How to Make Fruit Salad

I love this time of year, because we are currently inundated with fruit. Strawberries are for sale along the sides of country roads. Blueberries and raspberries are cheap again, but oranges are still plentiful. And it’s only going to get better. Melon season is coming, and peaches, and plums.

When your wealth is so abundant, the best thing to do is to make salad. Sure, you can just cut up different kinds of fruit and toss them together in a bowl. But a few simple additions can make an ordinary fruit salad sparkle.

First, pick fruits that are in season and are absolutely ripe. I usually limit myself to three different kinds of fruit, as I think too many varieties muddy the individual flavors. Cut into bite-sized pieces and toss gently with the juice of 1 lemon. This will help keep the fruit from browning. Depending on sweetness, I may add a spoonful or two of honey to the mixture.

There are many options for adding a little extra flavor. Here are my favorite ideas:

• Add ¼ tsp. vanilla extract.
• Shave over some lime or orange zest.
• Sprinkle in a little cayenne or black pepper.
• Toss with nuts or cheese.
• Instead of the honey, muddle minced mint or basil with sugar and toss with the fruit.
• Add up to ½ cup of white wine, champagne or liqueur and chill.
• Serve over vanilla yogurt or ice cream to make an instant parfait.

Pasta with Peas + Fruit Crisp

Spring is here! I can tell because I have so many good, fresh things to eat in my refrigerator. Oh yeah, and all the flowers blooming and stuff.

Here’s a simple spring dish: pasta with peas, bacon and mint. While the pasta is cooking, mince and fry a few slices of bacon until crisp. Turn the heat down, add a cup or so of peas and some chopped mint. Season with salt and pepper. Warm the peas gently and mix with the cooked pasta. Garnish with grated Parmesan or similar cheese. This sauce works very well with a filled pasta like cheese ravioli.

Having a surplus of berries, I made the fruit crisp recipe in Mark Bittman’s Food Matters for dessert. I thought this was a very nice recipe, particularly good mixed with vanilla yogurt (I’m sure ice cream would work just as well). My two-year-old turned up his nose at it, though, even though it contained three different berries. I just can’t get that kid to eat his dessert.

How to Make Fresh Fruit Popsicles

Baby with homemade strawberry popsicle.

Popsicles are a great hot-weather treat, but the ones from the grocery store have a lot of sugar, artificial flavors and artificial colors. It’s just as easy to make your own from whatever seasonal fresh fruit you have on hand, and you control the sugar content. The whole family loves these.

I’ve found that pretty much any sorbet or granita recipe also makes good popsicles. However, you don’t really need a recipe if you follow this method.

Fresh Fruit Popsicles

Time to make: 10 minutes + time to freeze
Yields: 8 popsicles

• 2 lbs. fresh fruit, such as berries, melon or peaches
• 1/3 cup sugar, or to taste
• 1 tsp. lemon or lime juice
• pinch of salt
• water to thin (up to 1 cup)
• popsicle molds

In a blender or food processor, puree the fruit with the lemon or lime juice, salt and enough water to thin the mixture to pouring consistency, between ¼ and 1 cup. More watery fruits, like watermelon, will require less water, naturally. Mix in the sugar to taste. Riper, sweeter fruit will probably need less sugar. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.

What’s Cooking in September

Risotto with Corn and Tomatoes, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.

It’s hard to believe that Labor Day is already upon us, school has started and summer is winding down. Now is the time to be using up everything in the garden and getting our fill of fresh veggies because they won’t be around much longer. Here are some things I plan to cook as well as what folks coming to my blog seem to be looking for most often as summer winds down.

