New Meal Monday: Strawberry Basil Shrub

 When I recently learned Conrad (one of our awesome Kiss the Cook team members!) was making homemade "shrub", to be honest, I didn't know what he was talking about.  Truthfully, I thought maybe he was doing some landscaping... 
I quickly learned that "shrub" was a vinegared syrup, or sort of drinking vinegar, that can than be mixed with either carbonated water, to make sort of soft drink or liquor to make a cocktail (or I supposed you could mix all 3 for a cocktail!)
Conrad was willing to share some of his recipes and we thought today (one of the first truly spring days we've had in Vermont this year!) would be the right time to share one of them! He also made a couple batches to share a few weeks ago, and we're hoping he'll allow us to sample them again later this summer!
In the meantime, here's a recipe for a delicious beverage to enjoy on what is hopefully the start of a beautiful spring and summer season!

What you'll need:

  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 1 cup Chopped Strawberries
  • 3 Sprigs of Basil (to taste)
  • 1 cup Red Wine Vinegar

How you'll do it:

  1. Roughly chop Strawberries and finely shredded the basil. Mix in a large bowl and gently crush together. 
  2. Mix the sugar into the Strawberry-Basil mixture until fruit is evenly coated.
  3. Cover container and place in the refrigerator for 2 days.
  4. Remove from refrigerator and strain out solids, extracting as much syrup as possible. Any sugar that hasn’t dissolved should be kept to add back in later.
  5. Mix Vinegar into the Strawberry-Basil syrup, add any undissolved sugar back in and whisk to finish.
  6. Pour into a bottle or jar to store, either in your fridge or out!
  7. Recommended portioning: 1oz Shrub to 5oz Seltzer or Sparkling Water!