THE HISTORY OF FROSÉ

A Frosé, a frozen rosé cocktail (more technically, a winetail) can be as simple as a mixture of chilled rosé wine with a scoop of strawberry or lemon sorbet.

It’s easy to make at home. You can:

 
Want it really frozen?

 
But the original Frosé was quite different.

It was made in a frozen drink machine and had the texture of a frozen Margarita.

The frozen wine cocktail was created in the summer of 2016, at Bar Primi, a bar and restaurant in New York City. Rosé was the wine of choice.

The venue had a frozen drink machine, which led to curiosity about what would happen if rosé were poured into it.

After working on the recipe, Bar Primi created a version that included sweet vermouth and strawberries. It was a huge hit.

Word spread and other mixologists created their own versions.

No sorbet was used. Sorbet came later, as a technique to get a slushy drink at home.
 
Use The Right Rosé

The following recipe (photo #1) from Discover California Wines, adds raspberries for a Raspberry Frosé. We have additional Frosé recipes below.

There are many delicious California rosés, but don’t use a bone-dry rosé. Ask the wine store clerk for something with a hint of sweetness. It will go better with the fruit and sorbet.
 
 
RECIPE: RASPBERRY FROSÉ

Ingredients For 5 Drinks

 
Preparation With An Ice Cream Machine

1a. ADD the berries, peach, sugar, and lemon juice to a blender; pour in the rosé. Process the ingredients until smooth. Taste for sweetness; if more sweetness is desired, add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar and blend again.

2a. POUR the mixture into an ice cream maker and churn until thick and slushy (40-60 minutes).

3a. SCOOP or pour the rose into serving glasses; garnish and serve.
 
Preparation With A Blender & Freezer

1b. FOLLOW steps 1a & 2a above. Pour the mixture into a 9 x 13 freezer-safe pan. Cover and freeze until the mixture is mostly solid, at least 6 hours.

2b. REMOVE from the freezer and scoop the mixture into the blender. Blend just until the mixture is smooth.

3b. POUR into glasses and garnish as desired.
 

MORE FROSÉ RECIPES

[1] Lush summer raspberries create a flavor-forward Frosé (photo and recipe © Discover California Wines).

[2] Kindred Restaurant in Davidson, North Carolina adds fresh lemon juice and a garnish of lemon peel (photo © Kindred Restaurant).

[3] Substitute raspberries for blackberries, blueberries or strawberries. Watermelon works, too. Here’s the recipe (photo © U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council).

[4] Bonterra is a California rosé that makes great Frosés (photo © Bonterra).

Also referred to as blush wine, rosé can be made as a still, semi-still, or sparkling wine.

Still rosé wines can be made from almost any red grape varietal, or from a blend of varietals. Sparkling rosé wines, including rosé Champagne, are exceptions because they also can be made with white grapes.

The wines get their rosy color from contact with the red grape skins. Depending on the grape, terroir, and winemaking techniques, the color can range from the palest pink to deep ruby red to hues of orange or violet.
 
 

[1] Make gluten-free pancakes with Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix (photos #1, #2, #3 and #4 © Pamela’s Products).

[2] Ready for some homemade banana bread?

[3] America’s favorite cookie, gluten-free.

[4] What are your favorite pizza toppings? For a switch, switch the basil with baby arugula—or use both.

[5] Whatever you want to bake, it’s likely that Pamela’s has a gluten-free mix (photo © The Nibble | Katharine Pollak).

Editor’s Note: We have long found Pamela’s Products to be a delicious gluten-free alternative for pancakes, cookies, cakes and other baked goods. Here, an endorsement from our gluten-free specialist, Georgi Page-Smith.

Even if you don’t avoid gluten, if you have friends who do, buy a box of mix. Then, when you’re planning a visit, you can present them with a plate of just-baked chocolate chip cookies, or other treat.
 
 
GLUTEN-FREE GLORY

My first experiment in gluten-free flour involved a well-known purveyor of grains, whose flour was overwhelmingly bean-y in taste and texture—due, I believe, to the use of garbanzo and fava flour*.