• Risotto is one way to use up a multitude of fresh veggies; I made a very tasty batch with summer corn and fresh tomatoes (pictured above), adding the fresh veggies just before the rice finished cooking.
• It’s the time for harvesting basil, so I am making batch after batch of pesto and using it in everything I can think of, as well as freezing some for winter.
• Now is the best time to turn that last batch of tomatoes into sauce for freezing; my husband has plans for a long sauce-making session today.
• I have harvested a few chiles, so I might also save some tomatoes for one last bowl of salsa.
• While you’re at, you may be looking for ways to use up the last of the summer squash and zucchini.
• A great way to take advantage of late-summer fruits and still warm nights is by making sorbet; I have a watermelon that seems destined for the ice cream maker.

Here some other recipes for the season that are on my “must make” list:

• Another way to use up fresh herbs: Multi-Herb Pesto from An Herbal Bedfellow
• Pop-up Pancakes with Fresh Fruit from Make and Takes
• Mark Bittman’s recipe for Strawberries with Swedish Cream (I’m sure the cream will work with any fruit)
• And what could be better than Lemon Meringue Pie?
• I must be having a sweet tooth, because these Better-than-store-bought Cookies from Noble Pig look fantastic

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• What’s Cooking in August

What’s Cooking in August

Image via Wikipedia

We are officially in the dog days of summer. I don’t know about you, but around here, it’s been 90+ degrees, hot, sticky, with thunderstorms in the afternoons. The other day when I was walking the dog, I detected the lovely deep summer scent of wet dish towel in the air. This is why air conditioning was invented.

Folks who have been visiting my blog have been digging up my summertime recipes, so I thought I’d highlight the top hits to make it a bit easier on you. For deep summer cooking, you want to keep the oven off as much as possible and take advantage of all that fresh garden goodness.

My garden is turning out tons of cherry tomatoes and a few of the bigger ones. We’ve got lots of green ones, so August will be a big month for tomatoes, I predict. The basil plant is huge this year — I can’t use it up fast enough. And at the farmers’ market, I predictably came home with a larger watermelon than my husband and I could ever possibly eat.

Here are some ideas for a tasty summer menu:

• As a starter or for snacks, I’ve been making a lot of bruschetta to use up the tomatoes and basil from my garden. Almost any fresh veggies — roasted or raw — make good bruschetta toppings.
• Salsa is another good snacking option that takes advantage of juicy ripe tomatoes.
• I’ve been experimenting with variations on caprese salads, as well as making it the traditional way, to consume even more basil.
• Herb butters and pestos are simple, fresh accompaniments for grilled chicken, steak and fish.
• You’re probably swimming in summer squash and zucchini; here are some ideas for how to use them.
• Got watermelon, or any other abundance of fresh fruit? Use them up in a sorbet. I’ve been freezing pureed fruit as popsicles, as well, for low-cal treats.

Here are some summer recipes around the Web that I am drooling over:

• Honey-Herb Vinegar from Sidewalk Shoes
• Mark Bittman’s No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
• Passive-Aggressive Appetizers from The New Yorker (ok, this one’s just for fun)

Caprese Salad

Melon Caprese Salad, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.

A classic insalata caprese hardly needs a recipe. Just layer tomato slices, fresh mozzarella slices and basil leaves, and drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. For me, this simple Italian salad is one of the best ways to enjoy the goodness of summer.

But what about when the tomatoes aren’t yet ripe or you’re avoiding them because of salmonella fears? Why not try the caprese salad with other fruits? (Yes, tomatoes are fruit.)

Here, I mixed fresh mozzarella balls with cubes of juicy cantaloupe and drizzled it with a basil vinaigrette. I think avocado or mango would also make terrific substitutions. Who says you have to wait until the end of summer to enjoy a caprese salad?

Caprese Salad

Time to make: ~5 minutes
Yields: 4 servings

For the dressing, combine in a blender or food processor:

• 2 tbsp. champagne or white wine vinegar
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 small handfuls basil leaves
• salt and pepper to taste

On each plate, layer:

• 4 slices fresh mozzarella or mozzarella balls
• 4 slices cantaloupe or other fresh fruit

Drizzle over the dressing.

