Live the Live ™

I love my cocktails, and I feel the quality of the ice is as important as any other ingredient in my glass. After all, if the ice cubes are made from nasty water, it’s going to affect the taste of the drink.

And from a visual standpoint, a large, beautiful, clear ice cube really makes any cocktail look pretty darn impressive.

Since the tapwater at my house has chlorine and fluoride in it, I use a reverse osmosis filter to try to get as much of the bad stuff out. And I’ve been using that to make my own fancy cocktail ice cubes. But they were cloudy, so I was willing to try this new gadget.

 

Once I bought the Ice.Made.Clear system, and I read the instructions, I realized that, much like the ice cubes they promised, a problem became very clear: they recommend using water right from the tap– – hot tap water, in fact. Their reasoning was that the chilling process from hot to freezing, and the minerals in the tapwater, aid in the clarity process. (Also, warmer water holds fewer air bubbles, which causes the cloudiness in the ice later on.)

But I don’t want chlorine and fluoride in my ice cubes! So for me, tap water was out of the question.

As an alternative, they suggested buying spring water, claiming that using reverse osmosis filtered water would remove too many of the necessary minerals needed for the process to work. 

So I bought a gallon jug of Poland Spring to try this thing out, and it actually worked really well. But the problem was, it wasted a lot of water. Once the ice cubes are made, the container can’t be reused until you melt all the ice in it, empty it out, and start all over again. I wound up using almost an entire gallon of spring water to make six large ice cubes. That’s ridiculous. 

So, despite the fact that they recommend using tap water or spring water, I went back to my filtered water, because it’s cheap and plentiful. I heat it up a bit in a saucepan (not to the point of boiling, but warm) and then pour it into the Ice.Made.Clear system. The cubes aren’t as clear as they might be, but I know the water quality is the best it could be. And I still get pretty darn clear ice.

So here are the pros and cons of the Ice.Made.Clear system:

The Pros:
It really does make clear ice.
It’s not a big unit, so it fits in most freezers.
The whole system cost under 100 bucks, so it’s not outrageous in price.


The Cons:
It wastes a lot of water.
If you don’t have clean tapwater, buying water gets really expensive just to make a handful of ice cubes.
If you’ve got guests coming over, you better start making your cubes weeks ahead of time, because it’s a slow process.

 

I posted a way to make homemade clear ice cubes in a previous blog. I will repost it soon. It works really well, gives you plenty of rustic large ice cubes at once, and doesn’t cost a lot.

After all is said and done, if pretty ice cubes don’t matter to you at all, go down to your local convenience store and buy a bag of ice for two bucks, and you’re all set.

Some of my favorite recipes happen when I’ve got a few leftover ingredients in the fridge that I really want to use up. The challenge is to make them work together.

Burgers are easy solutions to this dilemma, because, let’s face it: just about anything can go on a burger!

My thoughts behind this recipe went to a combination of things: a little garlic bread, a little Caprese salad, and, of course, a burger.

I had some burrata in the fridge. If you thought you couldn’t improve on mozzarella cheese, get yourself some burrata. The outer shell of the burrata is mozzarella, while the inside generally contains stracciatella and cream. It can be made from milk, or if it’s really decadent: Italian buffalo milk.

I use burrata instead of mozzarella when I make my Caprese salads…a combination of the cheese, fresh basil, and ripe tomatoes, drizzle with a high-quality balsamic vinegar.

I had kaiser rolls in the freezer. I wanted to go one step further, so I slathered them with my garlic bread smear, and toasted them.

And my burgers are always grass-fed beef, seasoned with salt and pepper, and pan-seared before finishing them in the oven.

I started with the garlic bread spread first.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
1 large clove garlic, squeezed through a press
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon parsley

I combined these ingredients in a bowl, mixing well, then smeared them on my kaiser roll halves, toasting them in the oven.

I got a pan very hot on the stovetop (cast iron is always best) and added a little fat. I use bacon grease if I have it. Otherwise I go with a high smoke point oil like avocado oil.

I seasoned the burger with salt and pepper, and placed it in the hot pan, searing it on one side, then flipping it to the other. I just want to sear the meat. I don’t want to cook the burger in the pan or it will overcook when I place it in the oven to finish.

I cut the burrata in half (it gets a little messy), and placed half of it (cut-side-down) onto the burger.

I placed the pan in the oven to finish cooking the burger and to melt the cheese. (If your pan isn’t oven-proof, get a tray that is, and just move the burger onto it and into the oven.)

I cooked the burger until it was medium-rare and the cheese had melted.

I placed the burger on the toasted roll and added a nice slice of farm-fresh heirloom tomato. (Fresh basil is optional.) And I drizzled over the top with some good balsamic.

That took a cheeseburger to a whole new level!

I’m pretty good at keeping the zucchinis in my garden harvested on a regular basis, so they don’t get too big. But once in a while, I miss one, and it gets to be huge. That’s when it’s time to make zucchini bread.

 

 

I was recently told that zucchinis are green…summer squash is yellow.  I use the word “zucchini” interchangeably, but technically, the variety I grow is, in, fact, a zucchini…or both, depending how you look at it!

 

 

Whatever you call it, use it! And make some delicious bread!

I slice the zucchini lengthwise, and remove the center section with all the seeds, because I don’t want that in my bread. Then I grate the rest. This recipe needs about 2 1/2 cups of grated zucchini, about 16 ounces.

