The Wife Makes Lemon Basil Popsicles

After having an amazing Lemon Basil Popsicle from King of Pops (Richmond, VA) I decided that I could most likely create an at home version.  The day I had the pop was an extremely hot day and it was so refreshing.  Now I will say that my pop is probably not as good as the King of Pops version but it was still pretty good.  I found the recipe on this site.  There are a few other pops that I think would be fun to try as well.

I bought the Tovolo Popsicle molds at Whole Foods.  They are pretty large molds and I honestly haven't been actually finishing the whole pop (that is probably because it gets quite tart!).

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar (for my 2nd try I replaced with Truvia natural sweetener for baking...use the natural sweetener directions for measuring equivalent...mine was 1/2 cup of Truvia to 1 cup of sugar)  I used about 3/4 cup of water still to make the syrup
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup fresh sweet basil leaves
• 1 1/4 cup cold water divided
• 1/2  cup fresh lemon juice (depending on size it will be 3 - 4 lemons)

Directions

• In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar and 1 cup cold water. Stir over medium heat until all of the sugar is dissolved. It's not necessary to boil. Remove from heat. Tear basil leaves, stir into syrup and allow to steep in syrup for 2 hours.
• Strain cooled syrup to remove basil leaves. Measure out 3/4 cup of the basil syrup and combine with lemon juice and 1 1/4 cups cold water. Pour into ice pop molds and freeze for at least 4 hours or until solid.

These pops are extremely easy to make. Just allowing for plenty of time for the basil syrup to steep is the most challenging part of the process.

Keep an eye out for more posts on different pops we try in the future!

Various summer pastas

Summer time for me means fresh veggies, sitting at the pool and eating outside.  Luckily the three go together, as I'll highlight below, in making for dinners that don't make you feel ashamed to doff your shirt.

We take advantage of the farmer's market to get all sorts of fresh veggies, and then I add some fish and pasta to make a simple and not too filling dinner.

For this first pasta I did a very basic mix of sautéed shrimp and scallops over bucatini.  I cooked a bunch of baby squash (green and yellow) along with asparagus to make the veggie mix, and then hit it with a little white wine at the last minute to make a "sauce."  I then topped it all off with basil and shaved parmesan cheese.

For this second pasta I went a little heavier, but still summertime light.  I sautéed onion, shiitake mushrooms and fresh hot and mild peppers.  I once again used bucatini as the base, but this time I topped it with a piece of broiled grouper and some sautéed king crab.

No matter what you put on top, keep it light and you can't go wrong ... enjoy!

Seafood Delight!

Do you know what the downside of having a bunch of Dungeness crab in your freezer is?  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!  Got a dinner that doesn't feel like it's going to be everything you were hoping for?  Dungeness crab will solve that problem.

For this dinner I broiled a piece of red snapper and served it over yellow rice cooked with okra.  I topped the whole thing off with some pieces of Dungeness crab that had been sautéed in butter.  I recommend keeping some crab in your own freezer just so you too can do things like this, enjoy!

Feeling like a trip to the Middle East

I'm going to start this post with a caveat ... despite flying over it a couple of times and spending 7 hours worth of layover in the Doha airport ... I have never REALLY been to the Middle East or Northern Africa.  Therefore, if this post is completely off, just roll with it.

As some of you may remember from prior posts, I love Harissa as a spice mix so when I found a jar of pre-made Harissa sauce at the local Whole Foods I knew what I was making for dinner!  I swung by the meat counter for a couple of lamb rib chops, of course.

I had found a dry Harissa mix at Whole Foods previously, and being a believer of the mantra: "If a little is good, a lot is better" I dusted the chops lightly with the Harissa powder before grilling them.  After the flip on the grill I started slathering on the Harissa sauce mix, with a final flip to make sure I got some sauce on the side that had started upwards.  These chops were smelling great!

For the sides I didn't do anything fancy; I whipped up a batch of Israeli couscous and sautéed some kale to go with the chops.  It may have taken longer to plate then I did to eat. Try it and enjoy!

Pasta ... looks as good as it tastes, half the effort!

Some nights you just don't have the energy in you to go all out, but you still want people to believe you did.  Viola, Pasta!

