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25 Delicious New Things to do With Watermelon

I have always loved watermelon in the summertime.

I love everything about summertime fruit – melons, peaches, and during the spring before the summer green plums. If you don’t know about green plums, it’s a Southern thing.

When I was growing up, I always looked forward to May and June because green plums are picked before they’re ripe. They’re so unique, and remind me of my childhood. We would sprinkle salt on them for a delicious tart/slightly sweet/salty combination. If you’ve never had one, you’re missing out.

Speaking of salt, I absolutely adore salt on watermelon. I know that’s a controversial subject, but it’s how I was raised and to me it’s the best. It’s a really good sweet/salty combination that makes you want to eat an entire melon.

A couple of years ago, my Jalapeno Watermelon Bruschetta was featured in Redbook Magazine., and I wanted to share with you all of the recipes that were featured in this article.

Sometimes just regular watermelon isn’t enough – sometimes you gotta make it bouji. ⇐ I just recently learned that word, by the way. I actually found a backstory because it drives me crazy not knowing what a word means…

So, apparently, bouji or boujee derives from the word bourgeoisie, which is a French word that means “of middle class status”.

It’s one of my favorite recipes to make with watermelon – it’s tossed with chopped tomatoes and on a bed of whipped feta and ricotta with fresh thyme.

The flavor combination is ridiculously delicious.

After I made this the first time, it went into the book of “Make this Weekly”.

Click here for the link to the rest of the outstanding watermelon recipes in the article.

It includes crazy fun recipes like…

Watermelon BBQ Sauce by The Fit Fork. – I can almost literally taste this.

Watermelon Jerky by Dash of Butter – Where in the exact hell as this been all my life??

Go see them all!!

This article was originally published on Redbookmag.com.

Shoepeg Corn, Asparagus and Tomato and Summer Soup with Havarti Grilled Cheese Croutons

If you’ve never made homemade soup, this is a fantastic way to get started. You’ll fall in love, especially with croutons that are actually mini Havarti Grilled Cheeses! One of my favorite things in the world is tomato basil soup with grilled cheese sandwiches to dunk.

If you’ve never actually tried that, please do, and I would suggest that you add some sherry to the soup because it takes it from average ass soup to Oh My Damn this is so good soup.

This is a made with fresh ingredients, and is so damn good I could eat my weight in it. Although it doesn’t look hearty, it actually is.

I used to think that soup was only when fall hit and SEC football started back up. I LOVE that about the south. Although I’m a summer girl – that’s a fun season change even though sometimes the temperatures don’t fully change until sometimes November in Alabama.

However, sometimes you gotta get your soup on.

Although this soup is hot, it’s still summery in flavor. The Havarti is definitely the superstar, here. It’s a cheese that is sliceable, but also buttery, creamy with a superior flavor. You could compare it to Gruyere or Swiss, but more soft.

For this soup, asparagus, fresh tomatoes and shoepeg corn (my favorite corn) all come together to make a beautiful soup. If it is hot outside, does it really matter?

No.

Hell, your burger would be hot as all hell, so what’s the difference.

And what a pretty presentation…

If you’ve never had Havarti cheese before, try it out. It also makes the most perfect grilled cheese, because the texture and butteriness is perfect.

Try to avoid canned corn because fresh definitely wins here. Right now it’s seasonal, cheap and using it will completely change the taste. I love to roast my corn in the oven by stripping them of silks but maintaining the husks, and putting them in an oven at 400 for 10 minutes on each side. It really does make a difference, and it will get your head wheels spinning about what else you could do with that fragrant – after making this soup, of course.

If you’re wondering about the tarragon, I know it’s not something you would traditionally see in a soup like this but I definitely have an affinity for it. For me, it literally transforms dishes. I love adding tarragon to my chicken salad, tuna salad, add it in dressings, etc.

I love it in this.

Here’s your printable-

Asparagus, Tomato and Shoepeg Corn Summer Soup with Havarti Grilled Cheese Croutons

Ingredients

1/2 lb. fresh asparagus, snapped
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 ear white corn, strips of silks
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup Sherry
1/2 stick salted butter
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 cup whole cream
1 tbsp tarragon
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp pepper
Bread slices - whatever your favorite is
Havarti cheese slices
Butter

Instructions

Place the asparagus, tomatoes, corn and chicken stock in a food processor and pulse until pureed.
Add soup to a medium size pot over medium heat and bring to a slow boil.
Add the rest of ingredients and reduce heat to low.
Add more Parmesan, salt and pepper to taste.
Make the grilled cheeses with bread, cheese and butter and cut into squares.
Serve soup with grilled cheese croutons.

https://www.dixiechikcooks.com/asparagus-tomato-and-shoepeg-corn-summer-soup-with-havarti-grilled-cheese-croutons/

Here’s your pinnable-

Asparagus and T-Bone Sheet Pan Dinner

This post is sponsored by OXO. All opinions are mine ♥

Just when I thought OXO couldn’t be more innovative.

