Easy

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.

A creamy sauce with French origins, this was named after its inventor, Louis de Béchamel, who was Louis XIV’s steward. It’s a rich indulgence that brings out the flavor in many meat and fish dishes. It is delicious in Sausage Gravy (page 186).

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.

Make this superb sauce once in a while when you want to treat your guests to something undeniably rich and velvety smooth. It is best made as close as possible to when you plan to serve it, though it will hold for about an hour or so before serving. Serve it with Seared Beef Tenderloin Benedict (page 110).

Here’s the foolproof version of the sauce. It can get a little hotter or a little cooler than the classic hollandaise without breaking. An added benefit: It takes less than two minutes to make, so you can leave this to the last minute.

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.