Slice and Dice: Summer Melon

Melons are the underdogs of summer. Bulky and thick-skinned, their beauty lies within (making them easy to ignore). However, on a hot day when there’s sweat suspended on your brow, melons provide more relief than a pretty peach or a palmful of berries. Nearly 90 percent water, a wedge of watermelon or spoonful of cantaloupe often offers more nuance and refreshment than a fancy poolside drink. So, if you didn't get a beach vacation this summer, don’t fret. Pull out a lawn chair and slice up a melon.   

How to Select a Summer Melon

Although there are many varieties of melon grown in the U.S., cantaloupe and watermelon are often the easiest to find. The fruit that is sold as cantaloupe is often really muskmelon. Unlike true cantaloupe, muskmelon has deeply netted skin that resembles a curvy Celtic pattern. Look for a muskmelon that feels solid, but is not rock hard. Beware: If the skin has a greenish tone, it’s not fully ripe. Always give the fruit a whiff. If it’s ready to eat, you’ll breathe in a sweet perfume.

Ripe watermelon should feel heavy for its size. In addition, look for a patch of light yellow skin on the side that was resting on the ground.

  

How to Peel a Summer Melon

Muskmelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, and other sweet summer melons can be peeled.

Melons grow on the ground, so be sure to wash them thoroughly.

Place the melon on a cutting board on its side. Hold it in place with one hand. In the other hand, hold a chef’s knife perpendicular to the cutting board and slice off the stem end and the end opposite to it.

When the knife hits the cutting board, discard the strip of skin. Rotate the fruit, and continue peeling the skin until all of it is removed.

How to Slice a Summer Melon

Cut the skinned melon in half lengthwise. 

Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. 

Hold one half of the melon on the cutting board with the seeded side facing up. With a chef’s knife, slice it in half lengthwise. 

Continue to slice each melon quarter lengthwise until each piece is an inch or so thick. 

How to Cube a Summer Melon

Place a slice of the melon on a cutting board. Hold the end of the slice securely with one hand, and cut across the length of the melon with a chef's knife to form cubes.

How to Cut a Small Watermelon into Wedges

Note: Watermelon has much thicker skin (often referred to as a rind) than other summer melons. Be sure to use a sharp knife when cutting it. You can also stabilize it by placing a damp kitchen towel between it and the cutting board before making the first cut.

Select a small watermelon and place it on a cutting board with the stem side down. With a chef's knife, cut it in half lengthwise. With the cut side facing up, cut each half of the melon in half lengthwise. Take each quartered piece and slice it in half lengthwise again.

How to Cut a Large Watermelon into Wedges

Place a large watermelon on a cutting board with the stem side down and cut it in half lengthwise. With the cut sides facing down, cut each half in half lengthwise again to make quarters. Place one quarter of the melon on the cutting board, with the rind facing you and one of the cut sides facing down. Cut it widthwise into 1-inch thick triangular slices. Repeat with remaining quarters.

To cube the watermelon, simply place a slice on the cutting board with one side of the flesh touching the board. With a paring knife, cut the rind away from the flesh. 

With a chef’s knife, cut across the fruit.

Rotate the fruit 90 degree and cut across it again to form cubes. 

How to Make Melon Balls

Press the melon baller into the fruit, avoiding the rind. Rotate it 360 degrees to form a circle, and then drop the melon ball into a bowl. Repeat until no more balls can be taken from the melon, leaving space between each scoop to ensure melon balls are completely round and cutting the melon down to a smaller size from time to time to reveal untouched flesh.

Slice and Dice: Jackfruit

The last time I landed at Cochin International Airport, there was a taxi cab driver bandh or strike. My cousin Kunjumon miraculously managed to retrieve me with the help of a private driver. 

Soon after we arrived at his house, I stepped under a canopy of coconut trees towering in the backyard. The toasty air and lush green landscape provided the perfect counterpoint to the steely winter weather I'd left behind. 

Before I could take a breath, Kujumon ran out and accosted me.

"What are you doing out here? You could get hit by a coconut."

I thought he was teasing me as my Dad's side is full of pranksters. 

"Really you could get killed." Rats, he was serious. 

