Summer's Traditional Foods

Now that it is truly summer ,it's time to bring out all those great foods that are only served during these steamy days.Thanks to both it. Being harvest time as well as being too hot to cook in a traditional kitchen,annual caves come out.There are so many from barbecue fare to boardwalk and beach classics. Salads make a big come back when the temps soar.Nothing beats a simple lunch of iceberg lettuce ,and tomato wedges.Finish with a homemade French dressing of equal parts mayo and ketchup. another salad that screams not only summer but chicness is the Provencale salad Nicoise. This involves mixing greens and tomatoes with hard boiled eggs ,capers ,anchovies and tuna fish.It has a simple oil and vinegar dressing and is served with huge hunks of the crustiest French bread. Of course nothing beats good old fashioned burgers and dogs.Put them on buttered buns and load up with extras, like pickles and onions for the first and relish and mustard for the second. Of course summer means a return to Boardwalk and country fair classic foods.Nothing beats the rare treat of a corn dog ,a mix of sweet and savory.There's also sausage and pepper sandwiches , bursting with super spicy Italoan sausage and peppers. Sweets come out too, like the enticing and crackly candy apples,either dipped in nuts or coconuts along with everyone's must have cotton candy.No matter how old you are nothing finishes a night out like big fluff of the stuff.Luckily the warm weather provides us with nature's sweet treats. indulge in strawberries plums and nectarines.These make great snacks , especially on picnics or after the gym.Blueberries and cherries are also still in abundance.Scatter them over your favorite home made or store bought ice cream or turn into luscious compotes. Summer is officially here and with it all the foods we love. Enjoy them at the beach or the lake. make sure you serve them at your barbecue.Just celebrate these lazy hazy days with fun foods and fun times!

Seltzer A Sparkling Summer Classic

Want a drink that refreshing and can go with everything from wine to chocolate syrup? Then think seltzer.It's a summer must have because of its' versatility. It can go from fizzing up a punch to adding zip to lemonade.You can even drink it plain, nicely chilled, with ice and a lemon wedge.

Seltzer water is over two hundred years old, first made by Joseph Priestly in 1767 by accident when he infused water with carbon dioxide  . This was done by placing a bowl of water over a beer vat and letting the fumes permeate the liquid. The actual name, seltzer comes from the German town of Selter.which has been bottling spring water since the 18th Century. It's  is different than club soda because it has no salt in it, therefore a slightly different , almost acidy type of taste. You can make seltzer at home using just plain tap water  and a charger (and now there's the new soda streams that make a fair equivalent to it).

Seltzer is the perfect summer time refresher. Add ice and a lemon or even lime wedge and it makes the great non alcoholic drink at any summertime soiree. It's also perfect for backyard relaxing along with a good book. However seltzer shines when it's mixed. Try  it with Campari for the classic holiday in Capri drink or with a flavored vodka for an adult version of soda pop, For something not quite as heady, whip up a few sparklers seltzer mixed with either fruit juices or lemonade. The classic treat is the egg cream. This is chocolate syrup mixed in with a little milk and then Seltzer is added to give it a foamy head. Stir gently and knock back one of the best drinks ever!

Seltzer is a true summertime classic. Have it on while sitting under y our favorite tree reading a book or blend in any of your favorite fruit juices. Better yet, try that classic the egg cream  and enjoy it under a starry sky.                                                                                                                

Cool Summer Meal Lettuce Wraps

Cooking a summer dinner can be tricky . You want it to be tasty and filling yet you don't want it to be too labor intensive.You want something refreshing but not the typical salad. The simplest is lettuce wraps.These are easy to eat and even easier to make. They're the perfect blend of lightness and flavor with exotic thrown in.

Everyone thinks these easy wraps are modern. They've been around for almost 120 years being served in the UK at teas and in the United States in schools.It's simply taking two leaves and rolling it around any kind of filling. Mostly today they have an Asian influence however lettuce wraps can be filled with almost anything. They also make nice appetizers at pool parties and barbecues. You could even whip up a few the night before going to the beach. The best way though is serving them for a warm weather  supper that's both filling and light.

The best leaves to work with are iceberg,romaine, arugula and even cabbage.Filling them is up to you.If you want to have a hot filling them think of a quick  sauteed ground beef or grilled chicken . Add tomatoes,cilantro and sliced raw onions along with a vinaigrette or even ranch dressing. Put a Mexican spin o it with fresh made guacamole, shredded cheese and sour cream. For a really cool summer supper, then stuff with either chicken, tuna or crab salad.Another easy filling is taken cold cuts and shredding them with celery and broccoli. Add any dressing to make it more flavorful or even just add olive oil and lemon/.

Lettuce wraps are an easy supper. The best part is you can create a filling summer meal without the fuss . It's a nice way to end a day - with a tasty meal that doesn;t require a whole lot of work.

Beer And Ice Cream - Yummmmmm

Imagine having your beer and ice cream together. What a flavor that would be.. Now it's a reality. The age old brew and every one's favorite summer treat are now being combined to create a sophisticated dessert. Surprisingly the mix of hops and cream work well together.

Beer flavored or infused ice cream was the subject of an article in yesterday's New YorkTimes Wednesday Dining section. The piece  written by newcomer, Lucy Burningham, tell about the latest  new flavors and ingredients being used.This is not new. After all we've had rum raisin ice cream for years. There has been the trend of bourbon milkshakes in recent summers past. Now artesanal ice cream makers are trying new combos. However creating this frosty brew does take some experimentation. After all, the water in beer does tend to create ice, which makes a crunchier texture instead of a creamier one.This means the  beer has to be deconstructed then, and raw hops, malts , yeasts and partially fermented brews are mixed with sweet cream to create a smoother product.

