Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week, we stay cool in the heatwave. Check out past posts here, and please follow my Instagram @fivethingsiate.
Marinoās Rainbow water ice at home
Available in most grocery stores in the NY area.
When it gets hot outside -- I mean, really really hot outside, like it did this week -- only Italian ice (or water ice, if youāre from South Jersey or Philly) will do. Sure, ice cream is all creamy and dreamy but that lusciousness is only holding it (and you) back from true refreshment. All I want in my belly are pure sugar and water, some food coloring and artificial flavor. The best flavor of italian ice, by far, is lemon. I know I wrote ārainbowā up above and that is so you can learn from my mistakes. The reason lemon is the only best flavor is three-fold. One, it lacks the cough-syrupy taste of cherry and blueberry ices. Two, it is the most tart and refreshing flavor, and the goal of consuming water ice is to cool down. Finally, and perhaps most important of all, it lacks the shockingly bright food dye of cherry and blueberry which means you can walk down the street as a grown adult eating water ice without getting it (noticeably) all over your face. I rest my case here.
Zucchini, ricotta and sausage (or not!) pizza at home
I made this up.
About once a year I go on a full-on pizza binge. This either means that things are going so well that even dairy does not frighten me, or, I am spiraling badly and therefore I no longer care about the adverse effects. Fortunately for those around me, even when Iām fully spiraling I still make homemade pizza. I like to pick up a pound of pizza dough from Trader Joeās or Whole Foods for a cheap, easy, and incredibly delicious dinner. Just preheat your oven to 450F, and drizzle olive oil all over a baking sheet. Stretch the pizza dough as thinly as you can on the sheet, and let it rest. Meanwhile, thinly slice one small zucchini. Stretch the dough, which should have softened, as thinly as you can again. Drizzle with olive oil and spread two crushed garlic cloves all over. Add dollops of full fat ricotta, and top with thin slices of the squash, plus one sliced sausage if youād like. Sprinkle with aleppo pepper, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Bake 10-15 minutes, checking after 10 minutes, or until bubbly, caramelized, and cooked through.
Funghi pizza at Mamaās Too
2750 Broadway, New York, NY 10025
At some point in New York pizza culture, it became hip to be square again. The thick, focaccia-style slice with a deeply caramelized crust, big nooks and crannies filled with olive oil, and a bouncy chew now seems to be popping up everywhere I look. The funghi slice at Mamaās Too masters the art of the super-rich slice. You couldnāt fold this baby in half if you tried; but despite being so thick it never feels too dense. Mamaās Too always has a line snaking around the block whenever I walk past, so I will admit that the only way I got to a slice is by eating a frozen, re-heated piece at my friendās house, but apparently they do delivery.Ā Ā
Red Jacket Orchards āapricot stompā juice at home
Hereās what the bottle looks like. You can get it at Whole Foods and other stores.
I'm a big fan of the āstomps,ā aka cold-pressed fruit juices, from Red Jacket Orchards. They come at a very affordable price point compared to some other juices at Whole Foods, andĀ always have the best flavor combinations. This seasonal apricot flavor is no exception. To me, fresh apricots taste like the epitome of early summer -- with a bright, sweet flavor even sunnier than peaches. This juice has only two ingredients (apples and apricots), a beautiful golden color, and is full of that lovely apricot flavor. I like to cut it with 50% club soda for a fun fizzy drink. It also makes a great mixer -- especially with prosecco for an instant bellini.
Salt & Sand Mezcal Margarita Cider from Graft Cider
Available at Whole Foods.
Looking for a long weekend beverage? MayI suggest Graft Cider: Not only do they have pretty label designs, which I am of course a sucker for, itās a local (Hudson Valley) cidery. I appreciate that there are many funky varieties, a lot of them are more sour than sweet. I used to have a rule that I only keep one bottle of hard liquor in my house at a time, and for a long time that One Bottle was mezcal. Nowadays, I donāt drink much hard liquor, but this margarita cider mimics the taste of the mezcal margaritas I used to make for guests, with a splash of agave nectar and wedges of lime, surprisingly well. Itās salty and sweet and limey, and spectacularly summer-y.Ā Ā
Happy Fourth of July!
Soph