Melon Soup

It is typical when serving charcuterie (especially prosciutto) to have fresh fruit (especially melon) along with it. Rather than use whole fruits, in this case I decided to use a chilled fruit soup – honeydew melon. The sweet and refreshing flavor provides a perfect counterpoint to the salty flavor of the cured meats and aged cheeses.

Ingredients

• 4 cups cubed honeydew melon
• 1 large pink grapefruit
• 1 lime
• 8 sprigs of fresh mint

In a food processor, puree the honeydew melon until it is smooth. Peel the grapefruit, and slice several sections from top to bottom, to create wedges. Reserve the wedges. Take the remaining grapefruit (you should have about helf of it left), and juice it into the honeydew puree. Also, juice the lime into the honeydew puree as well. Take the leaves of 6 of the mint sprigs and add them to the puree. Blend again until completely smooth.

Pass the puree through a fine strainer to remove any pulp or fiber. Chill the resulting soup.

To serve, place a grapefruit wedge and a sprig of mint in a small bowl, and add the desired quantity of the soup.

Baked Kibbeh in Onions

Since my days in Tallahassee, eating at Mounir’s restaurant, I have loved the Lebanese dish of kibbeh. I have had it fried, baked in a dish, or even raw, but baked is my favorite way. In this preparation, I was trying to amp up the presentation and enhance the flavor by stuffing the kibbeh in whole onions. The result was just like I was looking for.

Ingredients

• 4 large white onions, uniformly sized
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 2/3 cup prepared fine to medium bulgar wheat
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion (use what you scoop out of the white onions)
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 5 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• Olive oil
• Chopped parsley (for garnish)

Prepare the bulgar wheat, either by soaking it water for several hours, or cooking it according to package instructions.

Next, prepare the onions. Chop off the top 1/4 of the onion and discard. Carefully shave off a little of the bottom of the onion so that it is flat, and will stand up in a pan. Remove the dry outer skin of the onion, but do not go too deeply. Using a melon baller, scoop out the interior of the onion (reserving 1/2 cup for the lamb). Try to leave 2 layers of the onion for the shell. Lightly oil the outside of the onions with olive oil.

Now make the kibbeh. In a mixing bowl, add the lamb, and all the remaining ingredients, and knead together, as you would a meatloaf. Make sure the mixing is complete, and the ingredients are well dispersed.

Using a spoon, stuff the onions with the kibbeh mixture, forcing it down with the spoon, so the onion is completely filled. Overfill the onion, so there is some kibbeh popping out of the top.

Oil a baking pan, and set the filled onions on it. Drizzle easy one with a little extra olive oil to keep the top of the kibbeh from drying out. Bake the onions for 1 hour in a 350 degree oven. When done, serve with chopped parsley, for garnish.