Here’s a look back at the food, cooking, and recipe posts that appeared earlier in the week here on HuggingtheCoast.Com…please join us tomorrow for the start of next week’s exciting food features!

Looking Back: 7/12/2010-7/18/2010

Monday: Best Gourmet Ice Cream Recipe Ideas for National Ice Cream Month

Tuesday: Rum Watermelon For the Adults and Wiggly Watermelon For the Kids (Fruit Dessert Recipes)

Wednesday: Julia Child’s Cooling Cucumber Salad Recipe

If you’ve been looking for a good excuse to learn how to make tahini, this delicious recipe for Greek Parsley Salad With Homemade Tahini from the folks at Kahaki Kitchen might just be the perfect justification.

Best of all, if you accidentally (on purpose) happen to make a double batch of homemade tahini, you can always serve some warm pitas or crackers to help fix your mistake.

Looking for more recipes that use tahini? Then you won’t want to miss these recipes for Red Pepper Hummus in Cucumber Cups and Meyer Lemon and Sumac Hummus Dip.

Enjoy!

This Asian spiced fried rice infused with the flavor of pineapple from Aapplemint is a thing of beauty indeed.

Served in a halved fresh pineapple and featuring a symphony of tropical flavors, this is one appetizer that’s as fun and festive looking as it is addictively delicious.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium sized carrot, diced

1 medium sized red pepper diced

1 medium sized green pepper diced

1 cup of peas

1 egg, scrambled 1 handful of chopped spring

When you look at rum, do you think yum?

Cooking with rum can be a nice way to capture that wonderful tropical, laid back feeling in the dishes you make.

Below are 5 easy fruit dessert recipes that feature the delicious flavor of rum.

Enjoy!

• Rum Watermelon For the Adults and Wiggly Watermelon For the Kids

• Apple Beignets With Butter-Rum Caramel Sauce Recipe

Here’s a look back at the food, cooking, and recipe posts that appeared earlier in the week here on HuggingtheCoast.Com…please join us tomorrow for the start of next week’s exciting food features!

Looking Back: 7/19/2010-7/25/2010

Monday: 100+ Popular Fish and Seafood Recipes to Celebrate My New Cookbook

Tuesday: Rum Butter Glazed Fig Pie Recipe (Fruit Dessert Recipes)

Wednesday: Stuffed Poblano Peppers With Black Beans and Tomatoes Recipe (Party Appetizer

When Italians really want to really cool down, they make granita, an extremely easy to make dessert that’s becoming more and more popular throughout the world.

This Italian Lime Pomegranate Granita Recipe only requires 4 ingredients:

2 cups of pomegranate juice (you can buy such ready-made juices as Pom Wonderful, or you can make your own)

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 cup vodka (to keep your granita from freezing into a solid mass)

Not in the mood for the flavor of pomegranate or lime in your granita? Just substitute your favorite fruit juices for a refreshing and versatile pick-me-up to customize this recipe.

Don’t forget to prepare this elegant and reviving dessert a few hours (5 or so is best) before you plan to serve it at your next BBQ party or outdoor gathering as it will need some time to set up.

If you’re looking for more delicious ways to beat the heat, please see the recipe links at the bottom of this article.

Recently, my new cookbook, the Knack Fish & Seafood Cookbook: Delicious Recipes for All Seasons from Globe Pequot Press/Knack Books was released into the wild blue sea of online and real world bookstores, so I thought I’d celebrate by sharing some of the most popular seafood recipes we’ve featured here on Hugging the Coast.

If you enjoy this website, I hope you’ll consider finding out more about this 256 page cookbook which has 200+ original fish and seafood recipes and variations with helpful step by step instructions, as well as 350 delicious looking full-color photographs.

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Recently, I bought 5 pounds of figs from a local farmer that were so delicious that only 4 pounds made it home.

Heartbreakingly juicy and naturally sweet, the taste of figs is a special occasion all its own.

When I saw this wonderful recipe for Rum Butter Glazed Fig Pie from the folks at Macheesmo, I just knew I would have to make it.

There may be some debate over whether this is a rum butter tart or a pie, but there’s no doubt that this is as a great way to showcase the goodness of fresh figs.

Looking for more recipe ideas that use figs? Don’t miss these recipes for

This richly flavored party friendly appetizer recipe for Stuffed Poblano Peppers With Black Beans and Tomatoes from the folks at For the Love of Cooking is a nice twist on the classic stuffed pepper recipe so many of us love and enjoy.

