Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Tuesday, September 22nd

Tonight at Frugal Foodies was all about the melons, and I think that we had five different types that we prepared. One of the challenges of a Special Guest Ingredient night, as I’ve mentioned before, is trying to have all the dishes taste sufficiently distinct as to not bore the senses. Not sure if we were up to the challenge on this front, but everyone did leave full, if not bloated. And what was nice is that all of these recipes were on the easy side, and required almost no stove time so we had a bit of extra time to make some melon art, which was a fun diversion. As for the food, many of the dishes were missing something, though I didn’t always know what it was. Here’s what we made:

Cucumber Melon Soup—this was a nice opening dish, not too sweet, not too tart, but needed a tad of something so as to not be confused with a smoothie. Someone suggested wasabe another suggested mustard, but I’m not a fan of either, so I think I might have tried cayenne or something along those lines. As is, I give it a score of 5 bucks.

Watermelon Salsa—who would think to make a salsa out of watermelon? Not me, but it’s the dish that I found the most captivating, even though it was missing something as well. In this case, I think that it could have used a bit more spice and salt, but more importantly, it could have used more time for all of the flavors to blend. But the watermelon really worked for me, and I’d suggest playing around with the recipe and coming up with something really lovely. I give it a score of 5.5 bucks.

Melon Salad with Lime and Mint—I remember this salad being much tastier when we made it a few years back. Today, it tasted under-flavored, and I’m not sure if this was due to the melons or to not enough mint or lemon/lime. But I found it disappointing, in fact the most disappointing dish of the evening. I give it a score of 2.5 bucks.

Herb-Marinated Fresh Mozzarella Wraps—another dish with a fair amount of promise that fell a little short for me. While the elements were all strong, even considering the quirky combination of fresh cheese, asparagus, olives, and cantaloupe, it needed more flavor, so I’m thinking that it could have been much much better with a more flavorful cheese like feta, or with some balsamic in the seasoning, or maybe both. As is, it was an entirely fine but forgettable dish, so it can only be scored as 4 bucks.

Casava Melon with Coconut Milk—this was our “dessert” but it was one of those dishes that didn’t seem too desserty. I added some sliced almonds to mine to give it some crunch but it was still missing something. I liked the coconut milk and the toasted coconut, but maybe it was the cassava melon that didn’t excite me. In any case, I give it a score of 3 bucks.

Overall—tonight’s menu didn’t really work for me as an overall performance, and I think that I’d only be inclined to make one of the dishes—the salsa—again. But I think that I got my fiber for the day, and it wasn’t a bad meal by any stretch. In all, a mildly disappointing 20 bucks in all, but I think that this was more about melon overkill than anything else. Now for the recipes…


Cucumber Melon Soup

Adapted from www.perfectentertaining.com

Ingredients
2 cups honeydew, chopped
2 large cucumbers, chopped
8 ounces plain yogurt
2 T fresh lime juice
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper

Instructions
1. Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth.
2. Pour the mixture through a sieve to strain out any chunks of seeds and peel.
3. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
4. Cover and chill the soup for at least 30 minutes and up to 5 hours before serving.


Serves 4



Watermelon Salsa

Adapted from www.perfectentertaining.com

Ingredients
3 C diced watermelon (or other melon or mix of melons)
½ C finely diced bell peppers
¼ C sliced scallions
2 T lime juice
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
2 T minced jalapenõ peppers, or to taste

Instructions
1. Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and stir well
2. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 6 hours before serving.
3. Stir before serving.
4. Serve with chips or as a condiment for a main course.


Makes about 4 cups



Melon Salad with Lime and Mint

Adapted from Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings, by Edward Espe Brown

Ingredients
½ lb melon
Juice of 1 lime
2 T white sugar or maple syrup
Salt
15 to 18 mint leaves, sliced into narrow strips (about ¼ C)

Instructions
1. Cut the melon open and remove the seeds. Use a melon baler or remove the rind and cut into chunks.
2. Combine the lime juice and sugar or maple syrup, and toss it with the melon, along with a couple pinches of salt. Garnish with the mint leaves.


Serves 4-6



Herb-Marinated Fresh Mozzarella Wraps

Adapted from www.myrecipes.com

Ingredients
¾ cup (3 ounces) diced fresh mozzarella cheese
2 T chopped fresh basil
2 T chopped pitted kalamata olives
1 T chopped fresh chives
1 T chopped fresh oregano
1 t olive oil
½ melon, sliced into spears
16 asparagus spears, steamed and chilled (about 1/4 pound)
4 (8-inch) flour tortillas

Instructions
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and chill for an hour.
Arrange 2-3 spears of melon and 4 asparagus spears on each tortilla. Spoon about 1/3 cup cheese mixture over the asparagus, and roll it up tightly.
Cut wraps at an angle and serve.


Serves 4



Casava Melon with Coconut Milk

Adapted from www.perfectentertaining.com

Ingredients
8 ounces coconut milk
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
4 cups cubed casaba melon
¼ cup toasted shredded coconut
Additional lime zest for garnish (optional)

Instructions
1. Mix together the coconut milk, lime juice, and zest in a large bowl until well mixed. Add the melon and toss well.
2. Chill for at least one hour, and up to three hours.
3. Garnish with the toasted coconut and lime zest and serve.


Serves 6

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