During a gas stop at Green River, I discovered that this town is the world melon capital. Keep in mind that this part of the country isn't just desert---it is so forbidding that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid used this territory to hide from the law. Of course, I had to try some. Vetere is a long-standing grower with a stand very convenient to the highway.
The proprietior was very friendly and encouraged me to try samples. She explained that the melons are picked every day; workers unloaded the truck while I was there. These are, quite simply, the best melons I have ever had. I bought a Crenshaw because I don't think I had ever tried one before. Once I arrived at my hotel room, I devoured half of it immediately and saved the rest for the next day. The melon was sweet but not overpowering, juicy, and very silky in texture. The texture as much as anything else signals the freshness of these melons.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...


Comments
Post a Comment