We like the full flavor and juiciness of olives that come with their pits still inside. If you're going to cook with olives, though, you'll need to remove the pits. Pitting olives adds a few minutes of prep time to a dish, but isn't hard to do.
You can buy tools made specifically to pit olives, but they often don't work for oddly sized olives and end up living permanently in the back of a kitchen drawer. Instead, we use a dough scraper or pastry cutter. You could use any tool that has a wide, flat surface (the flat side of a knife, a small skillet, etc.)
Just press straight down onto the olive with the flat surface until you feel the olive pop.
Continuing to press down gently, pull the tool back toward you. This will often make the seed pop right out.
If the seed hasn't popped out yet, just squeeze with your fingers to release it. Now you're free to keep the pitted olive whole to toss into a pasta or salad, chop it to stir into a sauce for grilled meat or fish, or toss it into the food processor to make tapenade.
Find more olive recipes on Cookthink.com.
Watermelons are at their best from mid-June to late August. If you're buying a whole watermelon, look for a fruit that's symmetrical, with a dull, firm and unblemished rind. A watermelon with one flat, yellowish-brown side is a good thing. That's a sign that the melon has sat on the ground and ripened for a long time.
Another supposedly reliable method for selecting a ripe melon: Slap it. If you hear a thump that sounds as if the fruit is hollow, it should be ready to eat.
When buying cut watermelon, make sure the flesh is bright and moist, since dry, grainy watermelon doesn't taste good. If you see a bunch of little white seeds, the watermelon has been cut too early and will lack the sweetness you are after.
Recipe: Watermelon Pizza (Washington Post)
Recipe: Watermelon Salad With Arugula, Ricotta Salata And Walnuts (Sweet Myrtle & Bitter Honey)
what you should know
Brundidge, Alabama. 1950. When the watermelon trucks stopped at the traffic light in town, Chip's dad would climb up into the back and drop a melon down to friends.
They would run the fruit out of sight, strike it on the hot pavement, and then -- as the poet Charles Simic described the act of eating watermelon -- "eat the smile and spit out the teeth."
toothless The popularity of seedless watermelon took some of the teeth out. Though it has a long association with the American South, watermelon is loved all over the world for its quenching, sweet flesh. In Japan, they've even developed square watermelon to satisfy demand and fit a small fridge.
look for scuffs When buying a whole watermelon (or stealing one off a truck), look for one with a flat, yellowish-brown side. That's a sign that the melon has sat for a long time on the ground while ripening. Another way to check for ripeness? Slap the melon.
waterlalala If you're ever stuck in a sing-a-long but don't know the words, just mouth the word "watermelon" over and over again. Works every time.
what you need
Instead of a melon baller, we use a larger OXO cookie scoop to carve out rounds of ripe watermelon.
For the modern lowdown on the food of the South, turn to John T. Edge. He's the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a contributor to Gourmet and a guest food editor at the Oxford American. His most recent book is the Southern Belly.
We love to drink watermelon margaritas, martinis and agua frescas out of these acrylic goblets.
what you do
"What grows together goes together" is the rule behind this watemelon salad with arugula, walnuts and ricotta salata. It's from Efisio Farris' Sweet Myrtle & Bitter Honey.
Have you made watermelon pizza? If not, try it this weekend.
Watermelon basil agua fresca, from Coconut & Lime, is made for stifling days and food off the grill.
Speaking of the grill, while it's burning, throw some wedges on to make this grilled watermelon salad.
Featured recipe: Combine cool watermelon and hot peppers, and you end up with refreshing watermelon gazpacho. The recipe comes from FoodieTots, and is the featured recipe for this week's Root Source Challenge.
Whether it's visible or not, vegetables usually have dirt, dust and other residue on them. Here's an easy and thorough way to wash all kinds of leafy greens:
Grab a bowl large enough to easily hold the greens and fill it with lukewarm water. Submerge the greens in the water and shake them back and forth to dislodge or dissolve the dirt. Then just lift the greens out of the water so the dirt stays behind. Pour out the water and repeat with clean water until the water stays clear when you pull out the greens.
Vinegar is basically fermented wine. You know how that forgotten bottle of red takes on a thin, shrill quality when you neglect to drink it in a timely fashion? It's on its way to becoming vinegar. (The French word for vinegar, vinaigre, literally means "sour wine.")
Made since the Gallo-Roman era, vinegar gots its official stamp of approval when vinegarmaking was declared an official occupation in 1580 by Henri IV. It's a pretty simple process: vinegar is made using a bacterial process in which naturally fermented wine is converted into a weak acetic acid that lends vinegar its sour taste.
Vinegar quality depends on the quality of the ingredients from which it is made. There are many types of vinegar, which can be made from wine, spirits, Champagne, rice or honey. It can be infused with tarragon, raspberry and even rose petals.
Reference: The Vinegar Institute's FAQ
Recipe: Quick Pickled Cucumbers and Sweet Onions
Recipe: Balsamic Vinegar Sauce
