Snacks & Drinks & Small Dishes

Sriracha Salt & Here’s Looking at You, 2012

January 2, 2012 – 11:25 am

Homemade gifts tend to be a theme of my December as I’ve inherited the cheap gene (thanks, Dad.) I’m also inclined to making catastrophic messes in my free time. This year I made around five batches of biscotti, salted caramels, spiced nuts, flour free peanut butter and dark chocolate cookies, and sriracha salt. The former were all on purpose, the latter a surprise impulse last gift but now a personal favorite salt.

Now that the time of homemade gift giving is basically over, I’m able to reflect on the things I made, the burnt chocolate, the scorched sugar, and the wooden spoon that appeared to be permanently stuck to the bottom of the beloved pot. And it’s interesting to see the tricky dance and politics of making it from scratch at the holidays.

I’m speaking directly to an New York Times article from last month titled “‘Store Bought’ Spoils the Potluck Spirit“, which caused a little internet stir about whether it was fair to criticize people who brought store items to holiday potlucks and such. I happened to read this article a few days before I had decided to bake around thirty biscotti cookies for an office cookie swap party I signed up for on impulse. I didn’t think much about the debate-does this author pretend all people (and specificaly women) have the time to cook? Does store bought really ruin tradition?- since I literally had a lot of cookies to make in a few short hours.

But after making a fairly disappointing bunch of cookies (undercooked, flavor all off, etc), I didn’t feel so sure making something from scratch really meant anything more than well, deciding to make something from scratch with my time. I could see exactly the backlash against the an article criticizing those who don’t want to do it themselves or just decide not to.

Let’s be honest: sometime making something can be a disguised judgement of others, trying to say “Look I’m great! I’m skilled!” I admit it,  I started out thinking: I Will Bake The Worlds Best Cookies   ,Everyone Will Love Me. In the end, I didn’t even like what I made. But I brought them in, swapped cookies, and realized that my personal effort in baking cookies really wasn’t the point. Serving cookies that looked misshapen, kind of like mangled fingers, was an epiphany of sorts. Making things yourself should not be about forcing other people to recognize your skills or about judging the free time of others. It should be about having fun, or not having fun and realizing you aren’t much of a baker, or about watching Home Alone 1 and Home Alone 2 back-to-back while creaming butter and sugar. Food shouldn’t be a judgement of yourself or others, or a responsibilty, since it ignores the privilege some people have in taking the time to cook.

I happened to find out during the cookie swap that my favorite coworker made cookie was based on a store-bought sugar cookie mix, too. They were awesome, spiced with chai tea and glazed with eggnog.

That’s why I’m in love with this sriracha salt  because it isn’t stuffy or put-on. It’s easy, not really homemade as it’s based on store-bought ingredients, but still a little crafty. If you are of the rooster sauce persuasion you can sprinkle this salt on anything:  eggs, popcorn, shredded meats for tacos, soup.  I’ve been keeping it in a little jar by the stove,  making everything I eat from breakfast to dinner a little rooster-y.

Sriracha salt, believe it or not, is symbolic of my 2012 theme: don’t take yourself so seriously, Lindsey, but make things count. I’m changing up the meaning of my blog, too. I’m making this blog less serious in a way. That is, I want this blog to be about both food and writing, recipes and thoughts, not just a blog I feel I have to write to be A True Food Blogger. I quit my ad network as a way of rethinking everything here too. The world of food blogging  became so serious in 2011, sometimes good and sometimes bad, and I’m not sure what I want out of blogging about food but I do know I want it to be less serious and more fun.  I’m lessening the restriction and just freeing this space, to make and write about food in a new way. The emphasis is still on tinkering and D.I.Y., but also about the ideas behind what I’m making and eating.

So I hope 2012 is a full of traveling the US, baking better bread, writing & Sriracha salt.

Sriracha Salt
From The Sriracha Cookbook (accessed from Epicurious)

Makes 1/2 cup of salt

Ingredients:

1/2 cup kosher salt
5 teaspoons Sriracha

Directions:

1. Combine salt and sriracha in a bowl. Mix thoroughly.

2. There are two ways to dry the salt: the first is just leaving the salt out on a parchment lined cookie sheet for a day or two. The second method is to preheat the oven to 200 and turn off immediately before placing the salt on a parchment lined cookie sheet into the oven to dry out slowly over a few hours.

