cold cantaloupe soup with prosciutto crisps

I may or may not be part Italian and I may or may not have grown up eating cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto at every sort of formal family occasion, which is where I may or may not have developed a love of all things salty and sweet.

To freshen and glam up the traditional dish, my best friend and I, as part of a five course meal we prepared ourselves – because we are out of control and love to cook together (even in a 2′ x 2′ kitchen) - pulled together this fresh and delicious cold soup.   It is perfect for a hot, humid summer day and looks pretty darn impressive if you ask me.

Cold Cantaloupe Soup with Prosciutto Crisps

This soup can serve anywhere from 4 to 16+ servings.  It makes about 4 big bowls or can be divided down into smaller portions – even into little shot glasses.  Just remember that you will need as many pieces of prosciutto as you have servings (unless you are a glutton like me and want more than one crisp per serving).

The soup can be made a day ahead of time and chilled overnight in the fridge.  The crisps should not be prepared too much before the time you intend to serve the soup to ensure they do not lose their crispness.

The total hands-on time for this soup is minimal and in reality it can probably be completed from start to finish in about 25 minutes if you have all of your ingredients ready to go.

• 1 cantaloupe
• 1/4-1/2 c plain greek yogurt
• salt and pepper to taste
• prosciutto slices
• 1 avocado (optional)
• Basil (or another herb like mint, parsley, chives, etc)
• olive oil for garnish

Slice the cantaloupe in half and scrape out the seeds.

Scoop out or chop up the cantaloupe flesh and place in a blender or larger bowl if you are using an immersion blender.

Begin to puree the cantaloupe smooth and taste to see how sweet and ripe tasting your melon is.

If you have a large, juicy, very ripe and sweet cantaloupe, you may need the full 1/2 cup of greek yogurt to give it a more creamy texture and mellow out the sweetness slightly.  If your cantaloupe isn’t very ripe or juicy, you will probably only need a 1/4 cup of yogurt.  Start by adding the 1/4 cup of yogurt, blending, then tasting to see if it needs more.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  You don’t want the soup to be salty, but a little salt and pepper will enhance the melon’s sweetness and lend a hint of savoryness to the soup.

When the soup is completely blended and smooth, refrigerate the soup until ready to serve – this chilling time eliminates the frothy bubbles that formed during the blending process leaving you with a smoother soup.

While the soup is chilling, pre-heat the oven to 375.  Lay the slices of prosciutto out flat on an aluminum foil or parchment lined baking sheet – do not let the pieces overlap.

Bake the prosciutto for 5 minutes and then turn the slices over and rotate the pan and bake for another 5 minutes until the prosciutto is crispy, but not burned.  Set aside to cool.

Chop or slice the avocado and set aside.

Remove the chilled soup from the fridge (it can be served chilled, slightly cooled, or even at room temperature depending on your preference).

Divide most of the avocado among the serving dishes, setting some aside for garnish.

Ladle the soup on top of the avocado.

Garnish the soup with the remaining avocado, prosciutto slices, chopped basil, and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately or else the crisp will get soggy, and no one likes a soggy crisp.

Enjoy!

peach upside down pancake

This isn’t quite a pancake , nor is it a cake. It is fluffy, lightly sweet, and perfect for fruit.  It is a completely flexible and forgiving recipe.

I used a peach, but any fruit will do (apples, nectarines, plums, berries, bananas, etc).   The flavoring can be changed up too.  Sub in vanilla sugar in place of both the sugar and vanilla.  Try cinnamon or almond extract or even a splash of oj instead of lemon juice.

I drizzled a little honey on before serving, but you could serve it plain, dusted with powder sugar, topped with maple syrup, or anything else you like.  Serve it for dessert with a scoop of ice cream and/or fresh whip cream.

This recipe is for one, but can easily be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled – just make sure to increase the size of your pan as well.  Also, make sure your pan is oven safe.  I have a mini cast iron skillet that I used – perfect for a single serving.

Peach Upside down Pancake

• 1 peach (or any other piece of fruit)
• 1 tsp butter
• 2 drizzles of honey (1 for the fruit while it is cooking if it is not ripe and 1 for a topping before serving) – both optional
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp non-fat yogurt (greek or regular is fine)
• 2 tbsp flour
• dash of baking powder (I actually have a measuring spoon that says this – it is less than an 1/8 of a tsp)
• tiny pinch of salt
• spritz of lemon juice
• dash of vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Chop the peach and melt the butter in a very small skillet over medium low heat.

When the butter is melted add the peaches and a little honey if your fruit is not completely ripe.  Stir to prevent burning and cook until just starting to soften.

While the peach is cooking, whisk together the batter. Whisk the egg in a small bowl.  Add the sugar and yogurt and whisk until smooth.

Next add the flour, baking powder, salt, and flavorings (vanilla and lemon juice) and whisk until smooth.

