Dairy Free

The marinade in this recipe also makes a wonderful salad dressing.

Hot chocolate is not the only winter warmer. There’s a whole variety of spiced, sweetened, and heated beverages that contain no milk, no chocolate, and no caffeine. At Bubby’s, I’ve tinkered with some of these traditional hot drinks to come up with some beverages that have become pretty popular in their own right. Here are a couple of examples of our spiced, sweetened, and heated beverages.

Wonderful with steamed asparagus, this is also good chilled over a green salad and even with grilled chicken and fish. Try to use extra-virgin olive oil and the freshest garlic you can find. This will keep for about two weeks in the refrigerator.

An intensely flavored, full-bodied sauce that’s good on a variety of dishes, this one will keep for up to one week in the refrigerator. Use ripe local tomatoes and basil for best results.

Homemade mayonnaise is so much better than store-bought mayo that you’ll become a convert the first time you taste it. It’s basically an emulsion of liquid, oil, and egg yolk, the egg being the only nonvariable here. You can choose from a wide range of oils, such as extra-virgin olive or corn oil, but I prefer canola oil because it’s not too strong tasting. Though homemade mayo might seem intimidating the first time you make it, the problem is nearly always fixable with the one easy step below. Homemade mayonnaise will keep for up to one week in the refrigerator.

A wonderful syrup to pour over fresh fruit, this is not overpoweringly sweet, thanks to the orange zest. Choose a decent, but not expensive, port for this. Depending upon what you will use it for, opt for the cloves, cinnamon, and pepper. The spicier port syrup is great for reconstituting dried figs, apples, pears, and other dried fruit. You can also use it as a glaze on chicken or pork. Port syrup keeps in an airtight container for a few months in the refrigerator.

A very simple-to-make tart-sweet syrup, this sauce is accented with freshly grated lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice for a bright flavor. It’s perfect for a wintry fruit salad when the fruit is less than in season, or drizzled on top of pound cake. Make sure your lemons are at room temperature to get the maximum amount of juice out of them.

You’ll use this syrup in many different ways—it’s essential in many drinks. It may be prepared a week in advance, but it should be stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.

Make this in late June or early July when strawberries are abundant at your local farmers’ market, and you’ll enjoy it for months to come. Pectin, a water-soluble substance used as a thickener in jams and jellies, is available in many supermarkets. Serve this jam with any of Bubby’s fruit breads or muffins. You can also substitute blackberries, raspberries, or blueberries for the strawberries. You can mix the berries, too. Though you don’t need to sterilize the three 1-quart storage jars, you should wash the berries well. We are not canning here, or sealing, so it’s not the same process. This jam will keep for three to four weeks in the refrigerator.

Use any tart apple for this sauce. I personally like Braeburns, Mutsus, or Jonagolds. In a pinch, use Granny Smiths. It’s up to you whether to serve this warm or chilled. Excellent with Potato Pancakes (page 213), it is also called for in the Whole Grain Apple Waffle recipe (page 137), among others. This will keep for up to one week in the refrigerator.

This sauce complements many recipes in the book. It’s wonderful with pancakes and waffles and is almost a requirement with Mom’s Blintzes (page 146). You can substitute blueberries, strawberries, or just about any berry for the blackberries with excellent results. Be sure to use freshly squeezed orange juice. Alternatively, especially if you make this with other berries, lemon juice is a good substitute for the orange juice. You can even try it with grapefruit juice. The compote can be made a couple of days in advance, if you like, cooled, and stored in the refrigerator in a container with a lid. Before serving, heat the compote over low heat until it is very hot.

Apple butter, an intensely fruity and concentrated spread, is perfect with your choice of muffins, scones, and quick breads. Use Mutsu, Jonagold, Braeburn, or any other tart/sweet apple. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month or you can freeze it in an airtight container for up to six months.

This toddy, a warming way to start brunch on a wintry day, is served in sugar-rimmed mugs and garnished with a stick of cinnamon. To make this for a crowd, mix up the rum and brown sugar and cloves ahead of time and add the boiling water at the last minute.

This is good for a lunchier-leaning brunch with steak and potatoes. I like to use Tempranillo or Rioja wine in this festive drink, which looks beautiful on the table. Start the sangría a day ahead of time so that the fruit can marinate. Once it’s made, sangría will keep for two days in the refrigerator.

Festive and fruity, this is a natural starter at brunch. For best results and maximum freshness, use freshly squeezed cranberry juice and make the drinks just before you plan to serve them.

Fresh cranberry juice is worth learning to make for its vibrant flavor and color. We use frozen berries most of the year, and they actually make a more consistent juice than fresh, which are available only six or eight weeks of the year. A pound of frozen or fresh cranberries should give you about 2 cups juice. It is important to strain the juice through a very fine sieve. We use a fine chinois, also known as a China cap, to strain our juice. A chinois is actually a conical sieve with a very fine mesh. Use a spoon or even a pestle to press the juice through the chinois.

A platter of fresh fruit served with this lemony dip is a beautiful way to kick off brunch. This fruit salad can also be made into fruit kebobs for a different appearance. Just cut slightly bigger chunks and skewer the fruit onto bamboo skewers. You can prepare the fruit and the dip early and have this all ready when guests arrive. When you make the dip, mince the onion very, very finely or purée it, if you like, and be sure to use a neutral oil, such as canola or corn oil. I find that the onion adds a surprising savory flavor, but it’s not at all overpowering.