Quick One - Lemonade

Ok, I promised one for today, but I'm really tired, so it's gonna be a quickie (insert joke here).

I thought this one was appropriate since it is really starting to get hot here. On a hot day, nothing is better than a cold lemonade. The alcohol here is absolutely optional and lemme tell you, you can't taste it (at least with the vodka), so this could get you buzzed pretty quick.

Best (Hard) Lemonade

Ingredients per glass

1 Large lemon (Sunkist really does have the best lemons)
1/3c Granulated sugar (or to taste)
2c Ice cubes
2 1/2oz (that's a pony and a regular shot) of Vodka (or good quality bourbon)
Filtered water

Hardware

Cocktail shaker (or two sturdy plastic cups where one mouth fits into the other about an inch down)
Mulling stick (look it up)
Paring knife
Hand juicer

An image of these so that you get what I'm talking about:

Procedure for each glass

Wash your lemon thoroughly (without soap, Chandler). Now cut it in half and try and pick out as many seeds as you can with the tip of the knife without cutting out the juicy part. Best way to do it is pry them out. Next juice the lemon into the bottom of your shaker. I find the hand juicer is best for this and is cheap as hell. And for secret #1...put the rinds into the shaker after the juice. Pluck out any seeds you see before dumping them in, but there's a method to my madness here.

Next comes the sugar, you may want less or more depending on how sweet you like it, but I think this is an ideal amount. Then comes secret #2...mull (or mash/grind) the lemons with the muller. Make sure you mull firmly and grind that sugar against the lemon rind for at least 15-20 seconds. If the rind splits, that's perfectly normal. (I just noticed Marvin the Martian is reflected in my shaker above...AWESOME!). What's happening here, is you are releasing some of the essential oils trapped in the rind that will take the flavor to the next level.

Now put in enough ice to come close to the top of your shaker, follow that with the vodka (if you are using it) and then enough water to come up to about 1/2" from the top of your shaker. Lid up and shake for at least a minute or (if the shaker is stainless) until you can't hold onto the shaker anymore because it is so cold. Strain into a glass that is filled with the rest of the ice and enjoy!

Seriously, after this one, you'll never buy store bought again. As long as the lemons are in season, it isn't really expensive either.

I'm going to try and get into a weekly rhythm here. So mebbe a Quickie on Tuesday, Gadget on Wednesday, Full Recipe Thursdays, and Technique Saturday. Lemme know what you think.