fruit salad

Ataulfo Mango Carpaccio with Burrata

I had this for lunch again. If you’ve never feasted on slices of the ultimate ataulfo mango with the freshest burrata you are missing out on one of the most special and delicious meals ever. I garnished with a bit of red onion and mint, a squeeze of lime juice and some freshly ground pepper.

Heaven.

Ataulfo Mango Carpaccio with Burrata

  • 1 Ataulfo (or similar) mango

  • 2-3 ounces burrata cheese

  • a few thin slices of red onion

  • a few mint leaves

  • lime juice

  • freshly ground black pepper to taste

Slice the mango and arrange the slices on a dish. Add a piece of Burrata cheese. Garnish with some red onion and fresh mint, squeeze some lime juice over the ingredients, then season with the some freshly ground black pepper.

Makes one

Sweet Soaked Summer Fruit

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A few years ago I learned how to make khoshaf, a Muslim (primarily Egyptian) version of compote -- what my grandma called "kumput," (which she made by cooking dried prunes and apricots with sugar, lemon and cinnamon). Kumput was delicious, but sometimes a bit mushy.

Khoshaf isn't cooked -- you pour simmering, seasoned, sweet syrup over the dried fruit and let it macerate for a while. The fruit becomes tender but never gets soggy.

The khoshaf was such a success that I never went back to "kumput."

So, I figured that the soaking/macerating method would work on fresh fruit too.

I was right.

This simple dish -- cut up fruit steeped in a seasoned, sweetened syrup -- is the perfect ending to a meal on a hot summer day, especially when you want a dairy-free dessert. Of course you could always top the fruit with ice cream or whipped cream. But sorbet would be fine too.

I like it plain, as-is, with a small amount of boiled-down, thickened syrup.

 

SOAKED SUMMER FRUIT

  • 2 pounds stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots), approximately
  • 3 cups water
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 vanilla bean, broken
  • 2 orange slices, about 1/4-inch thick
  • 4-5 slices crystallized ginger

Cut the fruit in half and remove the pits. Cut the fruit into bite-size chunks and place in a dish deep enough to hold the pieces plus liquid. In a saucepan, combine the water, honey, vanilla bean, orange slices and crystallized ginger and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Pour the contents of the saucepan through a strainer over the fruit. Let soak for at least 2 hours. Serve as-is or strain the fluids, boil the fluids for 6-8 minutes or until thickened, and pour over the fruit (or let cool first).

Makes 8 servings