Shrubs, not just for your garden anymore!

Refreshing Beverage of the Week
I love the way words and terms define us. I used to erase, now I delete. I used to call someone, now I ping them. I used to say "I'm not in the mood to talk about that," now I say "let's circle back to that and take it offline." (Just kidding, I never say that shit but I learned it when I worked in corporate kitchens in NYC.) I used to eat everything, I was a "good" eater and exercised whenever, now I am a senior citizen obsessed with micronutrients and strengthening my core. Currently we are obsessed with probiotics, kombucha, apple cider gummies, actually all kinds of gummies, and kraut. Life goes on.

My clients (I am a private chef) have decided to limit their alcohol intake and have asked me to make mocktails. These drinks mirror actual cocktails using non-alcoholic booze substitutes — which, frankly, taste awful and are terribly expensive. So I searched the internet for recipes and, so far, not too many were drinkable. They are unhealthy and usually full of high-sugar fruit juice.

The non-alcoholic beverage market is booming and I have tried about 5 different brands and I would say the best-tasting ones are the gin alternatives. Juniper berries are very distinctive and even in a weird herbal base that flavor reminds you of gin. I tried a non-alcoholic tequila beverage made with apple. I accidentally spilled some, and it was so vile I had to scrub down my counter with lemon juice to kill the odor. So I started looking for other options.

This brings me to the subject of shrubs. I first had a shrub at Russ & Daughters Cafe, and it was love at first sip! A shrub is a drink made with fruit- and herb-infused vinegars (usually apple cider vinegar), a sweetener, and some club soda or anything sparkly. You'll find tons of recipes out there to make the vinegar. I am going to share a great all-around method and then some recipes. There are two ways to make a shrub: cold and hot. Hot is faster, cold is better.

Basic recipe for any fruit shrub · Food52

Ingredients
1 pound chopped fruit
2 cups sugar
2 cups vinegar (usually apple cider, I also like using rice wine vinegar, coconut, or white balsamic)
optional: ginger; rosemary; thyme; cardamon; bay leaves; etc.

Procedure
Assemble your fruit (sliced or gently mashed) in a bowl, and toss it with the sugar. Let this mixture sit, covered securely with a dishtowel, on your kitchen counter for about 2 days. Stir once a day. It should start to look very juicy. After 2 days, strain the mixture into a measuring cup, discard the fruit, then combine the syrup with approximately an equal amount of vinegar (again, your choice, but apple cider vinegar is a good place to start). Do this slowly, tasting as you go, so that you get a shrub that is sharp but tasty.

That's it! Pour it into a jar and stick it in the fridge. Here are two recipes with great combo of flavors.

Mixed berry shrub · Bon Appetit

Ingredients
12 ounces berries (such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or strawberries), sliced or quartered if large
1 1/2 cups (or more) granulated sugar
1 cup (or more) vinegar (such as red wine, white wine, apple cider, white balsamic, or unseasoned rice)

Procedure
Gently mash berries in a medium bowl with a fork. Transfer to jar, add sugar, and stir to combine. Seal jar and let fruit mixture sit at room temperature, shaking a couple of times, until berries are very soft and falling apart and sugar is at least mostly dissolved, about 1 day (mixture should look very juicy).

Strain fruit mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Line sieve with a layer of cheesecloth if you want to catch every bit of seed and fruit pulp, discard fruit. Scrape any undissolved sugar left in jar into bowl. Add vinegar to syrup and stir to combine. Taste shrub and adjust of necessary. Pour shrub into a clean jar; cover with lid and chill until flavors come together and mellow, at least 1 week.

Shrub can be made 6 months ahead. Keep chilled.

To make a drink, pour 2 Tbsp. shrub into a glass filled with ice and top off with club soda; stir gently to combine. Garnish with berries and/or herbs. Thai basil is a good choice!

Butternut Sage shrub · The Spruce Eats

Ingredients
2 cups good-quality apple cider vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups cubed butternut squash
1/2 cup fresh sage leaves, from about 8 sprigs
Cold seltzer, ginger ale, or still water, for serving

Procedure
Place the apple cider vinegar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then stir in the sugar. Lower the heat to a simmer and continue to cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.

Add the butternut squash and sage. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the squash is softened and easily pierced with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Lightly smash the softened squash with a potato masher or wooden spoon in the saucepan to release more flavor. Cover and steep for 3 hours.

Strain the squash and sage from the liquid using a fine-mesh strainer. Bottle the shrub, seal, and refrigerate for 3 to 4 days before using.

To make a drink, pour 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) of the butternut-sage shrub into a glass (over ice, if you like). Top with about 6 ounces (3/4 cup) of cold seltzer, ginger ale, or water, pouring more or less to taste. Stir well.

Holiday Projects

As 2015 comes to an end, I thought I would take a few moments to highlight some of my recent holiday projects. Usually I celebrate Christmas with a classic Chinese take-out dinner, but this year I was lucky enough to be invited to a traditional Italian feast. It was amazing — there must have been 12 courses, each better than the next. In addition to the fish courses, there was an assortment of meats, pasta, and veggies. Italian sautéed broccoli rabe with garlic and lemon, how can that be bad?


