Peaches!

From China, to Persia, to Thomas Jefferson, to California, August is...

National Peach Month!

When dealing with Peaches, most people think of the quintessential "Georgia Peach", but, in reality, California produces 65% of the United States Peach crop. What Georgia has over California, in terms of Peaches, is the world largest Peach Cobbler, measuring eleven (11) feet by five (5) feet (3.3x1.5 meters).

But, the world largest Peach actually belongs to Gaffney, South Carolina and weighs over 10,000 pounds!

Sadly, it's the town water tower.

No cobbler for you.....

The term "you're a real Peach" comes from the tradition of giving a Peach to someone that you like.

Photo courtesy CafeMom

So, Give a Peach to your Honey today!

Mustard

On National Mustard Day,

Can you really ever have too much Mustard?

Apparently, not....

So good that you can even bathe in it, a mustard bath is said to help relieve stress, cure insomnia, open pores, remove toxins from your body, and loosen tight muscles. Mustard baths are often offered in fine spas and resorts around the world as theraputic treatments.

But, for those of us not chi-chi enough to go to these expensive spas, you can make your very own Mustard Bath in the privacy of your own home or washtub!

Mustard Bath

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups Sea Salt or Kosher Salt 
• 1 cup powdered Milk 
• 1/2 cup powdered Mustard Seed 
• 1/4 cup fresh Ginger, grated 
• Eucalyptus essential oil 
• Lemon essential oil 
• Rosemary essential oil 
• Two (2) medium sized Mixing Bowls

TECHNIQUE

Mix the Salt, powdered Milk, and powdered Mustard Seed in a Mixing Bowl. Set the Bowl aside.

Place the grated Ginger into another Mixing Bowl. Add two drops of Eucalyptus essential oil, one drop of Lemon essential oil, and one drop of Rosemary essential oil. Mix well.

Add the Ginger mixture to the Mustard mixture a little bit at a time, mixing well as you combine the ingredients. 

Run a very warm bath, pouring in a litle of the mustard mixture at a time as the tub fills with water. Use your hand to stir the mixture into the water. 

Soak in the warm bath for at least fifteen (15) to twenty (20) minutes. Wrap yourself in a thick towel or warm robe after exiting the tub. Your pores will be open after your bath and will take a while to close, so you might feel a chill. 

Thanks to ehow.

While you're enjoying your bath on Mustard Day, we have Thomas Edison's Amberol recording of "Too Much Mustard" to listen to:

Ostriche...

Photo : L. M. Sorré

A few years ago, I was in Italy for Christmas seeing my family. My cousins live about a half hour from Cervinia or, more commonly known, the Matterhorn in the Italian Alps. One afternoon, we decided to take a drive further up the Aosta Valley towards France. We stopped at Courmayeur.

Courmayeur, is one of the chicest ski resorts in all of the Italian Alps. It shares the summit of Mont Blanc with Chamonix in France on the other side, which was the home of the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924. That gives you an idea of what kind of a place this is.

Walking in the afternoon sunshine through the town admiring the slinky Ukrainian ski-bunnies and their appropriately troll-like male companions, shops featuring nothing but Rolex, all-wheel-drive Bentleys and Mercedes automobiles dotting the streets, and cafés featuring all kinds of food.

Then, in the town square, we came upon this.

Photo : L. M. Sorré

An Oyster stand at 3000 metres?????

Who knew?

This was too good to be true! I immediately ordered two dozen Oysters and five glasses of Chardonnay. The guy at the stand reached into a large snow filled wash-tub and immediately went to work. A few moments later, we had freshly shucked Blue Points and a beautiful crisp local Chardonnay, all at -14°C and at 3000 meters!

And, all of this, with Mont Blanc in the background.

My Cousin and Brother-in-Law, Courmayeur 2009

To this day, I don't think I can enjoy Oysters any other way.

By the way, today is National Oyster Day, so I may have to try!

