BOURBON WITH BASIL AND LEMONADE GRANITA

When your herb garden is full of basil and you’ve had it up to here with pesto, don’t let all that summery goodness go to waste! May we suggest basil and lemonade granita?

This is the perfect after-dinner drink for the waning days of summer–especially if you’re looking to make the last painful stretch of Southern heat (somewhat) bearable. This is one to sip slowly on the front porch as the summer sun sets.

2 cups loose-packed fresh basil leaves

2 cups water

½ cup cane sugar

¼ cup honey

Juice of 6 lemons (about 1 cup)

7 ½ ounces bourbon (optional)

Add the basil leaves, water, sugar, and honey to a saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool. Strain out the leaves and add the lemon juice. Place the mixture in a pan or a wide-mouth bowl and freeze. Be sure to scrape the surface with a fork every hour until the mixture is frozen solid. This should take about 3 hours.

To serve, use a medium ice-cream scoop and put a full scoop of the frozen basil mixture in each glass. Then add 1 ¼ ounces of your favorite bourbon.

Makes 6 servings.