Juice...Grapefruit, Avocado, Beet, Watermelon...The List Goes On

Hello and welcome to another juice recipe. I'm no longer on my juice cleanse, but I loved the juices I made so much, that I decided to continue making them.

This week's juice has a few ingredients I haven't included in previous juices: watermelon and grapefruit. Wow! The watermelon is just the right sweetness to offset the earthiness of the beets. The grapefruit's sour tartness tastes just right against the smooth, bright flavor of the avocado. Topped off with fresh coconut water, this juice is my favorite so far.

It's a lot thinner than the other juices I've made, not in a bad way, but in a really refreshing way. I thought I liked the juice to be more of a pureed salad, but now really want more of a liquid texture. Now that I'm making juice on a more regular basis I'm learning that I need to trust my instincts when it comes to flavor mixing. Juice after juice, I've been really pleased with all of my combinations.

Raw Beet, Avocado, Nectarine, Strawberry, Watermelon, Grapefruit Juice

Ingredients

• 1/2 avocado, skin removed, cut into chunks
• 1 small nectarine, pit removed, sliced
• 1 grapefruit, skin removed, cuts into chunks
• 4 small strawberries, sliced
• 1 beet, skin removed, sliced
• 3 small pieces watermelon, cubed
• 1 cup coconut water
• Ice cubes

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender or drink mixer with a good blade.
2. Pulse on high until everything is chopped up.
3. If you want the juice to be thinner, add more coconut or regular water to the mix.

Almond Milk Rice Pudding with Strawberries and Basil

I love this recipe. It is super easy and so delicious.

The combination of the sweet strawberries and the savory, delicate floral quality of the basil tastes like summer to me.  There was always a basil plant on my mother's windowsill in the summer. My grandfather grew strawberries that would twine around a trellis on the side of his garage. Using almond milk in the rice pudding brings a fresh unexpected taste and a lighter texture. Combining all of these flavors, textures and scents just brings me back to my childhood summer of family and fun.

Almond Milk Rice Pudding

Ingredients

• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 2 cups almond milk, unflavored
• 1 cup water
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Method

1. Put the rice, almond milk, water, cinnamon and sugar into a large pot and stir to mix.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir once, then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan.
3. Cook for 12 minutes on low heat.
4. Turn off the heat, stir the mixture once and return the cover to the pot.
5. Let site for 8 minutes covered.
6. Serve with basil marinated strawberries (recipe below).

Basil Marinated Strawberries

Ingredients

• 4 basil leaves minced
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 large strawberries cut into pieces

Method

1. Put basil, sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir constantly until all the sugar has dissolved.
3. Pour the basil simple syrup over the strawberries and let them sit for five minutes.
4. Serve on top of the almond milk rice pudding.

Going Down the Hill: Strawberry Grapefruit and Sage Granita

Have you ever made granita before? I hadn't until last night. It was so easy that I think this will become a regular thing with all of these great Spring-into-Summer fruits coming my way.

Some of my favorite summer moments include walking Down the Hill to the pizza place to get a frozen Italian ice. Down the Hill is treated as such, since it was a title for a small hill made up of dirt that created a shortcut between our suburban Queens neighborhood and a small strip of stores just off the LIE eastbound. If you needed something from the store you were directed to go Down the Hill.

Of course, there was another hill just on the other side of the shopping mall, but that was not Down the Hill, you know what I mean? There were times that my mother, Gran Fran, made it clear we were not supposed to go Down the Hill, but down the hill. This was mostly when we wore shorts, flip flops, sandals, or were otherwise in danger of scraping ourselves on bits of broken glass or other debris left in the dirt. Oh, and sometimes when it was raining, icy, snowy, or just a regular Tuesday. You see where I'm going with this?

The Italian ice that we had came pre-packaged and was made by a company called Marino's. My parents grew up in Brooklyn and had hand-made Italian ices that we would periodically venture across borough lines to enjoy. The Brooklyn ices definitely tasted more like the fruit they said were included (lemon was my fave). But the packaged kind are still what comes to mind when summer weather shows itself, however briefly, here in SF (this weekend has topped out at a whopping 79 degrees without a cloud or fog bank in sight).

As I grew up and started to venture to other cities and states I found there were regionally produced ice-like treats. In Philly I came across Water Ice. Not a huge fan of this style of ice treat. I can't put my finger on why, and it may just be because it's not the same as what I knew as a child. But, I do know plenty of people who love them a good Water Ice.

In California, I was treated to Hawaiian Shaved Ice, but it's too bumpy and doesn't have that nice rich consistency that I love. I do, however, love the variety of flavors, and the less common ones, that are available for your very own custom shaved ice.

I wasn't sure it was going to turn out, since it was such a simple recipe. All the recipes I came across used quite a bit of sugar, which I decided to reduce. The first version I made used only half of what I'm recommending here, and no water. That batch was very tart. Fine for me, but I think most people would like their granita quite a bit sweeter.

Please enjoy this and let me know about any other types of ice-related goodness that I didn't go over here. I'd love to try more!

