Sweet & Savory Kitchens

Aunt Suzy says

Our exploration of summer cocktails continues.  I mentioned in a previous post that Randy was experimenting with Gimlets after seeing an article on them in a local magazine.  Coincidentally, friend Christie Quinn went to a class out in San Francisco on how to make Gimlets and sent us 3 different recipes for the drink – from basic to what looks like Gimlets on steroids.  We made the basic last night and it was so much better than the concoction we tried with Rose’s Lime Juice (yuck!).   Randy also made this outstanding hummus recipe that was featured on Fresh Tart, a local food blog I follow.  The promise was for tasty and creamy homemade hummus rather than the usual gloppy (my word), and we really liked it.  Another thing that attracted us, besides the creaminess, was the use of preserved lemon.  Most of the time when you use preserved lemon in recipes, you throw out the pulp, but this recipe used peel and pulp.  We had some pulp left over from the recent tagine we made, so we added that.  A winning hummus that we will make again (and probably tinker with, knowing us)!

Gimlet (amount we used for 2 cocktails)

1 1/2 parts Gin, Hendrick’s recommended (3 shots)

3/4 part simple syrup (2 jiggers)

3/4 part fresh lime juice (2 jiggers)

cucmber slice

Place cocktail glasses in the freezer a couple of hours prior to the cocktail hour.  (I love this instruction because it assumes that we all have a cocktail hour 🙂 vs. stating “prior to serving”.)  Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake vigorously.  Strain into glasses.  Garnish with a slice of cucumber.  Randy and I tried it both up and on the rocks and both liked rocks better given how hot it was out at the time (even though we know this is probably heresy to Gimlet purists).