Hibiscus, Mint & Green Tea Lemonade Popsicles

It's popsicle week!!! That means the internet just exploded with the most creative, indulgent, crazy popsicles and it.is.awesome.

It may be a balmy 54 degrees in Sydney right now as I write this, but that's not stopping these photos from giving me serious popsicle cravings. It could also be that they look and sound so wonderfully light and refreshing after another week of me eating like it's my last meal on death row. I'm not sure if a person can eat too much crab fried rice or dumplings or donuts, but I seem determined to find out. 

Thank goodness I left one of these popsicles in my freezer for when I'm back in SF. There would have been more left but I ate maybe 4 or 5 while packing for my trip, whoops! I have no regrets about that, though I may feel differently when I get home and only find the one. 

In all fairness to me though, it's really hard to stop eating these guys once you start! The tangy, zippy hibiscus + lemon give them a wonderfully tart flavor, mellowed by the green tea and cooled ever so subtly by the mint. There's a lot going on, flavor-wise, but it all comes together beautifully. As a bonus, the mixture is basically just frozen lemonade, so these guys freeze up into the very definition of "ice pop", aka mostly just a popsicle shaped ice cube, and essentially a drink in frozen form you can happily slurp in the summer sun/humidity/wet blanket. And tonight I learned that hibiscus tea and gin go very, very well together so maybe throw in a little dipping sauce on the side too? 

Shout out to Billy for organizing, and you can check out all the other #popsicleweek creations over at Wit & Vinegar!

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Hibiscus, Mint & Green Tea Lemonade Popsicles

• 2 1/2 cups filtered water
• 1/8 cup dried hibiscus flowers
• 1/8 cup fresh mint leaves, torn and crushed a bit
• 3 green tea bags
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1. Bring water to a boil, remove from heat, and stir in hibiscus flowers, mint leaves, and sugar. Add the tea bags and steep 30 minutes, let cool completely.
2. Add the lemon juice and stir to combine. 
3. Divide between popsicle molds, add popsicle sticks and freeze until solid.

Spicy Coppa and Broccoli Rabe Flatbread

Hi from Sydney! I’ve been here for a week and have ridden approximately 12 ferry rides, taken about 50 million pics of Circular Quay and the Opera House, and seen the most perfect rainbows. I’ve also obviously been exploring the food again and please send help to my arteries.

I’ve been hitting a mix of new to me spots and some places I enjoyed last time I was here. I skipped Pocket Pizza this time, mostly because I don’t want to eat dinner that completely alone, but also because I don’t need to since I’m accidentally already od’d on pizza. I had a decent spicy salami pepper one my first night here, and then the next night went to my fave restaurant to watch the sunset in Manly. I got the prawn pizza, which was disappointing, but only because I wanted giant, dramatic prawns and they were just the regular non-diva version (kinda like the sunset, womp womp). If you’re keeping track that was 2 pizzas in 2 days and 1 me and so no more pizza this week. 

Buuuuuut, we just celebrated the Winter Solstice down here so how about some warm, cozy pizza??

I really am cruel to myself, aren’t I?

After a week of stuffing myself with all the fun food I can find the thought of anything other than a salad right now makes me want to barf, so I give you this creation with less joy and more of an “it’s really good just keep it over there” feeling.

But it was really good! Don’t let me and my pizza-flooded veins dissuade you.

I guess it’s good then that I made this one so long ago I was basically another me, or at least a younger me, one who was still 30 and didn’t think about why she maybe shouldn’t eat so much pizza. 

But maybe also it’s good I’m cheating and not calling this pizza. It’s flatbread, ok? Based on my extensive menu research that just means it’s pizza in a longer shape, but we can pretend. This particular oblong FLATBREAD has spicy coppa, herby ricotta, and some lovely, bitter broccoli rabe to nudge everything over to the virtuous side of the line (how far past that line you find yourself is really between you and your coppa god though).

I know i’m talking about winter here, but hey, this would be excellent, dare I say even better, assembled outside and finished on a grill with some chilled wine and a summer evening. Just give me a few weeks before you tell me you ate it, ok?

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Spicy Coppa and Broccoli Rabe Flatbread

• 1/2 recipe pizza dough
• 5 oz good ricotta
• mix of dried herbs (oregano, basil, chili flake, etc)
• 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
• good pinch of salt
• spicy coppa, thinly sliced, trimmed of fat if desired (about 10 slices)
• 2 cups broccoli rabe, blanched, well-drained and chopped
• lemon zest

1. Heat oven to hottest temperature, preheat a pizza stone or steel.
2. Shape dough into a long rectangle shape and flatten. 
3. Mix together ricotta and any combo of desired herbs to taste. Spread over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border.
4. Mix together tomatoes, salt, and chili flakes and spoon and spread over the ricotta. Top with broccoli rabe and coppa. Slide pizza onto hot pizza stone or steel and bake, 15-20 minutes.
5. Finish with some fresh lemon zest and juice. Serve hot.

Pickle Jar Pickled Veggies

Here's a quick, you-barely-need-the-stove recipe for your weekend, in case you live in a part of the country with temps currently pushing 100. If you are so unfortunate, let me offer you these cooling, refreshing veggies!

Pickles are one of those foods that seems so much scarier to make in theory than it actually is in reality. There's just something so seemingly mysterious and almost magical about dunking some veggies in an acid bath for a few weeks and having them emerge transformed into preserved, tangy treats.

(Also, frankly, botulism terrifies me, so I stay away, even though acid and salt are not friendly to the bacteria. We are all safe here, I promise.)

Quick pickles are good cheat, and here, I'm offering you even more of a cheat with the option to re-use your leftover pickle brine! You may be tempted to use that brine for pickleback shots, and you do you, but if you want a way to use up that brine with less painful after-effects, come this way instead!

You get the flavor of "real" pickles and way to stretch your food budget a bit, without the hassle of sterilization that comes with canning. Here, just boil your old brine for a few minutes, pour over some veggies, refrigerate, and enjoy! The recipe almost writes itself. 

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Pickle Jar Pickled Veggies

Method adapted from Jeff Mauro

• leftover pickle juice from a large jar of pickles (reserve the jar)
• veggies of choice (carrots, cucumbers, green beans, red onions, etc), sliced into sticks or spears or slivers
• 2 garlic cloves
• pickling spice (optional)

1. Bring pickle juice to a boil on the stove and add a pinch or so of pickling spice if using, boil for a few minutes then let cool a bit.
2. Add veggies and garlic to the jar and pour hot juice over the top. Let cool before refrigerating. Let sit for at least 5 hours (longer is better). Keeps in the fridge for about a month.