Melon balls with tarragon. Photo courtesy
American Diabetes Association.

MELON & HERBS

Tossing any variety of sweet melon with chopped herbs adds a flavor twist to the ordinary, say the folks at Good Eggs. Their suggestions:

 
We’d also suggest mint or tarragon with any melon.

If you like heat, try a sprinkle of red chile flakes.

WHAT TO DO IF THE MELON ISN’T SWEET OR SOFT

Here are two NIBBLE tricks:

If you get a melon that isn’t sweet, simply toss it with a light sprinkle of plus sugar or non-caloric sweetener.

If the melon is too hard, cut it into cubes and store it in an airtight container. In a day or two, you may find that the texture has gotten a bit softer.

 
HOW TO TELL IF A CANTALOUPE IS RIPE

1. PRESS the stem end; it should give slightly to the touch. But don’t let the stem end get soft; the melon will be over-ripe.

2. SNIFF the stem end for slight aroma. An unripe melon has no aroma.

3. CHECK the natural netting on the rind. It should have a yellow-orange hue, not green.

HOW TO TELL IF A HONEYDEW IS RIPE

The rind of a honeydew is much thicker than a cantaloupe, so the “press” trick doesn’t work.

1. SNIFF for a sweet aroma.

2. CHECK the rind for a golden color. Brown freckling on the rind is also an indication of a ripe honeydew. It actually can become sticky from the seepage of the natural sugars.
 
HOW TO TELL IF A WATERMELON IS RIPE

Watermelon doesn’t ripen further once it has been picked. Instead, when buying a whole watermelon:

1. TURN it over. The underside should have a creamy yellowish spot, not a greenish-white one. This is where it had contact with the ground as it ripened in the sun.

2. COMPARE melons of the same size. Choose the heavier melon.

Like salsa? Make a “salsa salad.” Photo
courtesy Melissas.com.

Sweet and savory, this delicious salad is perfect for grilling season. It is from Melissa’s wonderful new The Great Pepper Cookbook, The Ultimate Guide To Choosing And Cooking With Peppers.

Prep time is 15 minutes, total time 35 minutes.

RECIPE: GRILLED SALSA SALAD

Ingredients For 8 Servings

1. PREHEAT grill to medium heat.

2. BRUSH tomato and the next 5 ingredients (limes through onion) with oil.

3. PLACE fruits and vegetables on grill rack. Grill, rotating halfway through grilling to achieve even grill marks, about 3 to 5 minutes. Set limes aside.

4. PEEL and finely dice remaining grilled fruits and vegetables.

5. TOSS fruits, vegetables, cilantro and chile in a bowl. Squeeze in lime juice. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

6. SERVE with butter lettuce leaves.

ABOUT TEPIN CHILES

The tepin (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum) is a hot chile that is native to southern North America and northern South America. It is also called chiltepe, chiltepin/chiltpin, chiltecpinas and chile tepin, variations of the Aztec name. In English, they are called turkey, bird’s eye, or bird peppers, due to their consumption and spread by birds.

Sold fresh or sun-dried, tepin is a small, searingly hot chile. It has a dry, musty flavor that produces a quick burn.

Small (approximately 1/2 inch in diameter) and round or oval in shape, looking a bit like large dried cranberries, the name means “flea” in Nahuatl, the Aztec language. The tepin is easily crushed and sprinkled on beans, salsas and other Mexican dishes, and to add a red-hot note to soups, sauces and vinegars. Its thin flesh makes it perfect for pickling.

Substitutes: cascabel, cayenne or pequin chiles.
 
MORE ABOUT CHILES

Check out the different types of chiles in our Chile Glossary.

Editor’s note: THE NIBBLE uses the word “chile” instead of “pepper.” When chiles were first encountered by Columbus’s crew in the Caribbean, they related the spicy heat to the black peppercorn and long pepper which were known in Europe.

Peppers and chiles are not related, but the misnomer, pepper or chile pepper, has endured in the English language.

For a special touch, garnish your
dishes with edible flowers. Photo by
Kelly Cline | IST.

Flowers have been eaten since the earliest times, when anything that could be eaten, was. The first recorded mention of edible flowers dates to 140 B.C.E. In modern times, Asian, East Indian, European and Middle Eastern cuisines remain flower-friendly.

If eating flowers sounds strange concept, remember that lavender—used in everything from ice cream and syrup to scones and herbal teas—and candied violets are popular accents in our own cuisine. Many liqueurs are based on flowers.

Rose petals, very popular in Middle East cuisines for millennia, can be found in the U.S. in preserves, confections and beverages, and of course, to decorate wedding cakes, cupcakes and other desserts.

In addition to eating sunflower seeds, try the petals. They were eaten by the early settlers in America.

The violet was eaten in Roman times and was the rage during the Victorian era. You can still buy Choward’s Violet Candy and candied violets.

