Why should peanut butter and almond butter get all of the smoothie love? This frosty drink is a new twist on the classic combo of bananas and walnuts!
About the author: Lee Zalben was a PB&J-loving kid that grew up to be the founder and president of Peanut Butter & Co., which began as a Greenwich Village sandwich shop serving nothing but peanut butter sandwiches and expanded to include the now-famous line of all natural flavored peanut butter. Lee is a graduate of Vassar College and enjoys traveling the world in search of interesting foods made with peanuts, tree nuts, and seeds. When he's not working, eating, flying or writing, he enjoys scuba diving and training elephants.
Special equipment: blender
serves serves 1, active time 5 minutes, total time 1 hour
Peel and slice the banana and freeze for at least one hour.
Place the milk, walnuts, honey, and cinnamon in a blender and pulse until the walnuts get broken into very small pieces (small enough to pass through a straw). Add the frozen banana and pulse until the mixture is smooth.
Pour into a glass and top with the toasted wheat germ. Enjoy with a straw or a spoon.
[Photograph: Nina Gallant]
Reprinted with permission from The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook by Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin. Copyright © 2012. Published by Smart Pop Books. Available wherever books are sold. All rights reserved.
serves makes about 2 quarts (approximately 12 servings), active time 10 minutes, total time 2 hours 10 minutes
In a large mixing bowl, mash orange peel and sugar. Add orange juice and lemon juice and stir until sugar dissolves. Add orange extract, liqueur or brandy, and whisky and stir. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
Take punch out of refrigerator and remove orange peel with a slotted spoon. Place block of ice in a punch bowl and pour punch into bowl. Float orange slices in bowl, or garnish each punch cup with a slice.
Note: Freeze a block of ice in advance for the punch bowl.
[Photograph: Kerry Saretsky]
This is a fun American riff on classic Spanish sangria: mix together dry French apple cider, sliced apples, apple brandy, and cinnamon-steeped syrup. It's a festive, autumnal drink that warms, but is chilled enough for springtime.
About the author: Kerry Saretsky is the creator of French Revolution Food, where she reinvents her family's classic French recipes in a fresh, chic, modern way.
serves 4 servings, active time 5 minutes, total time 30 minutes
In a small saucepan, heat the water, sugar, and cinnamon sticks together over medium-high heat. As soon as the sugar is dissolved, shut off the heat, and let the syrup steep until it has come to room temperature.
When the syrup is cooled, add the cinnamon syrup, the cider, the Calvados, and the sliced apples to a jug. Stir, and serve immediately.
[Photograph: Carrie Vasios]
Cara cara oranges are sweet and low in acid with hints of grapefruit and cherry. They add depth to this citrusy, refreshing tequila cocktail.
serves serves 1, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes
Combine tequila, cara cara juice, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and agave syrup in a cocktail shaker.
Fill shaker with ice. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Strain into a tequila glass or champagne flute and top with soda. Garnish with cara cara orange peel twist.
Special equipment: blender, strainer, cheesecloth
serves Makes about 1 quart, active time 10 minutes, total time 6 hours
Place the almonds and the water in a bowl and allow to soak for at least six hours (you can also let them soak in the pitcher of your blender if it's not being used for anything else).
Place the almonds and water in the blender (if they're not already in there). Add all of the other ingredients and blend on high for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth. You can adjust the amount of sweetness as you go.
Place your strainer over the empty bowl. Fold the cheesecloth so that you have a sheet made up of at least 3 layers, and position it over the strainer. Pour the almond milk into the bowl through the strainer and the cheesecloth, allowing the solids to collect in the cheesecloth. Gather the ends of the cheesecloth and press out any remaining liquid.
Transfer your homemade almond milk to a bottle and keep refrigerated. Enjoy with 1 week (like it will last that long)!
serves 1 , active time 2 minutes , total time 2 minutes
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Enjoy this smoothie as a mid-morning snack or before you work out for a boost of protein, dietary fat, and fiber.
[Photograph: Robyn Lee]
The secret ingredient in this cocktail from Linnea Johansson is a dash of rose water, which adds a bright, floral flavor.
Special equipment: cocktail strainer, champagne flute
serves serves 1, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes
Place vodka, cranberry juice, and rose water in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously with ice.
