Not sure what to do with your homemade ricotta from several posts ago?

Try these:

Ricotta Pancakes

via blogchef.

I am sensing a busy cooking fall ahead of me. Very busy.

Woof Woof

I see this in my very near future:

Salty Dog

via not martha

INSANE list of green recipes

From Cheap Healthy Good. How do they do it? This is AMAZING!

246 recipes for cabbage, kale, spinach, swiss chard, and beyond!

Another great treasure-trove post from Cheap Healthy Good, which coincidentally begins with a reference to David Lebovitz (see below)

Seriously, Eating: 40 recipes from the other website I work for

Handmade cheese

Not a stinky bleu or a piquant sharp cheddar but lovely, serviceable ricotta, a delight from David Lebovitz, he of Paris and ice cream fame:

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

If you're reading that recipe and wondering to yourself, like I am right now, just where is that Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream recipe David had on his blog years ago?

Right here

Why, I wonder if he has any paleta recipes? Not exactly, but HOLD THE PRESSES!

Vietnamese Coffee Popsicles

Yes please.

Pizza on the grill

Courtesy of Slashfood, a post about pizzas on the grill. I've done this; they're fab. Somewhere I need to unearth my Bobby Flay pizza on the grill instructions. There was something he did that was completely amazing. Stay tuned, but for now,

Pizzas on the grill

Even MORE on the paleta front

I'm serious, these things were rather amazing. Clearly they have left a mark on my palate. And they're all the rage! The San Diego Union Tribune sported a few recipes recently. (And Google Reader? Have I mentioned how much I love you? I do, I really do.)

Stick with these treats

Southern Sweet Tea might be on the menu for the beach next time. Mango Lassi is getting a spin this weekend. I might just have to take a little ICEDLATTE out for a frozen spin too!

Amended to include YET another fabulous paleta link, this from the San Francisco Chronicle. I have unleashed a food frenzy in this country, all based on a trip to Raleigh. Wow. the power of one person is turly amazing.

A chef perfects the paleta of childhood

Would this make a great new paleta?

Apple pie granita, from Joy the Baker

Yes, please, about 3pm tomorrow

Wow, this looks fabulous. It makes me want to take a blender to work so I can frappe some watermelon into my Red Bush Tea.

Rooibos Iced Tea

courtesy of Slashfood

Most interesting herbaceous friend

I have the most interesting friends, really, I do. You'll just have to take my word for it, reader, although I'm sure that many of you are quite interesting, too.

One of my more interesting and fast-talking friends, I'll call her Garden Gal, maintains a most informative website about her fabulous community garden experience. If there's anything I need to know about community gardening or gardening in general, Garden Gal is the one I call. She has a recipe for roasted red peppers that I'd give oh, I don't know, not quite a right leg but close in order to get that recipe from her. I get all flustered when I think about it. Oh, Garden Gal, if you're reading:

1. I really am going to send you a thank you note any day now for the wonderful dinner I had at your house lo, these many weeks ago, and
2. That arugula still makes me weep, and
3. I'd really, really love that roasted red pepper recipe. Maybe you should post it on your blog?

For an example of Garden Gal's style, do check out her latest post, all about, and I mean EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW about herb preservation. In person, I assure you, she has the same authoritative and humorous style. She talks really fast too, so for the full Garden Gal experience be sure to read really, really fast, preferably with a glass of wine close by.

Harvesting and Preserving Herbs the Quick and Easy Way

Red Pesto Ravioli a la 101 Cookbooks and IcedLatte Strolls in her Garden

Holy Toledo, but this looks fabulous:

Red Pesto Ravioli Recipe


I was going to stop at the grocery on my way home from academic medicine job and get the ingedients which I can do courtesy of my new crackberry because 101 Cookbooks has a mobile site, so I'm never far from Heidi's splendid, if somewhat colon-blowing recipes. Instead, I decided to be lazy and go straight home, which took me 23 minutes, just in case you're keeping score.