Strawberry, Grapefruit and Sage Granita

Ingredients

• 1 pound strawberries
• 1 large grapefruit skin removed
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup grapefruit juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 8 sage leaves minced

Method:

1. Put all of the ingredients in a blender and puree
2. Pour the mixture into a freezer-proof baking dish.
3. Freeze for 4 to 5 hours, until solid.
4. When ready to serve, take a fork and scrape the ice mixture into serving bowls or glasses.
5. Serve with a bit of sage on top.

Mother's Day: Corn Muffins, Minted Strawberries, Iced Almond Milk Cappuccino

A wonderful Mother's day breakfast created by three generations: me, mymother and my daughter. It's not a complicated meal, but it is delicious and means a lot to me.

My daughter usually makes me corn muffins on the big day. I've always loved them, and she knows it. She generally serves them with a side of strawberries.

When I serve strawberries, I like to soak them in a simple syrup infused with mint. That's my contribution to this meal.

As for my mother, Gran Fran, no matter how long it has been, to me Spring and Summer at her house mean iced blended cappuccino drinks.

Please enjoy this with your family and let Mama put her feet up and relax while you scurry around and meet her every need.

Isabella's Corn Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 stick, 8 tablespoons, unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup gluten-free flour (recipe found here or pre-packaged mix found here)
• 1 cup corn meal
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sugar

Method

1. Heatoven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt butter.
3. Brush some of the melted butter on 12-cup muffin tin.
4. Place tin in oven.
5. Mix together milk, melted butter, and eggs
6. Mix together dry ingredients.
7. Swiftly stir wet ingredients into dry; do not overmix.
8. Carefully, spoon ingredients into hot, buttered  muffin tin
9. In lower third of oven, bake 25 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Remove from tin; wrap in dishtowel in dish or basket if serving immediately.
11. Otherwise place on wire rack, wrap individually in foil, seal in plastic freezer bag. Reheat before serving.

Natasha's Mint Marinated Strawberries

Ingredients:

• 6 mint leaves minced
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 large strawberries cut into pieces

Method:

1. Put mint, sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir constantly until all the sugar has dissolved.
3. Pour the mint simple syrup over the strawberries and let them sit for five minutes.

Gran Fran's Almond Milk Blender Cappuccino

serves 1

you will need a blender (ok, seems obvious, but thought I should mention it)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups hot coffee, if it’s winter; cold if it’s summer
• 1 cup almond milk (Gran Fran uses whole milk)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 ice cubes if it’s summer
• Cinnamon, optional

Method:

1. Place all ingredients in blender; adjust amounts to fit capacity of blender.
2. Hold down cap of blender with a dish towel.
3. Turn blender on high.
4. Blend until frothy and creamy.
5. Pour into glasses or cups. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.
6. Serve immediately.

A {Fig} Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Yet another excellent installment in the Gran Fran birthday lead-up.I have included a recipe from my own kitchen using figs, as I don't ever recall her cooking with them. Rather, they were served alongside Prosciutto di Parma and maybe some almonds.

From Gran Fran's Lips to Your Ears: My brother moved to Oklahoma City to plant a fig tree. He plans to bring a bit of Brooklyn Italian to the home of the Cherokee, the Choctaw, and the Chickasaw. He’s lived without a fig tree for well over half a century, but now that he’s retired the view from his West Side condo lacked tangible proof of his childhood.

For him and for me, the longer we’re grown-ups, the more magnetic is the lure of childhood. And I yearn for those things that spelled home and comfort, and miss the loving embrace in the hefty arms of a strong solid grandma, a neighbor’s pat on the head and her admiration of my dark thick curls as I take a walk—a passegiatta—with my grandfather, and even the cheek-scraping kiss of the rosey rotund (very flabby armed) cumare with her whiskery chin. Those who peopled our childhood are now gone, but I continue to search out the scents, foods, and traditions that I grew up with so I can share them with my children and so that I can remind myself of where I came from –a Brooklyn neighborhood teeming with street-level stores, open cellar doors, ill-lighted tenement hallways, and a fig tree in every backyard.

Now every August I search greenmarkets to find a green cardboard container filled with figs. I touch the fruit and it yields enough to expose its seeds and its sweet sticky scent. And I'm in Brooklyn, sitting on a folding chair at the curb eating the sweet fruit and planning what I'll wear to the first day of fourth grade.

Fig Puff Pastry Tart ala Gran Fran's Daughter

adapted from Bon Appetit, 1993

Ingredients

• 1/2 17 1/4-ounce package (1 sheet) frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
• 1 egg, beaten to blend (glaze)
• 7-ounces of nuts, pulverized in a food processor
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1/2 cup apricot jam (any jam works well here, experiment a little!)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Sliced assorted fresh fruit (such as kiwi fruit, strawberries and figs)

Method

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Roll out thawed pastry square on flour dusted work surface to 9 1/2-inch square.
• Pull edges of dough up slightly, to form a higher edge then the center of the tart.
• Brush edges of square with egg glaze.
• Pierce center of pastry all over with fork.
• Bake until pastry is golden brown about 25 minutes.
• Melt jam with ginger in heavy small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Meanwhile, blend nut paste and cream in processor until almost smooth. Spoon almond filling into center of tart and spread evenly. Bake 5 minutes.
• Arrange fruit decoratively atop tart, and brush jam glaze over fruit.
• Place back in the oven for 10 minutes until fruit has softened.
• Enjoy!