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Breakfast Snacks & Drinks & Small Dishes Vegetarian

Olive Oil Granola & Ruminations on D.I.Y.

December 4, 2011 – 10:59 pm

I’ve been thinking about a recent opinion piece in Washington Post “The new domesticity: Fun, empowering or a step back for American women?” for a while now, especially as I made homemade ricotta last week for the first time and while I baked the olive oil granola recipe below. In the peice Emily Matchar argues that there is a degree of feminist dilemma in women returning to the so-called retro domestic arts in real life and in blog communities. She ask’s the reader, does the purported hipness of cooking, canning, knitting, and a  blogosphere celebrating these types of activities challenge feminism. Although she is not entirely sure, she does argue their is at least a partial contradiction at play.

Not so fast I thought, after finishing the piece.

What Matcha misses in her opinion piece is twofold: For one thing, it is not just women tinkering in the kitchen after work, blogging about food, canning, or starting sourdough starters. Some men are just as interested in these things–whether you call these activities part of a hip retro domestic wave is an argument for another time– as some women are as is evidence by the many male authors on blogs big and small. I also happen to live with one of those men for what it’s worth. He is just as involved in the content of this blog, mixing up no-knead bread, buying cookbooks, figuring out how we can do more stuff from scratch; it’s just I’m the one who wants to write about it. Secondly, in my own all- purpose version of feminism made simple for blogging purposes, feminism is about women making their own choices and having a society that is structured to enable freedom of women (and all people.) Women choosing to make bread or sew a skirt is no different than women deciding to scuba dive or ride a moped; I see no dilemma at play.

I’d argue wanting to feel connected to the things you make, whether fixing old cars to perfecting a baguette at home is about personal enjoyment and fulfillment. That’s why I made this granola after all, why I played with the flavors, pumped it up with my favorite dried fruits (figs & cherries) and ate it over plain yogurt, drizzled with honey while reading. It wasn’t an obligation. It about the pleasure of the making things not connected to my office life, the hustle of the everyday (harsh at times) world, even the consumerism of everyday.

And that leaves  me with the simple facts about olive oil granola: It’s awesome because it’s salty sweet, a blank slate for meshing whatever flavors you desire. Not to mention it’s got that slight floral taste that only a good olive oil imparts.  I started with a NY Times recipe, one that’s been around the blogosphere and back. Granola is meant to be improvised every time so I added things my way. My only recipe advice is to watch granola diligently as it cooks. Burnt granola is a bummer. I know from first hand experience.

 

Olive Oil Granola with Chinese Five Spice & Dried Fruit/Nuts

Makes about 7 cups of granola

Ingredients:

3 cups of rolled old fashioned oats
1 cup raw whole cashews
1 cup of sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice power (make your own here or buy at a local Asian grocery store)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1-2 cups dried figs, cut into bite sized chunks
1 cup dried cherries

 Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 250.

2. Mix everything except dried fruits together coating thoroughly. Spread on a cookie sheet.

3. Cook for around 40 minutes. Really, I just cook while tossing and turning the granola every 7 minutes or so until the granola is lightly browned and crisp. The time is a framework as ovens vary widely. Just watch yours and taste to know when done.

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Meat & Poultry & Fish Snacks & Drinks & Small Dishes

Cheddar, Bacon, and Avocado Grilled Cheese

November 21, 2011 – 10:54 pm

It’s the lead up to Thanksgiving. I should be blogging about turkey. The truth is I don’t need to cook for that holiday of champions yet. Instead I travel to western New York so that other people can do the basting, the pie making, for me. I’m grateful. Someday I may well have to host a holiday meal on my own, when I will finally have an opinion other than “more” in regards to pie.

So instead of working on the staples of a holiday feast I decided to pay homage to my favorite Boston food trucks: Roxy’s Grilled Cheese, which makes a killer bacon-avocado grilled cheese. The ingredients in this sandwich work for one simple reason: fat makes food taste good.

On the afternoons when Roxy’s Grilled Cheese parks near my office I wait in line, order my sandwich, and yet get irritated like clockwork. Irritated at not getting my sandwich before that guy who came four people after me. Irritated I have to walk back to the office with the sandwich or quickly eat it on the library steps because it is getting cold outside, no longer picnic weather. I fester with quiet work week lunch rage until I’m handed my order of the best grilled cheese in the city. It is greasy. It is cheesy. It is awesome. So thank you, Roxy’s Grilled Cheese, for your sandwiches of glory even if I’m that temporary curmudgeon in your line, hovering too close every time an order is called.

p.s. you know what makes a better grilled cheese? Mayo on the outside of the bread instead of butter. I learn something new every day.

