A most refreshing treat

Nothing beats the heat better than an ice cold treat. And nothing brings a smile to a little girl's face faster than a frozen pop.

When I worked at Cookie, we did a web story about frozen fruit pops, and I tested these raspberry yogurt pops. It was a big hit for the adults and the little girl last year that I had to make them again this summer. And I have to confess that when the temperature was 85 degrees at 8 in the morning, these became breakfast! C'mon it's just yogurt and fruit.

Here's the recipe (courtesy of Susan Ott and cookiemag.com):

Raspberry-Lime-Swirl Pop
Makes 4 pops
16 ounces low-fat or nonfat vanilla yogurt, preferably Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
8 ounces fresh or thawed frozen raspberries
4 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. In a blender or food processor, puree the yogurt with 1 tablespoon of the lime juice until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

2. In the blender or food processor (no need to clean), puree the raspberries with the remaining lime juice and sugar. Pass the puree through a fine sieve to remove the seeds; you should have about 1/2 cup. (Don't skip this step. You don't want seeds in your pops.)

3. Pour the yogurt mixture and the berry puree in layers into 4 large popsicle molds or 8-ounce cups. Using a wooden Popsicle stick, swirl the layers together. Insert sticks, then freeze the pops for at least 6 hours, or until they're solid.

To unmold the pop: Run warm water over the bottom three-quarters of the mold. Let it stand for 10 seconds (if you can wait that long!), then gently pull out the pop. Serve immediately or wrap each pop individually in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to serve.
The Popsicles will keep, wrapped and frozen, for at least one week.

Enjoy!

The last of the peas

We grabbed the last big batch of the peas before heading back to the city (even though it seemed like a lot of pods, it turned out to be about half pound of actual peas). Pea plants don't like really hot weather, so we lost some pods during the last few weeks of steamy temperatures. I also got most of my plants in the garden late, so we are enjoying peas about two months after their traditional harvest.

I wanted to make a fresh pea puree, and I saw some scallops at the market and thought the two would be perfect together. I had no idea it would be as easy to make as it was. Fred found a recipe for the puree on epicurious.com. It called for curried scallops, but we went in a more purist route: pan seared with salt and pepper.



This is how we made it (adapted from epicurious.com)

about half pound of fresh peas
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 scallion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 pounds sea scallops, tough ligament removed from side of each (about 9 or 10 scallops)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil


1. Simmer peas on stovetop with water for about 6 minutes (do not drain). Add butter, scallions, lime juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a coarse purée with an imersion blender. Don't puree for too long, keep it a little lumpy for texture.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot, then sauté scallops, turning once, until browned and just cooked through, about 5 minutes.

3. Put a scoop of the puree on each plate and top with the scallops. Give it a little squeeze of lime right before serving.

Summer porn

Do I really need to say anything about this? I think the picture sums it up: the bounty of summer. A fresh tomato sliced with salt, pepper and a basil leaf. I love August.