Freeze fruit, herbs or edible flowers in ice cubes for beautiful presentations!

Aug 13, 2012

Making decorative ice cubes couldn’t be easier, but always makes the recipient feel special. So impressive and pretty, decorative ice cubes are perfect for entertaining, and are guaranteed to bring the hostess quite a few compliments.

Get creative! Make ice cubes suited to particular drinks. For example, make pineapple ice cubes for a pina colada, or mint sprig ice cubes for Mint Juleps, and lemon ice cubes for iced tea. Better yet, freeze your favourite juice into ice cubes for flavorful, non-diluted chilled drinks like the frozen tomato juice ice cubes in a Bloody Mary pictured left. There are endless variations on this idea, and the ingredient options below are just the beginning of what you could make.

Directions:
Put small chunks or slices of fruit, vegetable, or flowers or herbs into an ice tray, fill with water and freeze. Serve the ice cubes directly in drinks, or put them out in a glass bowl or ice bucket with tongs.

TIP FOR CLEARER ICE:

Most household water contains impurities, and air which makes ice cloudy. To make clearer ice follow the directions here.

Start with filtered water. This can remove many of the tiny floating particles that attract air bubbles during the freezing.

Boil the water twice. After boiling for the first time; allow the water to cool while being covered to prevent any dust from collecting on the surface, and then boil it again. Boiling removes air bubbles from the liquid, allowing the water molecules to stick together even harder in the freezer.

Pour water into an ice tray or possibly other shapes, and cover with a plastic film.
Place the ice tray in the freezer. Leave it for few hours to freeze.

Do you have a favorite juice or juice mix you like to freeze into ice cubes? What beverage do you like to use your decorative ice in? Water, iced tea, sparkling water, sangria, or summer cocktails? Tell us, we’d like to know!

Watermelon Pie – fun and easy to make.

Aug 13, 2012

From author Jane Maynard – contributor on makeandtakes.com. She is the writer and founder of the food blog This Week for Dinner and editor of FoodPress.com

Ingredients:
– Lime Sherbet
– Vanilla ice cream or Pineapple sherbet
– Red or Pink coloured sherbet
– Mini chocolate chips, or substitute for healthier blueberries

Directions:
1. For each flavour, let the sherbet/ice cream soften for a few minutes before using. The red sherbet should be mixed with the mini chocolate chips.
2. Use a round springform pan. Line the bottom of the pan with wax paper or parchment paper if you plan to transfer the entire “pie” to another dish before serving.
3. Starting with lime, spread a ring of sherbet around the edge of the springform pan – about 2 inches high (or taller if you want!), and about 1-1½ inches wide from the outside edge of the pan.
4. Put pan in freezer to harden lime layer.
5. Repeat step 3 with the vanilla or pineapple sherbet, but make the layer much thinner – maybe 1/2 inch. Use a butter knife to flatten the top, evening-out the lime with the vanilla. Put pan in freezer to harden again.
6. Repeat step 3 with the red/chocolate chip sherbet. Fill the rest of the pan, then use a butter knife to flatten the top. Freeze!
7. When it’s time to eat, run a knife around the edge of the pan before popping off the outside of the springform pan. Use a nice thin-blade knife to slice.

Here’s a tip from the author: serve watermelon pie on paper plates. Unlike regular china, porcelain or glass plates, watermelon pie hardly melts on paper plates preserving the cute watermelon slice appearance!

Gazpacho! Refreshing and Flavourful Summertime Soup

Jul 15, 2012

What makes gazpacho soup so good is the fresh taste of all the vegetables. It’s best in the summer when vegetables are the most flavorful. People who have never tried a cold soup are sometimes hesitant to try gazpacho but soon become fans of the fresh, intense flavors. Gazpacho is one of summer’s pleasures!

Gazpacho soup originated from the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. Although there are many regional and modern versions of this recipe, it’s traditionally made with ripe tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, garlic, and bread moistened with water that is blended with olive oil, vinegar, and ice water and served cold.

Gazpacho was traditionally eaten by workers in the fields of vineyards, olive plantations, citrus groves, wheat fields, or cork farms. Gazpacho was originally nothing but bread, water, and olive oil, all pounded in a large wooden bowl. It was poor people’s food.

The word gazpacho is believed to come from the word “caspa”, meaning “residue” or “fragments”, an allusion to the small pieces of bread and vegetables in a gazpacho soup.

Ina Garten’s Gazpacho

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (1999)

Total Time: 20 min Prep Time: 20 min Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

1 cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
4 plum tomatoes
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!

After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.