GOOSEBERRY COBBLER

    Aren't gooseberries just gorgeous? I joined a fruit CSA for the month of July and our first share this week were gooseberries and blueberries. On their own the gooseberries were fabulous, as were the blueberries, but I read gooseberries are great for cobblers and tarts. They have their own distinct tart flavor. Its as if you made a grape-raspberry hybrid. Very unique. I decided to combine the blueberries and the gooseberries into a cobbler using my go to Emeril's Berry Cobbler recipe. It came out pretty good. Since they are quite tart I would next time go lighter on the lemon juice, but they really work well with the whiskey in the cobbler. And it was a travesty there was no ice cream happening, but thats not that bad since I think I have been on a month run of dessert daily. 

WEIRD FOOD FIND: KIWANO - KIWHAT(THE-F)O?

    I live in a very culturally diverse neighborhood in Queens, which means a lot of interesting food finds. While at the World Fruit and Vegetable Market on 63rd Dr., I brought this brilliant orange psychedelic fruit home that Mike compared to a grenade and a puffer fish. The lady at the market made a funny face when I asked about it and said she didn't like it because it tasted sour. For only $1.50 it was worth the adventure. I admired it on my window sill for a few days, and even "Bean" the cat was intrigued. I finally cut it in half and it was as impressive on the inside, with kaleidoscope pockets filled with cucumber like seeds suspended in a lime green jelly. 

    I took a bite and it was sour and gooey, in an interesting and refreshing way. Then I tried it with a little drizzle of honey and the sweet and sour flavors worked really nicely. Then I mildy freaked because certain vegetable are toxic unless cooked, like yuca, so I immediately googled it. From the display I mistakenly thought it was a golden kiwi, but a golden kiwi is just like a regular kiwi. So I searched "weird fruit" and it was one of the first images to pop up. Its called a kiwano or horned melon and according to Wikipedia its native to Africa and is eaten as a fruit snack. Relieved I hadn't poisoned myself, the kiwano didn't really leave me wanting more. It was like I had taken a bite out of a pumpkin. Not something you want to eat raw, but it might be good cooked with other flavors. There aren't many kiwano recipes, but I did find a interesting KIWANO PINEAPPLE SALSA recipe that someone got from an estate sale in Texas, so I will try that tomorrow over tilapia or shrimp. And if I can score more kiwano's it might make a great jelly, too. I will just have to figure out how to make jelly.

GRANOLA, GRAPEFRUIT, BANANA, AND HONEY

Most mornings a simple breakfast is what I need. Few store bought granola bars cut it, so I experimented with making my own for the first time. I have such a variety of nuts in my fridge, it was the perfect time to try. I always start out on the Food Network, because there are tons of reviews and I can find out what works and what doesn't. I went with a Peanut Butter Granola Bar from Emeril and made a few tweaks. For example, I used a pre-toasted bag of rolled oats that was slightly sweetened and berry flavored from Trader Joe's (of course). Instead of dairy butter I used the Earth Balance. Whole chopped raw almonds replaced slivered almonds, and I omitted the pumpkin seeds, the raisins and the brown sugar since the granola was already a bit sweet. What I ended up with was a few irregularly shaped "bars" and a lot of delicious granola crumbles that I can sprinkle on everything. I want to experiment more with savory granola bars. Ideas: chile-lime with coconut, masala chai with coconut milk, pistachio with rosewater, pumpkin spice. 

Pictured: Peanut Butter Granola Bar, Grapefruit and Banana drizzled with Honey