Almost all facets of pasta can be pre-made and just combined and it still looks and tastes almost as good as home-made.  In this dinner I used pre-packaged chicken meat balls, frozen tortellinis and even a little bit of Bertolli white sauce to set this dinner up.

I started a sauté pan on medium and then in went onion and sliced shiitake mushrooms.  As those began to cook down I rough chipped some garlic and two large roasted red pepper pieces.  Once the onion and mushrooms had cooked down a bit I added the garlic and roasted red pepper and the meatballs.

Into the boiling water went the pasta and then I sliced some Ciliegine to top the pasta with.  Once the pasta was ready, I drained it and then I put a smaller sauté pan on the stove and added half of the veggie/meatball mix, half of the pasta and about 2/3 tbsp of the white sauce.  I tossed it all around until well mixed and then plated and topped with some of the Ciliegine.  I repeated the process with the other half of the pasta and then we were ready to enjoy!

"Fried" bread ... a perfect pairing

Often the most important part of dinner is the steak that you've meticulously prepared or the pork that you've slow roasted for hours on end; sometimes though, it's what you put with it that matters the most.

Take a simple one like bread, for instance.  75% of the time I just wrap it in foil and throw it in the oven, but other times I do something different like grill it, panini press it or in the instance of this picture I "fry" it.  Hot pan + melted butter (or olive oil will do too) + hearty pinch of salt and pepper ... put the bread in and cook for about 2 minutes per side, perfection!

Bastille Day 2015

Most of you by now realize that I default to French themed cooking when I am without other inspiration, but Bastille Day requires that nothing else even be considered!  For those that might have missed last year's dinner, you can find it here.  For those who just want to see what this year brought, keep reading!

I still had a bunch of duck and french salumi from a previous D'Artagnan order, so I popped over to Whole Foods for a few other items and then was ready to go.

Charcuterie plate

The first course was a charcuterie comprising French cheese and salumi as well as sliced fresh baguette.  We enjoyed this course with a little bit of Champagne.

Broiled mussels

 For the next bit of fun, I did baked mussels that were topped with chopped garlic & Jambon de Bayonne (French prosciutto) and then finished off with some thin slices of cheese.  Into the broiler the mussels went along with two pieces of baguette that had been brushed with melted butter.  Once the cheese had gotten nice and crispy I pulled out the mussels and plated with the baguette (cut in half and served standing).

Duck three ways (crispy skin, poached egg and confit) with garlic white bean puree)

For this next course I had a little fun with one of my favorites, duck!  First I used the Vitamix to blend warm white beans and garlic into a puree, setting aside.  I started a pot of water boiling, with a little white vinegar, so I would have a poaching bath.  Next I took a confit leg and carefully removed the skin and the large chunks of visible fat.  I then sliced the large meat portion of the leg from the bone so that I could cut it into strips.  I also cut thick strips of the skin.  I heated a saute pan and then tossed in some of the duck fat, allowing it to melt down before putting the skin into the pan (fat side down) to cook like bacon.  Once flipped I added the chunks of meat to warm as well.  At this point 2 duck eggs went into the poaching bath and then I began plating the rest of the dish.  As I finished plating it was time for the eggs to come out and I added them to the dish and it was ready for consumption.

Lavender ribeye w/ mashers, roasted garlic and ratatouille

The final course in this dinner was centered around a Shell's find ... Lavender ribeye (source & recipe here)!  This required finding thick-cut bone in ribeye steaks as well as dried lavender.  Luckily for me, Whole Foods had both ... although I did substitute dry aged boneless ribeye and it took a bit to find the lavender (it's by the bulk foods if you are looking for it).  It was well worth the hunt for lavender though as the steak had a very unique flavor that made the steak taste lighter than a grilled ribeye normally does.  I served the steak over whipped mashed potatoes with a ratatouille of fresh Farmer's market veggies and a baked garlic bulb.  I highly recommend trying this one, you'll enjoy!

Sautee, Poach and Braise ... yeah, sounded weird to me too!

For this dinner I decided to have some fun with Harissa, and to try a new way of cooking.  As I have previously written about, Harissa is an awesome northern African spice that I love both cooking with and eating.  For this dinner I went with a bone-in pork chop that I started by searing, then poached and then moved into the pot to braise.  To start, pre-heat the oven to 375F.

