Dinner guests arrived last night bearing two bottles of Lillet, the French apreritifs from Bordeaux. The white Lillet is golden in color with a floral nose, and best served chilled (not over ice) garnished with an orange slice. The red Lillet is ruby in color and very aromatic. Also should be served chilled. We had a glass of each and I found them to be a delightful change from my usual summer cocktail of gin and tonic.

I have so much basil that I’ve been experimenting with different types of pesto. I made one last night by pureeing lots of basil with green olives, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese. Tossed with pasta it’s a great summer-time entree. Today I combined the basil with the same ingredients but substituted sun-dried tomatoes for the olives. I’m planning on drizzling it on grilled eggplant and zucchini.

The Creole tomato season is over and I was ready to cry into my gin and tonic, but alas I found a tomato that doesn’t taste quite like my Creoles (grown along the Mississippi River south of New Orleans), but has a pretty good flavor. They were listed as “Ugli” tomatoes at my local supermarket and I bought them all. They are funny and rather ugly in appearance, but that doesn’t matter to me. I just ate one sprinkled with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Wow!

Several months ago someone asked me if I had ever had smoked paprika. I had to admit that I had not heard of such a thing. This week a member of our culinary staff at Emeril’s handed me a clipping out of Gourmet Magazine explaining all about smoked paprika.
Read more »

Martha Teichner on CBS Sunday morning presented an interesting piece on the history and uses of chocolate.

Here are some notes from the show:

The Olmec Indians of Central America were the first known users of chocolate, 3,000 years ago. They drank it, as did the Mayans and the Aztecs, who poured it from one pot to another in order create a froth on top, the part they liked best.
Read more »

If you happen to bite into something way tooooo peppery, don’t grab for water. Rather it’s best to eat bread or crackers, or better yet dairy products like milk, plain yogurt, soft cheese or sour cream.

Beautiful fresh cherries and grapes are plentiful these days and are ideal for breakfast! Combine pitted cherries and/or seedless grapes with yogurt and garnish with crumbled biscotti or nuts.

You may want to make plans now to be in New Orleans August 18-20 for The Tales of the Cocktail tour, featuring culinary demonstrations, walking tours, booksignings, lecture and more geared around New Orleans’ cocktail history. For more info: www.talesofthecocktail.com

Now that I have my stash of several pints of fig preserves, I look forward to enjoying them on toast, biscuits and pancakes. But I always keep a few jars to use later in the year for fig cake and cookies. Check out Emeril’s website for fig recipes.

With forecasters predicting a very active hurricane season this year, residents along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlanta coasts had best be prepared. Nutrition students at Florida International University have come up with ways to eat well after a storm puts out the lights. The book includes shopping lists, tips, and recipes, which are low in fat, sodium and sugar, and high in fiber and complex carbohydrates, can be prepard with a miminum amount of water and no electricity. Free online at www.fiu.edu.com