When the peaches have softened slightly, pour the batter over top and move the pan to the oven.

Bake for a bout 10 minutes until the batter is puffed and a bit firm to the touch.

Turn the pancake out onto a plate so that the peaches are on the top.  Tope with honey and serve.

egg salad

Egg salad can provoke powerful reactions from some folks, even for me and I love egg salad.  There is just something about those pre-packaged egg salad (and tuna) sandwiches that turns me from a lover to a hater.  I know from my very core that they just can’t be good, they must be terrible, a travesty really.  Aside from pre-packaged sandwiches though, egg salad can be sooooo good (as is their cousin dish, deviled eggs).

I was chatting with my bff, the cheese lady, yesterday while she conjured up some egg salad sandwiches for an outdoor concert.  Needless to say, I have been craving egg salad ever since.  I started hard boiling the eggs and just realized that I have no bread… Well, I guess I am off to make some bread – check ya laters.

And I am back. The bread is rising and the eggs are cooling off. It is salad making time!

Again, please forgive the poor photograph quality and color - I only have my camera phone at the moment.

Egg Salad

yields: 2-3 sandwiches, depending on how much filling you use

• 4 hard-boiled eggs
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 2-3 tbsp mayonnaise
• fresh herbs, chopped (I used a tsp of thyme and chervil combined)
• pinch of salt & pepper ( I usually go a little on the salty side if I am using the salad for sandwiches since the bread will mellow out the salt)
• sprinkle of smoked paprika
• 4-6 bread slices

Peel the eggs and crumble with your hands, chop with a knife, or mash with a fork to a consistency you prefer.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the paprika and bread) and fold/stir gently into the eggs.  If you prefer a very blended and creamy egg salad, then mix vigorously.

Sprinkle the top with paprika and serve in a bowl with crackers and veggies, or spread onto the bread, top with lettuce, tomato, bacon, pickles, or nothing at all.  Enjoy!

simplicity

Sometimes the best things are the simplest. Now in the full throes of spring, an uncomplicated and unadulterated fruit salad can be so fresh and delicious that you almost forget your allergy induced runny nose and itchy eyes.

Jed (Sportsglutton) and I have spent the last week gorging ourselves in NYC while we visited family and friends. It was a delicious trip, we had appetizers and sausages at DBGB, delicate and refined sushi small plates at Soto, and a classic Italian (non Americanized) dinner at Vespa (in Great Neck). We also ate lots of pizza and bagels – because they rarely taste as good anywhere else in this great country.

Needless to say, we were acting a bit…wait for it…gluttonous.

To reverse the damage we inflicted upon ourselves, we loaded our shopping cart up with fruit and veggies yesterday. We plan on watching what we eat all summer and getting back into shape (the winter was hard on us this year) and the plan starts today.

Fruit salad rocks my world and will be on our breakfast regiment from here on out. Today I mixed up a Fuji apple, a banana, blackberries, and strawberries. For a little more substance, we had rye toast (I’m the marmalade toast girl) from the fresh loaf I baked yesterday on the side.

The moral of the story is that fruit salad is ridiculously easy, more fun than eating a single fruit all by its lonesome, and it is delicious – go get some.

marmalade

Sportsglutton has been away this past week and he left behind five oranges that he had bought to snack on.  I don’t have anything against oranges, but they can be a messy portable snack especially when compared to apples, bananas, or grapes.  Anyway, the point of the story is that I would be eating the five oranges, but I didn’t want them to go bad and get thrown out either.  I was searching for recipes, but none of the desert type recipes were striking my fancy and I was missing too many ingredients for salads.  Low and behold, I open up Design*Sponge and there was a new post for orange & vanilla marmalade… Excellent!

I used navel oranges, a blood orange, and an orange of unknown origin.  That was not quite enough for the recipe, so I threw in half a grapefruit that was hanging around the fridge and two Meyer lemons. 

Unfortunately, I yielded only about four seeds total (two from the grapefruit, two from the lemons) which is hardly enough for all of the pectin needed – my marmalade did not pass the gel test no matter how much longer I cooked it.  I ran out and grabbed some liquid pectin (with the rest of the canning supplies in the grocery store) which worked out just fine (I added it at the end).  As is typical with most marmalade recipes, this takes two days to make though you may be able to knock it down to one if you add pectin instead of trying to extract it from the seeds, skins, and pith.

Please forgive the photograph quality/clarity - Sportsglutton has the camera and I was left with my phone.

The marmalade is rustic, not too sweet, and perfectly delicious.  My pot yielded about 7.5 half pint jars (the “jam” size jars or the little squat ones).  Not only would it be great on toast, but would pair well with cheese (goat, triple cream, cream cheese, etc), pump up savory dishes (I added a little to an asian coconut milk marinade for beef), top off ice cream, and be phenomenal mixed into whipped cream or pastry cream with a cake (vanilla, spice, chocolate).  Oh, and it is great for gifts!