As it turns out, death by hard-shelled fruit is no joke in Kerala (a.k.a the land of coconuts). I learned that the only thing worse is getting pummeled by jackfruit, which can weigh over 100 pounds. 

Like turmeric and cardamom, jackfruit is a Kerala original. From the outside, it looks like a portly, prehistoric reptile. Picture an elephantine watermelon covered in a tapestry of poky, grasshopper green nubs. Carve open a ripe one, however, and they will come. It's gentle flavor falls somewhere between a banana and a perfectly ripened cantaloupe. It's texture has bite. No fruity mush here.  

In the U.S., fresh jackfruit used to be a rare find. Recognizing that dilemma, my cousin Sunil once lugged a sizable one from Miami to Cleveland to surprise his parents. He held it close at check in to manage the weight. A fellow passenger assumed it was a child and asked, "Can I see your baby?" No joke. 

Thanks to its growing popularity, fresh jackfruit has become increasingly available, cutting down on such awkward moments. In Chicago, precut wedges are often available along Devon Avenue. More surprisingly, it now pops up at mainstream grocery stores, including Jewel. 

Prepping ripe jackfruit is a multi-stepped labor of love. If you want to bring a fresh bowlful to the table, read on.

How to Select Jackfruit

Since the good stuff is inside, it's easiest to start with a precut wedge of jackfruit (just as you might with watermelon) and work your way to the tasty pods. If you go this route, look for a wedge that is pineapple yellow versus butter yellow for the fullest flavor. Warning: ripe jackfruit has a funky aroma, which may emanate through the wrapping. Don't let it scare you.

If you're beginning with a whole fruit, look for a yellow-green shell. Green-shelled jackfruit may be prettier, but the fruit will not be ripe. 

How to Cut Jackfruit

Jackfruit contains ribs covered in a very stick resin. To begin, coat your hands, your chef's knife, and your cutting board with a thin layer of neutral oil to keep it from globing on. Soap and water will not do the trick. Trust me, you do not want to skip this step. 

Cut the fruit width wise to create a disk and make it easier to handle.

Slice the disk in half.

 

Slice away the fibrous core and cut into wedges.

Pull out the fleshy pods.

Pull open the pods like a clam shell and remove the seeds, which are also edible. (More on that later.)

Slice and Dice: Peaches

I grew up in Illinois peach country. So for me, summer isn’t summer until I feel the juice of a freshly picked peach trickling down my chin. I’ll sit through any meal that promises the possibility of peach cobbler. When the fruit is in season, I spread it on salad, blend it into smoothies, and plop it into pie.

How to Select

A member of the rose family, fresh peaches should have a fragrant, sweet smell. Their flesh should be full-bodied and firm, but willingly give way to a gentle squeeze. Beware of fruit with bruised flesh and wrinkled or loose skin.

Peaches are labeled as freestone or clingstone based on the clinginess of their stone and the firmness of their flesh. Freestone stone peaches have stones that can be easily removed. The flesh of clingstone peaches grasps onto the seed, making it difficult to pull the two apart. Clingstone peaches are sought out by commercial canners for their firmer flesh. Therefore, they are rarely available.
Like strawberries, peaches are on The Environmental Working Group’s dirty dozen list of foods with the most pesticide residue. To reduce your exposure to contamination, be sure they're organic.

How to Pit

To pit a freestone peach or other stone fruit (nectarines, apricots, plums), follow these simple steps:

Thoroughly wash and dry the peach.Place it on a cutting board with the stem side facing up. With a chef’s knife, cut into the stem side until you reach the stone. 

Rotate the peach and continue to cut into the flesh until you’ve circles the entire peach.

Place your hands other either side of the cut flesh and gently pull the fruit apart.

Using your fingertips, wiggle out the stone.

To  pit a clingstone peach:

Place the peach on a cutting board with the side of the peach resting on the board. Hold the peach in place with one hand. With a chef’s knife, cut a wedge from the peach and pull it away from the seed. Rotate the peach and continue until all the flesh has been sliced into wedges and pulled off of the seed.

How to Slice

Pit the peach using the steps outlined above.

