We love to flavor water with fresh fruit, and to add fruit to ice cubes.

Here’s a twist on conventional ice cubes: Use frozen fruit instead of ice cubes.

We have long made “party ice cubes” with a strawberry or other fruit (plus herbs, or savory ice cubes like cherry tomatoes and basil) embedded in an ice cube, but with frozen fruit only, there’s no surrounding ice to dilute the drink.

The only advisory:

 
THE “RECIPE”

 
MORE ICE CUBE IDEAS

Top: Freeze fruit to substitute for ice cubes (photo courtesy California Pizza Kitchen). Bottom: The more conventional way: Add fruit or herbs to the water before freezing the ice (photo courtesy Zespri| Facebook).

Here’s a fun summer sandwich idea from Arnold Bread, using the company’s Healthfull Steel Cut Oats and Honey bread:

We baked the sweet potatoes in the microwave (4 minutes). They mash very easily.

RECIPE: HEAVENLY HAWAIIAN HAM SANDWICH

Ingredients For 2 Sandwiches

1. PLACE 2 slices of bread on the work surface. Spread half of the mashed sweet potatoes on one slice of bread. Add 1 tablespoon salsa on top of the potatoes.

2. TOP with 1 slice of ham and 1 pineapple ring. Cover with the remaining slice of bread. Repeat for the second sandwich.
 
  

Yesterday we presented four different marinades for grilled fish. A quick recap:

 
All cuts of beef can benefit from marinating, but you definitely want to marinate a tougher cut and an in-between cut (not all of the following would be grilled).
 
CUTS OF BEEF BY LEVEL OF TENDERNESS

 
RECIPE #1: SPICY GARLIC-SERRANO MARINADE

This marinade gives steak with a fiery bite, with just the right balance of garlic and spice. You can go light on the chiles or add extra chiles, depending on how much you like heat.
 
Ingredients

 
For The Marinade

 
Preparation

1. WHISK all the marinade ingredients together and pour over the steak. Marinate for several hours or overnight; or for a least 20 minutes in a FoodSaver Quick Marinator.

2. USE the remaining marinade for basting.

Top: A marinade gives more tenderness to sirloin kabobs (photo courtesy Sur La Table). Center: Hot off the grill, a flatiron steak (photo courtesy LifesAmbrosia.com). Bottom: Even a Porterhouse, one of the tenderest cuts, gets a bit of marinade for flavor (photo courtesy Omaha Steaks).

This recipe is a perfect match for steak kebabs with pineapple.This recipe is a perfect match for steak kebabs with pineapple.
If you’ve never used fresh ginger in your marinade before, you’ll be delighted.

Ingredients

 
For The Marinade

 
Preparation

1. WHISK all the marinade ingredients together and pour over the steak. Marinate for several hours or overnight; or for a least 20 minutes in a FoodSaver Quick Marinator.

2. SQUEEZE the optional limes on the steaks as they grill (you can pre-squeeze the juice and lightly baste with it).
 
 
KNOW YOUR CUTS OF BEEF

Check out our Beef Glossary.

Top and Center: Fish, especially fillets, is delicate and thus easier to break and fall through the grates, unlike meats. The solution: a grill basket or grill pan, like these from Williams-Sonoma. Bottom: A different type of grilling basket from Sur La Table.

Just as most of us switch to heartier fare in the fall and winter, summer warmth is an incentive to eat more lightly.

 
You can “summerize” anything, from ice cream flavors to your vegetables.

And your marinades!

Marinades are the easiest way to add flavor to foods, and to make chewier foods more tender. Mix a few simple ingredients, place them in a plastic storage bag and marinate the food overnight, turning it once or twice.

No time? Use a FoodSaver Quick Marinator and your food will be ready to grill in 30 minutes or less.
 
RECIPE #1: LEMON OR LIME MARINADE FOR FISH

With this classic marinade, be sure to use fresh herbs instead of dried: The prices are lower in summer.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

2. POUR the mixture into the bag or marinator or bag, marinate, and cook as desired.

This fragrant and spicy marinade goes well with heartier fish, such as swordfish, salmon or halibut.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the parsley, garlic and cilantro in a small saucepan. Add the salt, pepper, cumin, lemon juice and olive oil. Stir well and heat the mixture for 5 minutes on medium heat. Do not bring to a boil.

