All summer season long, a melon will take a seat on the give up of the kitchen desk next to the fruit bowl, ripening.
When the sweet, heady smell fills the kitchen, I open it. Sometimes the wait is days – even weeks. I am ever the optimist as I slice it open; however, now and again, I find out the scent is better than the flavor turns out to be, and my heart drops a touch. I usually chase a melon as flawless as the ones I bear in mind from markets on French and Spanish vacations.
But when a melon is a bit less than perfect, I even have methods to soften the blow.
This salad with roast feta and new potatoes makes a meal of melon; the lemon, honey, and herbs bring out the flavor of even a lackluster fruit. And the sorbet has grown to be our summertime dessert and a way of appeasing my ice-cream-obsessed son. It couldn’t be less difficult to make – you don’t need an ice-cream device, and it’s commonly fruit. I served the sorbet inside the hollowed-out melon halves with a few frozen berries on top for one youngster’s birthday celebration, which takes me back to dessert menus circa 1989. The fortunes of a less-than-candy melon are properly stored.
Melon, herb, and roast feta salad
You can use any melon you like for this salad or a combination; I love the comparison of brilliant purple watermelon, the peach of a cantaloupe, and the off-white of a sweet pie de Sapo. I purchase the right Greek or Italian oregano, which is an awful lot more fragrant, so search out a few if you can. Vegans can roast a drained tin of chickpeas or butterbeans with the potatoes in preference to the feta and miss the honey.
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Chop any huge potatoes in half, hold the smaller ones whole, and then switch to a large baking tray. Use a peeler to peel the zest from the lemon in long strips, then add to the tray.
Bash the top of the garlic until the cloves are slightly split, then add to the tray with the olive oil and oregano. Season nicely, then roast for 20 mins.
Peel and slice the melons into skinny 1/2-moons, removing the seeds as you pass.
After the potatoes have had 20 minutes, take them out of the oven, then mash them with a potato masher till damaged and flattened. Break over the feta, then go back the tray to the oven for a further 20 mins, or till golden and crisp all over.
Remove from the oven, toss with the juice of half of the lemon, then add the melon, basil, and mint. Finish with a touch of honey, if you want, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Quick melon sorbet
You will want to freeze your melon at a minimum the night earlier than you’re making this sorbet. If you are fortunate and your melon is particularly sweet, you might be able to use less maple syrup, so start by adding a bit, then flavor.
Cut the melon in half and spoon out the seeds. Next, scoop out the flesh, preserving the scooped-out melon skins if you suppose you may use them to serve the sorbet later.
Roughly chop the melon into 2-3cm pieces, pop it in a box, and place it within the freezer for eight hours, or ideally overnight – it may be left right here for up to a month until needed.
Remove the melon pieces from the freezer and put in an excessive-powered blender at the side of half of the maple syrup and the juice and zest of the lemon. Blend for two to a few minutes, until clean, then add extra maple syrup, if desired.
Scoop into bowls, or the hollowed-out melon halves, scatter over some frozen berries, if you like, and devour immediately. You can keep any leftovers in the freezer and mix them earlier than serving.