But I prefer my cookies and my falafel to stay in their own appointed lanes, thank you very much. So when I went looking a second time there was a lot more at stake. I was on a quest.

Of course I went to the Internet. I Googled, I read product reviews, and by far the products that were most recommended were Pamela’s.

 
I also had a chance to try Pamela’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix. Again, Pamela delivered.

 
They actually inspired me to challenge my sister—a woman who has a multiple stage, 2-day chocolate chip cookie process—to a bake off! They were that delicious, and that easy.

I have also used various combinations of the Bread Flour and the Baking Mix for pie crust, with good results.

Some gluten-free flour brands produce a crust that will not hold together, or is amazingly tough. With Pamela’s, I have achieved mini apple hand pies whose crust had a delightful crumb-y texture, just verging on flaky.

Pamela’s became my new best friend in the kitchen, enabling me to live the gluten-free lifestyle which I was becoming accustomed to.
 
 
EASY TO USE

Substitutions are painless, and they are aided and abetted by the extensive collection of recipes on the Pamela’s site, as well as by the fact that many gluten-free bloggers use Pamela’s in their own experiments.

The prices are a bit high*, but as competition increases we hope that will change. Pamela’s products are also very available: I have seen them in more stores than almost any other brand. And of course…

You can buy them online at PamelasProducts.com, with a smaller selection available on Amazon.
 
 
TRIED & RECOMMENDED

 
 
MORE PAMELA’S PRODUCTS

 
 
Check out our reviews of:

> Pamela’s Figgies & Jammies Fig Bars

> Pamela’s Sprouted Grain Pancake Mixes

*Note: The finest ingredients typically cost more. Some brands may choose to keep the price down by using other ingredients.

July is National Watermelon Month.

Do you like watermelon? We do, and we have a passion for watermelon juice.

We “squeeze” our own in a blender or food processor, because bottled brands can’t come near to the vibrant flavor of fresh-squeezed watermelon juice.

You can feel good about each refreshing glass:

[1] Fresh-squeezed watermelon juice (photo © National Watermelon Promotion Board).

[2] To get the clearest juice, strain twice through a fine strainer. Here, the juice is topped off with soda water (photo © Hyhoon | Dreamstime).

[3] Add watermelon juice to a pitcher of green tea. Here’s the recipe (photo © National Watermelon Promotion Board).

[4] A Watermelon Cosmopolitan. Here’s the recipe (photo © National Watermelon Promotion Board).

[1] Alp Blossom, our vote for prettiest cheese in the world (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

[2] Serve it with crunchy toasts and a dab of honey (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

[3] You can cut the cheese into cubes and sprinkle the flora on top (photo © DiBruno Bros).

[4] Dressed to impress: Get the whole wheel! (photo © DiBruno Bros).

[5] Appenzeller, a hard cow’s-milk cheese produced in the Appenzell region of northeast Switzerland (photo © Artisanal Cheese).

[6] Emmental is the name of the place, while Emmentaler describes something from there. Here’s more about it (photo © Wisconsin Cheeseman).

[7] Gruyère dates to the 13th century. At 12 months or older, it delivers aromas of caramelized apples and notes of hazelnutty brown butter. It is popular as a table cheese and for fondue and grilled cheese. Originally made in Switzerland, it is now produced in France, Germany and the U.S. as well (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

[8] Hoch Ybrig is a raw cow’s milk cheese made in Switzerland, patterned after Switzerland’s famous Gruyère cheese. The recipe was created in the 1980s by cheesemaker Rolf Beeler, and has become a favorite among mountain cheese connoisseurs (photo © Artisanal Cheese).

[9] Tête de Moine, a cheese produced since 1192 by the monks of the abbey of Bellelay, in Switzerland. The name means monk’s head. In 1982, a device, the girolle, was invented to make rosettes from the cheese (photo © Artisanal Cheese).

This cheese is flavorful and beautiful, but it also qualifies as food fun—and food art, for that matter.

Alp Blossom is an alpine cheese covered with blossoms and herbs (photos #1 to #4).

It is perhaps the prettiest cheese in the world.
 