Cheddar, Bacon,  and Avocado Grilled Cheese

Makes 1 Sandwich

Ingredients:
2 slices of crusty bread
1 tablespoon (approximately, you be the judge) mayo
1/4 avocado, sliced
2-3 slices of sharp cheddar cheese
2 stripes of bacon, cut into smaller pieces

Steps:

1. Cook the bacon. Blot dry. Cut into a few smaller slices to make sandwich eating easier if you like.

2. Coat one slice of bread with a generous heaping of mayo. Place down on cutting board. Load sandwich with alternating layers of sharp cheddar, bacon slices, and avocado. Top with another slice of bread. Slater the top of that slice with more mayo.

3. Cook on each side until browned in a skillet/fry pan on medium. I’d ball park it as 7 minutes. Grilled cheese making isn’t a science though. Just make sure the sandwich doesn’t burn (unless that is your thing.)

 

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Sweets

Salted Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies

November 13, 2011 – 9:55 pm

 

You know what you should do after Halloween comes and goes? You should use your leftover snack sized candy bars to make cookies and then pawn them off on your coworkers so you don’t eat them one by one (which you would, you admit this freely.)

I present: Salted Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies. These have a long name but they are awesome cookies, goey and peanut buttery with the right salt-to-sweet ratio to satisfy almost anyone. The snickers break down into their nougat-chocolate-caramel-peanut parts, swirling with rich peanut butter to create a a satisfying flavor and not the sense you are just eating a melted snickers bar.

I used the recipe for salted peanut butter cookies from Orangette and subbed in chopped up snickers. It is a knock out recipe. Probably my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe ever. I sprinkled each with additional salt, sea salt, as they cooled. After all, I am a salty-sweet fiend.

Salted Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies 
From Orangette (with the addition of snickers & a few tweaks)

Makes 18 cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
3/4 cup+ 2 tablespoons of white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup of creamy all natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
about 1 cup of chopped snickers

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour + baking soda + salt in bowl. Set aside.

2. Cream the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time beating until smooth.

3. Add the peanut butter and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add in flour mixture in 3 steps until smooth.

4. Fold in the chopped snickers.  Freeze the dough for 20-30 minutes.

5. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using  an ice cream scoop scoop cookies and bake 6 at a time, spacing them equally. Press each down lightly with a fork before cooking.

6. Cook for 15-18 minutes. Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of salt after they are cooked but still gooey. Press with fork. Place cookie sheet on the cooling rack until firm enough to remove with a spatula.

 

 

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Fruit & Veggies Soups & Curries

White Bean, Butternut Squash and Kale Soup

October 21, 2011 – 12:29 pm

Clearly I haven’t been blogging much lately. I have been still creating a lot good eats–like fig and cashew granola and apple-squash curry soup–but the blog has become a wee bit dusty in the meantime. Sometimes you just need a break from things though.

I learned something fundamental last night that inspired me to post: freshly grated Parmesan makes all vegetable soups better. See, I had the creative bug last night, urging me to make a gigantic mess in the kitchen. I wanted soup. I wanted to clean out tons of vegetables from the crisper bin to make a huge cast iron pot full of it. My second soup of the season. Since I didn’t have ham, bacon, or sausage to deepen the  flavor I turned to the Parmesan wedge. It did just the trick.

This is just the kind of no-frills soup that I can see transitioning from fall to winter. It is hearty with butternut squash roasted beforehand in olive oil and creamy white beans. The standard vegetable broth is heightened with Parmesan and dried herbs. Kale, usually a bitter green, is softened by all the other flavors.

I had a second dinner of soup last night. I could get used to ten o’clock bowls of soup, topped with cheese.

White Bean, Butternut Squash and Kale Soup
Serves 6

Ingredients:

3 cups of butternut squash, peeled and sliced into chunks
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 celery stick
1 carrot stick
1/2 white onion
4 cups vegetable stock and 2 cups water
1 can of white beans, rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
6 cups of packed, chopped kale
1 dried bay leaf
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan, (more for serving)
1 tablespoon of pesto (more for serving)

Directions:

1. Toss butternut squash chunks with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Roast on 350 for 18-20 minutes, tossing a few times to ensure even cooking/browning.

