How about spicing up your iced tea?

This spin is from Ted Allen, host of Food Network’s series, “Chopped.”

Ted is a consultant to Lipton’s Pure Leaf Iced Tea.

He created this recipe with a prep time of just 5 minutes, using a bottle of Pure Leaf Not Too Sweet.

If you don’t like sugar in your tea or prefer a noncaloric sweetener, just brew your own tea and take it from there.

Make It A Cocktail

You can turn the drink into a cocktail by adding gin, vodka or tequila.
 
 
ASIAN SPICY CUCUMBER GREEN TEA

Instead of adding the pinch of red pepper, as called for in the ingredients, we prefer a Tajín rim.

A Mexican spice blend of cayenne, lime and salt (photo #3) Tajín is used on just about anything, savory or sweet.

Ingredients For 2 Servings

 
Preparation

1. CRUSH (muddle) cucumber, lime and red pepper with wooden spoon in 1-quart glass measuring cup.

2. STIR in tea. Mix well to combine.

3. STRAIN into ice-filled glasses. Garnish as desired.

Here’s more about Pure Leaf Iced Tea.
 
 
The History Of Iced Tea

Have An Iced Tea Party

How To Avoid Cloudy Iced Tea

The Different Types Of Tea

How To Brew The Perfect Cup Of Tea

How To Dissolve Sugar In Cold Drinks

How To Avoid Cloudy Iced Tea

The History Of Iced Tea

Essential Tea Facts

Grow Your Own Herbal Tea

The History Of Tea

The Afternoon Tea Party

Cold Infused Tea

Iced Tea Float With Sorbet

Thai Iced Tea

Watermelon Iced Tea

[1] Simply muddle cucumbers and add to iced tea with lime and red pepper (photo © In Pursuit Of Tea).

[2] Icy, spicy: Asian-style cucumber iced tea (photo © Pure Leaf Iced Tea).

[3] Tajín Seasoning is used in many recipes, and makes a spicy drink rimmer (photo © Tajín).

That’s one type of cooking, but we prefer the superior flavors of from-scratch cooking, using the best ingredients. Whether you’re making a marinade or anything else, the finest flavors come from fresh ingredients, including herbs.

Here’s a delicious marinade and steak sauce from a leading provider of quality beef, Double R Ranch. This family of ranchers wouldn’t dream of covering their fine steaks in bottled dressing.

They like a chimichurri sauce (a spicy parsley vinaigrette) as a steak sauce and a marinade—a classic Argentinian preparation from country of avid beef eaters.

STEAK SAUCE & MARINADE

Ingredients

Preparation

1. PLACE parsley, oregano, garlic and shallots in a food processor. Pulse until chopped but not puréed.

2. ADD vinegar, mustard and lemon juice to the herb mixture. Process on low while gradually adding the olive oil.

3. ADD salt and pepper to taste and pulse again. Store a sealable container. When ready to prepare the meat…

4. RINSE the steak briefly and pat try. Place the steak in a glass baking dish or other nonreactive shallow pan and cover with the marinade. Turn the steak to coat all sides and marinate for 30 minutes or longer. If you’re marinating for more than 30 minutes, cover the dish with plastic wrap, and turn the meat every two hours.

5. REMOVE the steak from the marinade when you’re ready to grill; do not reuse the marinade because it can collect bacteria.
 
WHAT IS A COWBOY STEAK?

Called a cowboy chop by Double R Ranch (it looks like an enormous chop), the cowboy steak is an impressive piece of meat.

It’s a bone-in ribeye steak with a frenched rib bone. This “raw bone” feature and the fact that the cut is generally around two pounds of meat, makes it big enough for the hungriest cowboy—or enables two people to share.

If you’d like to try a cowboy steak—or send one to Dad as a Father’s Day gift—Double R Ranch Co. is offering 10% off all cowboy chop purchases placed by June 11. To qualify for discount, all orders must be placed by 12 p.m. (EDT) on June 11 for shipment no later than June 12, 2013. Enter promo code “DRRDAD13” at checkout.

SEE ALL THE CUTS OF BEEF IN OUR DELECTABLE BEEF GLOSSARY.
  

This Greek-accented lamb chops recipe is from Chef Curtis Stone’s new book, What’s For Dinner, which focuses on easy-to-make meals for every night of the week.

Chef Stone serves his Grilled Lemon Oregano Lamb Chops with a rustic bread salad: a combination that‘s a treat for the family meal and special enough for guests. It takes only 35 minutes to prepare.

You can marinate the lamb for 10 minutes or 10 hours; the more time you give it, the more flavorful it will be.

For a weeknight meal, stick the chops in the marinade before you go to work; but don’t worry if you forget to do so because they’ll still be delicious with only a quick marinade.

Prep time is 15 minutes, plus at least 10 minutes marinating time; cook time 10 minutes.
 
 
GRILLED LEMON-OREGANO LAMB CHOPS WITH RUSTIC BREAD SALAD

Ingredients For 4 Servings

For The Lamb

 
For The Oregano-Red Wine Vinaigrette

 
For The Salad

 
Preparation

1. MARINATE the lamb: In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano and rosemary. Add the lamb and turn to coat with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate at room tempera­ture for at least 10 minutes, or in the refrigerator for up to 10 hours.