©2011 Wait At The Bar

Lasagne

Lasagne Day

I'm not even going to begin this argument. Everyone has their own favorite, and their Grandmother made it better, and I can't believe you use Béchamel, and don't forget the Nutmeg, and make sure that it's Ronzoni, and blah, blah, blah.........

The only thing Italian about this dish is the dish itself, and by that, I mean the actual cooking vessel. "Lasanum" means "cooking pot" in Latin.

The Lasagne that we all are familiar with didn't even arrive on the scene until at least the 1700's, and even that is disputed. Heck, Tomatoes weren't even brought to Europe until 1492 and the earliest recorded mention of the use of Tomatoes in cooking was by the Napolitani in 1692.

So, in deference to the lack of Tomatoes, let's try a Lasagne without.

Here's a recipe that I blatantly stole from Italian Food Net.

Lasagne Bianche

INGREDIENTS

• 8-9 ounce (227 g.) Lasagna Noodles (about 12 noodles)
• 1 pound (500 g.) frozen petite Peas, thawed
• 8 ounce (227 g.) frozen Artichoke Hearts, thawed, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 cup (355 ml.) Whipping Cream
• 1/4 cup  chopped fresh Basil leaves
• 15 ounce (425 g.) whole-milk Ricotta cheese
• 4 cups coarsely grated mozzarella cheese
• 3/4 cup grated Parmegiano Reggiano cheese
• 2 large Eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• freshly ground Black Pepper, to taste

TECHNIQUE

Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C).

Brush 13x9x2-inch (33x23x5-cm.) glass baking dish with Olive Oil.

Mix the Artichokes, the Peas, 1/2 cup of Whipping Cream, and the Basil in a medium bowl.

Purée the remaining one (1) cup of Cream, Ricotta, Parmigiano, Eggs, Salt, and Pepper in a food processor until smooth.

Spread one (1) cup of the Ricotta mixture over bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange four (4) noodles, in a single layer, over the Ricotta mixture, breaking the noodles as needed to cover.

Spread half of the Artichoke mixture over the noodles.

Spread 2 1/2 cups of the Ricotta mixture over the Artichokes. Sprinkle one (1) cup of grated Mozzarella cheese over the Ricotta mixture.

Repeat with (4) noodles, Artichoke mixture, 2 1/2 cups Ricotta mixture, and 1 cup Mozzarella.

Top with four (4) noodles. Spread the Remaining Ricotta mixture over the last layer of noodles Sprinkle the remaining two (2) cups mozzarella over top. Tent with aluminum foil, sealing the edges.

Bake the Lasagna for about thirty (30) minutes. After thirty (30) minutes, remove the foil and continue baking until bubbling at edges and brown on top, about another twenty-five (25) minutes.

Let stand for fifteen (15) minutes before serving.

Recipe via : Italian Food Net

Watermelon

I present you...

The Square Watermelon!!

Invented just in time for National Watermelon Day!

I'm making that up, however, the square watermelon was invented in Japan whereby they would grow the fruit in glass boxes and allow it to assume the size of the box. Initially, the idea was to make the melons easier to stack in the truck for shipping. But, due to the growing and harvesting costs, the square melons wound up about twice the price as regular watermelons. These melons, however, proved to be very popular as novelty items, in addition to other shapes, like the pyramid melon.

If you've got the acreage, the good folks over at Instructables have come up with a step-by-step plan, including a full photo essay, on what you'll need to make your own boxes to grow your very own square watermelons, or any other shape for that matter, in the privacy of your own garden.

Link HERE.

And, by the way, this works on just about any type of fruit too!

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ice Cream Sandwich Day!!!!

Whether you liked to use your tongue to dig a groove all around the sides or liked to squish the ice cream out using your fingers, we all wound up covered in chocolate.

These were some of the golden moments of childhood, when you came home from the park and Mom couldn't tell what was dirt and what was chocolate.

