When Betty suggested Fruit as the theme for May’s Let’s Lunch I jumped on the FB wagon right away. YES!! Fruit!! I love fruit but I don’t eat it as often as I should. NOT canned fruit, Fresh! Every year we pick pears from our trees and blueberries from our bushes. Hubs plants tons of watermelon and cantaloupe. Usually we have lots and give most of it away, but sometimes, like last year we didn’t have much. The weather!! This year, hopefully, it will be different.
My favorite fruit has always been the cantaloupe. My PawPaw always had two things waiting for me when I went for a visit – Twinkies and, if it was summer, cantaloupe. He was the best PawPaw! So for as long as I can remember I have loved cantaloupe and always associate them with my PawPaw!
Hard to believe but sometimes you can have TOO much cantaloupe. I am always looking for new ways to use them. So, when the Lets Lunch theme was FRUIT I knew I had to share a couple of my favorite Cantaloupe recipes.
For an easy treat how about a Cantaloupe Smoothie
Mix all ingredients together in a blender (or Magic Bullet).
This is so refreshing. I drink a lot of these in the summer – IF we have cantaloupe!
Recipe from Low Carb Smoothies by Dana Carpender.
But, there are only so many smoothies you can enjoy.
How about PIE!
Pie!!
I always thought Cantaloupe had too much moisture to make pie, but it is more like a squash than an actual melon. It has more substance, so the meat can be made into a pie. I perused several recipes and came up with this one:
1 large or 4 cups ripe cantaloupe, peeled, seeded, pureed. {I diced and put in the food processor, pulsing until smooth.}
1 cup sugar {mine was pretty sweet so I used less sugar, but you need to taste your melon first}
1/3 cup AP flour
1/3 corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
Place the cantaloupe puree in a large saucepan over medium heat.
In a large measuring cup whisk together the sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt and stir into cantaloupe.
Cook and stir until the mixture comes to a low boil and begins to thicken. {Keep stirring constantly or the mix will begin to resemble tapioca, which isn’t a BAD thing, but…}
Beat egg yolks and water together.
Gradually mix some of the hot cantaloupe mixture into the egg/water mix to prevent yolks from curdling.
Pour yolk/cantaloupe mixture back into saucepan and continue to cook for about 2 more minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
At this point you need to think about a crust and a topping. Some of the recipes I found used a basic pie crust. Some used a sweet crust. I used a basic pie crust, but I think it would be better with a
Sweet Crust.
1 cup AP flour
3 Tbl powdered sugar
8 Tbl (1 stick)margarine or butter
Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
Place flour and sugar into a large bowl.
Cut in magarine (butter) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Press dough into the bottom and up the sides ofa deep dish pie plate (9″)
Bake crust for about 20 minutes
Set aside to cool.
Once cooled pour the cantaloupe mixture into the crust.
And the topping??
Well, we liked ours with whipped cream, but I also saw some with meringue. And some with a cream cheese/sugar/whipped cream topping. They would all be good with this pie.
This is a good pie. Mine had the tapioca texture, but we didn’t mind that. It tastes like cantaloupe (DUH!!) but it is a different taste.
Keeper in this household.
What else is on the Let’s Lunch Menu? Check with Betty Ann over at Asian in America.
Tea and Scones 