Popsicle-palooza

It's time.

I've been saving this one up for a while, trying to make as many kinds of popsicles as I could before posting. And while this is nowhere near 'as many as I could', it's still a heck of a lot of popsicles. I'll probably update as the summer goes on. Hell, why stop at summer, I'll probably update indefinitely. But summer is nice in that there's all sorts of wonderfully delicious fruits and herbs and things popping up in the garden and the farmers market, which makes for some spectacular pops.

Clockwise from top: stone fruit medley, cucumber gin & tonic, jasmine rhubarb, blueberry basil lemonade, honeydew-mint, and mixed berry smoothie.

It started early this summer, when I got a craving for ice pops that just wouldn't go away. Specifically the apricot rice pudding pops from last summer's Bon Appetit, which are fantastic (tweaked recipe below). After a week or so I gave in and ordered some molds from Amazon (pro tip: I later found the same ones at TJ Maxx for half the price), and started pureeing and freezing basically everything I could. And then I caved again and bough a recipe book from People's Pops, who make incredible if super-hipstery pops in Brooklyn, and tried a few of their recipes. And it was all delicious.

Matcha green tea, piña colada, roasted plum with rosemary, and blackberry-nectarine.

Here's some things I've learned about making popsicles:

1.  All you really need is something you can fill a mold with. I was gonna say 'liquid', but actually that's not true. Thick glop works pretty well too (see i.e. banana fudgesicles below). That can be as simple as fruit juice or a pureed plum, or as complex and full of spices and herbs and alcohol and whatever as you like. Personally I like a little textural contrast, like chopped cherries in a nectarine puree, whole blueberries in lemonade, or nuts and granola in an almond milk-banana mixture. (Yes, really. Best breakfast ever.)
2. Almost everything will work, but not everything everything. I tried two different black tea-based pops, and both ended up tasting funny. Pureed blueberries end up kind of slimy, making for a not-great pop: either strain out the juice and use that, leave them whole or halved in the mix (very pretty), or make sure they're just a small percentage of the total pop. Carbonated beverages will expand more than other things, so leave more room than usual at the top. Too high a percentage of alcohol and it won't freeze (though then you just get a booze slushie, and there are worse things.) 
3. Taste the mixture before you freeze it and adjust as necessary. Add a little acid to make the flavors pop. Supposedly things taste less sweet when they're frozen (?), so some say to add a little more sweetener (sugar, maple syrup, honey) than you normally would. I dunno. Experiment. If you hate what comes out, run some hot water over to melt it down the sink and try something else.
4. Know how much your molds hold, so you can make an appropriate amount. Mine are a half cup each, but models will vary, particularly if you're using juice cups or ice cube trays instead of actual molds. If you make too much, or don't have enough to fill a mold, remember that these are basically smoothies and can be drunk directly from the blender. A glass liquid measuring cup is good both because a) it's a measuring cup and b) the little spout makes it easier to pour into the molds without dripping everywhere.
5. They're really photogenic.

Ginger-peach, apricot-pistachio, and watermelon-kiwi-lime.

These are all vegan (I think one calls for honey, just use sugar), and (almost) totally fruit-based, so I see nothing wrong with eating, like five a day. As always, play around with these. Where I use almond milk, sub in real milk, or coconut milk, or hemp milk, or whatever. Replace my maple syrup with white sugar/brown sugar/agave/honey/dates. Sub peaches for nectarines. Roast the fruit to intensify the flavors, or not. Strain it for a more refined texture, or leave chunks in the puree. I like to leave the skins in for berries and stone fruit (looks like confetti!), but you can take it out. Same for berry seeds. If you don't wanna buy molds, use cups, with spoons for sticks. Just for the love of god use good, ripe fruit. Crap fruit = crap popsicle, so don't expect to use rock-hard peaches and underripe strawberries and get a good result. If it's good to eat, it'll be good to freeze.

Ginger-peach and peach-tarragon.

I've put a bunch of pop recipes here that I made and liked. More are described in the photos but not spelled out; a general recipe for those is to chop/puree the things in the name, then freeze. If there's an herb or aromatic (tarragon, ginger), you can either blend it straight into the mix or get a more pervasive flavor by steeping it in a little boiling water and adding that instead, either straining out the herb or, again, blending it. You can find more ideas on my popsicle board on Pinterest, as well as this one, this one, and this one. Or just google 'popsicle recipes' and wait for the 4.5 million or so hits to pop up.

Stewed apricot with star anise, bubble tea, jamaica (aka hibiscus flower, aka red zinger), banana-granola, chocolate banana faux-fudgesicle.