2. While squash is roasting, mince the celery, carrot, and onion. Prepare other ingredients to have ready.

3. Near end of roasting add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to big soup pot. Heat to medium high. Add in celery, carrot, onion. Cook for 5-7 minutes until soft.

4. Add in white beans. Season with salt and pepper. Add rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf.

5. Add roasted butternut squash, broth, water and bring to a boil. Slowly add in cups of kale, wilting each in the boiling soup before adding the next. Squeeze lemon juice over pot.

6. Bring down to a low simmer and cook for 10-20 minutes, to let the flavors combine.

7. Remove bay leaf. Add parmesan and pesto after finishing simmering, swirling them into the soup. Salt and pepper now if more is needed. Serve with more parm and pesto with each bowl.The flavors of this soup improve after a day in the fridge!

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Meat & Poultry & Fish Snacks & Drinks & Small Dishes

Homemade Creme Fraiche + Bacon/Corn Pizza with Creme Fraiche

September 14, 2011 – 11:30 pm

When I visited Chicago over labor day weekend there was a pizza (not deep dish, though) that started my interest in creme fraiche. In the Andersonville neighborhood there was an itsy bitsy pizza shop, recommended by the friend we were staying with, called Great Lake. It is the kind of the place that has few seats and where the pizzas are made by the owner from scratch so they take upwards of an hour to craft. But guess what? The pizza was out of this world good. It was the crust, springy and bread-like, that made me understand all the hype. .  One of the pies we shared had a creme fraiche base topped with corn, bacon, and red onion. It tasted kinda like: “Damn! I wish I had thought of these flavors on a pizza before.” I knew I had to recreate the flavors at home.

A little investigation taught me that there is no need to buy creme fraiche. In science class fashion, you can make it yourself with a little effort and trust. Homemade creme fraiche means stirring a small amount of yogurt or buttermilk into heavy cream and letting it sit out of the fridge, covered, until thick. Magically the cultures  thicken the mixture, giving it a slightly sour tang, like a gentler relative of sour cream. I now have creme fraiche in the fridge, ready to use in savory and sweet dishes, just like that. First thing I did was reconstruct the pizza, though. I had to. It rocked.

Homemade Creme Fraiche

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons yogurt or buttermilk
a container or jar with a lid

Directions:

1.  Mix the cream and yogurt (or buttermilk) together in the container/jar. A whisk helps if using the yogurt.

2. Leave in warm area–ideally around 70 degrees–covered for up to 24 hours. Make sure the seal is good. If you don’t have a cover  you could use plastic wrap and a rubber band on the top of a washed out jar.

3. You will know the creme fraiche is ready when it is thick but still pourable plus it will be slightly sour. If it is not getting thicker try placing it in a warmer place like under a lamp or near a warm stove.

4. Store in the fridge for about week.

5. Besides pizza creme fraiche works in deserts, in pasta with ham/peas, on crepes, in soups, etc. Really anywhere a little richness can be used.

Of course here is the outline for the pizza I had. I’m not saying it was Great Lake quality because that pizza was just too good to replicate at home but the flavors are what I was looking for. The combination does not disappoint:

Bacon and Corn Pizza with Creme Fraiche

Serves around 2

Ingredients:
Pizza dough made by hand or buy some ready to bake at the store.
2 slices of bacon, cut into lardons/chunks
1 small red onion, sliced
1 cup of corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup creme fraiche
salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500. If you have a pizza stone put it in to preheat too.

2. In a skillet over medium high heat cook the bacon until almost crispy. Add in the onion and corn. Cook until just browned. Remove from heat.

3. Top pizza, either before going into the oven or after prebaking the crust, with creme fraiche and the bacon/corn/onion mixture.

4. Cook for 5-7 minutes until browned.

5. Sprinkle a liberal amount of salt and pepper when finished. This is key, trust me.

6. Eat away!

 

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Bread Breakfast Meat & Poultry & Fish

Rosemary and Bacon Scones

August 29, 2011 – 10:59 pm

I don’t bake that often besides bread and a random batch of cookies when the spirit strikes. I’m intimidated by all the butter and the ingredients I don’t own like whole wheat pastry flour. But lately I’ve been feeling the need to experiment with baking realizing it is a weak spot and that maybe I do want some scones for breakfast now and then, thankyouverymuch. During the hurricane build up on Saturday we decided to venture out to The Boston Public Library before the storm hit, getting clobbered by a tropical down pour in the process and eating gigantic brunches to escape the rain. I snagged Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook along the way.

