Sangria Verde: A Green Juice Cocktail

I know I’m a bit of an odd bird, but kale is one of my favorite foods. It’s definitely in my top five foods and I am always looking for ways to add kale to any and every dish in my kitchen. It’s so nutritious, exceptionally versatile, and I know it’s not popular opinion, but I think it’s delicious. A few months back, I went to out to dinner with Martin’s parents and my sister-in-law, Laura. I took them to one of our favorite Spanish-style tapas restaurants, one with really great patatas bravas and equally great cocktails. As I skimmed the cocktail list, a new, seasonal cocktail caught my eye because as I read the little menu blurb, I saw it had kale in it. Kale in my cocktail! I was sold. The drink was called a Sangria Verde and it was a vibrant green juice, filled with cucumbers, kale, and herbs, mixed with vodka and topped off with a citrusy, sparkly, white wine. It was bright and refreshing, slightly tart, with citrus notes and vegetal undertones.

It’s January 1st, and isn’t that what we all want? To keep drinking great cocktails, but feel a bit healthier while doing it? This is probably not a substitute for a run or a glass of water, but if you’re going to drink, adding a little kale isn’t a bad idea. Also, this recipe includes my favorite green juice recipe (no juicer required) and I suppose that if you weren’t into spiking it, you could just make the green juice and that would be a very healthy choice. For the rest of us, I recommend a bright, slightly citrusy white wine, like an Albarino, Vino Verde or Verdejo, with lots of salty and mineral notes.

Sangria Verde: A Green Juice Cocktail

Yield for green juice: approx. 32 oz

Yield for cocktail mix: 1 cocktail

Ingredients:

for the green juice:

juice of 1 orange

juice of 1 lime

3 small apples (I used Gala), cored and cubed

4 cups kale, packed

2 small Persian cucumbers

1” pinch of fresh ginger, peeled

small handful of mint leaves, from 2-3 sprigs of mint

3 cups cold filtered water

optional garnish: orange or lime slices and mint sprigs

for the mint simple syrup:

2 oz water

2 oz sugar

2-3 sprigs fresh mint

for the sangria verde:

1/2 oz mint simple syrup

1 oz vodka

2 oz green juice

3 oz dry white wine, such as Albarino or Vino Verde

Procedure:

to make the green juice:

1. In a high speed blender, combine all green juice ingredients. Blend on medium for 1 minute, and then increase speed to high and blend for 2-3 more minutes, until smooth and no large pieces remain.

2. Strain green juice through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth into a jar, bowl, or large glass measuring cup. Transfer to an airtight storage container (I used a large mason jar) and refrigerate. Juice will keep for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. (Be sure to shake well before using.)

to make the mint simple syrup:

1. In small saucepan set over medium heat, combine sugar and water. Stir gently and add mint sprigs. Bring to a boil and simmer until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

2. Once cooled, remove mint springs (strain if any debris remains) and store in the refrigerator.

to make the sangria verde cocktail:

1. In a small cocktail glass, stir together mint simple syrup, vodka, and green juice. Fill with ice and top with white wine.

Pomegranate Sage French 75

This weekend, we decorated our little duplex for Christmas. We went to the Christmas tree farm and picked out a barely-five-feet Frasier fir who has a bit of a side lean and we named him Felipe. Then we brought him home and my sweet, patient, loving husband spent three hours trying to construct a make-shift tree stand to tuck inside of a wicker basket in order to recreate a picture that I saw somewhere in the depths of Pinterest. It mostly worked and Felipe is now sparkling in all of his Christmas tree glory in our living room, although my basket tree stand idea doesn’t look exactly like the one from the manicured Pinterest apartment. My desired aesthetic was “minimalist festive” which is the fancy way of saying that I tried to spend as little money on decorations as physically possible so that I would have more money for all the things about Christmas that I really love— hosting dinner parties, making cheeseboards and elaborately decorated cookies, wine, and of course, new cocktails.

I love of a good holiday cocktail. I started working on this one a couple of months ago, right after Halloween when it became acceptable to start drinking holiday cocktails. It’s the perfect drink to take you all the way through the New Year. The pomegranate juice gives a tart, fruity flavor and provides that season-signature deep red color. The sage syrup and gin provide a gentle sweetness and an earthy, floral, component and the Champagne bubbles make it feel festive and party-worthy. This drink is also easy to scale up and mix ahead of time. If you’re heading out to an ugly sweater party or a Christmas Eve dinner, mix up a big batch of the pomegranate juice, sage syrup, and gin and bring a bottle of bubbly along. You can use any dry sparkling wine in place of Champagne (like Cava or Prosecco), but then you may have to change the name to a Spanish 75 or an Italian 75. :) Mix it any way you like, but I recommend enjoying this cocktail with lots of good friends, preferably under some twinkling lights.

