Yield: approximately 5 cups
½ cup cold water
2 cup ice cubes
6 tablespoons simple syrup
1/2 cup mezcal
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 (12-ounce) bag frozen passionfruit pieces
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
Watch me make this on my YouTube
Yield: approximately 2½ cups shrub concentrate
1 pound organic sweet cherries, pitted
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons lemon zest (zested with a microplane)
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
30 medium mint leaves, plus more for garnish
6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend on medium-low for 1 minute.
Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and strain the mixture, pressing on the solids with a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible.
Transfer shrub mix into a bottle or jar, close to seal, and store in the refrigerator until ready to enjoy.
Serve one part shrub mixture for every four parts sparkling water (or to taste). When serving, add water and ice (if using) first (to a glass). Then slowly stir in the shrub. This helps to reduce any foaminess.
Add a shot of gin or mezcal for a delicious adult beverage.
Garnish with fresh mint.
Ring in your New Year with a steaming mug of cider! Adult and kid friendly versions available!
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
½ gallon freshly pressed apple cider
3 sticks cinnamon, plus more sticks for garnish
1 medium orange, unpeeled, sliced thinly
2 whole cloves
½ vanilla bean, seeds and pod: slice down the length of the pod, spread open, and scrape out the flesh by pressing with a butter knife
1 tablespoon honey, preferably orange blossom
⅓ cup brandy, optional
In a large saucepan or small pot over low heat, add all of the ingredients, and mix together. Stir occasionally until very warm. Serve in mugs with slices of orange.
Notes:
I declare this the summer of shrubs! Not the lawn “decoration.” No, the delicious, refreshing and fizzy fruit/vinegar drink that’s popping up at coffee shops and restaurants around the country – a call back to a common drink popular during America’s colonial era.
Simple to make and a perfect way to store your summer fruit for months on end, here’s our recipe (yup – it’s another Drought Friendly Recipe from me and Super Sous) for a Yellow Peach and Basil Shrub.
Yellow Peach and Basil Shrub
Yield: 28-ounces shrub mix
1½ pounds ripe yellow peaches, pit discarded, diced large (3 large peaches)
1 cup organic granulated sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
30 medium basil leaves, bruised with your fingers
½ cup white wine vinegar, plus more to taste
Add diced peaches and sugar to a large bowl. Mash the peaches with a potato masher until mostly pulverized and the sugar is fully dissolved. Stir in the orange zest, orange juice and bruised basil leaves.
Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for 2 hours, stirring once, after 1 hour.
Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and strain the mixture, pressing on the solids with a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible.
(Use the solids in your next smoothie!)
Stir in the vinegar. This beautiful liquid is your “shrub” mix.
Transfer shrub mix into a bottle or jar, close to seal, and store in the refrigerator until ready to enjoy.
Serve one part peach shrub mix for every four parts sparkling water.
Garnish with basil leaves and a few thin slices of peach.
Note: You can make it “adult” by adding a shot of alcohol, like whiskey or vodka.
Countdown to July 4th…
Why not make a dash to your local farmers market to grab some summer fruit and whip up this delicious beverage?
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
1 medium peach, pit removed and diced small
1 medium nectarine, pit removed and small diced small
1 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered
1 plum, pit removed and small diced small
1 pint red raspberries
Large fresh mint leaves, to taste
½ vanilla bean, seeds and pod: slice down the length of the pod, spread open, and scrape out the flesh by pressing with a butter knife
½ cup Grand Marnier
1 bottle Viognier white wine, chilled
1 bottle sparkling rosé wine, chilled
Combine the peach, nectarine, strawberries, plum, raspberries, mint, vanilla seeds and pod, Grand Mariner and Viognier in a large container.
If time permits, refrigerate for a few hours to allow the fruit to chill.
Pour into a pitcher or punch bowl, then just before serving, add the bottle of sparkling rosé.
My recipe for Dirty Chocolate Chai (a chocolate chai tea with a shot of espresso!) using TCHO Chocolate is up and running on the TCHO website. It’s Winter – grab a mug!
It’s national kale day, so this recipe seems like a great way to celebrate! Enjoy!
Very Green Juice
Yield: 2 cups
8 curly kale leaves, stems included
½ hothouse cucumber, peeled
1/3 cup packed cilantro, leaves and stems
4 celery stalks
2 Fuji apples
1 lime, peeled
Process all ingredients through a juicer and enjoy your green juice.
There are still delicious ripe watermelons on offer, so let’s juice them up with some mint and ginger. Mmmmm. A perfect end of summer refreshing drink.
Watermelon Ginger Juice
Yield: 2 cups
2 ½ cups watermelon flesh
20 mint leaves (stems on)
½-inch by ½-inch knob of fresh ginger
2 drops vanilla extract
Place mint leaves followed by the ginger and watermelon in a juicer and process. Stir in the two drops of vanilla extract. Drink up!
Really can’t go wrong here. Cocoa powder, peanut butter, sweet, salty, spicy, protein, fiber, sweet-tooth killer. Blend on!
PB&C (peanut butter and chocolate) Smoothie
Yields: 2 cups
1 large banana, peeled
1 cup almond milk
½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
7 small fresh deglet noor or medjool dates, pitted
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until thoroughly combined.
USA just advanced to the final 16 in the World Cup, so let’s celebrate with something BLUE from red, white and blue! This blueberry ginger smoothie is not only delicious, it’s super healthy as blueberries contain lots of antioxidants. Plus it has cinnamon which the City of Hope considers a superfood in addition to blueberries. So, drink up!
Blueberry Ginger Smoothie
Yields: 2 ½ cups
1 10-ounce bag frozen blueberries
1 large banana
1 cup almond milk
½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until thoroughly combined. If you prefer a thinner consistency, add additional almond milk to your liking.
Chef Nathan Lyon 