Mer Soleil

Cantaloupe Cucumber Summer Salad

I love a good summer salad and this one hits all the marks. Cool, sweet, salty- all the feels. And just the right amount of acid. I would serve this on its own or with a nice piece of salmon or chicken, but it will go with absolutely anything.

When using feta, buy the block of feta, not the crumbled feta. It is much better when you crumble it yourself. Also be careful when adding salt when you use feta. Feta is very salty and many times you can omit the salt or at least cut back on the amount. You don’t have to add feta. A nice burrata would be good or simply serve it over some cottage cheese. Don’t judge me on my love of cottage cheese. It has tons of protein and is the perfect compliment to the summer veggies and fruit that’s coming in right now. If you have someone in your house that doesn’t like cottage cheese, try throwing it into mini food processor and whipping it. I called this whipped cheese at my house, because if I called it cottage cheese, no one but me would eat it. I make creamy dressing with it, put it on bagels…you get the picture.

For the acid, today I used used apple cider vinegar, but try out different acids such as lime, white balsamic, red wine vinegar. I love to play around with acids.

If by chance, you have cut your cantaloupe and it isn’t quite as sweet as you hoped, you can add a touch of honey to the dressing. A little honey never hurt anyone or anything.

My herb of choice for this is fresh basil, but if you are a mint lover, you could definitely substitute it.

This dish is beautiful with all the summer colors. Be sure to serve it in something that makes the colors pop- a white bowl, a wooden bowl or even a clear glass bowl would be nice.

For the wine lovers, I would pair this with a good sauvignon blanc, one of my favorites is Emmolo. A nice crisp chardonnay, like Mer Soleil Silver would also be lovely. Both of these are by Caymus and very good quality and excellent price point.

Cantaloupe Cucumber Strawberry Salad

An unforgettable simple summer salad.

Ingredients

4 cups diced cantaloupe
2 cups diced cucumber
3/4 cup diced red onion
4 ounces feta cheese
fresh basil
freshly ground black pepper
salt

Dressing:
3 tbsp good olive oil
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Directions

Throw all the ingredients into a bowl. In a separate container mix the dressing and pour over the ingredients in the bowl and toss. Best served chilled.

Make this recipe your own. You could easily substitute different cheeses and acids. I like to serve with a pretty basil leaf off to the side.

Slow Cooker Ham

Last year on Thanksgiving Eve, my husband casually said, “a ham would be good, too for Thanksgiving dinner”. While I am certain that no one at my house fully understands the planning and prep time that occurs for this feast, I thought about it and decided, okay, we can add ham to the menu. And full disclaimer- I do love a good ham.

So I ran to the store, purchased a ham, not even a fancy one- just a store name, cheapest they had, spiral cut ham.

All hams are precooked. So essentially, you don’t need to cook it to death. You just need to warm it and keep the moisture in. My favorite is a huge, old fashioned picnic ham that just pulls apart when you try to slice it. But on this particular day, there was no time for that and the main course and star of the show was the turkey I had been brining and babysitting for two days…

Thanksgiving morning, I took the packaging off the ham and threw it cut side down into my large, oval slow cooker. And with everything I had going on, I honestly didn’t give a second thought to this ham. It had a glaze packet with it and I mixed it with some water (per the packet direction) and poured over it. And yes, I know, you can mix honey, brown sugar and dijon mustard together and make a wonderful glaze, but honestly, I can’t stress enough about how much I did not care about this ham.

After 4-5 hours on low, I took the cover off to find a watery, sweet smelling, clove infused concoction in the bottom of the slow cooker. I removed the ham and sliced it up on the platter, again, not caring about it. I dumped the watery concoction into a sauce pan, turn the burner on high and try to reduce it. I was sure I could make a sugary, real glaze out of the watery stuff.

It never really reduced, it was still just watery stuff. So I made a cornstarch slurry (1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 1 tbsp cold water) and dumped it into the saucepan. Then the magic happened…there was some type of chemical reaction, a puff of caramel looking stuff came up out of the pan, I jerked it off the burner and thought I was in real trouble. But what transformed was some type of wonderful, thick, sugary, glaze/sauce and I poured it over the ham on the platter.

It was THE BEST HAM I HAVE EVER MADE.

