Crushing Colorado potato beetles all day is hard work, especially on a hot July day. After washing the blood of countless beetles and larva from my hands, I turned my attention to lunch and the heap of zucchini and summer squash residing on my kitchen counter. While debating how best to jazz up the zucchini, I quickly realized that I had the ingredients to make grilled cheese! With that in mind, I took to the Internet and found a recipe for zucchini grilled cheese. For the most part I followed the recipe, except when it came to the cheese. The recipe calls for Gruyere, fontina, and Parmesan, but I only had a block of cheddar and some leftover Parmesan, so I made do with these ingredients. Overall, I was well pleased with the results, a tasty success and a great use of zucchini and summer squash.
Tag Archives: Beets
A Beverage You Cannot … Beet
Beets are great ! Roast them, pickle them, turn them into slaw, or if you find yourself tired of the same old beet recipes, perhaps try drinking them? While I typically don’t reach for a fancy drink when i choose to imbibe, this Beetnik Martini really appealed to me flavor wise. Ginger, beets, vodka, whats not to love? Though, I haven’t tried this recipe with golden or chioggia beets, I imagine the results would be similar, though the color will obviously be different.
Beetnik Martini
Ingredients
Vodka And Syrup
- 6 medium red beets (about 2½ lb.), scrubbed, trimmed
- 1 750-ml bottle vodka
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoon grated peeled ginger
Assembly
- 3 oz. fresh lemon juice
- 3 oz. fresh lime juice
- 12 slices lemon slices
Preparation
Vodka and Syrup
Cook beets in a large saucepan of boiling water until tender, 1–1¼ hours. Drain; let cool slightly. Peel and slice. Combine warm beets and vodka in a large 1½-qt. jar (save vodka bottle to store finished product). Cover; chill for at least 5 days and up to 1 week. Strain into a medium bowl; discard beets. Pour beet vodka back into reserved bottle. Cover and chill.
Bring sugar, ginger, and ¾ cup water to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Let cool. Strain ginger syrup into a medium jar; discard ginger. Cover and chill. Beet vodka and ginger syrup can be made 1 month ahead. Keep chilled separately.