Strain cocktail into champagne flute. Top glass with Prosecco. Add a few cranberries for garnish.
[Photograph: Max Falkowitz]
This mulled wine is heavy on citrus and anise flavors thanks to a generous squeeze of orange and a complex blend of spices. A cheap Cabernet Sauvignon is all you need—the nuance of more expensive wines will get lost in the mulling.
Special equipment: electric slow cooker
serves makes 3 cups, active time 5 minutes, total time 2 to 3 hours
Toast spices in a skillet on high heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and transfer to a spice infuser bag (except cinnamon stick).
In a small saucepan, bring wine to a bare simmer, then transfer to a slow cooker set on low heat. Add spices, juice of orange, and orange hull. Cover and steep on low heat.
After 2 hours, taste wine and add maple syrup and brandy. Cover and steep for another 30 minutes to an hour before serving.
[Photographs and original illustrations: Cakespy]
In the spirit of cleaning out your fridge, I've got the perfect solution for using up any leftover Thanksgiving pie and cranberry sauce: make it in a shake!
This milkshake recipe is easy to make using leftover pecan or pumpkin pie (but not both at the same time, please) with a touch of cranberry sauce for a tinge of tartness; if you're daring, go ahead and add in a spoonful of sweet potato casserole, too. Mix it up, and then sip, savor, and enjoy this indulgent post-holiday treat.
Special equipment: Blender
serves Serves 1, active time 2 minutes, total time 2 minutes
Place your pie slice, cranberry sauce, ice cream, and milk or cream in blender. Blend on high until smooth, 10 to 20 seconds. Add more cream or milk if thinner shake is desired; add more ice cream if you'd like a thicker shake.
Pour into tall glass; serve immediately. If desired, garnish with whipped cream.
Those of you who have been reading this column for a long time know what I mean when I say that I'm generally not afraid to let my freak flag fly. But there is one secret I've been keeping tucked away in the back of the crisper for quite a while now, behind the fresh thyme that's starting to dry itself and the three homeless stalks of leftover lemongrass.
I think I've been hiding it because I didn't want you to judge me or to label me. Once you've lived past the publication date of your high school yearbook, you don't want to be labeled by other people unless the label starts with "50 Best" and appears in a national publication.
Still, once you've lived past the publication date of your grad school yearbook, a freak flag that wants to fly is a tough thing to keep down. Grad school for me was like a career-and-a-half ago, at least. So I think it's time to come clean with you and let the kale chips fall where they may.
I have a green smoothie habit. It's serious, it's daily, and it's affected my ability to lead a normal life. It's affected my ability to want to lead a normal life. There, I said it.
Here's what happened. A little while ago, I celebrated a round-numbers birthday. The couple of years leading up to that birthday were pretty rocky in a handful of ways, the worst of which was losing my dad to cancer. Since childhood, I've always been interested in what it means to live a healthful lifestyle and at various times I've been variously committed to actually living a healthful lifestyle. I don't want to invoke the words "mid-life" or "crisis" here, but let's just say that the culmination of those events was the purchase of a pricey high-speed blender and a renewed interest in living beyond my life expectancy.
Stories like this are supposed to end with the narrator laughing at herself with her friends over three rounds of tequila shots, I know. But even after the (ahem...non-)crisis element of this particular story subsided, I found I was still whizzing up vegetables in the blender every morning and guzzling them down with a big smile on my face.
I found that green smoothies and all the other plant-fringe goodness I was whipping up in my kitchen, were making me not only a little livelier, a little fitter, a little more bright-eyed in the morning—but also more than a little happier. So I figured I'd share that happiness with you.
Green smoothies are named as such because they contain leafy greens and sometimes other vegetables. Often they are actually green, but sometimes, like when you add berries, they're not. People drink them because they're an efficient way to pack a lot of plant-based nutrition into a relatively small package. But the clincher is that many of them actually taste great, too. You'd never know that there's a salad's worth of spinach in the recipe below, unless you feel like thinking about it to put a smile on your face. Even peppery greens like arugula and mizuna play nicely with fruits and herbs. If you like to experiment with flavor combinations in your mainstream cooking life, you'll enjoy the same creativity with green smoothies.
