Monthly Archives: June 2011

Summer! Summer’s finally here! So it’s definitely time to crack out the homemade ice lollys (or popsicles, iceys, whatever you wanna call them).

Homemade ice lollys are so simple, they require very few ingredients, little or no sugar, and cost a fraction of store bought ones. All you need to invest in is an ice lolly mould that you put in your freezer. You can even go as simple as freezing some diluted squash, lemonade or fresh squeezed juice!

Here’s a recipe I tried the other day, it’s pretty much a ‘Superfruit’ ice lolly, or a virgin Raspberry/Blueberry mojito ice lolly ;)

Ingredients

Giving you exact quantities here would be pretty defunct, it depends how big your lolly mould is! So just make an estimation of how much you’ll need.
Raspberries
Blueberries
Fresh mint
Lime
Sugar

Method

Squish your raspberries in a bowl, add the blueberries and squish them a bit (I quite like an occasional whole blueberry, especially if they’re deliciously sweet). Add a good squeeze of lime and a few chopped up pieces of fresh mint. If it’s quite thick just add a splash of water and mix well. Have a taste, if it’s a little too sour for your liking then add a little sugar.

Fill your ice lolly mould with the mixture and freeze! Voila! Delicousness!

I’m calling this a Turkish inspired soup because it’s a mixture of a couple of recipes that I’ve found, both of which involve mainly the same ingredients, one of them being a middle-eastern soup (Astoria Soup from Jamie’s America)  and the other a Turkish soup called ezogelin.

The soup itself is pretty hearty, but still lovely in warmer weather thanks to the freshness from the lemon & mint. Whilst I was making it I realised it’s pretty much a middle-eastern version of minestrone, replacing the pasta with lentils, rice & bulgar wheat.

Sumac was a spice that I’d never used before, I don’t think I’d ever even heard of it! I found some at a local shop, but you can find it online & in Waitrose. I definitely recognise the flavour from meals I’ve had in restaurants though, and adding it to this soup takes it to another level.

I served ours with some flatbreads that I got from the same local shop, if you can get hold of some then use them, otherwise tortillas and pitta breads make a great substitute. These were prepared simply by brushing with a little oil, sprinkling with sumac and grilling then for a few minutes.

Ingredients

1 Onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 Carrot, finely chopped
1  red pepper and 1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
2-3 Tomatoes, diced
400g tinned tomatoes
50g brown rice
50g red lentils
50g bulgar wheat
1.5l of vegetable or chicken stock
2 tablespoons of sumac
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
Juice of half a lemon
Sea salt & ground pepper to taste
Fresh mint to serve

Fry your onion and garlic in a little olive oil until softened, then add your carrot, pepper & celery. Fry for 4-5 minutes until slightly softened. Add your spices (sumac, cumin & paprika) and fry for another minute or so.

Add your tinned and chopped tomatoes, followed by your stock. Stir thoroughly, heat for a minute or so until simmering, then add your rice, lentils & bulgar wheat. Simmer the soup for 25-30 minutes, or until your rice is cooked. Season to taste with seasalt & ground black pepper, add a squeeze of lemon. Also, if you think it needs it, add a little more sumac.

Serve sprinkled with extra sumac and fresh mint & your deliciously warm flatbread.

Yumyum!