[2] Another Caprese main course option: Balsamic Chicken Caprese. Here’s the recipe from Cafe Delites.

[3] Classic Caprese with red and yellow heirloom tomatoes (photo courtesy Balducci’s).

[4] Artistic Caprese arrangement (photo courtesy Great Performances | Facebook).

Caprese Salad—tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, with an olive oil dressing—has become a mainstay on U.S. menus (here’s the history of Caprese Salad).

In the summer, when ripe tomatoes are picked from the vine, it’s high season for Caprese.

Each summer we publish a different take on the salad (see below). This year, it’s a variation we hadn’t thought of before: a baked Caprese Casserole.

The recipe is from QVC’s “resident foodie” and best-selling cookbook author, David Venable. The casserole shines when made with succulent summer tomatoes; and also works with off-season tomatoes (cooking tomatoes brings out some sweetness that may not be in the raw tomatoes).
 
 
RECIPE: CAPRESE CASSEROLE

Ingredients For 8 Servings
 
For The Base Layer

 
For The Topping

 
Preparation

1. PREPARE the base layer. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with nonstick food spray.

2. SLICE the baguette into rounds and place them in a mixing bowl. Toss the rounds with the garlic, parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay the rounds on a baking sheet and cook in the oven until toasted and crispy, about 20 minutes (15 minutes if you raise the temperature to 400°F).

3. SHINGLE (overlap) the toasted slices in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Starting at one end of the dish, make a row of tomato slices. Alternate rows of mozzarella and tomato until the baking dish is filled from one end to the other. Using a spoon, drizzle the olive oil, then the pesto, back and forth over the entire casserole.

4. PREPARE the topping. Place the parmesan, bread crumbs, garlic, basil and olive oil into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until combined. Sprinkle the topping evenly on top of the prepared casserole. Season with the salt and pepper.

5. PLACE the baking dish in the oven for approximately 30 minutes, until the tomatoes have softened and the topping has browned slightly.
 
 
12 CAPRESE SALAD RECIPES

How often have you had a cocktail with an orange wheel—a horizontal slice of orange?

How would you feel about another shape?

An unnamed Japanese bartender cut hexagonal orange garnishes for an Aperol Spritz. They look great, don’t they?

The problem is, the oranges were shaped in a hexagonal mold while growing (like the Japanese square watermelons).

So, we can’t cut hexagons that include the orange peel, as in the photograph. But we can cut hexagons without the peel—or triangles, or squares.

We found it easier to first slice the orange in half, then in slices; and then we trimmed each slice into the hexagon. Use a very sharp knife!

Other round citrus, like Meyer lemons and Key limes, work as well.

Nothing is wasted: Save the scraps of orange and peel and make ice cubes with them.

Just plop them into each cube section, fill with water and freeze.

Hexagon cocktail garnish (photo courtesy Aperol Spritz | Facebook).

[2] Fine & Raw Chocolate Bars are portioned for daily enjoyment.

[3] Say good-by to environmentally harmful straws with these look-alike alternatives from Repurpose Compostables.

Our favorite products of the week, in alphabetical order:

1. A. VOGEL SPICY SEA SALT

A. Vogel makes a popular herbed sea salt. Joining it is new Spicy Sea Salt, with a touch of hot chiles. It is the recipient of a 2018 Food Essential Award.

Add extra heat and spice to your your recipes: Pep up grilled food, Mexican, Italian and other recipes. Or simply shake some heat onto grains, fruits and vegetables.

A. Vogel advises: Add seasoned salts after cooking for enhanced taste (i.e., so the flavor doesn’t “cook out”).

A. Vogel products are available nationwide at health food stores and online retailers. They are certified kosher by KSA, Non-GMO, Eco Cert, and Biologique Canada.

Discover more at AVogelUSA.com

2. FINE & RAW CHOCOLATE BARS

Fine & Raw is a line of hip, small-batch, artisan chocolate bars that are a delectable alternative to processed chocolate.

The raw food movement does not process food at temperatures higher than 118°F, in order to preserve the nutrients.

The cacao beans are barely heated, ripening some of the flavors but leaving the taste of raw (unroasted) cacao beans. No dairy is used; the bars are vegan.

Coconut sugar was chosen as the sweetener, because it enhances the rich, deep flavors of cacao—and has much more nutritional value than cane sugar. (It does not taste like coconut.)

The creamy one-ounce bars—some two ounces—are available in fab flavors:

 
Check out the individual bars, collections and gift sets at
FineAndRaw.com.

Repurpose is a line of eco-friendly, sustainable tableware that keeps plastic waste out of the landfill. They are 100% compostable, so they break down in months, not millennia.

The products are made exclusively from plants, and are durable, BPA-free and guilt-free renewable alternatives.

The material used is ingeo, made from carbon stored in plants during photosynthesis, in the form of dextrose sugar.