When squash was cultivated, the long blossoms were stuffed and cooked before the vegetable matured. Stuffed and fried in light batter or cornmeal, they are a seasonal delicacy served in fine restaurants.

Summer is an ideal time to add edible flowers to your recipes. They speak of the season, and provide color and beauty.

If you see edible flowers in your specialty produce market or farmers market, pick up a container and have fun with them, in everything from salads and pastas to desserts. Use them fresh, before they wilt; but if you need to store them for a day in the fridge, place them between moist paper towels and then wrap in plastic.

When ready to use, rinse each flower gently with water, and carefully blot it dry.

Two caveats: Not all flowers are edible—or tasty. Like mushrooms, some are poisonous (including, but not limited to, daffodil, daphne, foxglove and hyacinth).

And the edible varieties must be grown without pesticides. Assume that any flower from a florist, nursery or garden center has been treated with pesticides, as well as those in public grounds and roadsides. You can only use organically grown flowers (without chemical pesticides/herbicides).

Not all flowers are edible (or tasty), but there’s quite a variety to choose from. Food-friendly flowers include:

See our article on edible flowers for more ideas.

Two books, The Edible Flower Garden and Edible Flowers, are helpful guides to growing your own and include recipes).

Stout has never tasted better. Photo courtesy Spielgau.

Last year right before Father’s Day, we featured the first variety-specific beer glass, an IPA glass from Spielgau, specially contoured to enhance the flavors and aromas of IPA beer.

This year, Spielgau—a 500 year-old company that was purchased by Riedel in 2004—adds the world’s first stout-specific glass. The company hopes to do for beer what its parent company has done for wine.

Stout is a heavier style of beer characterized dark color, malty flavor, and thick, foamy head. The wide mouth of the 21-ounce Spiegelau Stout glass is conducive to pouring a strong head, while the flared base helps focus the beer’s aromas, which can then emanate from the glass’s wide opening. (See the different types of beers.)

The stout glass was developed and tested with two American craft brewers of stout: Left Hand Brewing Company of Colorado and Rogue Ales of Oregon. A set of two glasses is $25 at SpielgauUSA.com. Branded versions of the glass with brewery logos are available through LeftHandBrewing.com and Rogue.com, respectively.

Hundreds of glasses pulled from Spiegelau’s glassware archive were tested against a variety of the brewers’ own stouts to find the glass shape that had the most profound effect on the aromas and flavor profiles of each stout beer. After narrowing the options to a handful of shapes, Spiegelau’s German factory created six final prototypes for testing all stouts, varying by several millimeters in height, bowl width, angle and capacity.

After many deliberations, Left Hand Brewing Company and Rogue Ales separately and unanimously determined that the Prototype “C” stout glass delivered the optimal taste, aroma and mouth feel to enhance stout beers. The winning shape has:

 
So the next great gift for a beer lover: Spielgau stout glasses with a selection of artisan stouts.

ABOUT STOUT

The darkest and heartiest of beers, a stout is top fermented and differentiated from a regular ale by its brown-black color, chocolate-coffee flavors and fuller body. This is achieved by brewing with barley that has been dark-roasted to the point of charring (think of espresso beans, compared to a medium-roast coffee). Stout is thus both darker and maltier than porter, has a more pronounced hop aroma, and may reach an alcoholic content of 6% to 7%.

Stout originated in Ireland, where most traditional stouts are very rich, yet sharp and slightly bitter. Stout is well-paired with strong cheese and a spicy sausage such as andouille. There are different types of stout:

Chef Gordon Smith has cooked for royalty, celebrities, executives, and Olympic athletes. Now, in his mission to “save the males,” he tells men what they need to know to survive on their own—by cooking good food at home instead of resorting to less-good-for-you fast food and take-out.

His book, Save the Males: A Kitchen Survival Cookbook, is a fun gift for single men as well as husbands, significant others and other men who have to fend for themselves in the kitchen, whether full-time or on occasion. It’s a practical culinary foundation for the novice and a great refresher course for any home cook.

(If you’re buying the book on Amazon.com, note that there’s another book named Save The Males, about relationships. Don’t let it confuse you. The one you want is co-authored by Reparata Mazzola and Gordon Smith.)

The underlying goal of “Save the Males” is fun, as Chef Gordon teaches readers how to switch from prepared foods to foods they prepare. An empty kitchen goes from foreboding to a place fragrant with delicious meals they cook meals for themselves, family and friends.

Chef Gordon Smith is a regular guy who knows from experience that cooking improves one’s health and appearance (eat better!) as well as one’s sex life (a home cooked dinner is romantic!).

Cooking for oneself is not only empowering; it could lead to a new hobby—or at least, it could get the man in your life to prepare dinner more often.

And that’s the reason to give copies to dads, grads, brothers, sons and friends.