I decided on a recipe for fennel and golden-raisin scones as a first try. Savory baking seems very popular right now; it was time I gave it a go. The recipe called for a mix of butter and olive oil which drew me in. The flakiness of butter combined with the nuttiness of olive oil seemed like a perfect combination for a savory take on scones. I nixed the fennel/raisins going with rosemary and uncured bacon instead. The tops of the scones were speckled with more rosemary and sea salt. They cooked quickly, just like that. The only time involved was waiting for the dough in the freezer.

These scones had just the right level of richness, making them easy to pair with anything. The rosemary is strong but welcome, a kind of reminder that summer is leaving. The bacon is well, delicious, because bacon is the best surprise in a baked good.  I enjoyed a scone for breakfast this morning with strong coffee. I had another when I came home, making a quick dinner of a chicken sausage, mixed green salad and a rosemary bacon scone. Fancy but simple. I could get behind the savory baking trend.

Rosemary and Bacon Scones
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

Makes 6 scones

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (a little more for the tops, too)
3 strips of bacon
1/2 of a stick of cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (1/4 cup)
1/2 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together the dry ingredients. Cook 3 bacon strips until brown and crisp. Blot the bacon with paper towels. Chop. Set aside.

3. Cut in the butter either with a pastry blender, with two knives, or in a food processor. The dough should resemble a coarse meal with the butter distributed evenly.

4. Add the rosemary and ground pepper. Mix in the olive oil and heavy cream.

5. With floured hands turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Roll flat until around 1 1/2 inches thick.

6. Using a floured biscuit cutter or a juice cup, cut 6 scones. You will need to gather the dough and roll it out again after the first 3 to continue making scones.

7. Place on the scones parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 2 hours or overnight.

8. Preheat the oven to 350. Add more rosemary and salt to each scone. Bake for about 10 minutes, rotate, and bake for another 10 minutes. The total time is 20-25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. The scones are better the first day but if you keep them tightly away in tupperware they should be good for a few more days.

 

 

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Fruit & Veggies Grains & Beans Vegetarian

Carrot & Chickpea Flour Pancakes with Mint Yogurt Sauce

August 12, 2011 – 12:07 am


I’ve had chickpea flour in a reused peanut butter jar stuck in the back of my cabinet forever. I wanted chickpea flour to make socca or farinata, a savory chickpea flour pancake, but after going through that phase I forgot about flour.  The last cup or so of the just hung around with the rest of my collection of almost gone ingredients living in washed out jars.

A few days ago I had an idea for a quick recipe of shredded carrot pancakes fried in oil and served with a yogurt dipping sauce. Assuming this kind of delicious thing existed elsewhere I found Zucchini and Carrots Fritters as a jumping off point.  I also happened to browse through The Modern Vegetarian at a local bookstore to find a recipe for carrot pancakes with chickpea flour instead of regular flour. Genius! Not only did it give me a purpose for that leftover chickpea flour, but that small change sounded better suited to my tastes. Chickpea flour is used widely in Indian cuisine, so I thought of an Indian spiced version of a carrot pancake, something reminiscent of those wonderful Indian fritters pakoras.

I adapted the New York Times recipe quite loosely. I took only the inspiration to add chickpea flour from The Modern Vegetarian but not the ingredient list.  I used carrots and left out the zucchini. I added a spice combination of coriander, cumin and ancho with a pinch of cayenne to achieve a subtle Indian inspired flavor. Shallots replaced scallions. Chickpea flour replaced the regular flour, of course. I opted for pan frying rather than deep frying, creating a pancakes rather than a fritter. The yogurt sauce stayed the same though: a mix of whole milk plain yogurt with mint, garlic, and salt.

The result was a crisp, slightly fried, savory pancake of shredded carrots and chickpea flour that I served alongside my chickpea hash. Dipped in a mint yogurt sauce, the pancakes were deliciously reminiscent of Indian cuisine with a sweet subtly spicy blend of flavors. The cool and minty yogurt sauce adds a welcome balance.

