[2] Use cantaloupe or one of its relatives (e.g. Persian), or substitute honeydew (photo © Good Eggs).

Grey Goose Le Melon showcases the Cavaillon melon from the South of France, a variety of cantaloupe with pale, greenish skin and distinctive green vertical markings.

Cavaillon is a commune in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France. For centuries, the rich soil and concentrated sunshine have produced melons with high sugar content, that are celebrated for their signature flavor of wildflower honey.

The melons are picked in July and August (see more about the variety below). The flavor is concentrated and extracted through maceration of the flesh in Grey Goose vodka. Learn more at GreyGoose.com.

For the purest expression of the vodka flavor, just add ice!
 
 
RECIPE #1: MELON ON THE ROCKS

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. FILL a shaker with ice and add Le Melon. Shake well and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.

2. GARNISH with fresh melon.
 
TIP: Use this preparation for all rocks drinks. To really chill the spirit, don’t just pour it into an ice-filled glass. First shake it with ice; then strain it into a rocks glass over more ice.

Prefer something fizzy? Simply add 1/2 ounce (half a shot glass) of Le Melon to a glass and top with sparkling wine. Or, try this cocktail:
 
 
RECIPE #2: MELON ROYALE

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. FILL a rocks glass with ice. Add Le Melon

2. TOP with lemon-lime soda. Garnish and serve.
 
 
RECIPE #3: MELON MULE

This twist on the classic Moscow Mule replaces plain vodka with Le Melon.

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. FILL a cocktail shaker with ice cubes and add Le Melon and the juice from three lime wedges.

2. SHAKE will and strain into a copper mug filled with crushed ice. Top with ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge.

[4] Make it a Melon Mule with a glass of ginger beer (photo © Goslings).

The Cavaillon melon was first cultivated in France in the 14th century, from seeds brought from Cantalupo, Italy to Provence. The melon is now grown in North America and elsewhere.

Ripe Cavaillon melons have a lime green skin with pale green vertical striping, a bright orange flesh and a floral-sweet aroma. It also has a lovely fragrance, even before it is cut.

Serve it with prosciutto, or turn it into:

Another way to avoid blender dilution is to freeze the ingredients, so they also act in place of the ice. It’s easy to do this with fruit, most of which can be purchased frozen.

Here’s a recipe from The Great Pepper Cookbook from specialty produce purveyor Melissa’s, which shows readers how easy it is to use 38 different fresh and dried chile pepper varieties in everyday recipes. It’s a beautiful cookbook.

The recipe is made in a blender. Process it for a shorter time for a slushie-type drink. Process it longer, and you’ve got blender sorbet. Add milk and you’ve got a smoothie.

But wait: Chile in a slushie?

Sure, and that’s the beauty of the cookbook. You’ll discover how to use a bit of heat where you never thought to use it.

RECIPE: STRAWBERRY MANGO SLUSHER (or SORBET or SMOOTHIE)

Ingredients For 4 Servings

Preparation

1. PLACE all ingredients in a blender. Process until slushy and not quite smooth.

2. For a smoothie, add milk to desired consistency.

If you want a slushie but aren’t getting enough “slushie consistency,” next time use frozen strawberries in addition to mango.

 
ABOUT MANZANO CHILES

The manzano chile, cultivated in high altitudes in Mexico, is a member of the Capsicum pubescens species (as opposed to the more common Capsicum annuum species) from the Andes region of South America. It is most often used in its fresh form because the pod is so thick that it is difficult to dry. It is also unusual in that it has black seeds.

It turns yellow-orange when mature, and is popular for making hot salsa. The name translates to apple, and is also known as Chile Peron, Chile Caballo, and Chile Ciruelo.

The Manzano chile generally rates between 12,000 and 30,000 Scoville units on the Scoville heat index. If you need to substitute a chile, look for one in the same range of Scoville units.
  

August is National Olive Oil Month, reminding us again that it’s easy to make heart-healthy switches in everyday eating.

While the health benefits of olive oil are no secret (including no cholesterol and less saturated fat than butter), most people are unaware of how simple it is to make the swap. Here are three easy switches:

 
When you swap butter for olive oil, you use need less oil—so that’s also a savings in calories.
 