As with all good childhood memories, Madison Avenue eventually got hold of it and proceded to ruin our lives with the "Chipwich". In the 1980's, the decade of excess, nothing was sacred. Remember minimalist nouvelle cuisine? Yes, you do, oversized plates with a single braised radish for $500, baggy slouchy designer suits with oversized shoulder pads, oversized hair and oversized make-up, "Beige" and "Taupe" incomprehensibly sized furniture, etc.

The Chipwich was no different.

The simplicity of the basic ice cream sandwich was forever changed in 1981 when Richard LaMotta decided to cash in using two oversized chocolate chip cookies with half a pint of vanilla ice cream in the centre which was then rolled in mini-chocolate chips and walnuts. America had found it's new ice cream fad and it was appropriately oversized, just like the '80's. After a brilliant marketing campaign, the Chipwich was eventually sold to Nestlé which discontinued its production in 2007 citing that the Chipwich competed with one of their other products.

The classic ice cream sandwich never had any of these problems.

So, let's honor a childhood classic.

If you can't find a Mister Softee truck nearby, the good folks over at Instructables have a fabulous recipe and step by step photographs so that you can make your very own at home. Go check it out here

Otherwise, here is a very good and easy way to make these yourself.

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

Catfish

August is

National Catfish Month!

And the good folks over at U. S. Catfish have a brandy-spanky new cookbook out just teeming with recipes.

Behold :

North African Catfish Cousotto

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Red Onions, sliced into thin rings
• 2 tablespoons Raisins
• 3 tablespoons salted, roasted Cashew Nuts
• 1 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and sliced into thick rings
• 1 Yellow Bell Pepper, seeded and sliced into thick rings
• 1 Green Bell Pepper, seeded and sliced into thick rings
• 4 fresh, firm, ripe Tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, and sliced into thick rounds
• 1-1/2 cups fish or vegetable stock, or 3/4 cup fortified wine (such as sweet sherry or Madeira) mixed with 3/4 cup water
• 1-1/2 pounds U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish fillets, cut into 1 1/4 inch cubes
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon fresh Flat-Leaf Parsley, chopped

Couscous

• 2 cups Plain Couscous
• 2 cups vegetable stock or water, boiling
• 2 to 3 teaspoons Unsalted Butter
• 1/4 cup diced Carrots
• 1/4 cup Pine Nuts
• 1/4 cup dried Currants
• 1-2 Scallions, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (OPTIONAL)

TECHNIQUE

Heat half the Oil in a large heavy-based skillet and sauté half the Onions on medium to high heat for six (6) to eight (8) minutes, or until very dark golden, stirring all the time.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the sautéed Onions from the oil, place them on paper towels, and set aside.

Fry the Raisins in the same hot Oil until they plump. Remove with the slotted spoon and add to the sauteed Onions.

Fry the Cashews for about one (1) minute. Remove and add to the raisin-and-onion mixture.

Add the remaining Oil to the skillet and sauté the other half of the Onions until golden.

Add the Bell Peppers and continue cooking for about ten (10) minutes, or until the peppers are soft.

Add the Tomatoes and the Stock and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low and partially cover the skillet with a lid; cook for about ten (10) minutes.

After about ten (10) minutes, remove the lid an add the Catfish. Stir the fish through the onion and pepper mixture. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Continue simmering for another ten (10) minutes or so until the fish is tender. Do not forget to stir periodically to prevent sticking.

To make the Couscous, place the Couscous grains in a large, deep dish with a lid. Pour in the boiling Stock and stir in the Butter, Carrots, Scallions, Pine Nuts, dried Currants, and Salt. Cover and set aside to keep warm for about fifteen (15) minutes so the Couscous can absorb the liquid and swell up.

Carefully pour the fish mixture over the Couscous and gently fold it through to mix thoroughly into a colorful presentation. Sprinkle with the sautéed Onion rings, Raisins, Cashews, and the Parsley.

Serve hot immediately.

Makes about 4-6 servings.

Very special thanks to U.S. Catfish for this fabulous recipe!

For those of you interested, here's how to catch a Catfish :