2. REMOVE the saucepan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool before using.

RECIPE #3: ORANGE HONEY MARINADE

The citrus notes of orange and the sweetness of the honey enhance the natural flavor of salt water fish.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MIX together the orange juice, honey, lemon juice, garlic, soy sauce and ginger.

2. COAT the fish in the marinade and leave for 30 minutes if using the FoodSaver Quick Marinator, or 1 hour or more if using a bag.
 
RECIPE #4: SPICED YOGURT MARINADE

This Indian marinade is bursting with flavorful spices and yogurt, a natural tenderizer. When cooked, this marinade will be a light, flaky texture.
 
Ingredients

Top: Grilled salmon atop a Greek Salad is a real crowd-pleaser (photo courtesy Tio Gazpacho). Bottom: Grilled branzino with a head of grilled garlic (photo courtesy Olio Restaurant | NYC).

 
Preparation

1. STIR together in a bowl the yogurt, turmeric, coriander, cayenne, cumin, ginger, garlic, cilantro and salt.

2. USE your hands to toss and coat the filets in the marinade; then transfer to the bag or marinator.

 
 
NEXT: STEAK MARINADES.

Top: The ingredients for guasacaca. Center: Simply add them to a blender or food processor. Bottom: The finished sauce in its original consistency. Photos courtesy Cory of TheAmuseBouche.com. Here’s her recipe.

A few nights ago we had a revelation. A great chef did an irresistible spin on guasacaca, the popular Venezuelan green sauce for grilled meats.

Chef Karlos Ponte, who ws born in Venezuela and worked at El Bulli and Noma, is now executive chef at Taller in Copenhagen. He and his team came to New York City to cook a one-night-only tasting dinner at The Pines in Brooklyn.

Chef Ponte changed the proportions of the classic guasacaca sauce: less avocado, more vinegar. In fact, we tasted herbs and acid instead of avocado.

While Venezuelan guasacaca is often made thick and chunky like guacamole, his interpretation is thin and acidic, like a French persillade (parsley, garlic, herbs, oil and vinegar).

This balance was perfection: We actually turned our backs to the room and licked the sauce off the plate. Thanks go to Taller’s general manager Jacob Brink Lauridsen (born in Venezuela, raised in Denmark), for taking this as a compliment.
 
WHAT IS GUASACACA SAUCE?

Guasacaca (wa-sa-KA-ka) combines avocado with vinegar and herbs. It can be made with with bit of jalapeño or hot sauce, although like guacamole, it is not intended to be a hot and spicy sauce.

Guasacaca is served with beef, chicken and sausage grilled on a parilla.* It’s also a popular condiment with arepas and empanadas.

We generously received a container of the sauce “to go,” and have since served it with eggs, fish and seafood; as a salad dressing; and as a dip with crudités.

Chef Ponte’s sauce was so splendid, that our group of sophisticated palates used it with the breads (Chef Ponte’s recipes, also splendid), and drank some of it from the container on the way home from the restaurant.

Here’s the catch: We now have to work out proportions similar to Chef Ponte’s. We started by eliminating one avocado and doubling the red wine vinegar. Our first batch was delicious, but not yet perfection.

In the interim, here’s the classic guasacaca recipe, a real find for summer grilling. Add less oil for a dip.

Prep time is just 10 minutes, no cooking involved!

Ingredients For 2 Cups

 
Preparation

1. PLACE all ingredients except the olive oil, salt and pepper into a food processor or blender. Pulse until the vegetables are finely chopped, scraping down the sides of the container as needed. Process until smooth.

2. DRIZZLE in the olive oil in a continuous stream through feed tube (or top of blender), with the motor running. Process until smooth.

3. TASTE and season with salt and pepper to taste. Let stand at room temperature for an hour for the flavors to blend. Taste again and add more seasoning as desired.

4. SERVE the sauce at room temperature. You can make it in advance and store it in the fridge, but bring the sauce to room temperature before serving.

NOTE: If made in advance, the avocado portion can darken. Tamp a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the sauce.
 
_____________________
*A a parilla is a simple grill comprising an iron grate over hot coals.

†You can use less herbs—as little as 1/2 cup parsley and 1/4 cup cilantro—to taste. Save the stems for stock, soup or other recipes. You can also chop them and toss them into green salads.

‡In Venezuela, corn oil is used instead of olive oil.