Speaking of refreshing, my husband enjoys eating watermelon in the summer. I’ve made a watermelon salad with feta, but he prefers to eat watermelon on its own. However, I did coax him to try a watermelon gazpacho that I prepared from a recipe I found on the Southern Living Magazine website. For the recipe you’ll need watermelon, a cucumber, red onion, jalapeño pepper, apple cider vinegar and kosher salt. The watermelon was cubed, the cucumber had its seeds removed and diced, the onion chopped, the jalapeño seeded and minced before putting everything into my KitchenAid K400 Blender using the smoothie setting. When done, the salt and vinegar were added. Yum, the chilled watermelon gazpacho makes an unusually but flavorsome addition to any barbecue this summer. The watermelon I purchased from Delicious Orchards was sweet and shone through with a bit of spice coming from the jalapeño and red onion. Many years ago, WOR710 AM radio had some very interesting and entertaining talk shows and one of them was “Food Talk,” with former Daily News food critic and food editor Arthur Schwartz. Mr. Schwartz has written seven cook books. I have two of his, “Naples at Table” and “Soup Suppers.” “Soup Suppers” contains over 100 main course soups plus recipes for breads, salads, appetizers and desserts. One of the desserts in this book is Peach Crostata. I haven’t made this in years, but with the help of my five-year-old granddaughter, we made it this weekend. For the recipe you’ll need flour, sugar, salt, butter, peaches, cinnamon, eggs and either heavy cream, sour cream or yogurt. I used my food processor to prepare the crust. I pulsed approximately 20 times until it looked like coarse meal. As I didn’t have a deep pie dish, I used a quiche dish. I had my granddaughter evenly flatten the mixture in the dish using a metal measuring cup. The crostata turned out fabulous! Everyone enjoyed this delightful dessert. The five-year-old was quite proud of our work in the kitchen today. During the week, on Lidia Bastianich’s Facebook feed, it featured a one pot meal for Sausage and Apples. The dish sounded very appealing, different from my normal sausage, pepper and onions in tomato sauce. For the recipe you’ll need extra-virgin olive oil, sweet Italian sausage without fennel seeds, onions, kosher salt, fresh sage leaves, cider vinegar and Golden Delicious apples. The dish came together quite easily. I halved and quartered the onions and cored and cut the apples into wedges so that everything was ready to be added when needed. The sausages were browned and removed from the pan. Next in were the onions which were cooked until wilted. Sage, vinegar, water and apples were added to the pan followed by the browned sausages. A delicious sauce was created which glazed the sausages and apples. This scrumptious dish hit all the right notes. You had the pungent and tart sage playing against the sweetness of the apples which then enveloped the sausages…mmm! Some crusty Italian bread helped soak of the sauce. Overall, a wonderful meal. Sausage and Apples Salsicce e Mele al Tegame Recipe from Lidia’s Italy Serves: 6 to 8 Ingredients ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 12 links sweet Italian sausage without fennel seeds (about 2-/2 pounds) 2 medium onions, halved, then quartered at the root end 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 8 fresh sage leaves ¼ cider vinegar 4 Golden Delicious apples, cored and cut into 8 wedges each Heat a large shallow Dutch oven or very large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the sausages and brown all over, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir to coat the onions in the oil. Cover the skillet, and let the onions brown and wilt, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Scatter in the sage leaves, and add the vinegar and ¾ cup hot water. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until onions are wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the apples, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer, set the cover ajar, and cook until apples are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Uncover the pan, increase the heat to get the juices bubbling, and simmer until the juices reduce and glaze the sausages, apples, and onions, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve right away. 
Spring Citrus Salad Dressing Charleston Magazine, April 2022 Writer: Joan McDonald INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup olive oil 1/4 cup white wine vinegar 1/3 cup freshly harvested herbs, such as lemon balm, lemon thyme (remove leaves from woody stem), lemon verbena, and lemongrass 1 clove garlic 1 Tbs. local honey 1 Tbs. Dijon mustard 2 Tbs. minced shallots Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste DIRECTIONS: Place all the ingredients into bowl of food processor and pulse until well combined. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Serving suggestion: Add fresh sorrel leaves and sliced kumquats directly to the salad to brighten citrus flavors.
Watermelon Gazpacho From Southern Living Magazine Recipe by: Southern Living Editors Active Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Yield: 5 servings Ingredients 5 cups cubed watermelon (from 1 watermelon) 1 cup peeled, seeded, and diced cucumber ¼ cup chopped red onion ½ jalapeño chile, seeded and minced 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon kosher salt Directions: Process watermelon, cucumber, onion, and jalapeño in a blender until smooth. Stir in vinegar and salt. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes. Serve in small bowls or glasses.
Peach Crostata “Soup Suppers,” by Arthur Schwartz ©1994 Harper Collins Serves: 6 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar (divided into ¼ cup and ¾ cups) ½ teaspoon salt 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick) 5 or 6 medium peaches (preferably freestone), peeled and halved Cinnamon, optional 1 cup heavy cream, sour cream or yogurt 2 eggs
Variation: nectarines are a natural substitute for peaches. Advanced Preparation: May be baked several hours ahead. Can be kept at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Donna’s Notes: I prepared the crust in my food processor pulsing the flour, sugar, salt and butter for approximately 20 pulses or until it looked like coarse meal. When pressing the crust into the pie plate, I used a measuring cup to help flatten. I have also made the crostata with both heavy cream and sour cream, both equally delicious.
Sausage and Apples Salsicce e Mele al Tegame Recipe from Lidia’s Italy Serves: 6 to 8 Ingredients ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 12 links sweet Italian sausage without fennel seeds (about 2-/2 pounds) 2 medium onions, halved, then quartered at the root end 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 8 fresh sage leaves ¼ cider vinegar 4 Golden Delicious apples, cored and cut into 8 wedges each Heat a large shallow Dutch oven or very large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the sausages and brown all over, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir to coat the onions in the oil. Cover the skillet, and let the onions brown and wilt, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Scatter in the sage leaves, and add the vinegar and ¾ cup hot water. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until onions are wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the apples, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer, set the cover ajar, and cook until apples are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Uncover the pan, increase the heat to get the juices bubbling, and simmer until the juices reduce and glaze the sausages, apples, and onions, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve right away.
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