I whipped up a mixed pesto tonight that was absolutely scrumptuous. I used about oh, 1/3 cup mascarpone I had in the fridge leftover from a Nigella recipe I never quite got to despite the fact that I had quite a number of visitors over the last week or so. Ricotta cheese would also have work, as would a little bit of half and half, heavy cream, or even lowfat cream cheese:

IcedLatte's Stroll Into the Garden and See What'cha Got Pesto

1. Stand in the backyard and look at your herbs. Sigh deeply and contemplate how you'll never be skinny or a movie star but at least the parsley looks good.

2. Grap some of that parsley. Grab it and cut it and shake the bugs off. Grab, oh, I don't know, some basil, rosemary, oregano, whatever you've got. Bring it inside and enjoy the 5 more minutes of peace you have before the kids get home.

3. Five minutes are over. Take a break and hug the kids and let them talk excitedly about their day while you're waiting for your pasta water to boil.

4. Say, "Uh-Huh, wow! Gosh, then what?" to your husband while he talks about a really exciting meeting he had. While he's talking throw the pasta in the boiling water.

5. Throw your herbs into your food processor with, oh, I don't know, a giant handful of almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, whatever you've got nuts, plus some salt and a big squidge of olive oil. If you feel like it, lemon zest would be good but whatever. You don't need it.

6. After the pasta is done, drain it, then throw it back in the pot. You could sure add some peas now, even frozen, and they'll thaw right out, and wham, you've added a vege with a ton of fiber. Once you're good and ready, add the dairy--mascarpone, ricotta, etc.--then the pesto from the food processor and stir, stir, stir.

7. Adjust seasoning and liquid. Need a little more olive oil? Pasta water? Salt? Fix your dish and serve. Thank me later.

This is a FABULOUS 15 minute meals. I promise. Love, Iced.

Watermelon Paletas

I'm not sure I mentioned our trip to Locopops in Raleigh. The owner's version of the Mexican paleta was life-altering, as the gang on Chowhounds suggested it would be. The mojito flavor, ah. Suffice it to say that the drool is running down my chin at the memory.

So, fast-forward two months. Instead of entertaining all weekend as planned, Little Machiatto and I went to Target to stock up on provisions since Little Latte is sick, sick, sick. I couldn't find any popsicles which looked even remotely appealing, but I did find popsicle molds. LM and I raced home and went to the Google Encylopedia of Cookery and found a recipe for watermelon paletas. It was courtesy of the The Kitchn. We just popped them in the freezer and drank the stuff we didn't have room for in the molds and it was mmmm mmmm good.

Here's what we did, slightly different from The Kitchn's version:

4 cups watermelon, chunked up
2 T (or so) key lime honey
grated zest one lime
2 T lime juice

Poured into molds and now freezing.

The NYTimes' Minimalist, Mark Bittman, had an intriguing banana version with a movie! Check it out. I think these will be next on our paleta tour.

Mexican Summer on a Stick

More than I ever thought I wanted to know about something I knew nothing about. Please, bring it on! LA Times, thank you. It captures my experience of biting into the mojito pop for the first time:

Paletas: Icy, spicy, cool

A few more ideas courtesy of Zemanta:

Related articles by Zemanta

• Homemade Pudding Pops (emilyinthedesert.blogspot.com)
• Recipe: Strawberry-Yogurt Popsicles (thekitchn.com)
• How to Make Fresh Fruit Popsicles (simplycooking.wordpress.com)

I slogged through

a whole lotta food posts this week, and nothing much struck my fancy. Except this:




Lemony zucchini goat cheese pizza

Much entertaining this weekend. Pancake brunch tomorrow with dear friends; steaks tomorrow night with dear friends; bbq Sunday night with dear friends. Just as I like it. Surrounded by my kids, my husband, and people I love.

