“Watermelon..it’s good fruit..you eat..you drink..you wash your face..”

Enrico Caruso

copyright, 2010, Maria Liberati

The most prominent,celebrated fruit of the summer in Italy..watermelon (cocomero)..after a day in the hot summer sun..nothing seems to cool you down or refresh body and mind like a thin slice of cool, juicy watermelon.

I always take a suitcase full of flavors with us wherever we go..and a watermelon is one of my required items.. (would not recommend putting it in a suitcase)…when we go to our country house in the mountains of Abruzzo or for a week at the beach..a watermelon is a necessary item in the months of June, July and August…..

My favorite way to eat a watermelon is cold, after it has been chilled in a bucket of ice water or the refrigerator  for an hour or two (although scientists in Italy have found that  watermelon provides more antioxidants when eaten warm) just sliced.. plain and simple..the way Mother Nature provides it..Eating watermelon is a bit like an opera ( A fine one sung by Caruso maybe) ..you really shouldn’t  just slice and eat. Prep it (put in the fridge to become cold-the overture..now it is ready-the first act is slicing into the watermelon..the second act is eating it ,savoring each bite..the final act-disposing of the rinds…you cna expereince your own opera…

If you want to fool with Mother Nature..here are some recipes :

Fruit  Skewers with Chocolate Nut Sauce

serves 4 people

4 bananas cut into 16 thick slices

1 whole, fresh pineapple cut into 16 squares

1/4 whole watermelon cut into 8 melon balls with a melon baller

2 whole kiwi, peeled, cut into 8 thick slices

1 whole cantaloupe cut into 16 melon balls or pieces

8 tablespoons of crushed hazelnuts

1- 16 ounce dark chocolate bar (of 70-90% cocoa)-melted over double boiler.

8 wooden skewer sticks

Alternate fruit on 8 wooden skewer sticks. Place 2 sticks full of fruit on each plate. Drizzle first-melted chocolate, then sprinkle with crushed hazelnuts, serve.

For more recipes get your copy of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions

Sept 9-12 see you at the Hudson Valley Wine Festival in Rhinebeck, NY in Dutchess County Fairgrounds. For info or sponsorship info contact : Sue at info@marialiberati.com or Andrea at: events.ar@gmail.com

Maria

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copyright 2009, Maria Liberati 

Last  night ended with the best refresher of all..a slice of locally produced watermelon…

Not a fan of air conditioning and at home there is not one in sight..the month of August you will always find a watermelon in our refrigerator..our natural way of cooling down from a hot August day or night or both.

August is always hot and temperatures ranging from hot to sweltering..with a beautiful sun. ..almost everyday. But the sun is so vibrant and alive in August and is rumored to make people do some crazy things..from political decisions to happenings..in the month of August when someone does something unusual or unexplicable the heat of the sun is always to blame.  In the month of August an important politician has decided that alll dialects (in Italy ) should be taught in the schools along with the regular language classes..blame it on the sun…

Really fresh, chilled watermelon is great by itself..but if you want to try another way to use watermelon before the  fresh ones disappear ..here is one of my favorite refreshing appetizers combining Japanese and Italian (wasabi and alici or snchovies) healthy for you also..

Watermelon Sushi  & Fizz Cocktail

*1 lb fresh strawberries

*rind of one lemon for decoration

*8 ounces plain seltzer water (gazzosa)

*2 lbs fresh watermelon

*8 anchovies marinated in extra virgin olive oil

*wasabi sauce

*leeks

Wash watermelon and cut ‘meat’  into 8 square slices, remove rind on each piece. Place some wasabi on each slice and on top of wasabi, place 2 marinated anchovies.Cut leeks into small rings and decorate top of anchovies with leek rings. Wash strawberries. Set aside 4 whole strawberries. Hull the remaining strawberries and place in a food processor with a cup of chopped ice.  Blend till thick liquid. Divideinto 8 glasses and add seltzer to each glass.Top each with a strawberry on a toothpick. Add in some ice if desired and some lemon rind for decoration. Serve with your watermelon sushi…Italian style..

For the  digital magazine edition of August/Sept 2009 The Basic Art of Italiain Cooking    ezine go to

Gelato-The Perfect Summer Dessert

Travel Column: “The Florentine Tradition”

Q&A with Aida Mollenkamp  from CHOW.com

Finger Food Italian Style Recipes 

**For more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking : Holidays & Special Occasions before the mad Holiday rush..great for your own kitchen for recipes ideas or for gifts..140+ recipes ,menus, short stories on Holidays spent in Italy..

Spend Christmas in Italy..don’t need a passport for this one.  Spend a weekend of cooking classes,. culinar yh tours, wine pairings with recipes from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions at the Harvest Moon Bed & breakfast in Lancaster, Pa.  Places are limited..email :events@marialiberati.com t oreserve your spot or for more info..

Mangia Been, Vivi Bene,

Maria

http://twitter.com/Marialiberati

copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

 A Happy Memorial Day weekend.. Does this mean summer is finally here? It must be summer, I got to purchase my first baby watermelon yesterday and plan on eating the whole thing  myself!!

I can’t  think of a more refreshing way to spend a warm summer style day..besides it reminds me of my summers spent in the mountains of Abruzzo..eating lunch on the terrazzo and reveling in the beautiful Italian sun and peaceful quiet while being cooled down by  munching on a  slice of   sweet watermelon..

For those of you that don’t  want to eat a whole watermelon or would appreciate another type of fruit..try my second favorite summer time dessert fresh strawberries with lemon.

Fragole con Limone

1 pound of fresh strawberries

1 fresh lemon

1/4 cup sugar

handful of fresh mint leaves

Wash and quarter strawberries. Squeeze juice of one lemon on top, sprinkle sugar and toss gently. let marinade in refrigerator for 2 hours. Serve  chilled garnished with fresh mint leaves.

Enjoy!

Hope to see you on June 4th at Foster’s Gourmet in Philadelphia and /or Horsham Day in Horsham, Pa at Deep Meadow Park..See you then..

Happy summer eating.

Mangai Bene, Vivi Bene

Maria