Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. That pretty much sums up the week here in
Chicago!! We broke all kinds of high
temperature records with multiple days reaching above 100°!!
You could literally fry an egg on the sidewalk. We even had some wacky rain storms as a
result of the crazy heat. B”H we managed
to get our broken air conditioning fixed on Tuesday…or you would have been able
to mop us up with a Swiffer mop! I’ve
been trying to keep my optimistic garden from completely drying out, which has
been a bit of a challenge (until yesterday’s crazy rainstorm), and I even “Miracle
Growed” it to give the garden a fighting chance. We did get some awesome tomatoes – hooray! The cute heirloom little yellow ones ripened
(my Mom KIH described them as very “tomatoey”), and we picked the first harvest
of the bright red cherry tomatoes – there are a lot of little green ones
just waiting to turn. The squash is
flowering, but sadly our cucumbers and strawberries fell victim to the pesky #$@&*
squirrels. For some reason the peppers haven’t
really been producing, maybe they realize that there’s already enough heat in
the yard!!
 |
| It looks so innocent - but it's HOT! (can't stop shnookering!!) |
In honor of the extreme heat this
week I decided to give you a “hot” recipe – Mexican Chili “Hot” Popcorn,
and to make up for the extra heat – a cool one too: Cool Creamy Fruity Ice Cream! Thursday night, Dear Husband and I were
trying to decide what recipes to add to this week’s article. Now it turns out that our favorite second
oldest son works for the local Kosher Chinese restaurant, Tein Li Chow (shameless
plug), and he brought home some extra Kung Pao Sauce (thanks!). Dear Husband had added the sauce to some leftover
multi-grain rice and was eating that while we were having the discussion. It smelled incredible (I was actually
sniffing the empty bowl when he was done!), and I kindly asked him
to make some for me too (YUM!!). Now, although you
all know that we love spicy food here, it may be a lesser known fact
that Dear Husband and I love to snack on popcorn. We usually air pop a huge bowl, spray it with
butter flavored non-stick spray, then sprinkle on the Kernel Season’s white
cheddar seasoning. OMG – it’s SO
good! We can easily polish off an entire
bowl during a movie. It was a really simple
transition to go from eating incredible, fiery Kung Pao rice, to spicy popcorn –
right? This time I made the popcorn in a pot
instead of air popping it. In order to make the popcorn really hot,
I used a little bit of oil and heated the crushed Mexican Chili in the oil. It really brought out the heat of the peppers! I then added the popcorn kernels, tightly
covered the pot and a few minutes later – perfectly popped hot popcorn. I used some fine sea salt, but you could use
any type of popcorn salt as well. The
popcorn was awesome. It has a subtle
heat to it that somehow manages to get hotter as you eat it. For those that like it hot, this is the
perfect snack!! Dear Husband was
commenting that you could theoretically make all different types of flavored
popcorn this way. I’ll keep you posted.
To make up for the extra heat
that I just added to your already hot summer, here is a recipe for Cool Creamy
Fruity Ice Cream. Originally, this
is one of my aish.com Summertime Recipes
and is posted as a layered popsicle type dessert or a refrigerated
parfait. You can make it as a single pan
of your favorite flavor of fruity ice cream though. I had enough
people that liked the vanilla section by itself that you could leave the fruit out
altogether (gasp!) and just make some really fast, easy, and delicious vanilla
ice cream too – no ice cream maker required.
It’s a great recipe to “chill” to.
Enjoy and stay cool!
Mexican Chili “Hot” Popcorn (GFE)
·
2 tablespoons canola oil
·
1 teaspoon crushed red
peppers/Mexican chili
·
½ cup popping corn
·
½ teaspoon extra fine salt,
or to taste
Coat the bottom of a large stock
pot with the oil. Add the crushed red
pepper and turn the heat on to medium-high.
Add the popping corn and shake the pan to coat the corn. Allow the oil to heat for a minute, then
cover tightly and reduce the heat to medium.
Pop the corn, shaking the pan frequently to keep the corn from
burning. When the popping slows
considerably, turn off the heat and allow the corn to pop for another minute
until the popping stops. Sprinkle with
the salt and toss to coat. Transfer to a
bowl and enjoy!
So easy...
Use the best ingredients...
Heat the oil and crushed chilis....
Add the popcorn...
It may look innocent...
but watch out!!
This stuff is HOT baby!
Cool Creamy Fruity Ice Cream (GFE)
·
2 pints blueberries, washed & dried
·
2 teaspoons blueberry
extract (optional)
·
blue gel food coloring
(optional)
OR
·
2 pounds strawberries,
hulled, washed, dried and cut into halves
·
2 teaspoon strawberry
extract (optional)
·
red gel food coloring
(optional)
·
1 package instant vanilla
pudding mix, 3.4 ounces
·
2 cups heavy whipping cream
·
2 tablespoons sugar
Using a food processor, coarsely
chop the fruit and 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Place the fruit in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whip the
heavy whipping cream and pudding mix until stiff peaks form. Fold the fruit, extract, and food coloring (if
using) into the cream. Transfer to a
large aluminum pan or plastic storage container with a tight lid. Cover and freeze for at least 3 hours. Scoop into individual dessert cups and
garnish with your favorite toppings.
Notes:
·
For vanilla ice cream omit
the fruit and proceed with the recipe as described above.
·
For chocolate ice cream,
substitute chocolate pudding mix.
For mini cream pops and for
individual dessert cups see my article Summertime Recipes on aish.com.
Kosher
Everyday is dedicated to the memory of my father
Dr.
Theodore Saltzberg - Tuvia Ben Nachum Z”L
May
his memory be for a blessing - Yihi zichro baruch.
Look for additional information about Edible Experience
Kosher Everyday at www.koshereveryday.com,
aish.com, Mishpacha Magazine’s Kosher Inspired Magazine,
The Chicago Tribune Syndication,
or on Facebook at Edible
Experience by Sharon
These recipes are for sole, personal use of visitors to Sharon
Matten -Edible Experience Kosher Everyday. Edible Experience Kosher
Everyday recipes are for your enjoyment but are not to be posted or reprinted
without express permission from Sharon Matten. Thank you!!
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