I love our neighborhood restaurant, Roberta’s, without reservation. I can always think of an excuse to make my way there — for lunch with an out of town visitor, for Tuesday night dinner with friends, for Sunday night patio beers, or as I did this past weekend, for a hungover Sunday brunch. Imagine my delight, when I stepped out into the backyard and discovered that Brooklyn Grange Farm has set up a farm market there on Sundays from 11 – 5! Be still my heart, for there’s fresh, locally grown, seasonal produce for the grabbing in Bushwick! Farmer Ben Flanner graciously allowed us to taste his bounty (and my is it tasty!) and we snagged fixings for salads later in the week. Below are some recipes for summer time cocktails I made at One Big Table using the Grange’s summer offerings. They’ll knock your socks off.

Hot Kiss
Ingredients:
1 quart blackberries
1 C sugar
1 C water
5 jalapenos
750 ml tequila
2 C lime juice

We’ll begin by making a jalapeño-infused tequila. Remove seeds from the jalapeños and place in the bottle of tequila. Allow to sit for 1.5 hours, then remove jalapeños and discard. Next, heat water to a gentle boil and add sugar, stirring constantly until dissolved. Purée or muddle the blackberries. Combine equal parts (I use a 1 oz jigger for individual drinks) blackberry purée, jalapeño-infused tequila, simple syrup, and lime juice. Add ice and shake. Garnish with a lime wheel and umbrella.

Rooftop Rickey
Ingredients:
750 ml gin
1 C water
1 C sugar
1 bunch mint
1 bunch cilantro
2 C lime Juice
1 L seltzer Water

We’ll begin by making a mint-cilantro simple syrup. Reserve some herbs from each bunch for garnish. Heat water to a gentle boil and add sugar, stirring constantly until dissolved. Add mint and cilantro and continue to simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until simple syrup has taken on a mint-cilantro flavor. Combine equal parts simple syrup, gin, and lime juice (I use a 1 oz jigger for individual drinks) and top off with seltzer water. Garnish with fresh cilantro, fresh mint, and a lime wheel.