Pomegranate Sage French 75

Yield: 4 cocktails 

Ingredients: 

6 oz gin

3 oz pomegranate juice 

1.5 oz sage syrup

8 oz dry champagne

Strips of orange zest from 1 orange

for the sage syrup: 

4 oz sugar 

4 oz water

3-4 sprigs of fresh sage

Procedure: 

1. To make the sage simply syrup: combine equal parts sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add sprigs of sage and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Remove sage (strain if needed) and refrigerate.

2. For the cocktail: Combine gin, pomegranate juice, and sage syrup and mix well. Divide evenly between glasses. Top each glass with 2 oz champagne and 1 strip of orange zest. Add ice if desired.

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Lavender Hot Chocolate

Are you one of those people who starts sneaking Christmas music during the week of Thanksgiving or has their decorations waiting in the wings so that as soon as the turkey leaves the table, Christmas cheer spreads throughout the house? I am not one of those people. In fact, as I sit typing this, we are a full 4 days post-Thanksgiving and I have not even thought about Christmas decorations. I have, however, made this hot chocolate which I feel is a very wintry thing to do and therefore exempts me from thinking about Christmas decorations for at least another 3 days.

About a month ago, my husband went on a work trip to the Netherlands. Before he left, he asked if there was any specific thing I wanted him to bring back as a souvenir and I made a request for Dutched-process cocoa powder*. (I know that you can also buy that in the States, but I feel like it’s a little more exciting coming directly from Holland.) Two weeks later, he returned from his trip and began unloading his suitcase like it was Santa’s toy sack, pulling out treat after treat. Finally, he retrieves a large plastic bag full of a brown powder, knotted at the top. Apparently, in the small village that they were staying in, he wasn’t able to find Dutched-process cocoa powder in the store so he went into the local bakery and asked if they knew where he could find some. The sweet bakery workers sold some of their supply and I got 500 grams of cocoa powder for 2 euros! And I am pretty sure that it tastes better than all other cocoa powders. :)

For this hot chocolate recipe, I just added lavender to my favorite Bon Appetite hot chocolate, because if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. I steeped the lavender in the milk before making the hot chocolate, giving the finished cocoa a slightly floral touch. If you don’t have lavender, try subbing it out for another aromatic- rose petals or an herb would work beautifully. It’s the perfect accompaniment to dropping temperatures and all of those Hallmark Christmas movies.

Lavender Hot Chocolate

Yield: 4 servings  

Ingredients: 

3 cups whole milk

1 tsp lavender

3/4 cup water

3 tbsp dutched process cocoa powder

6 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped

3 tbsp sugar

Sweetened whipped cream, lavender, shaved chocolate for serving

Process: 

1. In a medium saucepan, combine milk and lavender and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, cover with a lid, and allow to steep for 20-30 minutes. Strain milk to remove lavender and set aside. 

2. Bring 3/4 cup water to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Whisk in cocoa powder until there are no lumps, add strained milk, and return mixture to a simmer.  

3. Whisk in chocolate and sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes. 

4. Divide between mugs, top with whipped cream, lavender, and chocolate shavings and serve.

*A note on Dutched-process cocoa powder: Cocoa powder is traditionally an acidic ingredient and has a naturally sharp, almost citrusy taste (and it means that it needs to be paired with baking soda in order to counteract the acidity). Dutched-process cocoa powder is cocoa powder that has been alkalized to a pH level of 7. It has a more rounded flavor and doesn’t need to be balanced with baking soda. What you are making will depend on the type of cocoa powder you use (sometimes it is a matter of chemical reactions and sometimes just personal taste preference). For this recipe, I chose Dutched-process cocoa powder to mellow out the flavor of the hot chocolate. You can choose any cocoa powder that you like, but since it is the star in the recipe, I recommend using a higher quality cocoa. If you are interested in reading more about the difference between natural cocoa powder and Dutched-process cocoa powder, Serious Eats has a great article on it here.