Cantaloupe with Salami and Feta

Have you ever seen a cantaloupe the size of an apple?  Neither had I until just a week or two ago.  They are in season here in Egypt, or at least, I assume they are in season because, suddenly, they are everywhere and cheap.  I pick them up in the stores and surreptitiously give their stem ends a sniff, because ripe cantaloupes smell of cantaloupe.  Unripe ones smell of nothing.  I finally found a good one and brought it home.  Much to my surprise, it was green inside.  But the flavor, like the smell, is unmistakably cantaloupe, just like the sign said.

The plan:  An appetizer for our anniversary meal because the tiny cantaloupe is perfect for two people.

Ingredients

1 small cantaloupe or 1/4 of a regular one - any color works!

1/4 small purple onion

6 slices Italian salami

3 oz or 85g Feta cheese

1-1 1/2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt

Black pepper

Method

Slice your onion very thinly and cover with the vinegar.  This takes the sharpness out of the onion, still leaving the lovely oniony flavor.

Cut your cantaloupe in half and then into wedges.  Scoop out the seeds and discard.  Using a sharp knife, cut the melon from the peel. 

Slice your salami diagonally and arrange about the salad plate. 

Cut your feta into small squares or crumble with a fork.   

Put the cantaloupe on the plates with the salami and scatter the feta over the salami and cantaloupe.

Add the olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt a couple of good grinds of fresh black pepper to the onion and mix well.   Drizzle this all over the cantaloupe, salami and cheese. 

Make sure you get a bit of everything in each bite you take: salami, cantaloupe, feta and onion.   The sweet melon is divinely offset by the rich salami and salty feta with the balsamic onion dressing.

Enjoy!

Update:  Maybe the season is short, because the pile in Carrefour today was much diminished.  They are still 5.95 Egyptian pounds per kilo (about US$1, so less than 50 cents a pound.)

What's left, nestled amongst the coconuts.

Pork and Sun-dried Tomato Portabella Mushrooms

 I am trapped at home today, waiting on the gas man. Which for some reason the Word for Mac dictionary thinks should be one word.  Gasman.  I don’t think so.  It’s not that I am completely out of gas, because, while the big red 14kg tank is empty, the smaller 12kg tank is still ready to cook.  

The question is, for how long?  The blue guy’s been on since before I got back to KL a month ago and that makes me nervous.  I’ve called and put in my order and supposedly he’s coming.  So I wait.

Meanwhile, my plan for dinner included chicken breasts by special request, but I don’t have any.  At 8:30 this morning that didn’t seem like a problem. The gas man would come, I would go out and buy breasts and all would be well.  I have come to realize as the clock ticks closer to 4 p.m. that dinner will have to be whatever I have on hand.  Time to peruse the refrigerator drawers. 

I find baby portabella mushrooms, so stuffed mushrooms come to mind.  But what to stuff them with?  This requires a trip to the outside freezer where some ground pork looks handy.  And a flavoring?  I’m thinking onions, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, perhaps.  Maybe a little of my new friend, quinoa, mixed in.  Just remembering I have feta leftover from yesterday’s dinner.  That would add salt and flavor!  This is where writing down the recipe becomes tricky because I tend to splash and dab and sprinkle and measurements are not so accurate. But I will try. 

Ingredients

1/2 pound or 250g of ground or minced pork

8 baby portabella mushrooms

1/2 medium onion

2-3 cloves of garlic

2.5 oz or 70g feta

2-3 sun-dried tomatoes (if in oil, drained, if still dry, soaked in warm water until soft)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or more if you like things spicy (Optional)

1/4 cup or 40g quinoa

1/2 cup or 120ml water

Sea salt

Black pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Brown the pork in a large skillet with a little olive oil. 

Meanwhile, put the quinoa in a small pot with the 1/2-cup of cold water and a 1/4-teaspoon of salt.  Bring to a low boil and then simmer, covered for about 10 minutes. 

Chop the onions, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and add to the pork.  Add a little more olive oil if the pork is too dry.  Sauté until the onions and garlic are translucent.

Check on the quinoa and add a little more water if necessary and cook another couple of minutes, still covered, still simmering.  When the grains are soft enough, drain in a fine sieve.

Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems. Cut the hard ends of the stems off and chop the rest in small pieces and add to the pork pot.  Let the mushroom stems cook down.  Add some crushed red pepper if desired.

Add the pork mixture to the cooked, drained quinoa.

Crumble the feta cheese and mix it in well. Season to taste with the salt and pepper.   Chances are you won’t need much, if any, salt because of the feta.

Allow the mixture to cool, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. You need it cool enough so your egg won’t cook on contact.  Now lightly beat your egg, then add in.  Mix well. This will help the filling hang together in the mushrooms.

Using a spoon, stuff your mushrooms with the filling and place on an ovenproof dish.  Drizzle the tops with olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes.

They ended up pretty full by the time I had used all the filling.

What am I serving with the mushrooms?  At this point, STILL waiting on the gas man at 6:30 p.m., a leafy green salad because I always have the makings of a leafy green salad in the fridge.  

Spinach Feta Burgers

Baked Bree - Spinach Feta Burgers

If you don’t read Bree’s blog already, you don’t know what you are missing. Last night I had the excellent good fortune of having my daughter cook for me. This is what she made and it was delicious. I made some sweet potato and baking potato oven fries to go along with the burgers. Lovely meal and lovely company!