Place one half of the peach on a cutting board with the cut side down.

With a chef’s knife, slice the peach lengthwise the desired width.

How to Chop

Pit the peach using the steps outlined above.

Place one half of the peach on a cutting board with the cut side down.


With a chef’s knife, slice the peach lengthwise.

Cut the slices widthwise to form chunks.

This article was originally published on WholeFoodsMarketCooking.com

Slice and Dice: Strawberries

A few years ago, I landed a plot in my local community garden. Eager to create a sanctuary for myself in the city, I filled the tiny space with tomato plants, bell peppers, thyme, sage, parsley, and jalapeños at my mom’s insistence. Contented with my efforts, I cooed over the seedlings until I noticed a small patch of grasshopper-green plants in a neighboring plot. Their deeply grooved leaves sat close to the ground. Having picked strawberries for many summers as a child, I knew that dainty white flowers would soon appear among the leaves and that the blossoms would morph into glossy, red berries. I kicked myself for forgetting to plant them. I soon realized it would take an acre of land to satisfy my craving for the cushy, floral fruit, and I headed to the market where they were already on display.

An alluring shade of red, strawberries waken all the senses. Dress them up with chocolate or eat them straight off the stem. A cup of the berries exceeds the recommended daily dose of vitamin C; the tiny seeds that polka-dot the outer skin provide fiber. The sinfully delicious fruit also contains an infusion of antioxidants, which guard against heart disease. So take the time to enjoy the exquisite fruit.

How to Select Strawberries

Strawberries stop ripening after they are picked. So select red berries without any green or white patches. They should be glossy, plump, and free of soft spots. According to The Environmental Working Group, strawberries are among the foods that have the most pesticide residue. So opt for organic.

How to Store Strawberries

Strawberries can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days. Leave the stems intact and lay the unwashed berries in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Pick out any moldy fruit to keep mold from spreading. Place the berries in the refrigerator uncovered. Wash and hull the strawberries before devouring them. 

To freeze: If you plan to store strawberries for more than three days, it’s best to freeze them. It takes very little effort! 

Wash the berries and hull them by slicing off their green caps.

Lay them on a paper towel to dry. 

Lay the berries on a cookie sheet lined with a fresh paper towel and place them in the freezer. 

When the berries are frozen, transfer them to freezer bags or a freezer-safe storage container. Store them in the freezer.

How to Prepare Strawberries

To slice: Wash the berries. Lay a berry on its side and slice off the green cap. Hold the wide end of the berry with one hand. With a paring knife in the other hand, slice the berry widthwise, starting at the tip.(If you prefer, you can slice strawberries lengthwise from side to side for teardrop-like slices.)

To chop: Wash the berries. Lay a berry on its side and slice off the green cap. Using a paring or chef's knife, slice the berry in half lengthwise. Slice each half down the middle lengthwise. Line the cut pieces up together lengthwise. Cut them widthwise starting at their narrowest ends. Run a knife across the cut pieces to finely chop.

Slice and Dice: Mangoes

During my last trip to Kerala, I stayed with my dad’s younger sister, Jolly. I wanted to learn her culinary secrets so we spent a lot of time in the kitchen. It quickly become my favorite space in the house. An oft used jug of coconut oil rested in a cubbyhole above the stove. Peppercorns, which had been plucked from the yard and dried atop a copy of the local paper, were also just within reach. There was an earthenware vessel shaped like a large vase tucked below the stone spice grinder. I learned that my grandmother, Amachi, had used it to ferment green mangoes. After my grandfather died, she swore off pickling India's national fruit, and gave it to Jolly Auntie. Before the hand off, she had prepped many a mango.

The truth is if you want to cook and eat some really lovely Kerala dishes, you'll need to learn to prepare mangoes, which grows in abundance across the state. The native stone fruit can be used when they are firm and green or soft and juicy. Eager to slice one up? Then check out these tips.

How to Select a Mango

Mangoes come in many different shades. However, when selecting the stone fruit, don’t be fooled by its color. Give it a gentle squeeze. If it gives like a ripe peach, you’ll know it’s ready to eat. So nab it.