HOW TO SWAP BUTTER FOR OLIVE OIL

You can also print out Pompeian’s butter to olive oil conversion chart and hang it on the fridge.

MOVIE POPCORN OIL

What kind of oil is in and on your movie popcorn?

Most movie theaters pop the kernels in coconut oil. Coconut oil is 86% saturated fat, the kind that raises cholesterol. Lard is 38% saturated fat.

The butter-flavored oil topping at the movies is usually partially hydrogenated soybean oil that contains both saturated and trans fats. [Source]

What happened to “butter topping?” The butter made the popcorn soggier than oil. As a bonus to theater owners, oil is also far cheaper than butter.

During the month of August, Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil has arranged with some movie theater chains to offer pure olive oil as an alternative to the standard topping. If you find yourself at one of those venues, let us know how you enjoyed the swap.

Perhaps they each have a Zoku Slush and Shake Maker, where they enjoy slushies at home to their hearts’ delight.

This convenient device uses a cup that is pre-frozen in your freezer. Then, you add a liquid of choice and stir with a special spoon. The beverage freezes right before your eyes.

The frozen inner core fits into an outer sleeve that keeps your hands from getting cold (and your slushie from warming up). It’s easy to use and easy to clean.

By making your own, you can avoid the additives in, say, a 7-11 Slurpee, drink that consists of water and flavoring plus dextrin (a thickening agent), high fructose corn syrup (boo!) or erythritol (a noncaloric sugar alcohol used in Slurpee Lite), glycerin (a fat emulsifier), citric acid (a natural preservative that also adds a tart flavor), potassium benzoate (another preservative, that inhibits the growth of bacteria, mold and yeast), gum acacia (a stabilizer), quillaia extract (a foaming agent in some soft drinks), glycerol ester of wood rosin (an emulsifier and stabilizer) and food color.

Jeepers, would you feed that to your kids? Not to mention, if you have a refined palate, your own slushie made with quality juice will taste so much better.

You can also slush almond milk/coconut milk/rice milk/soy milk, chocolate milk, iced coffee, lemonade and your favorite juice or soda, lemonade.

When we slushed Crystal Light lemonade, it was like eating no-calorie granita. Perhaps the greatest boon to us is the ability to convert diet beverages into no-cal/low-cal frozen desserts!

While we haven’t tried it yet, the company says you can also make milkshakes. We’re quite happy with blender shakes.

Add a scoop of ice cream to an orange juice
slushie for a “Creamsicle” slushie. Photo
courtesy Williams-Sonoma.

 
Still, for a diet treat or a child’s snack (children can learn to make their own), this device can be a real find.

ZOKU SLUSH VS. BLENDER DRINKS

Why not make a frozen drink the old fashioned way, in a blender with ice cubes?

The benefit of the Zoku Slush and Shake Maker is that there’s no ice to dilute your drink. It’s $19.95 at WilliamsSonoma.com.
  

Hankering for cheesecake but don’t want to turn on the oven?

Here’s the third in our series of no-bake desserts, an idea from Jessica at How Sweet Eats. It was featured on VermontCreamery.com, which has delicious recipes using fresh goat cheese.

This cheesecake is made with goat cheese and cream cheese.

Jessica adapted the recipe from Martha Stewart’s No-Bake Cheesecake], a full-size cheesecake made with cream cheese. Jessica used a combination of goat cheese and cream cheese for a tangy twist.

Jessica serves the dessert in individual jars for panache. You can use ramekins, glass dishes or 5-ounce juice glasses, or whatever you have. You’ll find step-by-step photos at HowSweetEats.com
 
 
RECIPE: NO-BAKE COCONUT CREAM CHEESECAKE

Ingredients For 6 Individual Cheesecakes

1. MIX together butter and graham crumbs in a small bowl until moistened. Press crumbs into the container of your choice (jar, ramekin, etc) with the back of a spoon.

2. BEAT cream cheese and goat cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer, scraping down the sides when needed, until combined and smooth. With the mixer on low speed, slowly drizzle in the condensed milk and then the coconut milk, continuing to scrape down the sides until the mixture is very smooth. Add in extracts and stir.

3. POUR cheesecake mixture evenly over top of crusts. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours, then top with whipped cream and toasted coconut.
 
OTHER NO-BAKE DESSERTS