16.7.12

Fruit salad


In all of my many many cookbooks, there are always a bunch of recipes I flag, and some that I try. They are usually the ones where I spot a sensible new way of doing something complicated. I care more for tips and methods than for actual recipes, and more for ease of handling than for time cuts.
Lucky for me, or not, maybe, that this book by Alice Medrich has every single sweet recipe of that sort that you could ever want. Crusts that don´t need rolling, one bowl cakes, cookies that use melted butter, and tequila poured over shop-bought lime pops, sprinkled with salt. Pure, undilluted genius. Buy it inmediately.

There is only one omission, because it is a very hip book: there is no fruit salad. And yes, I hear the collective groan that springs from memories of those boring, boring apple-pear-banana-orange fruit salads from winter bowls of yore. That is boring. But a good fruit salad is a joy, the easiest, most comforting way to eat fruit, and it is a bowlful of love. Making fruit salad is a generous, selfless task. Nobody is going to say "oh wow, did you really make that?", as they would over a daintily piped cream cake. They will not be impressed by your skills, because a six year old could make it (in fact, train your six year old to make it). But they will eat it, and be pleased.

So go on, make fruit salad. Especially in a place like this, where the fruits that arrive can be a little bit short on flavour (ahem. A lot, most often). And yes, it really is the best way to make a couple of wrinkled nectarines and a  woebegone pear look good.
Cut them up, squeeze an orange over them, dot with strawberries, don´t forget a bit of banana for heft, and let flavors mingle in the fridge for a bit. 

Sweet Sherry, vanilla extract, mint leaves, whipped cream...yes, you can add them, but don´t forget to give in to the simple pleasures.

6 comentarios:

Anónimo dijo...

Thai chili sugar! I used it on a peach cake, delicious, but the shop said it is excellent on fruit salad. Just a blend of dried chilis, sugar and salt... instant glamour for wilted fruit :)

Leire dijo...

A tip my grandma shared with me when I was about 10 years old (I wasn't trusted with knives at 6 ;)) was to squeeze a lemon on top of the cut fruit so that it would not oxidate.

Then apply the orange juice at the end, 1-2 hours max before serving if possible.

I like big chunks, she goes for small bits. She argues you need to be able to grab plenty of different flavours within a spoon.

She is probably right :)

Let me know if this was of any help!!!

lobstersquad dijo...

hi Leire: you are so right, that about the lemon is important, I usually trust to the orange but if it´s a lot of fruit, yes. and small pieces, yes! I´m with you

Leire dijo...

My mun's side of the family has a very sweet tooth (VERY!!)

and this is the 'fruit salad' that has sailed through generations...(seriously only for people who like sweet real bad...)

- 1 can of peaches in syrup
- 1 can of pineapple in syrup
- 1 can of strawberries in syrup
- 3-4 bananas (real, no syrup! :))
- 200 g condensed milk

cut the fruit in pieces, pir all the syrup from all cans into the mix, add the condensed milk and enjoy the guilty pleasure :)

Anónimo dijo...

Apropro of almost nothing at all: my Dad once told me that you got TB from the black seedy bit at the end of a banana. And I believed him . For years.

Love a fruit salad. Big chunks all the way.

Max.

Raquel dijo...

Yo tuve una época muy tonta en la que le añadía, además, un chorrito de granadina. Era joven e inconsciente y me chiflaba el color.

Share