The Summer often finds us posing many questions as to the appropriateness of our intake. We will never ever fully settle on which beers we really want in the summer, and our penchant for broiling, braising and grilling usually trump our desire to stay cool. This weekend, we focused on the heatless preparation of salad using the two most cool and soothing elements of any summer feast: avocados and watermelon.
Avocados and watermelon?! Its not so preposterous guys… As with some other seemingly unusual flavor combinations (pickles and peanut butter, chocolate and cheese…) the great thing about these two fruits working in tandem is that their individual tastes are heightened, while forming a cool secondary flavor marriage. The butteryness of the avocado is set off by the sweetness of the watermelon and vice versa. The aspect of this pairing that we couldn’t get over was how well it went with the sour and grainy flavors of last weeks’ obsession: Geuze.
1/4 ripe haas avocado
1 Tsp. aged sherry vinegar
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 Tsp. grapeseed oil
1. Take a knife to your ripe avocado. The fruit should not be too squishy; just ripe enough to be able to indent the flesh through the skin with your finger. Make an incision at the top of the avo, where the stem once was, working the knife very delicately to the pit. Turn the avocado along the knife, so that you are making a perfect separation between the halves. Keenly knife one half in half. To peel, try lifting the tip of the skin at the top of the avo, where the stem once was and slowly peel it away. If this doesn’t work, scrape the fruit away fro the skin with a spoon.
2. Mash the ¼ in a bowl with a fork. Add the sherry vinegar and salt and keep mashing. Now, add the oil slowly and beat it into the mash until you have a smooth puree.
2 Tbs. Geuze
1 small shallot
1 Tbs. Tuscan XV Olive Oil
½ Tsp. Kosher Salt
2 cups mixed baby greens
3. Mince the shallot, and set aside in a bowl with the Geuze and the salt.
4. Wash your greens and dry ’em. Now, take about ½ cup of the greens and gently roll them into a ball. Holding the ball o’green together gently, slice the greens as finely as you can: a chiffonade. Repeat till your done.
5. Toss the greens with the Geuze and then the oil, mixing with your hands.
To Assemble
Watermelon
¼ Avocado
Salt and Pepper to Garnish
6. Take a 1″ thick slice of a watermelon, not dissimilar to a slice your mom would’ve made for you as a kid, and cut off its rind. Slice two pieces off the pie shaped origional slice, along the outer edge, and trim them to make two little rectangular prisms. The Remainder should look somewhat triangular. It it don’, make it so.
7. Skin the second half of the avocado, and lay it face down (so curved edge up) on your cutting board. Slice it top to bottom as thin as you please.
8. Place a dollop of the avo-puree on each place, and press a rectangle of watermelon into it. Top each slice with additional drops of puree.
9. Gently bunch the greens together into little piles.
10. Serve a nice tall slice of unadulterated watermelon flanked by slices of avocado. Sprinkle with pepper and salt.
Beverage: Geuze Fond du Tradition
Soundtrack: Pavement, “Summer Babe”