This stuffed Poblano pepper recipe is very easy to make and a great way to add more healthy foods to your diet.

Looking for more ways to use poblanos? You might want to try this easy

Whether it’s a perfect day to fire up the BBQ grill or a stormy one that has you stuck inside, you’ll love this easy all-weather recipe for Grilled Corn Salad With Honey Lime Dressing from the food blog, From Our (Brazilian) Home to Yours.

This versatile grilled corn salad can either be made with fresh corn outdoors on a grill or indoors using a grill pan with frozen corn as an option.

Even better, if you wish, you can make this corn salad the day before you plan to serve it…how’s that for grace and ease?

Looking for more recipes that

You don’t have to use grilled corn on the cob to make this refreshing Summer salad recipe, but if you do, you definitely won’t regret it.

Below is a delicious recipe for Shrimp Salad With Smoked Bacon, Corn, Avocado, Tomatoes and Fava Beans from the folks at Zen Can Cook.

Trust me, there’s nothing remotely ho-hum at all about this showstopper of a Summer salad.

Ingredients for the Salad:

For the salad:

12 jumbo shrimp, cooked and diced

Whether you enjoy Mexican quesadillas, tacos, enchiladas, burritos, or tortilla soup, there’s nothing quite like the flavor of a freshly made, still warm tortilla straight from the pan.

Once you’ve cooked (and tasted) a practice batch, you’ll find that making homemade tortillas is more than worth the extra effort. This is a great way to add more authentic flavor to the Mexican and Tex-Mex inspired dishes you make as well as save you a last minute trip to the supermarket.

Making homemade tortillas only requires 4 ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your kitchen: flour, baking powder, vegetable shortening (or lard), and salt. That’s it!

These warm tortillas are also great for breakfast served with melted butter instead of toast, topped with melted cheese, or cut into pieces and served with your favorite dip or spread.

Looking for some delicious recipes that use tortillas? Please see the tasty links at the bottom of this post.

Enjoy!

One of the most versatile fish you can make, tilapia is naturally low in fat and calories, making it a popular choice for both gourmets and those watching their weight.

This tilapia recipe for Thai Red Curry Fish Cakes With Broiled Eggplant from the folks at Cara’s Cravings, originally appeared in the popular cookbook, Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals.

Looking for more recipes that use tilapia? You won’t want to miss such

Created by the legendary cookbook author and popular TV chef, Julia Child, this marinated cucumber salad is a great way to let the refreshing flavor of the cucumbers from your garden or local farmer’s market really shine.

Looking for more information about the recipes and cooking of the late Julia Child? Then you won’t want to miss our article, Remembering the Life and Cooking of Julia Child: Recipes and a Story About Beginnings.

Enjoy!

Ingredients for the Cucumbers:

1-2 cucumbers

White vinegar

Sugar

Water

Ingredients

If you ask me, whoever decided to declare July National Ice Cream Month had exactly the right idea.

A whole month to celebrate the joys of eating ice cream during one of the hottest times of the year?

Sounds pretty sensible to me.

31 days to reacquaint yourself with such simple pleasures as ice cream sundaes, cones, milkshakes, ice cream cakes, and the lingering goodness of ice cream on waffles?

Multitasking at its best!

Below are links to dozens of delicious recipes featuring ice cream that will help you survive the dog days of Summer.

Enjoy!

• 16 Gourmet Ice Cream Recipes to Keep You Happy and Cool

Here’s a look back at the food, cooking, and recipe posts that appeared earlier in the week here on HuggingtheCoast.Com…please join us tomorrow for the start of next week’s exciting food features!

Looking Back: 7/5/2010-7/11/2010

Monday: A Grilled Watermelon Salad Recipe to Refresh You (Salad Recipe Ideas)

Tuesday:

The idea of making fried green tomatoes only sounds strange if you haven’t tried them. But if you have, the idea of eating fried green tomatoes sounds just like heaven.

Making fried green tomatoes is very easy and is a nice way to use up those unripe green tomatoes in your garden or from your favorite market.

Once you try these you’ll know just why fried green tomatoes are so popular in the South.

Ingredients for the Fried Green Tomatoes:

4 (1/2 inch) slices green tomato

1 cup flour

2 eggs

2 tbsp milk

3/4 cup bread crumbs

3/4 cup corn meal

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

cayenne

vegetable oil

1 tbsp butter

Ingredients for the Sauce:

equal parts sweet relish and mayo

hot sauce to taste

You can see a short video which will