Cucumber Melon Granita!

And happy blog day... I was informed by my son that August 31st is Blog Day.  So why not post a dessert for its party?

Unlike the poor eggplant caviar,
Cucumber Melon Granita
is PRETTY!
But just as easy 

This is especially for all of you sweltering out there in the world.  (Also soothing for sore throats.)
I'm at home in 50˚F and overcast, but hey, love that variety (ooooh, here at midday we've hit 59˚).

For a nice cool treat - follow me!

Ingredients:

2 cucumbers the size of bananas (or approximate that amount with what you've got)*
1/4 of a honeydew-type melon of normal size - (I had 2 teeny melons that were about halfway between the size of a baseball & a softball, or an average guy's fist)
4 Tbs white sugar (more or less)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbs clear, mostly flavorless liquor (I used some nice gin for faint herbal notes, use vodka if all you are looking for is the "antifreeze" properties).

Equipment:

Knife
Vegetable peeler
Cutting board
Blender
8x8 baking pan or similar size plastic container
Spoon
Fork
Tablespoon measure

Cook!

Cut the ends off the cucumbers, cut them in half (so you make them shorter), and peel them.  Cut them in half the other way (so they look like boats), and scoop the seeds out.  Chop them into pieces about as thick as your thumb, toss in the blender.

Scoop the seeds out of the center of your melons(s).  Scoop the flesh and juice off the rind, into the blender.  Your honeydew-type melon should be sinfully juicy and sweet when you do this.  It is a perfect way to use up that end of melon no one wants.

Add the lemon juice, and blend.  Add the sugar 1 Tbs at a time.  (If your melon was a bit crunchy you may need extra).  Add enough sugar so it tastes a little too sweet.
You'll need that little extra sweetness to a) counteract the deadening effect cold has on your tongue and b) to keep this from turning into an irretrievable green ice cube.

Add the Tbs of clear liquor and blend one more time.

Pour in your container, pop it in the freezer, and check at 45 minutes to see how fast it is freezing.  Stir the frozen parts in with the runny parts.  Check again in an hour or so.  Run a fork over the frozen stuff.  If it turns into the ice equivalent of cotton candy - you have granita!
From here you can let it freeze as solid as it will get, and just scrape what you want off with a fork.  If you want to store for longer, scrape it all into its fluffy state, and store in a container large enough to hold it all with a tight lid.  Then store and use like ice cream or sherbet or whatever.
If it turning into something suitable for ice carving, it needs more sugar.  Let it thaw back out, add a few more Tbs of sugar and try again.

Or just smash it up and add it as ice cubes to lemonade.  And try again later.

*Special Ingredient Alert!
Armenian Cucumbers or Snake Melons - actually a melon themselves, but taste like cucumber (the two are close cousins - so go figure.)
This pale green specimen is making inroads at farmers market - and what I used.  Never get the ones that are as big as your arm, they can be bitter and woody.  Stick to about banana sized or smaller.

The Armenian Cucumber or Snake Melon

Yeah - I interned borrowed this image... and so did everyone else.
Even Seeds of Change uses this one on their seed packets.
Sorry for forgetting to snap a pic of one in my kitchen.

  

Quinoa, Arugula and Veggie Salad... The Recipe

The basics for this off the cuff keeper:

Ingredients:

2 C cooked quinoa
2 handfuls arugula or other bitter/spicy green - rinsed & torn
1 large handful cherry type tomatoes
1 small cucumber
1/4 C chopped onion (any kind)
2 cloves garlic
Tasty vinegar (sherry, rice, champagne etc... just not white and not too harsh)
salt, pepper
a few slices bread (tortillas work too)
1/4 broth or water
Oil for cooking (I suggest bacon drippings - or use a little sesame oil with regular cooking oil)
Parmesan or other hard grating cheese

Equipment:

Knife
Cutting Board
Sauce pan w/lid
Garlic press (optional)
Cheese Grater
Medium bowl + utensils for tossing/serving the salad

Cook!

Brown the onion in the oil over high heat, then add the greens to wilt.
Turn down the heat to medium, crush the garlic into the greens and stir to combine.

Add in the quinoa.  If it is too dry, add about 1/4C broth or water, and cover over low/very low heat.
Slice the tomatoes in half (this is where they got scooped out with the melon baller).
Slice the cucumbers into bite sized pieces (more or less) sprinkle them with 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1 tsp of vinegar.  Taste and adjust.  Set aside.