 
ALP BLOSSOM FLAVOR & AROMA

This pasteurized, semi-hard cow’s milk cheese is reminiscent of Gruyère: nutty and a bit beefy.

The flora (flowers and herbs) which coat the rind give the cheese a unique herbaceous aroma and a meadowlike sweetness with savory nuances.

The blend includes chervil, cornflower, lavender, lovage, marigold, marjoram and rose petals.

The paste is pale yellow with occasional eyes (holes)*. It delivers flavors of cream and nuts, with a bit of mild washed rind funk on the finish.

Alp Blossom is made by Sennerei Huban, Austria’s first cheese co-op and school, established in 1901 in Doren, a municipality in the district of Bregenz in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg.

The co-op works with 34 local milk herds, each with an average of about 15 Brown Swiss cows.

Alp Blossom is made from Brown Swiss cow milk, handcrafted into 10-pound wheels that are aged for six months. The flora are applied at four months.

Brown Swiss cows were bred to have milk with high butterfat content, that yields a rich flavor and a dense, creamy finish in the cheese.

Alp Blossom starts as Hubaner, the co-op’s signature cheese: a firm wheel with a washed rind.

After four months of aging, the wheel is covered in the flora. The result: Magic!
 
 
HOW TO SERVE ALP BLOSSOM CHEESE

The cheese is so beautiful, it will outshine any other cheese on the plate.

But there are solutions to serve it with other cheeses:

 
To Drink

In general, cheeses pair best with their local beers and wines. Local recipes were crafted to pair with other local foods.

For Alp Blossom, beer and wine from Austria and Germany are excellent choices, but you can go beyond boundaries.

 
When we have Alpine cheeses at the end of a meal, we may also serve a dessert wine.

Alp Blossom is available from Murray’s Cheese and DiBruno Bros.
 
 
WHAT ARE ALPINE CHEESES OR MOUNTAIN CHEESES?

Alpine cheeses, also called mountain cheeses, are a range of cheeses originally produced in the Swiss and French Alps.

The area now includes the Italian and Spanish Alps, and the style of cheese is also made in non-mountainous cheeses.

Mountain cheeses are only produced in the summer months, using milk from cows that spend the summer on mountain pasture. They feed upon the grass plus the flowers and herbs that are unique to each region.

The milk creates strong, aromatic cheeses, often made in large wheels.

According to Caseus Montanus, an international association of mountain cheese producers, a mountain cheese is one produced and aged above 800 meters (approximately 2,500 feet).

According to Artisanal Cheese, scientific studies on the flavor profile of mountain cheeses have found as many as 100,000 micro-organisms in the flora of the high altitude mountains, as compared to less than 10,000 microorganisms in lower prairie altitudes.

This intensity of microorganisms is responsible for the deep and complex flavors of mountain cheeses.

The best-known mountain cheeses available in the U.S. (made from cow’s milk, except as noted) include, among others:

 
The categories of Swiss cheese include:

 
If you’re a lover of these cheeses, consider a tasting with representation from each category.
 
 
WHAT IS SWISS CHEESE?

If you don’t see “Swiss cheese” on the preceding list, it’s because it’s not a term used in Switzerland or any other part of Europe.

Swiss cheese is the generic term used in the U.S. for several related varieties of domestic cheese, modeled after those originally made in Switzerland.

Emmental or Emmentaler (the first spelling is the name of the place, the second describes something from that place) is the cheese Americans think of as the generic Swiss cheese.

While Americans believe that Swiss cheese has holes*, properly known as eyes, Emmental has them but not all kinds of Swiss cheese do.

There are some 450 known Alpine cheeses, classified into five categories: extra-hard, hard, semi-hard, semi-soft and soft. Cow’s milk is used in 99% of the cheeses produced.
 
 
AMERICAN MOUNTAIN CHEESES

Mountain-style cheeses are made in other countries, too; and no mountain cheeses are required.

A Vermont-made mountain cheese, Tarentaise, was named “Best Farmstead Cow’s Milk Cheese” at the 25th American Cheese Society Conference, a competition for for American-made cheeses.

Other noteworthy mountain-style cheeses:

 
Great cheese awaits!
 
