Thursday, August 23, 2012

Lemon Mint Juice


When I arrived to live in Egypt eight months ago, it was cold!  Much colder than I expected.  The heater in our house didn’t work properly and I baked just to keep the oven on to warm the kitchen.  I drank a lot of tea and coffee to warm myself from the inside and I wore my new Marks & Spencer cardigan every single day, with fuzzy slippers inside and shoes with socks when I went outside.  It was quite the fashion statement.  As the year wore on, winter gradually disappeared and summer took its place.  Our evenings are still pleasant but during the daytime, a refreshing drink hits all the right spots.  If it’s summer in your part of the world right now, you will enjoy Egypt’s traditional drink made with lemon and fresh mint.  It’s one of my favorite things and is so easy to make. 

Ingredients for two refreshing glasses
1 large lemon
Handful of fresh mint (or more if you prefer)

1/4 cup or 60ml simple syrup 
Ice for blending and serving

Method
Pick the leaves off of your bunch of mint and rinse well in a salad spinner.  Spin to dry.  Put your mint in a blender.



Peel the lemon and use a sharp knife to cut it into chunks, making sure to leave behind the white parts that separate the pegs of lemon.  Add the lemon chunks to the blender.




Add in your simple syrup and another 1/4 cup or 60ml of water. 


Put in a few cubes of ice.  Blend until completely liquid. 



Serve over more ice.



Enjoy!

4 comments :

  1. Is there an alternative if you don't have simple syrup?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, Katie,

    The recipe for simple syrup is easy. One part water to one part normal sugar and heat to boiling in a saucepan. Boil for two minutes, then cool and use. I included the link above in the ingredients list, but here you go: http://www.barmixmaster.com/2005/04/simple-syrup.html



    Enjoy!


    Stacy

    ReplyDelete

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