Check the quinoa, and if the liquid has been absorbed, turn off the heat, and stir in the tomatoes.
Taste and check for flavor.  Add pepper and vinegar to taste.  Grate in some parmesan and taste again before adding any salt.  That may do the trick.  (It did for us between the salt in the bacon and the broth).

Fry the bread/tortillas in a little more oil (or just toast them).

Serve the salad with the cumbers on the side or mixed in.
Grate on some more parmesan, and use the bread to help you eat it all.

Sliced nectarines & plums make a fabulous finish!  We actually had some honey yogurt with these - but got so excited, we forgot to take pictures of that...

Cumber and Summer Squash Salad

I had this BRILLIANT idea to make lamb sausage wontons. I started with Lamb Sausage from my butcher (Double D Meats, 5602 232nd St SW # 104, Mountlake Terrace, WA (425) 778-7363) that already had garlic and mint. Not to be out done I added mint & yogurt cheese (will discuss soon - a treasure at our disposal). I folded about a teaspoon into a wonton skin and froze on the spot.

I only had ONE package of wontons. Apparently you need about 4 (or 5!) packages to use the whole 2 pounds. Now that I had used slightly less than 1/2 of the mixture, for some reason I felt adding par-cooked potatoes (cubed) and browned onions would be a good idea. I know not why, for it brought the volume of stuff back almost the the original amount. Maybe the lamby & starchy & with the spicy, minty, sweet & oniony are just So I made Lamb Sausage Rolls (in frozen puff pastry). I made pastry dough and created empanadas... and in desperation, little mini burgers. There's no doubt it's all tasty (I checked by cooking a teaspoon in a fry pan), but so much lamb burger STUFF!

OK so now... lamb something from the freezer for the next 6 weeks!

But what to eat with that?

Summer squash and Cucumbers... thats what!

The Easy Part: Slice a medium sized cucumber in half and then into very thin slices.

then a small yellow or green summer squash (zucchini count) also in thin slices. Thinly slice in a mixture of herbs (any and all you have on hand... chives, basil, oregano, cilantro, mint (only a little), sage (also only a little)... etc.

The Hard Part (well the slightly harder part): Dressing. Vigorously stir together 2 Tbs Apple cider vineger 1 Tbs white wine vinegar (champagne, rice... whatever you have). 1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard, a good squeeze of honey, 1 large garlic clove crushed and salt to taste. A few (well, many) dashes of Green Tabasco sauce gives it that something... extra.

Then, stirring hard with a fork or whisk... time to gently pour in some sort of olive oil. Keep stirring and make an emulsion. When you have enough dressing to generously to cover the cukes, squash & herbs, taste JUST TO MAKE SURE IT is tasty... but a little too strong. (or dump everything into a tightly lidded container and shake-a shake-a)

Pour over your pile of thinly sliced herbs, cucumbers and raw squash. Stir REALLY well. Hear your son say it is better than plain, raw cucumbers (high praise in my world).

How to make your Mom Happy... and clean out the Fridge.

Whenever I go visit my mom and vice-mom, I head straight for the fridge. They buy all sorts of GREAT groceries, but only use about half of each item. I combine the orphans. They always invite me back.

The inventions from the start of this trip:

Tapas Salads - I served these on tiny plates with sesame crisps. I also pulled out a dry white wine.

*Asian Cukes*

2 mini cucumbers cut on the bias - about 1/4 in. thick

Dressing:

2:2 soy sauce and balsamic vinegar

1:1 sesame oil and chili oil

sesame seeds

crushed red pepper

Mix together, let sit in the fridge for a few hours - or eat right NOW

(the proportions are approx. - adjust to taste. I've given ratios, so if your amount is Tbs, then this means 2 Tbs soy, 1Tbs oil and so on.)

*Simplest Pea Salad*

Any amount or mixture of peas you eat with the pod (snow, sugar etc.)

Cut them on the diagonal about the width of your thumb.

Dressing Per large handful of peas:

1 garlic clove chopped fine and smashed with

1/4 - 1/2 tsp coarse salt (kosher, sea, whatever)

1+ tsp olive oil (really tasty)

Shake these together with the peas until mixed really well.

Grind on pepper until it has a sneaky little kick.

Add anything red from your vegetable drawer that needs to get used

(suggestions - tomatoes, red peppers, red onions, radishes, raddichio)

Also let sit or Eat Right NOW!