In a pickle? This shark's a sweetie

Leah King of Tampa wrote last month to request the recipe for Old Fashioned Sweet Cucumber Pickles by the former Branch Ranch restaurant.

"I am sad that they stopped selling them in grocery stores," King writes. "It was bad enough that the restaurant went out of business. After all, they are simply the best!"

Reader Sandra Troublefield came through with a recipe she clipped from the Tribune in 1996.

Hello, deli

An Italian deli in the Bronx at 149th Street sold the best tuna salad that Joanne Feliciano of Tampa ever ate.

"If any of your readers were familiar with Marie's Italian Deli and if they might have a recipe for the tuna salad, I would sure love to get that recipe," she writes.

Time for watermelon

If you have your seasonal eating calendar out, you know we're headed into prime watermelon time.

The National Watermelon Promotion Board has plenty of recipe ideas it wants to share. (It does so online at www.watermelon.org.)

One that caught our eye is for a picnic salsa that works as a side dish and can be served over shredded iceberg lettuce. The other, well, is a watermelon shark. We're intrigued by the flavors of the salsa, but we're really impressed with the shark idea.

Directions for both run below. You get extra points if you use the shark to catch the watermelon seeds you spit out.

BRANCH RANCH DILL SLICES
• 1 quart dill pickles
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 2 or 3 pods of garlic, sliced

Slice dills in circles, mix well with other ingredients; return to jar.

Let sit for 24 hours, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate until served.

Pickles keep indefinitely.

WATERMELON, BLACK BEAN AND CORN SALSA
• 2 cans corn kernels, rinsed and drained
• 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 purple onion, chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons mild chili powder
• Juice from 2 fresh limes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt to taste
• 3 cups chopped seedless watermelon

Mix together all ingredients except watermelon until well combined. Gently fold in watermelon. Chill.

Serves 12 to 18.

WATERMELON SHARK

Materials Needed:
• 1 oblong, seeded watermelon
• Dry erase marker
• Large knife
• Smaller utility knife
• Large spoon
• Paring knife (you can use the tip of a vegetable peeler)
• 2 large marbles
• Toothpicks or wooden skewers
• Swedish Fish candies for garnish

Wash and dry the watermelon.

Cut off 1/3 of the watermelon at a diagonal angle.

Stand the remaining 2/3 upright on your work surface and use a dry erase marker to draw the mouth line and eye sockets.

Cut out the mouth. Trim back a half-inch line of the green part of the rind for the teeth area.

Use a large spoon to scoop out the watermelon flesh, leaving 3 inches intact at the base.

Cut out the teeth, using a smaller utility knife.

Use a melon baller to cut out the eye sockets to the size of large marbles. Then use a paring knife to trim the green area around the eyes. Insert marbles.

Use the carved-out rind from the mouth to make the dorsal fin. Shape as shown in the picture. Attach the fin using toothpicks.

Fill the mouth with triangle shapes of watermelon, accented with Swedish Fish.