They now have peelers for every single vegetable. How awesome is that??

They recently sent me one of each to try them out, and I’m in love with them! I made a fantastic sheet pan recipe they sent along with the peelers. It was a snap to make, and we were eating in no time.

A T-bone and asparagus dinner in about 20 minutes?

Yep.

For this particular dish, I used the Asparagus Peeler, which has a specially shaped blade quickly and safely removes only the woody layers asparagus is so famous for, which in turn reduces waste. For the really large, tough stalks, it makes it easier to *snap* the ends off at just the right place.

You can also make pretty strips to use for topping salads, soups, or for decoration purposes on formal dinner party dishes.

They’re easy to use with a compact design that maneuvers easily around fruits and vegetables, and they are super sharp. They’re also very comfortable to use! And, with most all OXO products, they’re dishwasher safe. That’s so important to me, because as a food blogger, I make a mess daily and constantly running my dishwasher.

This recipe was not only easy to prep and cook, dinner was on the table in no time. I prepped the asparagus, then got the steak ready. I like to bring my steaks (and a lot of beef cuts) to room temperature before cooking it.

Then, I made a very fragrant lemon oil for seasoning.

This was smelling pretty good….

By the way, if you don’t have an OXO sheet pan, you need one! I have the Non-Stick Pro Half Sheet Jelly Roll Pan, and it’s my go-to for so many things, but since I discovered how much I LOVE one pan dinners it’s in use all the time.

After getting everything assembled on the sheet pan, it went in the oven for roughly 15 minutes.

The steak was so tender, and the lemon oil did a fantastic job of seasoning the mushrooms and asparagus. We honestly had no need for steak sauce or salt and pepper. It was so good.

This was delicious, ready in no time, and definitely something that’s going in my regular dinner rotation.

Like what you see?

Go here to get this fantastic recipe, and to see all of these fantastic peelers (and to get YOURS!) go here.

Top 10 Recipes for Independence Day

Independence Day 2019 is just around the corner!

It’s the biggest summertime holiday, and probably the most fun. Fireworks, get togethers, cocktails and lots of great food – isn’t that the most important aspect?

Those things are some of my favorite memories from childhood, and now as an adult it’s so much fun to plan, cook and host 4th of July parties.

If you can’t tell already, I absolute the shit out of entertaining. It’s my jam.

This holiday is really the hallmark of grilling out with family and friends, celebrate our freedom as a country, and what better way to celebrate than feeding the people you love.

For me, I absolutely love to grill and smoke, whether it’s brisket, pork or anything I can get my hands on.

Y’all, this ↓was my first burnt end, and you have no idea how proud I was!! The very first time I smoked, it was a brisket, and it was off the charts delicious. But, this one burnt end was the end all, be all for me because it was my first one.

I was so intimidated by smoking initially, so I proved to myself that I could do a badass brisket.

Complete with burnt ends.

This particular 4th of July party was a few years ago.

I smoked a brisket for tacos, including this Blueberry Blue Salsa, a margarita bar, beer, and whatever you could ask for in a badass taco bar.

I don’t know about you, but I could put everything but the kitchen sink on my tacos; guacamole, cheese, jalapeños, onions, salsa pico de gallo, and sour cream. I could keep listing them, but you get the idea. I like to whore them up.

Yes. Whore them up.

To help you plan your 4th of July menu, I’m sharing with you some of my favorite things to make for this fantastic holiday – it’s summertime (my favorite season), it’s easy to gather your friends and family because who doesn’t like a party? Especially a party celebrating our country’s independence.

Here you go –

1. Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Mini Jalapeno Corn Muffins

2. Watermelon Jalapeno Bruschetta

3. Smoked Lemon Pepper Wings

4. Beer Can Jalapeno Popper Burger

5. Trashy Taco Truck Pretzel Dogs

6. Mango Lime Jalapeno Daiquiri

7. Buffalo Bleu Cheeseburgers with Jalapeno Slaw

8. Grilled Kahlua Chicken

9. Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken

10. Lemon Tarragon Crab Cakes

Do you have any recipes for the 4th of July that are a tradition in your house? Feel free to leave them in the comments below!

Smoked White Cheddar Burger with Whiskey Glazed Onions

This post is part of a kick-butt burger grill giveaway hosted by GirlCarnivore but the burger epicness is all my own.

This burger is an amazing, and I have to say that the onions are the superstar here, people.

Whiskey glazed, OH, and jalapeno honey glazed caramelized onions.

WHOA.

Y’all, these are fanfuckingtastic.

When I make my candied jalapenos, I always end up with a jar of jalapeno honey. After splashing a little whiskey on the onions, I drizzled about a tablespoon of the jalapeno honey, tossed with a tad more butter, and removed from the heat.

Next time, I’ll probably throw some flame on it to burn the alcohol off faster.

All of this combined with Cabot’s Vermont’s Extra Sharp Cheddar and fresh red ripe tomato and arugula made for one outstanding burger.