When it comes to baking, I use my small kitchen scale to make most of the crucial measurements, because accuracy counts. It’s much more accurate than going by volume. But this recipe has both measurements, so you can try either method.

Substituting gluten-free flour for the basic all-purpose flour, will make this recipe gluten-free. I like to use the all-purpose GF flour by Cup4Cup.

And I like using olive oil as my vegetable oil, because I love the flavor and its health benefits. But feel free to use whatever vegetable oil you like.

 

2 cups (227g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, optional

1 cup (213g) light brown sugar
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
scant 3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 1/2 cups grated zucchini (about 16 oz.)

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Grease an 8 x 8“ or 5″ x 10″ loaf pan with some of the vegetable oil. Then line it with parchment paper…it makes it easier to remove later.

In a bowl, mix together the first five ingredients.

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients except the zucchini.

Add the grated zucchini to the bowl with the flour mixture and toss it around to coat.

 

Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir until it’s combined.

 

 

Pour it into the pan. 

 

 

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 45 to 60 minutes…but it could be even longer. Every oven is different, and different zucchini can have different moisture levels, so you may need to cook yours longer, depending on your situation. Even with all the high-tech thermometers I have, I find the good old-fashioned toothpick method works best.

 

 

Remove the baking pan from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes. Then turn it over on a wire rack, removing the pan, and let the zucchini bread cool completely to room temperature before slicing.

This bread is so good, I just might let the zucchini overgrow more often!

Chimichurri, as I mentioned in a previous blog, is a garlicky, herby green sauce usually used with grilled meats. This pesto-like condiment originated in Argentina and is also commonly used in Nicaragua and Uruguay. Though some recipes include cilantro, many people insist the original is made only with parsley. It also makes an excellent marinade for grilled meats.

 

 

 

When I posted that blog, my friend, Brenda, asked me if I’ve ever used basil in my chimichurri. I had not…and that sounded like a great idea, especially since I had an overload of basil still growing in my garden. Technically, I guess I couldn’t call it chimichurri anymore, but that’s okay. What I got was a real flavor bomb that worked beautifully as a marinade, on grilled meats, and in other applications.

 

 

 

1 large handful of fresh basil leaves, about 4 cups, loosely packed
1/4 cup water
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3–4 tablespoons fresh oregano, leaves only (or 1 tablespoon dry)
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon crushed bay leaf
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Place all the basil and the water in a food processor and begin to chop, pulsing for a second at a time. When the basil is in small pieces, stop pulsing and add the remaining ingredients, except the vinegar and olive oil. Start the processor on a full run now, and slowly pour in the vinegar, then the olive oil. Try not to make it too smooth…leave some tasty bits. Allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes, but overnight in a sealed container in the fridge is best.

 

I used this new basil “chimi” on chicken. (The recipe is in a future blog.) But I could also see how awesome it would be tossed in a salad, especially a Caprese-style tomato and mozzarella salad, where the chimi would take the place of fresh basil leaves.

 

But my garden was also overflowing with shishito peppers, so rather than throwing them in a pan with olive oil and simply blistering them the way I usually do, I took a few spoons of the “chimi” and melted it in the pan, adding the shishitos, and tossing them around in it until they were blistered. The “chimi” actually blackened a bit, but in a good way, bringing out the herby flavors like a blackened Cajun dish might, and a sprinkle of finishing salt was all it needed before serving.

 

 

There are many other ways to use this new “chimi,” and I’ll be trying them all!

 

Ever since I had char-grilled oysters in New Orleans recently, I’ve been obsessed. I’ve made them at least once a week every week since I’ve been back. But the other day, I went to my local seafood store and I saw some beautiful clams, and I thought: Why not try those on the grill?

I had some friends over a couple of days ago, and I made my Oysters Rock-a-Fellow recipe for them, and I had some leftover gooey cheesy stuffing that goes on top of the oyster. I thought: Why not use it on the clams and then put them on the grill?

A hybrid recipe of two previous recipes, and it really worked!

The first step is to make the gooey cheesy stuffing mix ahead of time.

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 cup low-fat milk
salt and pepper
3 cups (tightly packed) fresh arugula, finely chopped, about a 5 oz. container
6 oz. mild cheddar cheese (the white one), grated
6 oz. mozzarella, grated
Fine bread crumbs (Using GF breadcrumbs will keep this dish gluten-free)

Melt the butter in a pan and add the onion and garlic. Sauté until translucent, then add the milk, salt and pepper, and the arugula. Sauté for a few minutes, stirring, so that all of the arugula wilts down.
Slowly add the cheddar until it all melts, then add the mozzarella, stirring slowly, until you have one big gooey mass of goodness in the pan.

Pour the gooey cheese mix into a shallow pan and place it in the fridge for a few hours. It will firm up and you will be able to cut it easily into cubes that you will then place on top of the clams.

Once the cheese mixture has firmed up, and it’s time to cook, start a hardwood charcoal fire in your grill.

Open the clams and put them on a tray, topping each clam with a cube of the firm cheese and arugula stuffing mix.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top of each clam.

When your charcoal grill fire is hot, place the clams on the grill and cook until the cheesy topping melts and the clams have a nice char to them.

They will be lava hot when they come off the grill, so give them a few minutes before eating!