Gazpacho, a Spanish chilled soup, makes a quick and healthy dinner on hot summer nights. Learn how to make it by watching this great video by Handmade TV.
Are seedless watermelons really seedless?
Are seedless watermelons really seedless?
Are seedless watermelons really seedless? Yes and no.
Seedless watermelons were developed more than a half century ago by plant breeders. They have become more widespread in recent years due to heavy marketing and consumer demand. Seedless watermelons generally have a longer shelf-life than the traditional variety.
While seedless varieties lack the large black seeds characteristic of seeded watermelon, they do contain soft, pale seeds -- similar to those in a cucumber -- that can be ingested easily.
Knox City, Texas is the self-titled “Seedless Watermelon Capitol of the World” and it hosts an annual seedless watermelon festival in July with free seedless watermelon for one and all.
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.
First, what are poblanos? Poblanos are versatile, flavorful peppers. They can be used in any dish that calls for a bell pepper. Their flavor is more complex than that of a bell pepper, though, and some are slightly spicy. They also make their way into salsas, are delicious roasted, and are the stuffed pepper in classic chiles rellenos.
To prep them, first cut off the top just below the stem. This will pave the way for you to open the pepper up like a book and remove the core.
Cut off the bottom, too.
Stand the pepper up on its end, and slice it open from top to bottom (or bottom to top).
Spread the pepper open, and pull out and discard the core and seeds.
Lay the pepper flat on the cutting board and cut it into a couple of sections to make it easier to work with.
Next, remove the white ribs, which can be bitter. Hold the knife parallel to the cutting board and slice them away.
Now cut the clean pieces into any shape you like. Rotate the square pieces back and forth as you slice to make irregular or triangular pieces. This cut is good for stir-frys.
Regular cuts are good for soups and salsas. Cut the sections into strips of any thickness you like.
To make a dice, rotate the strips 90 degrees, and slice them crosswise.