A Great Smoothie

Being pregnant, I have been advised to drink more milk, something I don’t really like to do. Since I am wanting to eat a lot of fruit anyway, I have found that smoothies are a good way to sneak more milk into my diet. In case you haven’t encountered one of the thousands of smoothie shops that have popped up everywhere, a smoothie is a drink blended from fruit, milk and/or juice, and other ingredients. It’s like a milkshake, but without the ice cream.

Supposedly, smoothies are very healthy, but I suspect that the ones you order in the smoothie shops are loaded with calories and sugar. But all too often the smoothies I made at home didn’t have a lot of flavor or were watery with pureed fruit floating in it — not too appetizing. I’ve been playing with the ingredients, and I’ve finally come up with a healthy, make-at-home smoothie recipe that reminds me, at least, of a genuine milkshake.

Smoothie

Yields: 1 serving

• Blender
• ½ cup milk or orange juice
• ½ cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup berries or soft fruit, fresh or frozen
• 1 banana (optional)
• 1 tsp. or more honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Add all ingredients to the blender. Puree well and enjoy.

The yogurt makes the smoothie creamy and helps the puree hold together. I prefer to use frozen fruit because it chills the smoothie and gives it more of an ice cream consistency. Also, it’s easier for me to keep bags of organic frozen fruit on hand for whenever I want a smoothie. I like mixed berries, strawberries and peaches, but the choice is up to you. As long as it will blend, it can go in! I also like to add a banana to help thicken the smoothie, but it isn’t necessary. The vanilla and honey add a touch of sweetness and punch up the flavor. You don’t really need too much honey to achieve a satisfying sweetness, just enough to augment the natural sweetness of the fruit.

Of course, you may want to experiment with throwing in other ingredients. I saw some intriguing green smoothie recipes over at A Veggie Venture that gave me some ideas for how to get even more healthy stuff into my smoothie.

How to Make Sorbet

A couple of weekends ago, my husband brought home a gigantic watermelon. “They were selling them by the side of the road,” he said. “I tasted it and it was so sweet I had to buy one.”

How were the two of us going to eat a whole watermelon before it went off? I had the answer! I would make watermelon sorbet.

You can freeze pretty much any liquid into sorbet — I’ve seen them do it on Iron Chef, and I’ve even made chocolate sorbet from Ghiradelli hot chocolate mix dissolved in water — but fruit sorbet is the best way to go. Because sorbet has no dairy, it is lower in fat than ice cream, although there are still plenty of calories from the added sugar. But the flavors of sorbet are so pure and intense that it really showcases perfectly ripe summer fruit, and a small serving goes a long way.

There are two “tricks” to making good sorbet. The first is to taste, taste, taste. Depending on how ripe the fruit is, it can vary a lot in sweetness and acidity. So start with the smallest amount of sugar and taste as you go, adding lemon juice if necessary. Remember that the flavors will intensify upon freezing, so a mix that tastes moderately sweet before may be unbearably sweet after. Obviously, it takes a lot of practice, but that just means you get to eat more sorbet.

The second “trick” is to add a small amount of alcohol. The alcohol won’t freeze, so it will give the sorbet a smoother, less grainy texture, and your sorbet won’t turn into a chunk of fruit-flavored ice. If you don’t want any alcohol flavor, use vodka. But it’s fun to choose an alcohol that complements the flavor of the fruit. For instance, I added rum to my watermelon sorbet. You will have to increase the amount you use of lower alcohol drinks, like wine, to get the same effect.

1. Puree 2 cups of soft fruit, such as berries, mangoes, melon or peaches, adding up to ½ cup water to thin as needed.
2. Taste and add 1 tbsp. vodka or other alcohol (more if needed), plus up to 2 tbsp. lemon juice if needed for acidity.
3. Stir in the sugar, starting with ½ cup, tasting frequently, until dissolved; add more sugar as needed, up to 1¼ cup.
4. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the machine’s directions.
5. Let firm in the freezer a couple of hours before serving.