Am I going to recreate it for Easter? Of course, I am! We are doing family Easter Dinner on Saturday night (we do it when we can), so this week I am planning the menu and in addition to the ham we will have roasted carrots, deviled eggs, potato salad, cheesy mashed potatoes, baked beans and a carrot cake trifle.

For the carrot cake trifle, I use my old faithful Trifle Recipe and in place of the vanilla pudding I use cheesecake pudding, and in place of angel food cake I use carrot cake (box mix). I love a trifle because it is best made ahead and that works out well for planning.

For the potato salad, it is not often that someone’s recipe permanently changes the way I do things, but I found a potato salad recipe a few years ago that was very similar to mine- except instead of pickles, they added vinegar to the warm potatoes and let it soak in. I am telling you, it is a game changer. And I will never chop pickles again! Foodiecrush’s Best Potato Salad recipe is wonderful and you should try it.

And the best thing about ham…that leftovers that will transformed into White Bean Soup later in the week.

As for the pairing, I think you always have to have sweet tea with ham. And in addition, of course we will have a bottle of white and red open. I am leaning toward Mer Soleil Silver Chardonnay. It is a great Wagner wine, unoaked, smooth and crisp, just like spring. And the Mer Soleil Reserve Pinot Noir will be a good match for dinner, with hints of cherry and vanilla. These run under $25 a bottle and they are excellent quality wines. Fingers crossed my local store has them in stock. Cheers!

Slow Cooker Ham

One of the best hams I have ever made.

Ingredients

4-7 lb ham (I used spiral, but any half ham would work)

GLAZE
1-2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp dijon mustard
You may use water to thin out the glaze.
You may add clove and/or cinnamon
(You can also use the glaze packet that came with the ham. No judgement here.)

CORNSTARCH SLURRY
1-2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cold water

Directions

In a large oval slow cooker, place the ham cut side down. Pour over glaze and cook on low for 4-5 hours. Remove ham and place on a serving platter. Pour the remaining liquid into a saucepan and boil on medium high to reduce for a few minutes. Turn the heat down to low, and add the cornstarch slurry. Pour the mixture over the ham. Any remaining glaze just pour in a bowl and serve on the side.

Make this recipe your own. Play with the glaze. Add orange juice, pineapple juice, cloves and or cinnamon.

Christy Young Goza

Peach Caprese Salad

This week I have an abundance of peaches. I have to be honest, I am not a fan of cooked or canned peaches. I do however love fresh peaches. Last night, the FOKRs (my tribe of wine lovers) came over for what we refer to as “a nibble and a sip”. Everyone brings an appetizer and a bottle of their favorite wine or beverage of choice. I had 30 minutes from the time I got home from work until the time they arrived to prepare something and the winner was peach caprese salad- I also threw some salmon in the oven for good measure.

The evening went off without a hitch. We laughed, we cried, we loved, and that is what we do best. The FOKRs are a diverse group- young, old, liberal, conservative, gay, straight, men, women, etc. We all have some common interests- we love food and wine, and we cherish our friendships. We have been friends for decades and together we have celebrated birthdays, births, anniversaries, weddings and life and we have been there for each other through breakups, divorces, deaths, sicknesses and hardships. Find your tribe and if you can’t find a tribe start building your own. And if you are lucky, you will have multiple tribes!

I would pair this with a chilled bottle of Mer Soleil Silver Chardonnay. It is unoaked with fruity notes and a crisp, bright finish. I wouldn’t be opposed to dropping a slice of fresh peach in the glass. Mer Soleil is part of the Caymus family and is a spectacular wine for the money- fabulous enough for a special occasion and affordable enough for a weeknight at home. We always keep some on hand in our wine fridge- you know, for emergency wine situations.

Peach Caprese Salad

Servings: 4-6
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Ingredients

peaches
tomatoes
fresh mozzarella
basil
balsamic glaze*

Directions

Slice the peaches. Removing the peel is optional.
Slice the tomatoes.
Slice the mozzarella.
Place the ingredients above on a platter and throw in basil leaves.
Drizzle the balsamic glaze right before serving.

You can make your own balsamic glaze by reducing balsamic vinegar by simmering on low until it is the consistency you are looking for, or you can purchase the glaze. I have done both and I prefer buying it! Make this recipe your own. You could omit the tomatoes, or substitute burrata or goat cheese for the mozzarella. You could opt for a white balsamic glaze instead of the traditional.