BFF - Big F*&%ing Fruit

"The Jackfruit is the largest edible fruit grown on trees in the world." This is a quote from the back of a bag of Danielle Premium Hand Cooked Chips. I picked up a bag of these snacks recently out of curiosity. I had never tried Jackfruit and I love crunchy snacks. It turns out I really like jackfruit, it has a wonderful mild pineapple flavor without the tropical overtones of a passion fruit or guava.
The Jackfruit got me thinking about that quote... and big fruit. I consider the watermelon the biggest fruit in my occidental diet. My youngest son loves Watermelon. I rarely buy a watermelon because they are TOO BIG. Sure now adays you can buy small mini watermelons, but I'm already averse to watermelons after years of not being able to pick a perfect one. Why buy when you can't be assured you won't pick the mealy mushy one that isn't sweet? Then there is the problem of being stuck with 5 lbs of BAD fruit!??!
But since my son loves it, sometimes I bring one to a party so we can get rid of it all in one day, whether it's good OR bad. We went to a party recently and brought one, but the hostess had bought one too and already cut hers - Oh No!!
I brought the beastly huge fruit home. We cut into it the next day and for the first time in years, I had picked a good watermelon! Sweet, juicy, crisp! Now we had to find a way to eat it all.
Internet to the rescue, searched for watermelon salad, read up a bit and created my own using up some other great seasonal produce I had on hand. It's simple but complex enough to become addicting. Not too sweet, not quite savory so it will pair well with grilled meats. This simple salad is a great way to use up a bunch of that BFF!

Watermelon & Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:
2 lb. Ripe, sweet Watermelon flesh, cut into 3/4" cubes
1 large Cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4" cubes
1 lb. Jicama (small one or 1/2 of a BFF) peeled, cut into 3/4" cubes
1/2 bunch Cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1 juicy Lime (or two)
2 Tablespoons Agave Nectar or Honey or Sugar

Method

Combine the cut fruits and vegetables in a large bowl. Combine the lime juice and agave. Taste and add more lime or agave to your liking (less sweet watermelon may need more sweetener, more sweet watermelon, more lime). Pour the dressing over the fruit. Stir gently to coat. Sprinkle with the cilantro. Put in the refrigerator for an hour or so to let the flavors combine.

Lena's Wine Cooler

Our Swedish friends were visiting last month. We organized a picnic lunch at a beautiful spot for a warm sunny day. Lena and I made a special trip to the Farmer's Market in Santa Monica for the ingredients and then we couldn't carry all we wanted to buy. We ended up making loads of food - Grilled Asparagus with Blood Orange Sauce, Marinated Cucumbers with Dill, Mustardy Potato and Green Bean Salad, Tarragon Chicken Salad, Fresh Peach Cake and there may have been a few other items I have forgotten.

The hit of the day was the wine cooler I devised based on Lena's suggestion of Cucumbers and Green Apples as substitutes for the citrus I usually use. I happened to have a few sprigs of Lemon Verbena in my produce drawer, left over from the previous week's farmer's market outing. I can't resist the smell and taste of Lemon Verbena it's just about the best one leaf breath freshener there is and the beautiful bush is easy to grow in our Southern Californian climate. Usually I don't find a good use for what I buy, but simply eat it leaf by leaf for the experience. But this time it made the perfect infused sugar syrup to go with the cucumbers and apples.

I choose to use a wine called Colombelle. It has a purply lavender label and a screw off top. It's under $10/bottle and comes from the Southwest of France made from Colombard and Ugni blanc grapes. If I didn't use the Colombelle I would have used a Sauvignon Blanc as you want a light citrusy wine with no oaky overtones.

Here's the recipe:

Lena's Cucumber and Apple Wine Coolers

Makes 2 - 1/2 gal batches

Ingredients:
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Water
3 sprigs Lemon Verbena


2 750ml bottle Colombelle
2 liter bottles of seltzer water

Ice
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, thinly sliced
2 granny smith apples, sliced thinly off the core

Method:
In a small saucepan combine the sugar, water and lemon verbena. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes to infuse the syrup with the lemon verbena. Take it off the heat and let cool for several hours or overnight.

In a one gallon pitcher place the apple slices, cucumber slices and a few cups of ice. Pour in 1/2 of the sugar syrup, one bottle of wine and one bottle of seltzer. Stir gently. Serve over more ice with a thin slice of apple or cucumber as garnish.

Enjoy!