Fast and Fab Breakfast Ideas

I got to thinkin' this week when I read a recent post at Apartment Therapy/The Kitchn, about breakfast. Most days I have a banana and Diet Coke, which I throw on top of my giant morning iced latte, then top off with some chocolate and pretzels. But I'm also a big fan of steel cut oatmeal with honey. I should try making it with fruit juice. Burritos, another very packable item. Great idea from commenters. Something to mull over. Has to be easy, has to be packable, has to be able to be eaten on the run between patients without needing a lot of fussy reheating, etc.

I'm open to ideas.

Fast, cheap, and healthy breakfast ideas.

Backyard Watermelon Salad

Image via Wikipedia

My friend Dragon had a party on Saturday night. It was chic and involved roasted pig, so how could it be anything but fab? I did NOT know what to make and thus was forced to procrastinate all day, waiting for inspiration to strike me. I was drawn to the watermelon (seedless) which had been sitting on my counter for a week. I asked the Cookery Encyclopedia of Google for watermelon salad recipes and came across a quite a few. Sadly, I lacked ingredients for the interesting ones. I also lacked time, thanks to stalling most of the day.

I strolled into my backyard potager to see what was available (jalepenos and mint). I trolled the vegetable drawer in my fridge (lime and a half a red onion). What I threw together was actually rather good, although I was winging it and cannot speak to the quantities exactly. Furthermore, watermelon gives up fluid, so as this was sitting I needed to drain it several times and re - season. I would absolutely make this again, but I might cup up the melon and let it drain in a colander for a little while, perhaps salted.

Backyard Watermelon Salad
Makes a lot

One medium sized seedless watermelon, rind cut off, cut into 1 to 1.5 inch chunks (probably a good 10 cups of melon)
One lime
Two jalapeno peppers, diced fine
One handful of mint, chopped fine
500gm feta cheese
One half red onion, sliced in half, then into very thing slices
Balsamic vinegar (I used Balsamic with Lemon from my dear friend Cartier)
Fruity olive oil
Sea salt

Put watermelon in a large bowl. Squeeze an entire lime over the melon, then toss with jalapenos and mint. Break up feta cheese into very small chunks and toss thoroughly into salad with thinly sliced onion. Once everything is well mixed, add oh, a quarter to a half cup of vinegar, then a good slug of olive oil. Throw some salt on. Mix it up. Taste and adjust dressing ingredients.

As I noted above, I let this sit for a while and it gave off a lot of liquid. I drained off the liquid once or twice and added more vinegar, salt, and a little more olive oil. More lime juice and jalepeno would have worked, too.

Leftovers were tasty. The next day I drained the excess liquid, tossed it up again, and added a little slug of vinegar.

Green Cathartic Pasta with Peas, Bacon, and Ricotta

My dear friend Dragon gave me a Giada de Laurentiis cookbook for my birthday. There's nothing I love more than a new unsullied cookbook to peruse at the counter, after a long day of work, sipping a glass of wine while the kids play.

I wanted to give my new Giada a whirl. Instead of the hominy stew I had planned for tonight (from my dear cookbook friend Jacques Pepin) (he's not a real friend, but I feel like he is as I trace the pages and write out ingredients for his recipes on my shopping list) I whipped up a Giada. Well, it's kind of a Giada, as I was missing several key ingredients. The title of the recipe is Tagliatelle with Smashed Peas, Sausage, and Ricotta Cheese. I had peas and ricotta, but not the full-fat, whole milk version she calls for. I also somehow lacked garlic. I was missing a lotta basil, too, as I am presently between plants.

But still, okay. Of the nine ingredients she called for I had 1.5. That's enough to give it a whirl.

My version was good, very good. Perfect for a weeknight dinner in a bowl. Although I limited it to peas tonight, the finished product is a little primavera-like. Any green, fresh veges (nothing too watery, I don't think, although maybe zucchini if drained well) would work, smashed or not. In fact, I think it would be splendid with lima beans. If I were really organized I would have grated a little lemon zest into the pan as well.

