Raspberry Lime Popsicles
July 11, 2011
Nothing beats a great popsicle on a steaming hot summer day. Unfortunately, most of the popsicles sold in stores may be cold, but they are full of chemistry kit ingredients. It is hard to find a popsicle made of the real fruit whose taste they claim to bear. Luckily it is very easy to make your own. Popsicles molds make this easier, but they are not essential. You can make popsicles in small yogurt cups, ice-cube trays, or even small mason jars as Local Kitchen did recently.
Raspberry Lime Popsicles are loaded with raspberries and just enough sugar to bring out their flavor, without being overly sweet. The lime zest and juice adds a bright tang. Mmmm. Oh, and the color. The color is so vibrant and real. Simply whirl up the ingredients, strain out the seeds, and you are ready pour this raspberry goodness into a mold.
When the popsicles are solid, slip them from the mold for a truly refreshing treat. If you are serving them to kids, you may want to make this an outdoor dessert or at least have a wet rag on hand. We had some very red faces at our house after the kiddos eagerly chomped these down. This is a dessert that grownups and kids alike will love. They are very, very good.
Update: Here is another popsicle recipe that has won over our hearts and appetites! Red, White, and Blue Popsicles
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Lamb Kebabs and Greek Salad
July 8, 2011
Lest you think my family and I survive on berries and chocolate alone, I thought it was time to share an actual meal with you hungry readers. Sure I know “people” who might on occasion settle in over a pile of brownies and call it dinner, but really, it is time to talk about real food, with protein and vegetables included. This is the kind of food we should eat most of the time to make the indulgences of jam-piled pancakes and syrup-coated ice cream well deserved.
In truth, most of our summer meals resemble this one. We have some lean grilled meat, seasoned up to our whim. One the side is a pile of some kind of beautiful warm season veggie. There may be some focaccia bread or rice, but more and more I find that we do not miss the starch when we leave it out. In its place, I make a double portion of vegetables. Yes, even the kids do not seem to notice this omission (I just make sure they get their piles of pasta on another night during the week).
Armenian Lamb Kebabs are very simple to prepare, yet just different enough to pass for something special if need arises. They are perfectly seasoned to compliment the lamb without overpowering it. The Greek Salad is a fabulous side to the lamb, but it could be paired with any number of other meats.
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Strawberry Spinach Salad with Chevre and Almonds
July 1, 2011
Some dishes seem to create themselves. The ingredients radiate with pure excitement when they enter into each others’ proximity. This was the case when the loads of astonishingly fragrant strawberries pushed into the log of chevre in the fridge the other night. They called to me in their sweet seductive voices to please toss them with fresh spinach and roasted almonds, I was powerless to resist. Luckily, this force is pure good. This dish is full of vibrant seasonal nutritional powerhouses, so the guilt factor is nearly nil.
While strawberries are often restricted to dessert or breakfast dishes, they make an excellent salad. Feel free to adapt this at will. The spinach can be replaced with arugula or butter lettuce, the chevre with feta, and the almonds with walnuts or pinenuts, but do not leave out the STRAWBERRIES! They are too good right now to miss.
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Beets with Pistachios and Mint
June 27, 2011
Adventures come few and far between for me these days. It is not that I am not loving my maternal/ professional/ domestic life, but I do feel the nostalgic for the days when I could take off on a moment’s notice for some incredible journey- usually with twenty bucks in my pocket and only the vaguest of plans. So when my husband’s parents offered to watch our kids for a weekend so we could fly away (Yes, on a plane, with no children!) for a friend’s wedding, we jumped at the opportunity.
We filled the weekend with all sorts of adult outings and completely refrained from anything even hinting at a whine. It was fabulous. The wedding itself was special in just about every way. I was especially smitten with the food. Every dish served was beautiful and inspired. One dish in particular though, struck me with its intriguing taste and unique presentation, the beet salad.
Vanilla Ice Cream with Cherry Rhubarb Sauce
June 22, 2011
Our ice cream maker does not get much attention in the winter. It sits lonely in the pantry, waiting to be remembered. It is not that ice cream is not just as good in the wintertime, but I seem to be busy making other desserts and rarely break it out. So the other day when our first hot days coincided with my son’s case of strep throat, I knew it was time to make some ice cream.
The process of making homemade ice cream is simple. Cream, milk, sugar and eggs cook into a custard. The custard cools and then is poured into the ice cream maker to freeze. The difficult part is making an ice cream that does not have an icy taste. For a long time my go-to recipe was from Christopher Kimball’s The Dessert Bible. It is a great recipe and as usual his descriptions of the process and what can go wrong are extremely helpful. After reading a glowing review on food52 though, I decided to try a new recipe this time. I was not disappointed.
This Vanilla Ice Cream is rich and smooth with beautiful bits of vanilla seeds flecked throughout. It did not have the iciness that plagues so many homemade ice creams. Do not be tempted to reduce the fat here. Yes, this is a rich treat, but really you only need a small scoop. Enjoy yourself in moderation. If you really can not find a vanilla bean, you can use 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, but it will not be as good. If you are new to vanilla beans and have questions about how to scrape the seeds, check out Marissa’s great video on Food in Jars.
My Pantry Shelf 