Ho Ho Ho. Merry Christmas!

Today from the Hollywood Farmers Market I bring you Christmas in July. What I mean to say is I bring you a visit from Santa Claus, in the form of a melon. A super sweet Santa Claus melon.

I love summer melon, even when it has a ridiculously wintery name like Santa Claus. Melon replaces dessert many nights in this house during the summer. However if I am entertaining I might serve it as a palate cleanser after the meal, but before dessert. I almost always include a bit of melon in our Hollywood Bowl Picnics too.

I also enjoy the presentation of melon. Some people peel them so well, it’s a pleasure to watch them work. My peeling technique is a bit clumsy so I typically prep my melons behind closed doors. But I am working on my skills, and there is always next summer. Who knows, melon peeling tableside could become a tradition here as well.

Santa Claus melons are in a group of melons (like cantaloupe and honeydew) that are known as muskmelons. They probably originated in Asia Minor and were cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Muskmelons, along with squash, pumpkins, watermelon, and cucumbers fall into the very large genus Cucumis. The familial resemblance is obvious so I won’t bore you with more on their similarities.

Mozzarella wrapped in chard leaves.

Sounds good huh? But something’s missing. Something salty. Maybe kalamata olives! Yes, I like that.

That’s how my mind works. I came up with this recipe as part of a challenge over at Food52. They are having weekly recipe contests. Winning recipes go into a cookbook. You should check them out. Maybe even participate.

But back to my recipe. It’s still missing something. Something bright.

How about red pepper flakes. You knew I was going to say that right? Whenever I say something is missing it is almost always red pepper flakes.

Still this is a contest. I want to win. I have come close before. I have even come in second before. But I want to really impress those judges this time…

What impresses people more than cheese? Well, melted cheese of course.  So I am going to grill my chard wrapped, kalamata stuffed, red pepper spiced little packets of love.

Hey, I may not win, but I’ll certainly get their attention, right? GREG