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Recipes -
Watermelon Basket Fruit Salad
Watermelon Basket Recipe
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You Will Need
1 watermelon
For the rest of the fruit, mix and match as you see
fit:
cantaloupe, honeydew melon
seedless grapes
peaches, nectarines
strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries
plums, oranges
etc.
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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
Since these are basic instructions, the number of servings
will depend on the size of your fruit. Suffice it to say,
this serves a big crowd.
Let's Carve a Watermelon!
To begin, take a sharp knife and slice a small thin piece
off the bottom of your melon. This will allow the finished
basket to sit flat on a plate or table without rolling.
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. If you have trouble seeing the score
lines, you might want to use a marking pen.
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 a straight cut or the wavy cut shown in the
photo.
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.
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.
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.
Mix the watermelon balls (or pieces, if you don't have a
melon baller) with other ripe fresh fruits. To garnish the
handle, thinly slice lemons, limes or oranges and use a
toothpick to affix them to the top of the handle in a row,
then place a grape, melon ball or cherry to the top of each
pick.
Serves: A Lot!
TIP:
One problem encountered with watermelon baskets is that
liquid from the fruits collect in the bottom of the "basket"
which makes the fruit soggy. You can correct this problem by
putting "drainage" holes in the bottom of the watermelon
after hollowing it out and before filling with the fruit.
Then put the basket in a large oval roasting pan filled with
ice cubes (to keep the fruit cold), and the water from the
fruit will drain into the pan along with the melting ice.
This keeps the fruit in the basket from getting soggy.
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.
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