Smoked White Cheddar Burger with Whiskey and Jalapeno Honey Glazed Onions

Ingredients

1 lb. ground round
1/2 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Sea salt
Coarsely ground pepper
1 yellow onion, sliced thin
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 tbsp Whiskey or Bourbon
1 tbsp Jalapeno honey (or regular honey)
6 oz. Cabot New York Extra Sharp Cheddar(https://www.cabotcheese.coop/new-york-extra-sharp-cheddar-cheese#tab=dairy%2Bbars&slide=32), sliced thin
1 ripe tomato, sliced
Mayo
Arugula
1 pkg Potato buns

Instructions

Combine beef and sausage together with Worcestershire and S&P, form into patties and refrigerate.
Melt butter over medium heat, and generously sprinkle with salt.
Reduce heat to medium low, and stir occasionally, but not too much.
When the onions have caramelized a good bit, sprinkle the whiskey and honey on top and stir with tongs to combine, and remove from heat after about 2-3 min. Remove from pan and cover.
Using the same pan, add burgers over medium high heat and sear for a min on each side.
Reduce heat to medium and cook to desired temp. Add cheese on top until melted.
Build burger by adding mayo and arugula to bottom bun, followed by burger and onions. Serve.

Wanna win some amazing goodies – THE ULTIMATE GRILLING KIT worth over $800?? Of course you do – you have until June 5th to win!!

Enter HERE to win –
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to follow along every day for the entire month of May for chances to win the Ultimate Burger Grilling Giveaway and check BurgerMonth.com daily for all of the amazing burgers.

This post is part of a month long burger celebration. You can search #burgermonth on social media to get many more fantastic burgers from other bloggers, chefs and foodies. A special thanks to GirlCarnivore.com for hosting this event.

A huge thanks to the #BurgerMonth sponsors for the Ultimate Burger Grilling Giveaway: Cabot Cheese, Char-Griller Grills, Crow Canyon Home, Porter Road, Melissas Produce, Red Duck, Spiceology, & Western BBQ

This is the complete list of all of us in the Burger Month Group –

🍔 Girl Carnivore 🍔 A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures 🍔 A Simple Pantry 🍔 Abra’s Kitchen 🍔 AcadiaTwo’s Kitchen Antics 🍔 An Affair from the Heart 🍔 Bakersbeans 🍔 Betsi’s World 🍔Caroline’s Cooking 🍔 Cindy’s Recipes and Writings 🍔 City Living Boston 🍔 Cluttercafe 🍔 Cooking With Carlee 🍔 Convos with Karen 🍔Daily Dish Recipes 🍔 Dance Around The Kitchen 🍔 Dixie Chik Cooks 🍔 Dizzy Busy and Hungry 🍔 Doodlecraft 🍔 Everyday Eileen 🍔 Family Around the Table 🍔 Family Food on the Table 🍔 Family Spice 🍔Farmwife Feeds 🍔Food Above Gold 🍔 For the Love of Food 🍔 Grillax.com 🍔 Grilling Montana 🍔 Grumpy’s Honeybunch 🍔 Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks 🍔 Honeybunch Hunts 🍔 HORNS BBQ 🍔 Intelligent Domestications 🍔 It Is a Keeper 🍔 Jolene’s Recipe Journal 🍔 Jonesin For Taste 🍔 Juggling Act Mama 🍔 Karen’s Kitchen Stories 🍔 Kate’s Recipe Box 🍔 Krazy Kitchen Mom 🍔 Life Anchored 🍔 Life of a Ginger 🍔 Mildly Meandering 🍔 Miss in the KItchen 🍔 Palatable Pastime 🍔 Pastry Chef Online 🍔 Perspective Portions 🍔 Plowing Through Life 🍔 PNW Eats 🍔 Pook’s Pantry 🍔 Real Life With Dad 🍔 Sarah’s Cucina Bella 🍔 Seduction In The Kitchen 🍔 Simple and Savory 🍔 Souffle Bombay 🍔 Spiced 🍔 Spoonabilities 🍔 Strawberry Blondie Kitchen 🍔 SueBee Homemaker 🍔 Sumptuous Spoonfuls 🍔 Sweet ReciPeas 🍔 Swirls of Flavor 🍔 Take Two Tapas 🍔 Tampa Cake Girl 🍔 Taste And See 🍔 The Baking Fairy 🍔 The Beard and The Baker 🍔 The Complete Savorist 🍔 The Crumby Kitchen 🍔 The Heritage Cookbook Project 🍔 The Keto Guy 🍔 The Redhead Baker 🍔 The Rowdy Baker 🍔 The Schmidty Wife 🍔 The Shirley Journey 🍔 The Spiffy Cookie 🍔 This Farm Girl Cooks 🍔 Thyme for Cocktails 🍔 We are not Martha 🍔 Well Fed Baker 🍔 West Via Midwest 🍔 What’s Cooking Italian Style Cuisine 🍔 Who Needs A Cape? 🍔 Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen 🍔 Wok & Skillet 🍔 Zest & Simmer 🍔