Watermelon Basil Aqua Fresca

Ingredients:
1 6 lb seedless watermelon
1 cup cold water
1/4 cup basil simple syrup*
juice of 1/4 lime




Directions:
Scoop out the watermelon, using an ice cream scooper, directly into a food processor**. Add the basil syrup. Pulse until smooth. Strain through a wide wire mesh sieve into a pitcher. Stir in the lime juice and water.

Optional: freeze cubes of watermelon to use as "ice cubes" in the drink.



*Follow these instructions for simple syrup, adding one handful of roughly chopped fresh basil to the water and sugar before boiling and strain the leaves out at the end.

**A blender won't work. A food mill would be a better substitution and you won't have to strain it out after processing. Or just mash the fruit if you want it to be thicker.

My thoughts:

Literally "fresh water" aqua fresca is water based drink infused with fruit. Watermelon is a is my fruit to use because it is mostly water-if you use other fruits, the amount of water you need to use increases. Since I don't have to add a lot of extra water, the flavor is undiluted. I love basil and watermelon together so I thought instead of just adding simple syrup, I made a fresh batch and infused it with basil. It gave a herbal note to the drink that really cut the sweetness and made it extra refreshing. Perfect for a not-quite Autumn afternoon.

Mango Lemonade

Ingredients:
4 cups cold water or club soda
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 to 1/2 cup ginger or plain simple syrup to taste
1/4 cup fresh mango puree

Directions:

In a large pitcher, stir together the mango puree, lemon juice and simple syrup. Then stir in the cold water (very gently if using club soda) to distribute the juice. Serve icy cold with plenty of ice cubes*.

*A good trick is to make ice cubes out of lemonade so when they melt, they do not dilute the drink.

My thoughts:

Lemonade is the perfect warm weather drink and the addition of mango makes it a tiny bit more special. I like making it with club soda so it is a little bubbly. In the US, most lemonade is still and I think this is a shame, because there is something about a sparkling beverage that seems just that much more refreshing.

Kiwi-Mango Slush

Ingredients:
2 kiwi, peeled
3/4-1 cup ice
1/4 cup cubed mango
2 tablespoons ginger simple syrup

boba pearls (optional)

Directions:

Boil some water, pour in as many boba pearls as desired. Cook until they all float to the top. Place the ice, kiwifruit, mango and ginger syrup in a blender. Pulse until fairly smooth. Pour the boba into the bottom of a tall glass. Top with drink. Serve with a large straw.


Serves one.

My thoughts:

It is finally warm here in sunny Baltimore and I thought it was a perfect time to have a cool drink. I had some especially juicy kiwi and mango and thought they'd make a great, quick frozen drink without having to add any extra liquid. It was very refreshing! I have seen frozen boba drinks in the past, so I thought I'd throw some of the pearls in, but it would be yummy without them too.

Soda Chanh

Ingredients:
freshly squeezed lime juice
simple syrup

club soda

Directions:

Per glass:

Pour roughly a 1/4 inch of simple syrup into the bottom of a large glass. Add the juice of half a lime (or more to taste) and stir to combine. Top with 12 oz club soda.

My thoughts:

Soda chanh is my favorite drink to order at Vietnamese restaurants. Normally it comes to the table all mixed up but I've even had it served in a "make your own" version -a can of club soda, a cup with sugar in it and a lime. It is basically a tart limeade made with some sort of sparkling water (generally seltzer or club soda) instead of still water. It is really fresh tasting and easy (and often cheaper!) alternative to regular soda. I have also seen it made with lemon instead of lime and with a sprinkle of salt. I like to make it using simple syrup instead of just stirring in sugar for a few reasons: you don't get even a hint of gritty sugar, it dissolves nearly instantly so you aren't left with undissolved sugar at the bottom of your glass and you don't lose the bubbles in the soda by stirring it. Simple syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for months so you can make a batch and have it ready to make fresh lime soda any time. The recipe is simple and can be adapted to serve as many or as few as you want. I do recommend make each serving separately rather than making a whole pitcher at once for maximum bubbles. If you pour the soda into the pitcher and then pour it into glasses, it loses most of the fizz and you might have well just made limeade.

Chai Hot Chocolate

Recently the editor of Four Weeks Magazine contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in contributing an original recipe for hot chocolate for this month's issue. Of course I was! Who doesn't love hot chocolate? I took it as a an opportunity to try something new and created a yummy recipe for chai hot chocolate. Check it here, along with 3 other delicious sounding recipes from other food bloggers.

Chai

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 cups water
2 tablespoons cardamom, crushed
4 teaspoons black leaf tea*
2 teaspoons granular black tea**
2 cinnamon sticks
2 cloves
10 black peppercorns
1 inch clove of ginger, smashed with a knife
sugar to taste

*green label tea (ask for it at your local Indian grocery)
** red label tea (ask for it at your local Indian grocery)

Directions:
In a large saucepan, bring the milk, water, both teas and all of the spices to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until the it coats the back of a spoon. Add sugar (traditionally chai is served rather sweet) and stir. Strain into 4 large mugs.

My thoughts:

While I am not a tea fan, my husband and the rest of his family is. We are up in NYC this weekend visiting his parents and sister and he made this for them. His sister is back for a 2 month visit from India, where she has been living the last couple of years. This is as authentic as he can make it- he learned from some Indian coworkers years ago and has been making it ever since! Try and find red and green label tea at your local Indian grocery.

This is also for Ivonne's Dishes of Comfort-it may not be my top comfort food, but it certainly is one of my sister-in-law's favorites.