In terms of house decorations, I limit that to our front door. Each year I make a wreath. I try to use recycled junk I find around the house. In previous years, I have used brass nails, police caution tape, and stainless steel scrub pads. Last year I collected (with the help of my commuting friends) over 100 used Metro cards which made quite a festive display. This year, my decorating took a slightly more political turn as I felt the need to express my horror over the abundance of guns in American culture. I thought it would be so easy to buy plastic guns. But ironically, it would have been easier for me to purchase real guns than kid’s toys (which seem to be heavily regulated in wealthy white neighborhoods). Fortunately a co-worker who lives in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn had no trouble getting the guns.


For holiday foods, I basically limited my production to desserts. I find you can’t go wrong with a fruit tart. Easy to start ahead of time, filling variations are endless, and winter fruits work perfectly. Here's the basic recipe:

Fruit tart

This is a great recipe because it’s done in an electric mixer. If rolling the dough freaks you out, you can simply push it into the bottom and sides of a tart pan with your hands. This recipe makes enough for 2 tart crusts and you can keep the extra dough in the refrigerator for a week, or you can freeze it.

Almond pastry crust ingredients
12 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour, minus 3 tablespoons
(used for rolling out dough)

Almond pastry crust procedure
Cream the butter, sugar, and extract until light and fluffy in the bowl of your electric mixer. Slowly add the flour until the dough holds together. Turn out on floured board and give a few turns. Refrigerate for 1 hour before using. This dough can either be rolled out or pushed into a tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake fully in a 350 oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. I line the shell with plastic wrap and then use pie weights to make sure the crust bakes flat. Let cool before filling.

Cream filling ingredients
2 cups cream cheese (regular or low fat)
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one lemon, orange, or lime

Cream filling procedure
Whip up everything till smooth. If you want to get creative, you can add a bit of booze (Cassis, Rum, Brandy, Triple Sec) or you can experiment with different extracts. You can also fold some melted chocolate into the cream cheese.

Preparing the fruit and assembly
If using apples and pears, I like to slice thinly and gently sauté in a little butter and brown sugar. If using berries, all you have to do pop them in place. I usually brush the inside of the baked tart shell with white chocolate to keep it from getting soggy. Then the evenly spread the cream filling, and carefully lay out the fruit slices in a fan pattern. If you like a shiny finish, melt some jelly with a little water and brush it on the fruit. I like to use apricot glaze but any kind works.


These cookiee were a simple variation on a chocolate chip cookie, with the addition of fresh pomegranate seeds, orange zest, and rosemary.


Another easy, festive addition to the holiday is a seasonal beverage. Now that fresh berries are available year round, I see no reason not to serve this yummy drink.

blackberry gin cocktail

Ingredients
3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
6 large blackberries
1/2 ounce crème de cassis
1/2 ounce simple syrup (heat equal amounts sugar and water until sugar is melted; cool before using)
1 1/2 ounces Gin
Blackberries for garnish

Procedure
Combine the lemon juice and blackberries in a rocks glass and muddle until the berries are broken up. Fill the glass with ice. Combine Crème de Cassis, simple syrup, and gin in a cocktail shaker and stir to combine. Add to the berry/lemon mixture, stir and garnish with additional blackberries.

 
And finally, I made a small croquembouche. Not my best effort, but in my defense I did not have the right pastry bag or tips (much of my kitchen is packed in anticipation of our next move). It tasted good but looked a bit wonky.

That's all till New Year's Eve, when I am planning to make and document a great meal! Pace yourself till then.

Blackberry Spritzer

Refreshing Beverage of the Week
Here is a simple light summer drink, which has infinite possible variations.

Ingredients
Ice cubes
1 ounce Grand Marnier
1/2 ounce creme de cassis
1/4 ounce lemon juice
6 blackberries
club soda

Procedure
Fill a highball glass with ice and add the Grand Marnier, creme de cassis and lemon juice. Add the blackberries and top with club soda.

So you could use any kind of berries, substitute Chambord for Cassis and raspberry for blackberry, or go peachy with some peach schnapps and lime juice. See where I am going with this? A little alcohol and some ripe fruit goes a long way in the summer.

Summer Berry Pudding

The Altitude Adjustment Section
The English have a very interesting repertoire of deserts. Many are made with leftovers, which often include old bread. Hey, you use what you have. This is a recipe for summer berry pudding, which requires no baking so you don’t need to heat up your kitchen, and it's yummy. This recipe is slightly fancier and suggests using Brioche bread, but you could go traditional and use plain old white bread or even Challah if you are so inclined. It does need to sit overnight, so plan ahead!

