House Spouse

Thank you Mark Bittman for reminding me that I don’t have to lug out the ice cream maker to make a cold treat.

I’m not sure why it never occurred to me to make paletas at home before they were featured on The Minimalist. I have a record of making somewhat adventurously flavored popsicles (i.e., flavors that go beyond fake strawberry, lemon, grape, etc.), but for some reason had never ventured into the ice-y treats con leche. There’s no time like the present, so I ventured away as soon as I got my hands on some fruit that would pair perfectly with one of the dried guajillos currently occupying a hefty space in my pantry.

If you do a search for paletas made with chiles, you’ll find that most of your results will be recipes for mango lime and chile paletas. I read a few to figure out what ingredients I’d need and set about to concocting my own.

Mango Lime and Chile Paletas

Ingredients
2 ripe, medium mangoes, peeled and cored
juice of 2-3 limes
sugar (start with less than 1/4 c; how much sugar you use will depend on the sweetness of your mangoes and your own taste)
1 dried guajillo chile, seeded and stemmed
1 tsp Mexican chile powder
approx. 1/2 c. water or milk

Combine ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Taste, adding sugar and liquid as needed. Pour into a popsicle mold and freeze.

When I was writing for Drive Thru, I made it abundantly clear that I’m not a pizza person, at least when it involves paying for it. I do make a homemade pizza at least on a monthly basis, and I really do enjoy both the making and the eating of it. It’s such a cheap crowd pleaser that can be put together even when the pantry is looking stark.

The only problem I tend to run in is with the crust. I prefer a whole wheat crust that’s thin and slightly crispy, but tender enough to easily slice into pieces. Until two weeks ago, every single recipe I’d tried came up short. I tried this recipe from Oprah.com, and lo-and behold, it provided me with everything I was looking for.

Does anyone else have a good crust recipe? Or their favorite way to make a pizza sauce? I’m always making things up on the fly, usually with a can of tomato paste and whatever else is around: garlic, onions, canned diced tomatoes. I have to confess that I love unabashedly sweet tomato sauce, so I can’t seem to resist adding a spoonful of sugar.

This one was made with crumbled chicken sausage and half of a red pepper on its way out.

So, I’m sitting here lustily reading this post at The Kitchn about making fondue with Cashel Blue and it occurred to me that I never wrote about the time I made Nigella Lawson’s Irish Blue Biscuits. They are scrumptious. Delightful. And if you have some tea with them in the middle of a rainy afternoon, well, you just feel literary.

Irish Blue Crackers
from How to Be a Domestic Goddess

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Combine
3/4 c. Cashel Blue (or other blue cheese…if you hate my people)
scant 1/2 c salted butter, softened
1 large egg yolk

Then work in, forming a soft dough
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c blue cornmeal (I used regular old yellow cornmeal, which is why my crackers aren’t as pretty as Nigella’s)
a pinch of salt (depending on how salty your cheese is)

Shape the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Dust a surface with flour and roll out the dough until it’s about a quarter-inch thick. Cut into any shape you’d like. Brush with an egg glaze, and cook for 10-15 minutes. They’ll be crisp around the edges and soft in the middle when they’re finished. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

This recipe will produce about 30 crackers. You’ll want to gobble all 30 of them up.

I think this dough could be used to make a really decadent galette, so long as the filling weren’t too rich.