Caprese sandwich, a.k.a. Caprese salad
sandwich. Photo courtesy Hubbard Inn.

Our Seasonal Affective Disorder* kicked in last Saturday—and daylight savings time doesn’t end until November 4th!

But it’s not the diminishing daylight that has us bummed. It’s the end of summer tomato season. Those beautiful heirloom tomatoes, a high point of our culinary week, are gone.

Every Saturday, we’d hit the farmers market, bring home a few pounds of assorted heirlooms, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella, and mix and match the tomatoes in a series of Caprese salads.

As a transition to fall fare, we’ve switched to a Caprese Sandwich, such as this one from Chicago’s Hubbard Inn.

Now, cherry tomatoes substitute for thick slices of summer tomatoes. The classic green in a Caprese salad is fresh basil, but the Hubbard Inn substitutes arugula (most Americans don’t like a basil salad). We do a 75:25 blend of arugula and basil.
And Hubbard Inn customers like meat on their sandwich: The inn adds prosciuto de Parma (also called Parma ham).

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. Slice mozzarella, halve cherry tomatoes.

2. Sprinkle bottom bread slice with oil and vinegar.

3. Layer with ham, mozzarella, arugula, basil and tomatoes/tomato substitute (see below).

For variety, try a Caprese Pasta Salad.
 
SUBSTITUTES FOR FRESH TOMATOES

Local summer tomatoes are a joy; they’re even more precious because the season is so sort. When regular tomatoes are not at their prime, here’s what we subsitute in salads and on sandwiches:

 
Let us know your favorite variations on this idea.
 
*Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at a certain time of the year, usually in the winter. It is attributed to less sunshine and long winter nights.

†Cut into long, thin strips.
 
  

Got plans this weekend?

How about Butter? The latest film from The Weinstein Company opens today in the United States and Canada.

When we were first invited to a screening of the film, we knew nothing about it except the cast. We thought it would be related to food, hence the invitation.

Well, it’s not about butter, the food. It’s about butter, the sculptural medium.

If you’ve never seen butter sculpture competitions at state or county fairs, you’ll be wowed by the art showcased in the film. Some of it’s tongue in cheek, but all of it made us say “Wow!”

We’re not going to provide a proper film review: We’re food reviewers, not film reviewers.

But in one sentence: We thought the film was quite the tasty spread. We’d see it again.

Photo courtesy The Weinstein Company.

The cast, given fun characters to chew on, includes the boldface names in the movie poster (above) and a preturnaturally wise child, Yara Shahidi. Kristen Schaal also deserves a shout-out.

If the film inspires you to learn the history of butter, the different types of butter, butter storage tips or the how to bake with butter, we’ve got it covered.

And check out our compiled list of real “food films.”
  

Bites of heaven: painted chocolate shells
filled with pumpkin-spiced chocolate
ganache. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE
NIBBLE.

If you’re looking for the finest chocolates for Halloween, you can’t do better than John & Kira’s, a former NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week as well as this week’s pick.

The chocolatier’s signature silky ganaches in 62% cacao Valrhona shells are just right for a gourmet chocolate Halloween.

It’s difficult to choose among Apple Spice, Chocolate Orange and Chocolate Pumpkin bonbons; so if the budget allows, get them all!
Check out the full review, along with this week’s recipe and cooking video.

Today is National Vodka Day. Do you know the first vodka cocktail invented in the U.S.? (If you read the headline of this article, you do).

Today vodka and vodka cocktails are ubiquitous. In 2011, roughly 62 million 9-liter cases of vodka were sold in the U.S: the most of any spirit category.*
 
 
MOSCOW MULE HISTORY

The Moscow Mule has its own holiday: March 3rd. Here’s how it came to be.

In the 1940s, vodka represented a tiny fraction—just $50,000—of the then-$2,000,000,000-a-year U.S. spirits industry.

The Moscow Mule was invented in 1941 by John G. Martin of Heublein (grandson of founder Gilbert Heublein); Jack Morgan, president of Cock ‘n’ Bull Products (which produced ginger beer**) and proprietor of the Cock ‘n’ Bull restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, popular with movie stars; and Rudolph Kunett, president of the Pierre Smirnoff, Heublein’s vodka division.

One evening at the Chatham Hotel (no longer extant) in New York City, the trio wondered what would happen if they mixed a two-ounce shot of Smirnoff vodka with Morgan’s ginger beer and a squeeze of lime.

Four or five drinks later, the new cocktail was christened the Moscow Mule. Why?

Vodka is associated with Russia;† Moscow is the capital. “Buck” and “mule” are antiquated names for a family of mixed drinks that incorporate ginger ale or ginger beer and citrus juice (more about them).
 
 
WHY THE COPPER MUG?

To aid vodka sales, Martin and Morgan promoted the new cocktail at the Cock and Bull restaurant. To amp up the marketing, it was served in a copper mug engraved with two mules kicking up their heels.

Many of the stars had their own mugs engraved with their names, hanging over the bar. Martin and Morgan knew how to use star power to sell a drink!
 
 
RECIPE: THE ORIGINAL MOSCOW MULE

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a rocks glass.

You’ll find modern variations that turn the Moscow Mule into a tall drink, add cranberry juice, orange bitters, substitute lemon juice for the lime juice, and so forth.

But that night at the Chatham Hotel, the three inventors used only vodka, lime juice, ginger beer and ice. Follow suit for an authentic Moscow Mule.

You don’t need copper mugs, but you can buy them on Amazon.com, with or without an engraved kicking mule.

[1] A Moscow Mule in the traditional copper mug (photo © Smirnoff Vodka).

[2] Gosling’s Ginger Beer, delicious as a mixer and for those who want an amped-up ginger ale (photo © Gosling’s Rum).

[3] Smirnoff is the world’s #1 vodka brand (photo © Smirnoff).

________________

*Source: Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Industry Review Support Tables 2011.

**Ginger beer is a carbonated beverage, usually non-alcoholic. It is produced by the natural fermentation of ginger spice, yeast and sugar. It has a much more intense ginger flavor than ginger ale.

†Vodka actually originated in Poland. The history of vodka.

Raw broccoli rabe at top, and sautéed in
garlic over orecchiete pasta. Photo by M.R.
Kornflakes | Dreamstime.

Descended from a wild herb, like many of our greens, versions of broccoli rabe originated in the Mediterranean and in China.

Although it bears the name “broccoli,” tastes like a bitter and pungent form of broccoli (think broccoli crossed with mustard greens with some nuttiness) and looks like a relative of broccoli—it has broccoli-like buds and florets at the top of slender stalks—broccoli rabe is not related to broccoli but turnips.

That’s why the leaves look like turnip greens and the vegetable is also called Italian turnip and turnip broccoli.

HOW TO SERVE BROCCOLI RABE

You can braise the rabe or add it to a stir-fry; but a quick sauté in olive oil with garlic is all you need. Then, serve this tasty green as a side, or as a topping for pasta.

Find more of our favorite vegetables and recipes.