Basil Grapefruit Cooler Food

GRAPEFRUIT AND BASIL SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• For the dough: Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat together the egg and vanilla in a small bowl.
• Beat together the butter, granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed. Once incorporated, increase the speed to medium and beat until slightly creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the grapefruit zest and chopped basil until incorporated. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Reduce the speed to low, slowly pour in the egg mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture, in 3 additions, increasing the speed as the dough gets thicker to keep the beaters spinning. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters themselves as needed. Once all the flour mixture is just incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the dough is very smooth, about 5 minutes.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl and bring it together. Divide into 2 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a flat square and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• To roll, cut and bake the cookies: Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Dust another sheet of parchment paper with flour and put 1 piece of the dough on top. Dust with more flour and top with another sheet of parchment. Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick (about 11 x 9 inches) and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.
• From 1 piece of rolled dough, cut out cookies with a 3-inch cutter and arrange cookies on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Refrigerate while you cut the remaining cookies. Reroll and cut any scraps of dough. If the dough becomes very soft and difficult to roll or cut at any point during the process, place on a baking sheet in the freezer for 5 minutes.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheets front to back and bottom to top about halfway through, until golden brown around the edges, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets on a cooling rack, about 30 minutes.
• For the royal icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add the grapefruit juice and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the icing forms thick and glossy peaks, about 2 minutes, adding more grapefruit juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, if needed.
• Color icing as desired with gel food coloring. Fit pastry bags with small round tips and fill with the icing. Decorate the cookies as desired and let dry for 30 minutes.

CANTALOUPE-BASIL-GRAPEFRUIT COOLER

Steps:

• In a small heatproof bowl, pour 1/2 cup boiling water over sugar and basil; stir until sugar has dissolved. Let cool completely, about 20 minutes. Strain syrup into a blender; discard basil.
• Add cantaloupe, grapefruit juice, and 1 3/4 cups cold water; blend until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve.
• Serve over ice, garnished with a basil sprig, or refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days. If using vodka, stir a shot (1-ounce) into each glass before serving.

GRAPEFRUIT COOLERS

Steps:

• Fill 4 (12 ounce) glasses halfway with ice. Add 1/2 cup grapefruit juice, 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier and a pinch of salt to each glass and stir. Top off each drink with 1/3 cup sparkling water and stir.

BASIL GRAPEFRUIT COOLER

Steps:

• Using a vegetable peeler remove the zest from 3 of the grapefruit and put the zest in a jar.
• Pour over the vodka and leave to infuse for at least 24 hours.
• Cut all the grapefruit in half and juice - if making ahead of time, freeze the juice until it's needed.
• Pick the leaves from the basil and add the stalks to a small saucepan with the sugar and 1 cup of water. Gently heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then cool, strain and chill until needed.
• Put half the basil leaves in a jug, pour over the vodka, 1 1/4 cups of basil stock syrup and the grapefruit juice and stir.
• Fill 6 glasses with ice, the remaining basil and a little grapefruit zest (use the stuff from the vodka), and fill with cocktail mix.

BASIL-YOGURT PANNA COTTA WITH GRAPEFRUIT GELèE

Steps:

• Combine 3/4 cup milk and basil sprigs in a small saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover, remove from heat, and let steep 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl, sprinkle 2 teaspoons gelatin over remaining 1/2 cup milk. In a heatproof bowl, sprinkle remaining 3 teaspoons gelatin over 1/2 cup grapefruit juice.
• Let both mixtures stand until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Strain milk-basil mixture, discarding sprigs. Pour over milk-gelatin mixture and stir until gelatin has dissolved, then whisk in yogurt until smooth. Wipe pan clean.
• Combine 3/4 cup grapefruit juice and honey in saucepan. Heat over medium-high, stirring, until honey dissolves and mixture is hot but not boiling. Pour over grapefruit-gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin has dissolved. Stir in remaining 1 3/4 cups grapefruit juice.
• Divide grapefruit mixture evenly among eight 6-to-8-ounce ramekins, gratin dishes, or shallow bowls. Refrigerate until mixture begins to thicken and mound slightly but isn't set, 45 to 55 minutes. (Do not refrigerate yogurt mixture.)
• Carefully divide yogurt mixture evenly among ramekins, pouring it in from edge (not center) of each dish to create a random swirl effect. Refrigerate until both mixtures are cold and set, about 4 hours or, covered, up to 3 days. Before serving, top with grapefruit supremes, basil leaves, and a sprinkle of salt.

STRAWBERRY GRAPEFRUIT COOLER

Steps:

• Combine first 3 ingredients in container of electric blender; cover and process until smooth.
• While blender is running, add ice cubes, 1 at a time, processing until smooth.
• Pour into glasses and serve immediately.