Vicki's Penne with Smashed Peas, Bacon, and Lowfat Ricotta Cheese
serves 4-6 (four easily with enough left over for somebody for lunch)

1 pound dried penne
1/2 pound bacon, chopped
1 pound frozen peas
1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1 bunch of herby anything: basil, parsley, some rosemary (probably not ALL rosemary), oregano, or your favorite combination
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Walk in the door from work and put on a big pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. When it's ready, throw in the pasta and put a measuring cup nearby so you remember to save a cup or so of the finished pasta water before you drain it.

Change your clothes and get a cold drink.

Put a large pot on the stove, heat it up, and throw in your bacon. Take your peas out of the freezer and thaw them in the microwave (it took me 2 minutes on each side on 60% power). Cook the until it's crispy, then take it out to drain on some paper towels. Get rid of that fat, unless, that is, you feel like having a heart attack later. Once the pot is ready and semi-bacon fat-free, throw in the peas and heat them up.

Think of somebody who made you really mad today. Take out your potato masher and imagine their face in green, cooking in your pan. Smash it! Smash those peas. Smoosh, sploosh, splat goes your anger. As you enact vegetable slaughter your hostility will melt away. Turn to your herbs. Chop them up. Not too fine! You want them to know who is boss, but you don't want to humiliate them into shreds. Green catharsis.

Now, check your pasta. If it's done, scoop out a cup of water and set it aside, then drain the rest. If it's not done, go back to your peas. Add your ricotta off the heat and stir. Once you finally have some drained pasta, throw that in, too. Add water in 2T increments until you have a lovely, creamy sauce. Then throw in your cheese and chopped herbs. Stir, add a little more water if need be, and serve.

Thanks, Dragon!

Kimchi, Hot Dog, and Cheddar Cheese

I just got this month's edition of Food & Wine and was somehow magically, mysteriously directed by the Hot Dog Gods to the page with the Kogi Hotdog from some kind of magical hot dog place in LA. I want to jump on a plane and get one immediately. Probably, since I have two small children and have to work, I'll just settle for making the recipe in the magazine. I am swooning over this. I shall have sparkly hot dog dreams tonight.

My son wants to name a dog "Hot Dog Dog." That's funny.

Here's the linky:

Kogi Dog

Put da lime in da coconut....

And make me up some soup. I'll bet this would be just fine with shrimp or tofu in place of the chicken. Although scooping up a rotisserie chicken sounds mighty appealing, too. Or leftover grilled chicken. I might take this out for a spin on this week's menu.

Fast & Easy Dinner: Coconut Lime Chicken Soup.

via Yum Sugar

Um, yes, please: Jamaican Jerk Burgers

From Simply Recipes, this delight:

Jamaican Jerk Burgers

Five minutes....Fresh baked bread

Today we went out to the farm (as noted in a cross-blog post below) and picked up our 1/2 cow. We also picked up some farm-fresh eggs, four of which I came home and immediately fried. Topped with a sprinkle of sea salt and served with crusty sourdough toast, it was heaven. But what if I'd had freshly baked bread? It reminded me of something I came across in Lifehacker from Mother Earth News about having fresh bread every day. This is rather intriguing, especially since I have 1.5 dozen more fresh eggs to dip in toast.

Five minutes a day for fresh-baked bread

reBlog from IcedLatte: Medical Marginalia: On the subject of fatness

I found this fascinating quote today:

I just picked up 309 pounds of glorious marbled frozen hand-raised beef. It is residing in my freezer to be dispensed to people noble enough to partake of my beast. To counteract my beef, however, I have some ideas:IcedLatte, Medical Marginalia: On the subject of fatness, Jul 2009

You should read the whole article.

What to do with watermelon?

How about chopped vegetable, watermelon, and feta salad?

Oh, Smitten Kitchen, how ye tempt me.

Dilemma

How to make this sans peanuts (for my anaphylatoid boy) and without raw tomatoes which gross me out? Why is it that anything with lime in it makes me swoon?

Lime & Peanut Coleslaw

For my dear pregnant friend

I offer this: Watermelon Lemonade. And for her husband, add vodka. And what about skipping the lemons and using lime AND vodka?