 How to Prep a Mango

Inside every mango lies a stubborn, oblong pit. The most important step when prepping the succulent fruit is separating the flesh from the pit. Here’s how it’s done: 

Carefully wash the mango. Slice off the tip to make it easier to peel. Then using a vegetable peeler, remove the skin.

Hold the mango on its side on a cutting board. Place the knife right next to the seed and slice off one side. If you hit the seed, move the knife further off center and give it another try.

Rotate the fruit and repeat on the other side.

You’ll be left with a ring of flesh encircling the pit. You have two choices: either nibble it off as a gift to yourself. Or place the seed flat on the cutting board. Following the contour of the pit, slice off the flesh.

How to Slice a Mango

Place one half of the mango on a cutting board.  Cut across the fruit width wise or lengthwise depending on how large you want the slices.

How to Chop a Mango

Place the cut side of the mango on a cutting board.  Cut across it width wise. Rotate the mango 90-degrees and cut across it lengthwise.

This article was originally published on WholeFoodsMarketCooking.com

Plantains with Coconut Milk (Banana Stew)

When I traveled to India, my paternal grandmother, Amachi, always served plantains as a mid-day snack. By late afternoon, everyone would gather in the dining room for a dose of milky tea generously sweetened with raw sugar. A steel platter sat in the middle of the table stacked with steamed plantains. Each one had been sliced in half. Peeling back their blackish-yellow jackets set off a stream of steam and revealed the fruit’s saffron-colored flesh.  

The plantains were as local as it gets having been plucked from plants in Amachi’s yard. They offered a sweet complexity in every bite and had a heartier texture than the wide variety of bananas we consumed over the course of our stay. We were treated with chunks of fresh jackfruit, tender coconuts, juicy mangoes, and plump papayas all the while. But they never gave me the comfort of Amachi's steamed plantains.

It's been 20 plus years since Amachi passed away, and yet, whenever I bite into a perfectly cooked ripe plantain, I picture her moving about in the kitchen.  

 

BANANA STEW

Serves 2

Banana Stew and banana chips are both made with plantains not bananas. Don’t ask me to explain why that isn’t spelled out! What I can tell you is that this delicately flavored dish makes for a lovely, filling breakfast or dessert, particularly if you’re a fan of plantains, coconut, and/or cardamom. My suggestion? Cook some up and dig right in.

INGREDIENTS

2 medium ripe plantains
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
Pinch salt
1/2 cup coconut milk


INSTRUCTIONS

Slice the plantains into 1/2-inch discs. 

Place in a sauté pan. Add the butter, water, sugar, vanilla, cardamom, salt, and coconut milk. Stir.

Heat over medium-low heat. 

Cook, stirring occasionally until the plantains are soft, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Slice and Dice: Pineapple

When the local Kroger stocked tropical fruit, my mom served us the desserts of her youth. It was a rarity in the 80s so her line up was limited to cubes of mango, chunks of pineapple, and strips of tender coconut, which jiggled like Jello. The unadorned produce made my mom giddy, and she urged us to stake out our fair share. I did my best to ward off her advances, yielding a Hostess cupcake or neatly packaged Twinkie. 

As an adult, I realized the error of my ways. These days, I rely on freshly cut fruit to subdue my seemingly insatiable sweet tooth. In the winter, I nosh on fresh pineapple, which aids with digestion and offers a great bang for the buck. 

If you're craving the warmth of the sun, use these tips to bring the tropical taste of pineapple to your table.

How to Peel a Pineapple

Thoroughly wash the pineapple. Place it on a cutting board. With a chef’s knife, slice off the top 1/2 to 1 inch under the crown.

Rotate the fruit 180 degrees and slice off 3/4 of an inch off of the stem end.

Place the bottom end on the cutting board. Slice the skin away in strips. 

How to Core and Chop a Pineapple

   

Place the pineapple on it side. Cut diagonal pockets across the fruit to remove the eyes. 

Slice the pineapple in half from top to bottom. Place each half on a cutting board and cut into quarters. Invert each quarter and carefully slice away the core. Cut each quarter lengthwise into strips. 

Cut the strips widthwise into bite-sized pieces.