Quick Lemonade

When it comes to lemonade I prefer to go the simple route - water, sugar and lemon juice stirred together.  None of this making cooking up a concentrate, chilling it, and then adding the water.  It also works well for making limeade, just substitute lime juice for the lemon juice(obvious, no?).


Lemonade
13 cups water

2 cups granulated sugar(or more or less to taste)
2 cups lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in a 1 gallon pitcher, stir until the sugar dissolves.
Makes ~1 gallon.


Kickin' Arnold
1 cup lemonade
1 cup iced tea
1 tbsp ginger syrup(I'll add the links as I get to the recipes)
Stir together and serve over ice.
Makes 1 large serving, or 2 normal ones.


Lemon Granita
4 cups lemonade
1/2 cup sugar(again, to taste)
1/2 cup lemon juice
Stir together and pour into a 9x13 pan.  Freeze for 1 hour, scrape with with a fork to break up any ice that's formed, continue to freeze and scrape every hour or so until it's frozen through.  Scoop into a bowl and enjoy!
Makes 4-ish servings. 


Raspberry Lime Slushies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen 
5 cups limeade, divided
1/2 cup lime juice
1 cup raspberries
1 cup soda water
Purée raspberries and press through a sieve, stir together with 4 cups of limeade.  Pour into ice cube trays and freeze.  Toss the ice cubes into a blender and blend with lime juice and 1 cup limeade until slushy.  Pour into 4 glasses and top each with 1/4 cup soda water.
Makes 4 servings.   

Summertime Staples

Now that the weather is getting warmer it's time for me to put away the cocoa mix and put my coffee pot away and break out the cold drinks instead.  In an effort to actually keep hydrated and keep our drink options interesting(I don't like plain water much).  So I've assembled a selection of staples that keep well in the fridge, are cheap, and can be mixed and matched with each other and other basic ingredients that you likely have around in the summer.

I'll be sharing these recipes throughout next week, so today I'll lay out the necessary ingredients and my small list of equipment that really makes it easy for me keep the fridge stocked and me away from Dunkin's iced drinks.

First the necessary ingredients:
Coffee(I just use Folgers that I can buy in a big cheap-ish can)
Sugar
Lemon juice
Tea bags
Fresh ginger root

My equipment of choice:
2 - 1 gallon pitchers(I have these)
1 - 2 quart pitcher(this is my favorite)
Colander or sieve
Small kettle or large saucepan

Optional but handy equipment:

Sealable glass bottles

I have a 1 liter bottle that I use for ginger syrup and a couple of smaller ones that I use for small batches of berry purées and for the husband to take drinks to work in.  I found mine at HomeGoods for $3-5 each, which is way cheaper than I was able to find them online.

A soda siphon

Now this is a really optional item - if you have one or you find a good one at a tag sale(that's where ours came from) or if you can borrow one from a relative that doesn't use it anyway, great!  If not, bottled seltzer is still relatively cheap if you can get it on sale.  You can get the soda chargers for about $0.40 each if you buy them in bulk from a bar supplier, they're actually more expensive to buy from Amazon than from a smaller dealer.

And lastly get yourself some good cute glasses for sipping these tasty concoctions from.

See you Monday!

Carrot Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot Cupcakes:

4 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

8 large eggs

2 cups granulated white sugar

2 cups canola or vegetable oil

4 cups finely grated raw carrots

1 cup grated apple(approximately 2 large)

1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 cup raisins or currants(optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine wet ingredients in one bowl and dry ingredients in another, fold gently together until just combined.  Fill muffin cups 3/4 full, bake for 20 minutes.

Adapted from Joy of Baking.  Theirs was sadly lacking pineapple.

For frosting:

Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp maple flavoring

In a mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy.

Note: If you don't have maple syrup you could use milk instead and just add extra maple flavoring.

Clam Chowder

This is the non-lenten variety.  I'm sure you could Friday-ize it by sautéing the veggies in a little bit of butter and leaving out the bacon.

1/2 lb bacon, minced

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 onion, diced

2 lg. potatoes, peeled and diced

1 tsp. thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Chicken broth and clam juice, combined to make 2 cups

1 cup milk

1 cup half-and-half

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

2(6 1/2 oz) cans chopped clams, juice reserved

Fry Bacon until crisp, remove and set aside.  Cook the celery, onions and potato in bacon fat until the onions soften.  Add seasonings, milk, half-and-half, and broth.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.  Make a roux by melting 1/2 cup butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, stir in flour.  Cook, stirring continuously for 2 to 3 minutes.  Slowly add 1 to 2 cups hot liquid to the roux, stirring to incorporate and remove lumps.  Immediately add roux mixture to chowder, stir to blend. Add clams and bacon.

Makes 4 servings.

Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

Okay, so it's not a cute or well composed picture.

1 - 8oz brick cream cheese, softened
1 can refried beans(or 1 can of black or pinto beans blended)
1 can enchilada sauce
1 lb. shredded cheddar cheese(approx. 4 cups)
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne
12 fajita sized tortillas


Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 and a 9x9 pan.  Place cream cheese and beans in a bowl and blend together; add 1/2 of the enchilada sauce, spices and almost all of the cheddar cheese(reserve some for the top).  Scoop ~1/3 cup of filling into each tortilla and roll tightly placing side-by-side in a glass cake pan, spread enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Serve with a side of rice.

Asparagus Ice Cream

Ingredients

* One bunch asparagus
* 1 cup sugar (to make double sugar syrup)
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/2 cup Amaretto
* 2 eggs (at room temperature)
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 600mL (1 pint) cream
* 200mL (1/2 pint) milk

Method

Dissolve 1 cup of sugar in the water and bring to the boil. Remove the woody part of the asparagus, and chop into small pieces. Add the asparagus. Return to the boil and take off the heat.

Make the custard. Whisk the eggs and sugar together. Gently warm the cream and milk. Add the cream/milk to the eggs while stirring. Strain the custard back into the pot over a gentle heat. Stir until the custard will coat the back of a spoon.

Blend the asparagus and almond liqueur.

Add the asparagus purée to the custard.

Churn as per the instructions on the ice cream machine.