Never miss a recipe!

Enter your email address to subscribe to Harvest to Table free via email:

Topics Index

almanac apples artichoke arugula asparagus basil beans beets best bet varieties blueberries bok choy books broccoli brussels sprouts cabbage carrots cauliflower celery chard cherries chilies Chinese cabbage Chinese leaves compost cooking cool-season vegetables corn cucumbers dates delicious bite delicious bites dried beans eggplant farmers market fennel fresh this week garbanzo bean gardening tips garlic grapefruit grapes herbs horseradish hot peppers how to grow in the garden kale kitchen garden kitchen garden almanac kohlrabi leeks legumes lemon lettuce mandarin orange melons mint mushrooms mustard greens nectarines okra olives onions oranges parsnips peaches pears peas peppers pests and diseases pests diseases problems potatoes pumpkin radish recipes rutabaga salsify seed starting shallots soil Southern Hemisphere spinach spring onions squash strawberry summer squash sun-dried tomato sunchokes sweet corn sweet pepper sweet potato tangerine tomato turnip turnip greens vegetable garden watermelons winter squash zucchini

More topics »

Categories

Harvest to Table Store

Great savings!
Harvest to Table Amazon Store

Measurement Converter

How to use
the Converter?

Hardiness Zone Finder

Find your zone by entering your zip code

National Gardening Association
Hardiness Zone Map

Favorite Food and Garden Blogs

Profile

Site Tools

Harvest to Table at Blogged

Harvest to Table

Harvest to Table

A practical guide to food in the garden and market

Melon en Surprise

Filed under: Delicious Bite, Tagged as: , , ,

Melon en Surprise was Auguste Escoffier's title for a five line description of a tasty combination of melons and other fresh fruits in his 1903 masterpiece Le Guide Culinaire.

Of course, Escoffier was working from the notes and techniques of Antoine Carême, an earlier codifier of French Haute cuisine.

But as you will see here, it certainly would not take the minds of two of cookery's greatest to set down the terms of one of summer's most delightful fruit combinations.

This recipe--or something very like it--is probably written onto the back cover of your great grandmother's most favorite cookbook. She probably heard about it from her grandmother.

You can use this description as the basic pattern for your imagination’s own seasonal taste in fruit.

 

Time required: ½ hour exclusive of chilling

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

1 large honeydew melon

Confectioner’s sugar

1 cup (237 ml) watermelon balls

1 cup cantaloupe balls

1/4 cup (59 ml) blueberries

1/4 cup blackberries

A few Bing cherries

1/2 cup (118 ml) each peach and apricot cubes

12 ounces (340 grams) raspberries

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup kirsch

 

Directions

1 Cut a 3-inch (7.5 cm) circular plug from the top of a ripe honeydew melon; scrape out the seed and remove the flesh with a ball scoop.

2 Dust the inner shell with confectioner’s sugar.

3 Prepare the rest of the fruit, except the raspberries. Pit the cherries; cubed apricots and peaches should be dipped in water and lemon juice to prevent darkening.

4 Mix the fruits and fill the melon shell.

5 Make a strained purée of the raspberries, flavoring with the sugar and kirsch (brandy may be substituted). Pour this over the fruit, replace the plug, and wrap the whole in airtight aluminum foil.

6 Chill for at least 2 hours.

7 Serve the melon upright in a deep bowl of cracked ice.

Fruit substitutions might include seeded grape halves, pineapple chunks, whole strawberries, and sliced bananas.

Never Miss a New Post subscribe to Harvest to Table by entering your email:

(more details)

 

Posted by Stephen Albert on August 21, 2007 under: Delicious Bite , Tagged as: , , ,
Permalink | Comments (0) | Email to a friend | Print

  • Currently 3.02/5
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Rating: 3.0/5 (621 votes cast)

Harvest to Table's New Encyclopedia:
The Kitchen Garden Grower's Guide

A practical vegetable and herb garden encyclopedia

The Kitchen Garden Grower's Guide: A practical vegetable and herb garden encyclopedia An enthusiastic and accessible companion, The Kitchen Garden Grower's Guide: A practical vegetable and herb garden encyclopedia by Stephen Albert details the very essentials to gain small crop prowess and expertise. This in-depth reference book is for the kitchen gardener and cook, a simple, one-stop, easy-to-use guide to bring fresh, inexpensive and healthy food from your garden to your table. Use this book as an index and information bank-a cornucopia-to access your favorite small vine fruits, vegetables and herbs and answer your particular questions.

Read more... | Buy the book from Amazon

 

Leave a comment





Send This Entry To A Friend