add the juice itself from the 6 lemons you peeled last night. Stir all very well.
Leave again for a couple of hours, in the fridge. Sieve the liquid leaving any pips behind. Pick out and open freeze the slices of lemon skin themselves.
This is probably far too strong, as it is, for most tastes - so add about another litre of cold water or even some sparkling water to what we call ‘the lemon root’. Or add lemonade if you like it fizzy and rather sweet.
Or have a still lemonade and add cold tap water.
Your choice, your taste. Or before adding the extra liquid to ‘water it down’ use the strong lemon juice to add a little something to your G&T.
Serve ice cold with the slices of frozen lemon slices bobbing around.
Make a pretty homemade pink lemonade by simply adding a good handful of raspberries to the ‘root’ – the more you add the pinker it becomes and imparts a subtle flavour. Keep some of the raspberries back and freeze them, like the lemon slices – and use instead of ice.
Or for a bit of a kick add a chopped piece of fresh root ginger to the lemon peel and boiling water.
Talking of ginger – we are indeed a family business, but we are also a family of ginger beer
aficionados. We all love it! And have done for generations going back.
And, no! – we cannot share our ginger beer recipe – it just has too much sugar to be reasonable to put in writing. But a tin of bought ginger beer on its own over ice is delish or try mixing half fresh apple juice with half ginger beer. Or top a glass of the throat biting nectar with a scoop of vanilla ice cream – superb!
Finally – please a crowd with homemade Sangria. Creating Sangria can be an art form; from marinating the fruits in the spirits for 48 hours; using only Spanish products, buying the best wine. So to simplify the process:
Fill your favourite large jug or pitcher with plentiful sliced apples, oranges, lemons and limes. Tip in a bottle of fruity red Spanish wine. (You can also use white wine if you prefer.) Add a measure of brandy, 2 measure of white rum. Leave to marinate overnight for the fruit to absorb the mix!
Then add about ½ litre of fresh orange juice and ½ litre of lemonade.
To finish, add ice to a large wine glass and pour, pour, pour. Serve alongside your favourite tapas in the sun. Perfection.
Enjoy
Sue and Tom
at Merrow Savouries