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Gina’s Gin Cooler

PAT Gina will mix up a batch of this for me to serve our guests, and if I’m lucky she’ll make enough for me, too. It’s good.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 1 cocktail

Ingredients

Five 1/8-inch-thick slices peeled cucumber, plus one 1/4-inch-thick slice for garnish
8 torn mint leaves, plus 1 mint sprig for garnish
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon light-brown sugar
2 ounces gin
1/2 cup club soda, chilled

Preparation

  1. Muddle together the five cucumber slices, the torn mint, the lime juice, and brown sugar in a cocktail shaker. Add the gin, and fill with ice. Shake vigorously, and strain into an ice-filled highball glass. Top with club soda. Garnish with a cucumber wheel and a sprig of mint.

Image may contain: Pat Neely, Human, Person, Food, Meal, Restaurant, Cafeteria, and Buffet
Reprinted with permission from The Neelys' Celebration Cookbook by Pat and Gina Nelly. Copyright © 2011 by Pat and Gina Nelly with Anna Volkwein. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Pat and Gina Neely are restaurateurs, best-selling authors, popular speakers, and hosts of the Food Network hit series Down Home with the Neelys. They recently opened their first New York City restaurant, Neely's Barbecue Parlor. They live with their daughters in Memphis, where they enjoy cooking at home with family and friends. Ann Volkwein is a best-selling food and lifestyle author based in New York City and Austin, Texas. Her previous books include: The Arthur Avenue Cookbook, Chinatown New York, Mixt Greens (with Andrew Swallow), and, with Guy Fieri: Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives; More Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives; and Guy Fieri Food.
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