For most greens (kale not included, in my experience), you don't need a high-speed blender (like a Vitamix or Blendtec) to make a good smoothie, though the process will be quicker and the result creamier if you do. A banana, an avocado, or a small handful of nuts is very helpful to good texture, and a few dried dates will bump up the sweetness in a relatively nutritious way. But beyond that, it's fun to vary the other ingredients. Try mizuna, mango, banana, lime, and cilantro, for example—or whatever your palate desires.
What about you all? Do you secretly or boisterously drink green smoothies? If so, what are some of your favorite tips and tricks? And just a quick note: sometimes when I write a post with the words "health" and "vegetables" in it, a few of you leave comments with question marks and the words "meat" and "saturated fat!" and "maybe you should familiarize yourself with the recent studies of..." in them.
I just want to say that I've done the reading, I've thought about it seriously, and that's just not the freak flag I choose to fly. Maybe some of you would prefer a ground beef smoothie thinned with heavy cream. If that makes you happy, I will gladly stand by your side, toast your meat smoothie with my green one, and laugh with you about the weirdness of the world. I hope we'll both live to be 100 and enjoy every bite along the way. Cheers!
About the author: Carolyn Cope is the voice behind the popular food blog Umami Girl. A recent transplant to London, she's trying her best to act nonchalant in the company of courgettes and aubergines. Find her on Facebook and Twitter.
Special equipment: High-speed or regular blender
serves 2, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes
If you're using a regular blender, roughly chop the orange, banana, spinach, and dates. If you're using a high-speed blender such as a Vitamix or Blendtec, simply place all ingredients in the blender in the order listed.
Add 1 cup water to the blender. Blend until completely smooth, stopping to push ingredients toward the blades if necessary. Add a bit more water, if desired, to reach the smoothie consistency you prefer. This may be especially necessary if you're using a regular blender. Divide between two tall glasses and serve immediately.
[Photograph: Max Falkowitz]
There's more to mulling cider than swirling in a couple sticks of cinnamon. This spice blend yields a balanced, flavorful cider while remaining true to the base flavor of apples. You can customize it to your own tastes (more brandy, for example, for a harder brew), but the star anise, coriander, and cardamom—all friends of apples—is what makes it stand out.
This recipe is formulated for a small batch of cider; you can multiply it if need be, though your steeping time may vary.
Special equipment: slow cooker, small musin spice bag (optional)
serves 4 to 6, active time 5 minutes, total time 4 hours
Turn slow cooker to high and add apple cider. Cover and set aside.
Heat a small skillet on medium-high and add spices. Toast, stirring frequently, until fragrant and coriander seeds begin to darken. Set aside and either transfer to a reusable spice bag or add loose to cider.
Cover and let cider mull on high (reduce if it begins to bubble) for about 4 hours, or until spice flavor is well-infused. Ten minutes before serving, add brandy. Add sugar, rounded teaspoon at a time, if cider is too tart (sugar will bring out flavor of spices if needed).
Serve plain, or with a slice of lemon, extra brandy, or a small grating of nutmeg. If keeping warm for service, remove spices.
[Photograph: Carrie Vasios]
Check out other recipes from Serious Entertaining: Farmer's Market Lunch »
serves 2 quarts, active time 10 minutes, total time 10 minutes
In a medium pot combine 2 cups water, sugar, and mint. Bring heat to medium and stir until sugar has dissolved. Let simmer for one minute then take off heat. Let cool.
Fill a large pitcher with ice. Add lemon juice, mint syrup, and 1 cup water. Stir to combine.
Corn may not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about summer cocktails, but its subtly sweet and milky kernels provide a perfect base for a delicious drink.
I took inspiration from one of my favorite ways to eat corn, Mexican corn on the cob or elote—grilled and topped with lime juice and spices. I cut two rows of kernels off a corn cob, then mashed them up in the bottom of a cocktail shaker to create a milky corn mash. After adding a little lime and some dark rum, I added a few drops of Bitterman's Xocolatl Mole Bitters to add a hint of warm spice to round out the cocktail. The resulting cocktail is the color of corn—a light, milky yellow—with flavor that manages to be both bold and bright.
Note: for the demerara syrup, mix equal parts demerara sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Let cool before using.
