italian dessert recipes

Basil Martini

"Weirdly good"




basil martini This basil martini is interesting. Food and wine published it a few years back.

I always have cucumbers in my kitchen. (And I wish I always had fresh basil!)

I'm a fan of Food and Wine and I have to say the ONLY reason I tried this without prejudging was I like their magazine.

This is just weirdly good.

If you are looking for a sweeter flavored drink with basil - check out my kamikaze drink - its the classic kamikaze recipe but with an Italian basil twist.

Substitution ideas for this are listed below. And while you are here check out my Italian drinks section.

Thanks for stopping by -

Lisa

Website Owner and Lover of Italian Dessert Recipes

Just a note - if you have cucumbers and basil left over skip over to my friend Alison's blog and see how to make pesto. (Betcha didn't know there were so many ways to justify a basil martini! ) Cheers.






Basil Martini Recipe

YIELD: 1 Serving

Ingredients:

* 1 tablespoon sugar

* 1 tablespoon hot water

* 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger ( don't panic see the workaround in substitutions)

* One 3-inch piece of cucumber—peeled. Seed it. Dice it. And leave a round piece for the glass

* 3 basil leaves, 1 torn and two little ones for pretties

* 2 ounces gin - really good gin! (I LOVE that new Tanqueray 10 - yummmmm)

* 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

* Ice



Procedure

 * Pour all ingredients in shaker.

* Strain and serve in your fancy schmancy glass.

NOTE: See below if you want the martini to be green in color.

From Food and Wine's Publication. (And a million other publications too.) But I like Food And Wine so I thought I'd mention them!





Don't have fresh ginger?

I almost NEVER do. But I do have an excellent quality ginger powder. So I made a ginger syrup with the water and sugar. Use 1/8 th teaspoon and dissolve in very HOT water. Make sure it's GOOD quality ginger powder. If you only have a "meh" ginger then leave this out.

Can I use dried basil?

Nope. Absolutely not. Horrible things will happen. No one will want you to make drinks ever again.

What about using bottled lime juice?

Please don't. Fresh is best in everything. If you're using a cucumber, that means you have been to the produce section. Pick up a ding dang lime while you are at it.

Want your basil martini to look green?

If I'm going for color or cool appearance - here's what I do. I strain, but then put the basil and the cucumber in a coffee filter and wring the heck out of 'em. Their juices will give you a green color.


Back to the top of the basil martini.

Click here to see the Italian drinks page.




Italian Drinks









Lisa Gianotti

Memorial Day and Warmer Weather Treats!



It's finally warming up! In my neck of the woods we had SNOW on May 2nd. Now were on to the warm weather sweet treats!

I started celebrating by having a Sangria last night. Sangria is so easy to make - and the trick to making it spectacular is - following the super easy procedure. IF you need a brush up see:

How to Make Sangria

As for Memorial Day Goodies - I bake the LESS sticky stuff if I have to travel. And something that the kids can grab with their fingers as they cruise by the dessert table and run off to their next game. Cookies and brownies work the best for this!

The past month, these are my top five most viewed cookie recipes:

#1 Anisette Cookies

#2 Italian Wedding Cookie Recipe

#3 Pizzelle Recipe

#4 Ricotta Cheese Cookies

#5 Meringue Cookie Recipe

Have a fun filled Memorial Day!



Lisa


Would you like to share this page? You know how to do it! Thanks for sharing the sugar love!



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Recipes on this site are from family cookbooks, family traditions, or intentional adaptations from traditional recipes to add an Italian flair. If a recipe was adapted or used from another cook - it is mentioned on the recipe page and the recipe author is given credit.