Notes: If you would prefer to make a citrus sorbet, use 2 cups freshly squeezed juice plus 1 tbsp. zest. Or substitute 2 cups of any fruit juice for the pureed fruit, if you like.

If you’re feeling really ambitious, try recreating this Tomato Sorbet from The French Laundry Cookbook, courtesy of the great blog French Laundry at Home.

How to Make Ice Cream

Summer is here, and that means it’s time to break out the one useful unitasker in the kitchen: the ice cream maker. Why do even avowed anti-unitaskers like Mark Bittman and Alton Brown own ice cream makers? Because ice cream is incredibly easy to make, and even the simplest homemade vanilla ice cream tastes miles better than the most expensive premium ice cream from the store. If you don’t believe me, try it.

Quick tip: The ice cream bowl that you keep in the freezer can do double duty. If you need to cool foods quickly — such as when an ice bath is called for — fill it with water. No ice required. (I picked this tip up from a comment on this post on Unclutterer that is actually trying to get you to ditch your ice cream maker, but you must resist. Resist.)

First, the ice cream maker. I own this one by Cuisinart, and I completely recommend it. It freezes ice cream or sorbet to soft-serve consistency in about half an hour. That means you can start the thing running before sitting down to dinner and have ice cream for dessert. (If you like your ice cream to be firmer, make it a little more ahead of time and let it set for 2-3 hours in the freezer in an airtight container.) The days of cranking the ice cream maker and pouring in the rock salt to keep the ice from melting on Grandma’s back porch are long gone. Welcome, modern technology.

Our go-to recipe for ice cream is Philadelphia-style ice cream. Philadelphia-style is not cooked, so you don’t have to take the time to cool it before churning. The alternative is French-style, which starts with a custard made from hot milk, cream and eggs; I’ve made it, and it’s definitely a dinner party kind of ice cream. But if you get a hankering for ice cream tonight and it’s only a couple of hours before dinner, Philadelphia-style is the way to go.

One long weekend not too long ago, we actually made two batches of ice cream: strawberry for me and chocolate chip for my husband. Of course we couldn’t finish it — homemade ice cream only keeps for 2-3 days in the freezer — but it was worth it. Sure, these are simple flavors and simple recipes, but they taste incredible, and they are infinitely variable, so throw in whatever you like. Hey, it’s your ice cream — you can make it with avocado and bacon for all I care.

Vanilla Ice Cream (With Add-Ins)

Combine:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup whole milk
• the seeds from 1 vanilla bean or 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 egg (optional for those averse to eating raw eggs)

Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Freeze in an ice cream maker. Just before freezing is complete, add any of the following:

• 1 cup chocolate chips or M&Ms
• ½ cup crushed candy or crumbled cookies
• 1/3 cup chocolate sauce (for chocolate swirl)
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Notes: I highly recommend sacrificing a more expensive vanilla bean for your homemade ice cream. The taste difference is worth it. Slit the bean down its length and scrape out the seeds with a sharp knife.

You can use different combinations of the dairy. I like a less rich ice cream. If you like it richer, omit the milk and use half-and-half or heavy cream instead.

Fruit Ice Cream

Sprinkle 3 cups chopped fruit — such as any berries, peaches, apples or whatever you like — with sugar. Saute over medium-low until the fruit is just tender. This won’t take more than a couple of minutes for soft fruits, up to 10 minutes for firmer fruits like apples. Taste and add more sugar if too tart or a little lemon juice if too sweet. Chill the fruit until it reaches a temperature of 40 degrees.

Combine:

• the fruit
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 egg (optional for those averse to eating raw eggs)

Freeze in the ice cream maker.

Notes: If you’d like to keep the fruit chunky, hold it back until the ice cream is almost frozen.

When you’re ready to graduate to advanced ice cream making, check out the recipes on David Lebovitz’s blog. I don’t think I’m going to make it through the summer without acquiring his new book, The Perfect Scoop, which is getting rave reviews everywhere I look.