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 inexplicable the heat of the sun is always to blame. In the month of August an important politician has decided that all 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 anchovies) 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. Divide into 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 Italian 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, culinary 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 to reserve your spot or for more info.
Mangia Been, Vivi Bene,
Maria
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