I started with a 1" thick, bone-in chop, with both the loin and tenderloin side on it.  I sautéed the strip over medium-high heat for 3 minutes in melted butted and then flipped it and reduced the heat to medium-low.  I added 1/4 cup of white wine to the pan and lightly poached the chop for another 3 minutes before removing from the heat.

For the braising sauce, I made up a batch of Harissa paste by mixing a dry spice blend with water (I did 2 tbsp of each.  I then stirred that into 1 cup of Pomi crushed tomatoes and poured that into the braising pot along with six skinned garlic cloves.  I covered the pot and then put into the oven.

I braised for 20 minutes at 375 and then reduced the heat to 325 for another 5 minutes.  I then removed from heat and rested for 5 minutes, still covered.

I served the chop sliced over Israeli cous-cous with the garlic cloves and braising sauce as accompaniments.  Try this and enjoy!

Another reason I'm Not allowed to bake

For this dinner I was once again reminded why I am not allowed to bake.  I attempted to make a batch of red pepper corn bread to serve with our grilled steak and Brussel's sprouts.

I popped open a bag of cornbread mix and followed the directions to a tee adding the exact right amounts of water, oil & egg.  I used a whisk to mix to the right consistency and then chopped up a fresh bell pepper and stirred that into the mix.  I poured it into the baking pan and baked for the prescribed period of time, testing with a toothpick to ensure it came out clean.

Everything looked good until I flipped it over onto the cooling rack and it promptly fell apart.  What I had neglected to account for what the additional liquid that would bake out of the peppers and completely throw off the mixture.  Yes, that's why what was supposed to be cornbread looks surprisingly like rice in the picture.  On the bright side, it was still tasty, albeit a little mushy.

Steak and Crab ... a tasty combination!

Whole Foods has had Alaskan King Crab legs off and on here for the last few months, and every now and then I just can't refuse.  For this dinner I went with a filet topped with the crab served alongside sautéed kale and stewed white beans.

To make the crab topper I sautéed the crab in butter with sliced fresh garlic and just before finishing I hit it with splash of white wine to loosen everything up.  I plated everything else and then topped off the steak with the crab mix ... it was amazing, try it an enjoy!

David Chang is an incredibly innovative chef and his line of Momo Fuku restaurants are not to be missed.  

Recently Shells found that Chang had started to bottle and sell his Ssam Sauce online.  Ssam sauce, at its core, is a mix of fermented bean paste and spicy chile paste.  For this dinner I found a nice meaty rack of ribs at Whole Foods and had them cut longwise into three strips.  I slow roasted the ribs at 325F for 3 hours covered and then added sauce and cooked them, uncovered for another hour.

I served the ribs with roasted wedges and salad.  The savory and spicy Korean flavor of the sauce adding a unique spice (no pun intended) to an otherwise very American dinner.  I highly recommend either making your own (recipe here) or buying some (much easier option) and trying this out.  Give it a try and enjoy!

Full meal on the grill

On of the great things about summer is that it's so easy to sit outside and just fire up the grill.  For this dinner that's just what I did with a whole collection of food: kale, garlic heads, bread, scallops, steak & even twice baked potatoes!

I turned on the left two burners of the grill and left the right two off to enable me to use indirect heat on some of the ingredients and direct heat on others.

The bread and garlic cloves went on the top rack for about 25 minutes before the steak went on.  The kale was on the lower rack, but as far away from the heat as it could be.  The 25 minutes was spent with the lid closed.

After the 25 minutes were up, on went the steak and potatoes.  For the potatoes I put them in a roasting tray away from the heat.

The steak, a dry aged NY Strip, went on direct heat.  After five minutes of cooking I rotated the strip 1/4 and then flipped it after another five.

Once the steak was flipped, I added the scollops to the grill.  After five more minutes of cooking I removed the steak to a cutting board and covered with a light towel.  At this point I also flipped the scallops and allowed them to finish cooking (they should not be translucent except in the very center).

After the scallops finished cooking, everything came off the grill and then it was time to plate.




I plated with the kale as a base to build on and then plated the potatoes, steak, scallops and garlic head in circular fashion around the plate.  It tasted as good as it looks in the following picture, try it yourself and enjoy!