It is worth it. The flavors that re coming out are a blend of the beverage along with fruits and cakes. There is Belgian  style Tripal ale mixed with apricot ice cream along with a  three hops kind with chunks of a pineapple upside down cake. Thrown into this are pineapple bits, candied orange zest and hop leaves.For those who want to try it in baby steps , just add  vanilla ice cream to milk stout for an adult version of a root beer float. Beer and ice cream affectionados can try also try making their own pints at home There are recipes on the Internet that involve the average bottled kind along with rich stouts.It's usually making a custard like base  first and then slowing adding in flat beer.

The union of beer and ice cream makes for a surprisingly wonderful treat. If you want a spin on a frosty brew then try it. This is a refreshing alternative to the usual chocolate,  strawberry and vanilla flavors out there..

The ALl ENcompassing Eggplant

Nothing beats the versatile eggplant,Other than the tomato, it's one of the few veggies that can be roasted, baked and sauteed, along with a variety of other methods.One can be cut up for a variety of dishes from baba ganoush to ratatouille..Sliced and breaded versions were even called "poor man's oysters." If anything , they should be called the flexible veggie because of the many ways of cooking them.

It was the subject of Mark Bittman's The Flexitarian column in today's New York Times Dining section. Mr. Bittman gives us a cornucopia of different recipes, along with ways to cook them. It should never be peeled unless roasted and charred . Since its' flesh is highly absorbent, , Mr, Bittman recommends using a fragrant oil for frying or sauteing. Eggplants also come in different varieties as well, from the traditional deep purple bulb to the long thin lavender and green Chinese ones.

Mr Bittman also provides us with a good scope of recipes. The easiest , as well as being, the tastiest, is a charred one that leaves the meat , soft and custardy. This is mashed with garlic and you could serve It on rounds of warmed Italian bread. The Sicilians are big on eggplant., since it grows in copious amounts on their island. Try it as pasta alla Norma, eggplant in tomato sauce and finished with insalata ricotta. You can also use the long, narrow and sweeter tasting Chinese eggplant for caponata.Since it is also a Middle Eastern veggie, Mr Bittmans includes the Turkish Baingan Bharta where turmeric and cilantro is used for flavoring.

Eggplant is a veggie that can be made a variety of different way and styles.Try it as a creamy dip one night or as a hearty ingredient in a pasta. It will never bore.

The Paula Dean Controversy

Normally this blog remains neutral when it comes to celebrities and their problems. Yet the whole flap with Paula Dean does affect it and also my readers, especially in the US .is she to blame, despite her upbringing? Should she be punished and why? There are so many questions and everyone has their own answers-.

Paula Dean is a Southerner. Her background is from Georgia and she spent the first twenty  years of her life in the  pre Civil Rights South. She does maintain some hard to break habits from that era.Is she a bad person? No. Granted , her food can be bad for you with it's butter and sugar rich recipes but she's not evil- just a product of her environment. Should someone like her be more enlightened in this PC day and age? Absolutely.She wasn't though.She slipped. It happened.I'm sure there have been other chefs who have had transgressions. They haven't been caught - yet. Ms. Dean was. Now sadly she is going to be severely punished and ostracized.

Luckily the Food Network will stand behind her. The question is for how long.It will be a joke if they drop her.The network has very few black chefs. This is a subtle yet truly appararent  form of racism. this brings up another interesting point. Before people question Ms Dean's thinking, they should also question her employer. Before they pass judgement on her, they should also look at this channel and wonder why it's so "white". That includes stores  and companies such as Target, K-Mart and Smithfield Farms that all carried her products . They quickly dropped her at the first whiff of problems. Would they be willing not to have their ads run on this racially biased channel. If they were true to their beliefs, yes, they would.

What Ms. Dean said was undeniably wrong. It doesn't make her a bad person however. We all slip. We all say things that we later regret as she has done. Should she be punished? No. As we all know to err is human to forgive divine.

Healthy Hot Weather Snacks

It's summer and that means days packed with fun and activity.It also means hungry kids.After all that swimming ,and paying ball ,they're going to be hungry.It's easy to just open up bag of chips and cookies.Yet you can go another easy route.Give them healthy veggie and fruit snacks.Th ey 're just as easy to serve during these sweltering days. Nothing beats a platter of crudités for any pool party or even summer back yard camp out.make a fun and colorful platter of grape and cherry tomatoes ,sliced bell peppers and broccoli florets.Add rinsed and scrubbed mushrooms and snap pea pods too for some variety.Instead of sour cream ,try plain Greek yogurt with some olive oil and lemon as a healthier dip.You can also turn these into fun kabobs to eat too ,whether they be cold or grilled.Hommade hummus is another easy snack to make, especially if you mix up the recipe with cannelloni or pinto beans.You can also bake the garbanzo beans with olive oil and Rosemary for crunchy snacks. Fruit is another tasty natural snack.Instead of popsicles ,try freezing bananas and grapes.Kids will love these ,especially after a hot day at camp or sultry evening playing ball.For a fun ,and posh treat try a healthier version of Eton Mess.This traditional English dessert has a bed of merengue with fruits and whipped cream piled up,Refashion it with a bed of plain Greek yogurt and a lighter non dairy topping such as Cool Whip.Grilled pineapple kabobs are another fun treat instead of s'mores . Alternative with mangoes for color and more flavor. The summer is here and with it increased appetites.Satisfy them with healthy snacks fresh from the garden.The kids will benefit from taste and nutrition.