Yeah, I know, more lemons. I have been on a bit of a lemon kick lately. I guess it's cuz it's summer. And also, we get them cheap from our beloved Asian market. Here's what I did with them yesterday.
I was about to make a couple of glasses of fresh lemonade with the lemon I had leftover, and remembered that one of the herbs I have in my Aerogarden is lemon basil. Regular basil - usually Genovese basil - could be described as somewhat lemony, but actual lemon basil varieties have a very distinct lemon scent and flavor. I decided to make infused simple syrup with the lemon basil and with the lemon peel.
Making a flavored simple syrup like this is very easy and I'm sure you already know how, but in case you want to hear about it, here's how: simply heat water and sugar (1 part water to .5-1 part sugar) in a stainless steel saucepan until just under boiling and shut off the heat. Don't let it boil. Stir gently if you need to help the sugar dissolve. Add whatever flavorings you are using, cover, and let it steep for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour. Strain with a fine mesh strainer and store in a tightly lidded container for up to a week in the fridge.
For about a cup of syrup I used the peel from one lemon and about 2 tablespoons of lemon basil. Bruising the basil a little before adding it helps infuse the flavor a little quicker. I mixed the juice of one lemon and some water and ice with a few tablespoons of the lemon basil simple syrup and it was absolutely delicious. The bonus is, I have plenty of the syrip leftover to do other silly things with all week! Bring on the silliness.
Happy eating!
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