Banana-Granola Breakfast Pops
Ok seriously, I was skeptical when I first tried these. But for real, after all that, they're my favorite. (Well, tied with the stone fruit bonanza pops below. Those things were awesome.) Think of it kind of like oatmeal, but frozen. And wonderful. The original recipe came from The Frosted Vegan.

3 parts banana
1 part almond milk
A few drops of vanilla (or almond) extract
A spoonful of maple syrup
2 parts granola
Half as much fresh berries
A small handful chopped nuts (optional. Actually, everything but the banana, milk, and granola is optional)

1) Toss the first four ingredients in the blender, and puree til smooth. (Add more milk if the bananas won't puree, but give it a good go before you do.) Taste, and adjust for sweetness.

2) Pour the banana goop into a pyrex measuring cup (or something else with a spout; this gets gloppy). Stir in everything else. Pour into molds. Freeze.

The best place for a popsicle: a backyard barbeque.

Stone Fruit Cornucopia

Stone fruits are my favorite fruits. To make this pop I basically went to the grocery store in mid-June, bought every kind of stone fruit they had, and mixed them together. Turns out that was a great idea.

Ok, so I skipped the peaches and apricots, so sue me.

White nectarines
Plums with white/pale yellow insides
Peaches
Red/purple/black plums
Sweet cherries

1) Chop the nectarines, peaches, and light plums. Eat the peaches. Put the nectarines and plums in the blender and puree.

2) Chop the cherries and dark plums into a small dice. Mix everything together and pour into molds. Freeze.

Blueberry Basil Lemonade
Boil enough water to fill half your molds, and add torn basil leaves and a bit of sugar. (I used Thai purple basil.) Set aside to cool. Add a squirt of lemon juice. Halve about half your blueberries and leave the other half whole. Mix, pour, freeze.

Apricot-Star Anise
Slice your apricots into wedges and add to a pot with enough water to half-cover them. Add a pinch of sugar and a few star anise pods. Simmer til the apricots get nice and soft and fragrant. Pull out the anise - these don't puree well. Blend, taste for sweetness and acid,  pour, freeze.

Apricot-Pistachio
Slice your apricots into wedges, and add to a pot with some almond milk. Smash up some pistachios and add them too. Simmer til the apricots get nice and soft and fragrant. Blend, taste for sweetness and acid,  pour, freeze.

Piña Colada
Blend 3 parts coconut milk, 2 parts fresh pineapple, a pinch of cinnamon, a bigger pinch brown sugar, and a splash of rum (Malibu?) until smooth. A squeeze of lime would be nice in place of the cinnamon too. Freezing is totally optional for this one, though if you're just gonna drink it you should up the rum content.

Cucumber Gin & Tonic
Cut into matchsticks enough cucumber to half-fill the molds. Mix one part gin to two parts tonic (or seltzer water), enough to almost fill them the rest of the way. Add a bit of sugar (seriously) and a squirt of lime. Leave enough room at the top of the molds so these don't bubble over everywhere like mine did.

Add mint and call it a mojito.

Banana Faux-Fudgesicle
Blend bananas with a good bit of cocoa powder, a spoonful of maple syrup, a touch of vanilla extract, and just enough almond milk to make it go. A bit of cinnamon or some chopped almonds would work well too.

Roasted Plum and Rosemary (yes, really)
Halve your plums, pull out the pit, and roast them at 400 for about 10 minutes til they get nice and soft. Meanwhile, boil a sprig of rosemary leaves and a bit of brown sugar in some water. Take out the rosemary (too tough), blend it all together, etc.

Roasted plums, rosemary syrup.

Apricot Rice Pudding Pops
(adapted from BA)
1 1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 lemongrass stalk, pounded with a mallet and tied into a knot
2 tbsp ginger, minced
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp short grain rice (arborio, sticky/sweet, etc)
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt

1) Soak the rice in a bowl of water. Simmer the milks, lemongrass, ginger, and vanilla in a pot. Don't let it boil, or the coconut milk can separate.

2) Pull out the lemongrass and toss it. Puree the spiced milk and ginger until smooth. Drain the rice. Put the rice in the milk/ginger mixture, add the sugar and pinch of salt, and simmer about half an hour, without stirring.

3) Stir in the apricots, pour into molds, freeze.

Watermelon-lime-kiwi. Figure it out yourself.

Peach-Tarragon or Ginger-Peach
Steep some tarragon leaves or chopped ginger in boiling water. Puree with sliced peaches and a bit of sweetener.