 
> Discover Many More Cheeses in Our Cheese Glossary.
 
 
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*Some cheeses, like Emmental, are made with three types of bacteria: Streptococcus thermophilis, Lactobacillus and Propionibacter shermani. In a late stage of cheese production, P. shermani consumes the lactic acid excreted by the other bacteria, and releases carbon dioxide gas. This gas forms the bubbles that appear to be “holes” when the cheese is sliced. The cheese industry calls these holes or tunnels, “eyes.” Mountain cheeses without eyes are known as “blind.”

This salad works perfectly as a side dish or an appetizer—but it’s so good you might be tempted to make an entire meal out of it!

These pasta salads can be served as a light lunch (with soup or a salad of greens on the side), as a first course at dinner, or as a vegetarian dinner.

Both are very easy to make. The longest part is boiling the water and cooking the tortellini.

Both recipes were adapted from ones by DeLallo, a specialist in fine Italian imported food.
 
 
RECIPE #1: TORTELLINI SALAD OR SKEWERS

This recipe was designed as appetizer or skewers, but we have enjoyed it as much (and with less work) served in a bowl as a composed salad (photo #1).

The pesto is combined with olive oil to make a thinner sauce.

We had a jar of pepperoncini and another of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, which we drained and added to the mix.

You can also add olives.

And you don’t have to use cheese tortellini. You can find herb, pumpkin, spinach, seafood and meat fillings, including chicken and pork. But the vegetarian versions work better in pasta salad recipes.

Ingredients For 10 Small Servings

 
Preparation

To serve as a salad instead of skewers, don’t combine the ingredients but place them artfully in a bowl or on a platter. Serve the dressing in a pitcher for drizzling.

1. BRING a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the tortellini according to package instruction. Drain. As it cools…

2. COMBINE the pesto and olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Add the tortellini to the bowl and carefully stir to coat the pasta. Allow the tortellini to cool prior to skewering.

3. GENTLY thread the ingredients onto skewers. Save a few basil leaves to chop and sprinkle over skewers as a garnish.
 
 
RECIPE #2: GREEK TORTELLINI SALAD

Here’s a fusion pasta salad: Italian tortellini with Greek salad ingredients (photo #4).

The dressing is also Greek: olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and oregano.

Ingredients For 6 Servings

 
For The Greek Vinaigrette (1/2 Cup)

 
Preparation

1. BRING a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the tortellini according to package directions. Drain, rinse and let cool.

2. ADD the tortellini to a large bowl. Mix in the artichokes, pimento/cherry tomatoes, olives, onion, bell pepper and cucumber, plus optional ingredients.

3. POUR the dressing over pasta salad and toss well to coat. Crumble the feta on top, and garnish with the basil. Add salt and and pepper to taste (note that feta cheese is salty).

4. TOAST the pita bread if desired.
 
 
> Here’s An Authentic Greek Salad Recipe
 
 
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*We like lots of roasted red pepper, so we use a large jar. We additionally add the cherry tomatoes

*English cucumbers were bred in the U.K. to create a cucumber more desirable for cucumber sandwiches. It has tender flesh, with a thin, edible peel and tiny or no seeds. Some stores sell it as a burpless cucumber, European cucumber, hothouse cucumber or seedless cucumber.

[1] Recipe #1: two ways to serve a summer tortellini salad: in a composed bowl or on skewers (both photos © DeLallo).

[2] You can use both sun-dried tomatoes and fresh tomatoes in the same salad or on the same skewer. Keep a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil in the cupboard; or buy them dry, add your own oil, and keep them in the fridge (photo © Bella Sun Luci).

[3] Ciliegine (chee-lee-ay-JEE-nay), meaning cherries, refers to the cherry-sized fresh mozzarella balls above. There are eight sizes of mozzarella balls. The smallest size, perlini, is pearl-size—and Italian for pearls (photo ©. Neil Langan | Panther Media).

[4] Recipe #2: a fusion tortellini salad with Greek accents (photo © DeLallo).

[5] Most people enjoy tortellini as a hot dish with red sauce, but it is delightful as a pasta salad with pesto or a vinaigrette (photo © The Nibble).