Making Shrub

As an "alcoholic beverage retailer" I get tons of publications with all the newest trends in cocktails, which is fun and frustrating. Fun because I always have new ideas from folks at the top of the industry, frustrating because we live in a small rural town in the midwest and "trends" are not the easiest to come by. Occasionally I concoct my own spin on cocktails if I can't find exactly what I need....hence the "shrub" recipe.

In all honesty I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but if it's made with vinegar, I'm usually game. The shrub is an old non-alcoholic beverage and you can read it's history all over the internet with a simple search. (I'm sorry, I hate to just repeat what someone else has said better before me :))

I had a quart of fresh strawberries needing to be used and lemons galore, so that's how I ended up with this recipe. I was a bit hesitant about strawberries as I don't usually care for strawberry flavored anything as it's SO sweet, but the shrub can really use the sweet to counter balance it's tartness. The recipe filled a wine bottle about 3/4 full so maybe yield is about 3 cups-ish.

Strawberry Lemon Shrub
2 fresh lemons, juiced
1 quart strawberries, hulled and cut in half
1 cup Champagne Vinegar (Champagne vinegar is a MUST or any delicate wine or rice vinegar. Do not use apple cider or white vinegar)
1 cup sugar

Combine strawberries, vinegar and lemon juice in a glass container. Stir and leave at room temperature for 48 hours. Add sugar, stir and allow to sit stirring or shaking occasionally up to 4 days.
Strain berries from juice using a jelly bag or cheesecloth and refrigerate before serving.

(This was the only photo I took and it's super tacky, but you'll get the point of what it should look like and the color is stunning!)



I served the shrub at my Preserving Class with Prosecco wine, a fruity, dry sparkling wine from Italy. You could also use and "Brut" sparkling wine. I would be hesitant to use any sweet sparkling wine. While the shrub is tart from the vinegar, it's still sooooo sweet in the layers of flavors. I also thought club soda was fantastic for a refreshing brunch drink! There are many cocktail recipes online, using shrubs in them. This keeps about a month in the fridge.

I think I'd like to try a pear/ginger shrub for the fall! Let me know what you try out and what your thoughts were on flavor combinations!!

Tiny Meyer Lemon Pound Cakes

Meyer lemons are one of my favorite citrus fruits in the world!  A bit less acidic than traditional lemons with a orange-y flavor edge, deep yellow skin and complex flavor.  Here in Michigan, they are around for a short time, so I purchase a couple dozen and enjoy every moment!  You can treat them just like traditional lemons with zesting and juicing (they are really seedy, so be prepared) and the peels are fabulous candied.

I am never disappointed in poundcakes.  Adding meyer lemons just added to the pleasure!  I poked around the internet and didn't really find what I wanted, so I got out a few old cookbooks and ended up adapting a recipe from Taste Of Home.  While I was surfing, I ran across a "Muffin Monday" blogpost in which the author garnished her cakes before baking with a thin slice of Meyer Lemon and a pinch of sugar!  So cute, so creative, slightly weird texture when baked, but you can choose what suits you.

I loved this recipe because I had everything on hand and was snacking in less than 45 minutes!  I would set your timer for a few minutes less than the recipe calls for, I felt mine got a little overdone and were a bit too dry without adding a glaze, which I didn't want to do.  You could always do a bit of meyer lemon simple syrup to pour over when hot too, if you want them a bit sweeter.


Tiny Meyer Lemon Pound Cakes

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons Meyer Lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Meyer Lemon zest
1 3/4 cup floour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until fluffy.  Add lemon juice, zest and vanilla and mix to combine.  Add eggs one at a time beating in completely before adding the next.  Add sour cream or yogurt and combine.  In a separate bowl, stir together dry ingredients and add to wet mixture, stirring until just combined.  Fill paper liners or a greased muffin tin about 3/4's full.  Top each muffin with a thin half slice of fresh lemon and a sprinkle of raw sugar.  Bake 18 minutes.   

Easy Crepes

Last week brought our girl, Gina, home to us.  It also brought the (NON-event) Hurricane Irene which allowed Gina to stay an extra day, which was fantastic.  Our family was quite busy all week, but carved out some time to spend together and that always involves food!  John was craving crepes then Lewis (Gina's friend) jumped on board and proceeded to make us his English version of crepes.

Simple and barely sweet, fresh summery flavor that leaves you satisfied without leaving the table too full.  Perfection on Sunday morning!

CREPES

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
pinch of salt

Blend all together in a mixing bowl with a whisk.  Allow to rest about 20 minutes to remove air bubbles.  Heat a crepe pan to hot and butter lightly.  Pour in just enough to coat bottom of pan, allow to brown slightly and flip.  Viola!

While hot, squeeze a good bit of fresh lemon juice over the crepe and sprinkle with plain white sugar.  Fold into thirds and top with a bit more lemon juice and teaspoon of sugar.

It's interesting that the lemon juice absorbs into the crepe and the sugar melts almost instantly to give a lovely tart/sweetness to the crepe, but keeps it light and airy.  

The crepes gave us enough sustanence to make a trip to a local apple cider mill to eat doughnuts and drink cider on the Huron River later in the afternoon and to cook a lovely supper full of fresh vegetables from the garden and farm. 

It was a beautiful day in Michigan and a lovely send off for Gina and Lewis.  Now we are backing to missing them.