 

Carrot & Chickpea Flour Pancakes with Mint Yogurt Sauce 

Makes about 10 pancakes which serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients for Pancakes:
1 1/2 cups chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ancho pepper
a pinch of cayenne
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
4 carrots, shredded
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup parsley, minced
a pinch of salt and pepper
olive oil

Ingredients for Mint Yogurt Sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, minced
1/2 cup yogurt (preferably whole milk)
salt to taste

Directions:

1. Sift the dry ingredients & spices.

2. Beat the egg into the milk in a separate bowl.

3. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients a little at a time. Mix until almost smooth, keeping a few lumps. Stir in the shredded carrots, shallot, and parsley. Add in a pinch of salt and pepper.

4. In a frying pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil to cook 2 pancakes. Use a 1/4 cup to measure out the pancakes. Cook 5 minutes on each side, or until brown and crisp. Repeat.

5. Blot the fried pancakes with paper towels. Serve warm or at room temperature with the yogurt sauce.

6. For the yogurt sauce: combine the minced garlic clover, mint leaves, and yogurt. Salt to taste.

 

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Sweets

Watermelon Granita/Slush

July 24, 2011 – 8:13 pm

This was a hot weekend. Really hot. I think things are cooling down to more reasonable temperatures. At least I hope they are.

Part of combating the heat this weekend was eating an easy watermelon granita or slush.  I think of granitas as ice cream recipes for the rest of us. That is, those without ice cream makers.

I’ve made a coconut granita before but this time I wanted to try a fruity one. For a watermelon granita/slush as all you need is a ripe, seedless watermelon. You puree the watermelon flesh with a bit of sugar and freeze the mixture. After a half hour you scrape it all down, freeze again, and then repeat the process in another half hour. By the end you have a sweet, frozen form of watermelon with very little sugar. The result is a kind of light, easy, budget friendly icey treat.

I’ve been keeping the tray in the freezer, scrapping when I want some more.

 

Watermelon Granita/Slush

Serves 4 or more

Ingredients:

4 cups of seedless watermelon
1/4 cup of sugar (or less)
the juice for 1/2 a lemon
a long, deep, flat baking dish

Directions:

1. In a blender or food processor, mix the watermelon and sugar until smooth.

2. Pour into a baking dish. Freeze for around 1/2 hour.

3. Scrap and mash up the granita. Freeze again for another 1/2 hour. Repeat the scrapping. Freeze until solid.

4. Scrap with a fork or a spoon to create shavings of the watermelon slush/ice. Serve in bowls/cups. It melts fast so eat promptly.

 

 

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Snacks & Drinks & Small Dishes

Purple Basil Lemon Spritzer/Soda

July 19, 2011 – 12:04 am

I’m trying to get more into the farmer’s market this year. It’s part of my strategy to do more, think less. The farmer’s market is for me one of those live-by-the-seat-of-my-pants goals. I don’t mean that I’m cooking all of my meals with what I find there but just that diving into odd produce head on.

It helps that a great market is a few blocks away from work. Their biweekly schedule plus the Sunday Harvard Square market means I can indulge my whim, eat cherries on the bus, and buy purple basil because well, it is, purple.

 I chewed a few purple basil leaves to see if they tasted any different from regular basil. I think there is a hint of cinnamon in there, though don’t hold me to it. All in all I’d use purple basil just as I’d use regular old basil. I sprinkled a few sprigs on a fantastic pizza I made the other night.

The color is what sold me on buying a bunch, though. I knew that the leaves would give a beautiful deep red hue once steeped and strained. I made a simple syrup, squeezed all the color out, and mixed it with lemon juice and water.  I poured myself a glass with equal parts purple basil lemon mix and seltzer to make a spritzer or soda of sorts. After a few glasses I’m now sure that this would be great as a cocktail base too, with sprigs of purple basil muddled in the glass.

Purple Basil Lemon Spritzer/Soda

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed purple basil leaves
the juice of 3 lemons
4 cups cold water
1 liter of seltzer

Directions:

1. Make a simple syrup: In a saucepan add the 3/4 cup water and sugar. Turn the heat to medium high. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, add in the basil, and cover for 30 minutes to steep. When ready, strain the basil leaves with a fine mesh sieve. Pushout any excess liquid to get a vibrant red-purple simple syrup. Cool this simple syrup in the fridge/freezer before using.

2. In a larger pitcher or container, mix the juice of 3 lemons and the simple syrup. Add in 4 cups of cold water.

3. In glasses, add 3/4 cup of purple basil lemon mixture. Finish off the glass with seltzer. Ta-da!

 

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