 |
Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes |
Ready In: 0 Minutes Servings: 15 |
|
I found this on the cancer nutrition site: Watermelon Picking Tips: Look for a rind that is dull, not shiny and without soft spots. Slap the side of the melon, a ripe melon will have a hollow thump sound. Since these are basic instructions, the number of servings will depend on the size of your fruit. Read more . Suffice it to say, this serves a big crowd Ingredients:
1 watermelon |
for the rest of the fruit, mix and match as you see fit |
blackberries |
blueberries |
cantaloupe |
coconut |
honeydew melon |
nectarines |
peaches |
pineapple |
plums |
oranges |
seedless grapes |
strawberries |
raspberries |
etc. |
for garnish |
lemon, lime or orange slices |
grapes, melon balls or cherries |
toothpicks |
tools |
garnishing tool or |
serrated knife (jack-o-lantern carving knives work well) |
melon baller |
or |
simply cut the fruit into bite sized chunks |
Directions:
1. Let's Carve a Watermelon!
2. To begin, take a sharp knife and slice a small thin piece off the bottom of your melon as shown in the photos below. This will allow the finished basket to sit flat on a plate or table without rolling.
3. Next, take the tip of your knife or garnishing tool and score the watermelon in half, horizontally. Then mark a strip of about 1 1/2 - 2 inches wide that will form the handle of your basket. For illustrative purposes we used a marking pen instead of scoring. If you have trouble seeing the score lines, you might also want to try this method.
4. Next, take your garnishing tool and start cutting around the melon on the lines. The garnishing tool naturally makes V shaped cuts, which makes doing a basket like this a breeze. If you do not have a garnishing tool, use a small knife and make the V cuts one side at a time. You could also forget the V and make straight cuts.
5. To make separating the melon easier, and the finished product neater, turn your garnishing tool over, and go over the cuts in the opposite direction (see photos).
6. Carefully separate the cut sides from the body of the watermelon. If you used a marking pen and there are any residual marks left, a handy way to get rid of them is to use a new emory board and gently sand them off.
7. Take a melon baller and hollow out the inside of the watermelon. After removing all the edible parts, take a large spoon and gently scrape out the sides of your basket . Be care not to scrape too thinly on the handle, as you want it to have some stability, even though you will never try to carry it this way.
8. Mix the watermelon balls (or pieces, if you don't have a melon baller) with other ripe fresh fruits. To make the handle garnish, thinly slice lemons, limes or oranges and use a toothpick to affix them, along with a grape (pictured), melon ball or cherry, to the watermelon. (see final photo, above).
9. The fruit will 'leak' juice; so put a few holes in the bottom of the melon and place in an aluminum roasting pan about 3 high. I put ice in that after I place the melon in so it serves 2 purposes.
|
|