Rhubarb-Jasmine
Brew some strong (but not bitter) jasmine tea. Chop some rhubarb into inch-long pieces. Just cover with the tea, add honey, and simmer til the rhubarb gets all soft and starts to fall apart.Mash the rhubarb up a little with a fork, pour, freeze.

Blackberry-Nectarine
Puree nectarines. Set aside. Puree blackberries with a little coconut milk, some lemon juice, and brown sugar. Pour alternating layers of nectarine and blackberry purees into molds.

Raspberries work well too.

Etc, etc.
Make a smoothie. Freeze it. Bam.

The End.

The Night of the Guinea Pig

Me with pig quarters. Yes, those are its front teeth.

And now for something completely different...


***WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS PICTURES OF MEAT THAT STILL LOOKS LIKE THE CUTE FURRY ANIMAL IT CAME FROM. IF THAT BOTHERS YOU, STOP READING HERE (and maybe have a good think about going vegetarian)***


So recently I've been doing upbeat spring posts about things like fiddlehead ferns and rhubarb compote and other seasonal delights you might find on Pinterest. This post is entirely different. In this post, I barbeque a guinea pig.

Three, actually, one butterflied on the grill and two roasted in the oven, which despite the cool evening may not have been my best idea ever. If you know me at all of have read back through some of the earlier posts on this blog, you know that I like to eat unusual things. (See: crickets two ways at my birthday party last month.) So when some friends and I discovered that the local C-Town supermarket stocked guinea pig in the freezer section, we knew it had to happen. That was two or three years ago; it took M. finishing his dissertation and moving to Ohio for us to get out act together and buy a few to try. (That age old story of 'oh, we'll do it next time', until finally life hits you and there is no next time.) Guinea pigs are a specialty in some parts of South America, where they're called cuy and generally roasted or fried (or so the internets tell me). So in honor of M. moving on with his life, we grabbed some cuy, invited over some adventurous friends, fired up my neighbor's grill, and made a South American(-ish) feast.

1) The rodents. There were seven of us, so we bought three piglets, and prepared each a different way. One was rubbed with a mixture of cumin, paprika, pepper, and salt and grilled over charcoal with a clove of garlic in its toothy little mouth. A second was stuffed with chorizo, parsley, and onions and roasted at 400 "til it's done". And for the third we followed a recipe found online and roasted it with a stuffing made from walnuts, parsley, onions, mint, oregano, and the innards C-Town was kind enough to leave in the three body cavities (heart, lungs, liver, kidneys), lightly poached and then mixed in with the rest. Needless to say I did not eat this last one. Unusual species don't bother me; unusual organs do. (Did I ever claim to be rational?)

Super cuy!

The cuy themselves were sold in plastic pouches (brand name: Super Cuy!) de-furred and cleaned but otherwise intact: head, feet, eyes, skin, etc all accounted for (only the digestive tract had been removed). So they looked like, well, very naked guinea pigs. Let the black humor and grisly jokes commence. They were thawed and opened up, the remaining organs removed, and stuffed or not as per above. M. did the honors of carving the roast beasts at the table, which entailed decapitation, drawing, and quartering. (Actually, I think they came pre-drawn. Whatever.) The first one, which had been butterflied and bbqed, I think was the best. Actually it's the only one I tasted. I got a nice leg (claws and all). The skin was a little rubbery, even after being crisped over the fire, but the meat was nice and tender and flavorful from the smoke and the rub. Stronger-flavored than I'd expected, certainly more pungent than rabbit, and a little fatty. Not bad at all. The second, with the guts-stuffing, I'm told was minerally, which is unsurprising when you consider it was fulled with liver and kidney. (Remind me again why people eat that stuff?) I think without the offal that's a stuffing I might actually use again though. But rodent hearts? Not so much. And by the time the chorizo cuy (pig in a pig!) was carved I was way too full to even think about eating a piece. I did nibble on the stuffing though, and that one I really will make again. Chorizo & onion: yum.

Lowering the cuy into hot water for defrosting. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Opening it for cleaning and stuffing.

What lies beneath. (The heart, mostly.)

Applying the dry rub to #1.

Herb-walnut stuffing (pre-adding of guts).

Sauteing the chorizo stuffing.

Cuy #2, stuffed and closed up with toothpicks.

#s 2 and 3, stuffed and trussed. The one on the right kinda looks like a zombie.

#1 on the grill.

Roasted. We crisped them up on the grill afterwards.

Ready for carving.

Carving the cuy.

Pig on a platter.