About the author: Kelly Carámbula blogs about her adventures in the kitchen, including a weekly happy hour, on eat make read. She is also the founder and publisher of Remedy Quarterly, an independent food magazine.
Special equipment: cocktail shaker, muddler
serves 1, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes
Muddle the corn in the bottom of a cocktail shaker until the kernels are mashed and a milky liquid forms.
Add the lime juice, demerara syrup, rum and bitters. Fill shaker with ice and shake for about 10 seconds.
Using both the cocktail strainer and a fine mesh strainer, strain the cocktail into a glass.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
Do you drink coffee? I don't. Try as I might, caffeine gives me the shakes and makes my hair stand on end. My pulse races and my mind cannot be caught. Like most people balancing a couple of jobs, I get tired and occasionally need a little pick-me-up; a bit of something to get me going when I'm just too tired to put one foot in front of the other. Caffeine works wonders for this, but for me it's just not an option.
I have to rely on sugar for my instant get-up-and-go—so I recently came up with this salted caramel blended ice milk. Similar to the popular ice blended drinks found at coffee shops, this beverage blends salty sweet caramel and cold milk into a frothy mix that is this close to a mocha-frappa-something-ccino, but better, and it lacks the caffeinated kick.
Start with homemade caramel and from there, simply blend in whole milk with crushed ice. While I chose to flavor the caramel with sea salt and vanilla, you could easily replace any extract you want, or even leave the salt out all together. Of course, you could even replace some of the milk with cold coffee, but why ruin a perfectly good sugar rush with all that caffeine?
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, caterer and culinary instructor. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: blender, 2 quart pot
serves 2, active time 20, total time 2 hours, 20 minutes
For the Salted Caramel: Bring the cream and butter to a low simmer until butter is melted. Set aside.
In a saucepot, cook sugar over medium heat without stirring, brushing down sides of pot occasionally with a moist pastry brush until sugar registers 320°F on a candy thermometer or instant-read thermometer (sugar should be light amber). Lower heat to medium low and slowly pour in the cream and melted butter. The mixture will bubble up. Stir in the salt and vanilla.
Cook and stir over low heat for 1 minute. Caramel will thicken slightly. Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature.
For the Salted Caramel Blended Ice Milk: Combine crushed ice, milk, and 1/2 cup caramel in blender and mix until frothy. Pour into two glasses and garnish with whipped cream and extra caramel.
[Photograph: Paul Clarke]
Okay, so maybe this drink isn't really medicine of the FDA-approved variety; I still believe in the Prescription Julep's curative properties, and dose myself with it liberally each summer to keep an assortment of seasonal malaises at bay.
According to David Wondrich, who wrote about this drink in Imbibe!, the Prescription Julep first appeared in print in 1857, and this is, he attests, the tastiest mint julep recipe in circulation: an opinion I heartily endorse. As I've mentioned before, bourbon gets all the press when it comes to mint juleps, but our ancestors weren't that picky; brandy was likely the original spirit in a mint julep, and in the julep's 19th-century heyday it wasn't unusual to see cognac, rye whiskey or rum appearing in this soothing refresher.
In lieu of bourbon, the Prescription Julep deploys a combination of two spirits that are absolutely made for each other: rye whiskey and cognac. As Wondrich notes, the plushness of brandy smoothes out the rye's spicy edges, and the spark of the rye perks up the brandy. Simply add mint, sugar and a plenty of ice, and the result is a relatively simple drink that's uncommonly tasty.
(And with the Fourth of July coming up, should you prefer to stick to American booze in keeping with the spirit of the holiday, here's a suggestion: for cognac, substitute the luscious brandy from Germain-Robin, made in California. It's gorgeous stuff, and works great in this drink.)
Special equipment: muddler or wooden spoon, bar spoon
serves 1, active time 2 minutes, total time 2 minutes
Place the sugar and water in a tall glass or julep cup and muddle until sugar is dissolved.
Add mint leaves to the sugar syrup and gently press to release the flavorful oil (don't get too aggressive: smashing up the mint releases bitterness in the leaves)
Add the spirits and stir to combine. Fill glass with crushed ice and stir with bar spoon until the glass begins to frost, adding more crushed ice if needed. Garnish with a fresh sprig of mint; serve with a straw.