The latest addition to the line is drinking straws—and yes, they are flexible (they bend towards the top), and won’t crack or break. They have the same look and feel as plastic straws.

With recent press about the plastic straws, we know that Americans use 500 million drinking straws every day, enough to fill 46,400 school buses every year (source)!

While major restaurant chains and other foodservice outlets are putting plans in place to end the practice, you can start immediately. They’re available on Amazon.

See the rest of the line at RepurposeCompostables.com.

______________________
*Lúcuma is a fruit native to Andes Mountain valleys.
  

This year, we’ve combined the two into one fun recipe: Banana Split Waffles. The waffle becomes the split banana.

It’s timely, too August 24th is National Waffle Day and August 25th is National Banana Split Day.

Prep time is 10 minutes, total time 25 minutes. A round waffle maker is required. Thanks to Krusteaz for the recipe.

But first:

 
 
RECIPE: BANANA SPLIT WAFFLES

Ingredients For 4 Servings

For The Waffles

 
For The Fillings

[2] In addition to the “banana split,” a round waffle maker enables you to fold the waffles, taco style, to hold the fillings (photo courtesy All-Clad).

1. PREHEAT the waffle iron. To toast the nuts, preheat a dry, heavy skillet over medium heat, add the nuts and toast for 1 to 2 minutes, or until they’re golden brown and give off a rich, toasty fragrance. Stir constantly for even toasting. Remove from the pan to cool.

2. WHISK all the waffle ingredients together in a medium bowl. The batter will be slightly lumpy.

3. POUR the batter onto the prepared waffle iron. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the waffles are golden brown, or according to the waffle iron directions.

4. FOLD the waffle into a small bowl and add the fillings.
 
 
MORE BANANA SPLIT FUN

[2] Hot dogs are available in different sizes and seasonings.

[3] Hot dog production: ready to roll into the oven for smoking.

A & H, Abeles & Heymann, is an old-world-style producer of top-quality kosher processed meats—corned beef, hot dogs, pastrami and salami. The products are made from recipes brought from Austria to New York City.

Founded in 1954 by an uncle and his nephew, the small company prospered. Decades later, when the founders planned to retire, they didn’t want to sell to a large corporation that might seek higher profits by changing the quality of the ingredients and the manufacturing process. So the company remains privately owned, and the quality is still the highest.

The hot dogs are glatt kosher. The difference between kosher and glatt kosher is a higher standard of supervision. To be certified glatt kosher, the meat must come from an animal with adhesion-free or smooth lungs; glatt means smooth. Here’s a longer explanation.
 
 
PRODUCING THE HOT DOGS

After creating the proper lean-to-fat ratio, the mixture is moved into a rotating paddle machine where the ground meat and fat create a bind that reduces greasiness. The meat then goes into an emulsifier, where spices are added.

The spiced meat heads to the stuffer, where the meat is extruded into the linker—the machine that forms the individual hot dogs, or links in trade parlance.

The linked hot dogs are placed on a hanging tree (photo #3) and rolled into ovens, where the meat is smoked for 12 to 24 hours. After cooling, the links are separated, packaged and shipped.
 
 
YOU CAN TASTE THE QUALITY

Most hot dog brands taste fatty and overly-spiced. That’s to cover up lesser-quality meat and a greater percentage of [cheaper] fat.

Bite into an A & H hot dog, and you’ll immediately taste the meatiness. It’s one of the best-tasting beef hot dogs you can hope to find.

There’s no sponginess (an indication of fat), no excessive spicing ready to be burped.

If you’re looking to grill something more special for the holiday weekend—or any day of the year—pick up some A & H hot dogs. They’re more expensive than big brands; but isn’t all good meat more expensive?

If you can’t find the hot dogs locally, you can buy them online from A & H.
 
 
LEARN MORE AT ABELES-HEYMANN.COM.

The history of the hot dog explains the terms frankfurter and wiener. The hot dog traces its lineage to the 15th-century Viennese sausage, or wienerwurst in German.

Johann Georghehner, a butcher from the German city of Coburg, in Bavaria, is credited with inventing the “dachshund” or “little dog” sausage in the 17th century, and he brought it to the larger city of Frankfurt. The style became known as the frankfurter.

Yet, it was still a sausage eaten with a knife and fork, no bun. The hot dog, a slender sausage in a bun, was undeniably an American invention.

The attribution is given to a German immigrant named Charles Feltman, who began selling sausages in rolls at a stand in Coney Island in 1871.

The 1893 World Exposition in Chicago marked the debut of the hot dog vendor. According to National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, around this time that the hot dog first made its first appearance at a ballpark, at a St. Louis Browns game.

The first published mention of the term “hot dog” as a food first appeared in print in a September 1893 issue of The Knoxville Journal. However, it was well established prior to then.