2) The fixings. South American themed meant yucca and plantain and avocado and pineapple.  And grilled onions, because why not. The yucca we made into baked fries, the plantains into fried fries, and the pineapple was dredged in cinnamon and grilled. Oh, and M. made some excellent tomatillo salsa, but you'll have to ask him for the recipe since I haven't got a clue. Frankly these were the best part. I mean, guinea pig is good, but grilled pineapple is better. And avocados. Yum.

Some nice bloodless chopped plantains for you.

3) The drinks. You don't think we did this fully sober, did you? Red wine and summer ale were both on hand, and probably to blame for what happened to the heads. Like I said, black humor. So cheers to a good time and the six brave should who came over to share it, and then had the fortitude to go for ice cream after. Salut!

Guinea Pig
Just read the paragraph above. That's really all we had to go on. Besides, you're not really planning to make this, are you?

Fried Plantains
Buy some plantains, the riper the better. Cut into smallish chunks. Fry in oil, probably at a lower heat than I did. Dip in Sriracha and lime juice.

Frying.

Ready for eating.

 
Grilled Pineapple
Cut a pineapple into chunks. Dredge in cinnamon. Grill til caramelized. Devour.

Cut and dredge.

Grill and eat.

Baked Yucca Fries
Finally, a real recipe! Preheat the oven to 450. Peel your yucca and cut it into 3-inch long lengths. Discard the ends. Get a pot of water boiling, and add the yucca. Boil about 12 minutes, until the middles start to split. Drain and let cool.

Cut each section in half lengthwise and take out the tough string running down the middle. There will probably be a layer peeling off the outside too; you can get rid of that if you like. Cut into wedges and arrange on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, black pepper, cayenne, and lime zest (or other spice mix of your choice). Bake 10 minutes, stir, then bake another 10 minutes or so. Let cool and eat with salsa.

Yucca Fries.

Blizzard food

Next in the Things I Made For Dinner series: breakfast. This is what I think of as perfect snowstorm food - it's warm, it's rich, it's cinnamony, it's vaguely tropical, and it tastes really damn good. Also, it makes your kitchen smell freaking awesome while it bakes. Good for giving you the stamina to trudge through those 3-foot drifts to class. Also it's lactose-free. Don't let that deter you; coconut milk has enough fat in it that you won't miss the butter & cream. (Damn you, milk allergy!)

Blizzard Bread Pudding
4 un-iced cinnamon-raisin buns, or 10-ish slices cinnamin-raisin bread, or cinnamon, raisins, and challah
1 can coconut milk
2 cups almond milk (or milk, but I actually like the almondy flavor)
3 eggs
cinnamon
cardamom
cloves
vanilla
salt
(Brown sugar to taste, but I didn't use any)

Preheat oven to 350. Chop the bread into 1-inch cubes. Spread them in a glass baking dish big enough that they just peek over the top.
.
On the stove, warm the milks. Beat the eggs in a bowl & add them. Add a pinch of salt, and roughly a 1:3:5 ratio of cloves:cardamom:cinnamon. Maybe 1 shake cloves, 3 shakes cardamom, spoonful cinnamon? I dunno, I don't measure these things. Also add a little vanilla. 1 tsp-ish? (And sugar, if you're into that.) Mix well.

Pour the liquid over the bread crumbs. Mix it a little so all the bread is covered and it starts to soak up the milk. Bake at 350 for roughly an hour and a half, but start checking after an hour to make sure the top doesn't burn. If you cut it open and the bottom is soggy, bake some more. Eat warm or cold, with a little maple syrup if you like. Go make a snow fort.

Almost Hungarian

Last week, some friends and I made chicken paprikash from a family recipe. (The friend's family, not mine.) This weekend I wanted to make it again, but I didn't have the recipe, or chicken, or paprika, and besides I don't really like bell peppers, which we'd used plenty of. So I made this instead.

Un-Chicken Paprikash-ish
4 links hot Italian sausage, cut into big-ish pieces
2 medium onions, chopped
lots of garlic, minced
2 big carrots, diced
1 jalepeno, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
cayenne pepper
Armadillo Rub or other smoky pepper mix, if you've got it
Salt & black pepper to taste
Corn starch

Saute the onions in olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic, carrots, S&P, and sausage. Cook til the sausage is not quite browned.

Add everything else. Simmer for a while, until the veggies are soft and the sausage seems cooked. Use plenty of olive oil. Add some cornstarch and simmer a bit more, until the sauce gets thick and velvety.

Serve over rice, or pasta, or spaetzle, or mop up with bread. In any case, copious starch is mandatory. Some parsley might be nice on top too, if my herb garden weren't buried under a foot of snow.