2. REMOVE the marinated lamb from the re­frigerator about 30 minutes before grilling and let stand at room temperature. Meanwhile…

3. MAKE the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mus­tard, shallots, garlic and oregano. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

[1] Grilled lamb chops with bread salad (photo © Ballantine Books).

[2] Loin lamb chops, used in this recipe (photos #2 and #3 © American Lamb Board).

[3] For comparison, these are rib lamb chops.

[4] Baby spinach is used in this bread salad recipe, but you can substitute anything from arugula to romaine (photo © Burpee).

5. MAKE the salad: Lightly brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Grill the bread, turning halfway through cooking, for about 2 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Remove the bread from the grill, tear it into bite-size pieces, and put it into a large bowl.

6. SEASON the lamb with salt and pepper. Grill the lamb chops, turning them over halfway through cooking. Cook for about 7 minutes for medium-rare, or until the meat feels resilient when pressed with a finger. Transfer to a platter, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest while you finish the salad.

7. ADD the spinach, tomatoes, and onions to the bowl with the grilled bread. Toss with enough of the vinaigrette to lightly coat.

8. MOUND equal amounts of the salad on four dinner plates and sprinkle with the feta cheese. Arrange two lamb chops on top of each salad, drizzle with some of the remaining vinaigrette and serve.
 
 
> LAMB GLOSSARY: THE DIFFERENT CUTS OF LAMB

How many types have you had?

Two years ago we published a recipe for a truly delicious banana pudding that we had at Virgil’s Real Barbecue in New york City (there’s an outpost in Atlantic City).

It’s a complex recipe, layering from-scratch banana pudding, pastry cream and banana caramel—with Nilla Wafers, of course.

Here‘s the banana pudding recipe, a delicious choice for Father’s Day (we’re making a double batch of it next week).

If you don’t have the time or energy to create the entire recipe, there are shortcuts. The end result is not as glorious as the from-scratch Virgil’s recipe; but if you haven’t had the original, you won’t know that.

Unfortunately, the “quick and easy” banana pudding recipes all use Cool Whip (made with HFCS and other ingredients we don’t like*). So we’re providing the easy option, but are lobbying for the from-scratch recipe.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. ADD milk to large bowl; whisk in pudding mix for 2 minutes or until well blended. Let stand 5 minutes.

2. LAYER half of the wafers on the bottom and up the sides of a 2-quart serving bowl Add a layer of pudding topped with a layer of banana slices. Repeat layering, beginning with wafers.

3. REFRIGERATE 3 hours or overnight to soften cookies. To serve…

4. SPREAD whipped topping over pudding. Garnish with additional banana slices.
  
*WHAT IS COOL WHIP? Cool Whip Original imitation whipped cream is made from water, hydrogenated vegetable oil (including coconut and palm oils), high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, skim milk, light cream, and less than 2% sodium caseinate, natural and artificial flavor, xanthan and guar gums, polysorbate 60, sorbitan monostearate, and beta carotene (as a coloring). Hmmm.

Yellow or orange watermelon, which you can find at farmers’ markets and specialty produce stores, makes it even more special.

We adapted this recipe from Arch Rock Fish restaurant in Santa Barbara. You can serve it in a Martini glass or any glass you like.
 
 
RECIPE: WATERMELON CUCUMBER SUMMER SPLASH

Ingredients For 4 Cocktails

Watermelon and vodka with a touch of honey (photo © Arch Rock Fish | Santa Barbara [alas, permanently closed]).

Preparation

1. MUDDLE mint in the bottom of a large bowl or pitcher.

2. PURÉE watermelon in a food processor or blender and sieve into the bowl, pressing with a rubber spatula.

3. PURÉE the cucumber and sieve it into the bowl.

4. WHISK the lime juice and honey together in a small bowl. Add to the juice mixture, stir, and add the vodka. Pour into glasses with ice cubes.

5. GARNISH with a cucumber wheel and mint sprig.
 
 
SOME MARTINI HISTORY

The original Martini, created in America, was a mixture of gin and vermouth, garnished with an olive.

While not yet called the Martini, the 1888 Bartender’s Manual cites a recipe of half gin and half vermouth.

Thanks to James Bond, the Vodka Martini, “Shaken, not stirred,” entered popular culture in the book “Diamonds Are Forever” (1956). Earlier, in “Casino Royale,” the first Bond novel (1953), Bond orders a cocktail later named the Vesper: gin, vodka, and Lillet, a fortified white wine, rather than vermouth.

The Gibson is a Gin Martini garnished with a pickled cocktail onion. The oldest published recipe for the Gibson dates to 1908.

In the 1990s, the concept of what a “Martini” was, took off like a rocket, with menus of hundreds of different Martini “flavors,” savory and sweet. Marketers like to ride on the coattails of something that’s already popular. But these are really…

Non-Martinis

While adding espresso (not espresso liqueur) to a Vodka Martini could logically be called an Espresso Martini, turning it into a sweet drink, such as an Espresso Martini with espresso liqueur, a Chocolate Martini with chocolate liqueur, or an Appletini with apple liqueur, abandons the spirit of the savory Martini cocktail.

There is no liqueur in a Martini: Call those sweet drinks something else!
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.