Ingredients
1 loaf Brioche bread
8 cups assorted ripe berries
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Sweetened whipped cream of cream fraiche

Procedure
Line a 1 1/2 quart soufflé dish with plastic wrap, making sure to leave excess wrap hanging over the edges. Trim the crust off the bread and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices. Combine the berries sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in a medium sauce pan and cook just 5 minutes until the berries exude their juices. Reserve 1 cup of berries and 1/2-cup juice for sauce at the end. Line the bottom of your soufflé dish with sliced bread, cutting and fitting so you have a tight fit. Using a ladle, spoon about half the berry mixture into the pan. Now make another tight layer of bread. Ladle the remaining berry mixture into the pan and top with another layer of brioche. Cover the pudding with excess plastic wrap. Now put a plate large enough just to cover the surface of the pudding on top and then set a 1-2 pound weight on top of that (2 pounds of butter or a large can of tomato product would work) to compress the whole thing. Set this inside a sheet pan or roasting pan to catch the potential drippage that might occur during compression and place in the refrigerator overnight.

To make the sauce, puree the reserved berries and juice in a blender and then strain out seeds though a fine sieve. You can cook and thicken it with a little cornstarch if you desire. To serve pudding, remove the weight from the pan, peel back the plastic wrap, and invert mold onto a serving plate with sides to catch the juices. Let the pudding stand for about 1 hour before slicing. Cut with a serrated knife and serve with sauce, whipped cream or crème fraiche.

Blackberry Brandy

The Refreshing Beverage of the Week
I love the idea of making homemade liquors and cordials so I found this recipe for blackberry brandy and knew I needed to do it on the show. You could use any kind of berry, but I have noticed that even in the winter blackberries have remained rather flavorful, so here goes:

Ingredients
2 pints blackberries
1 lb. Sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon Mace
2 whole cloves
1 cup nice brandy

Procedure
Mash the blackberries in a bowl to extract the juice. Put the mushy pulp in a pot along with the sugar and spices and boil for 15 minutes. Now strain out all the stuff and save juice. To each pint of liquid add 1 cup brandy. Put it into a pretty glass bottle and have a party.

Berry Pie with Lemonade Cream Filling

The Altitude Adjustment Section
It's berry season, so here is a great, super easy berry pie with a lemonade cream cheese filling by Susan Purdy author of Pie in the Sky. You can get creative with this one and make it your own! Try different concentrates in the filling, different types of zest and different berries.

Ingredients for Pie Dough
8 ounces Philadelphia brand, full-fat cream cheese
1/2 pound (2 sticks) room temp butter
2 cups A.P. flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Procedure
In the large bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, combine cream cheese and butter till very smooth. Add flour and salt and just mix till combined or else it will get tough. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill at least 30 minutes or overnight. Later, roll out dough, put into an 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Line shell with tin foil sprayed with non stick spray and fill with pie weights or beans and fully prebake shell for 15 minutes at 400 degrees then remove pie weights lower oven to 350, and bake for 15 minutes more or until golden brown. Let cool before filling.

Ingredients for filling
12 ounces Philadelphia cream cheese
4 tablespoons Granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 1/2 tablespoons lemonade concentrate (or limeade mix or tangerine concentrate)
2 Tablespoons Triple Sec or Rum
4 cups fresh berries

Procedure
Combine all filling ingredients, except the berries, in bowl of an electric mixer and whip till smooth. Spread in bottom of cooled crust. Top with the fresh berries. If you want it shiny, melt some red currant jelly with a little water and brush over berries. Serve chilled.

Summer Fruit Cobbler

The Altitude Adjustment Section
This time of year, with all the lovely summer fruit falling off the trees and practically hitting you on the head, perhaps it's time to talk about cobblers. And who better to go to than Susan Purdy, the queen of high altitude baking? This recipe was influenced by a cobbler she had made by Peyton at Harry’s Roadhouse, right here in Santa Fe. Once you get the basic technique down, you can use a variety of fruit fillings. So this is how you do it:

Ingredients for dough
1 1/2 cups A.P. flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons gran. sugar
pinch nutmeg
4 tablespoons=1/2 stick butter room temp
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 room temp egg

Ingredients for fruit filling
apple juice or orange juice 3/4 cup to 1 1/3 cup, depending on juiciness of fruit
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
1/3 to 3/4 cup light brown sugar, depending on sweetness of fruit
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
6 cups sliced ripe fruit plums, peaches, nectarines or berries pitted and thickly sliced

Procedure
Preheat oven to 425. Find a 10-12 inch deep baking pan or use a 2-4 quart dutch oven or an old cast iron skillet.
Prepare the dough in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse together the flour, powder, salt, sugar and nutmeg. Add the butter and pulse till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and egg, pulse just till mixture comes together — don’t over mix. Set aside.

Now prepare the fruit filling: In a thick-bottomed skillet, whisk together the apple or orange juice and the cornstarch, then stir in the sugar, lemon, orange zest and cinnamon. Add the cut-up fruit and set over medium heat. Bring to the boil and then cover the pot and let simmer for 10 minutes, until the fruit is tender and easily pierces with a knife. Now transfer fruit to baking dish, if using, while still hot (very important). Take tablespoons of the prepared dough and spoon on top of the fruit. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and set it on a sheet pan lined with tin foil (to help with sticky clean up) in your very hot oven to bake for 25-35 minutes, or until dough is puffed up and golden brown.