Have you ever picked out a melon, be it cantaloupe or honeydew, and found the flavor to be less than sweet, or the texture too mushy to enjoy? What then? Do you throw it out, or let it sit in your fridge until mold allows you to justify trashing it so you don't feel quite so wasteful?
I went for years not even trying to pick out melons because I couldn't stand the disappointment of a bad one. Luckily though, I have found the perfect solution... Melon Pops! And since it's that time of year right now, I thought I would share.
It started with a honeydew --one of those that just isn't sweet. I didn't want to throw it out, but even the kids didn't really like it. I just happened to have some leftover sweetened condensed milk in the fridge, so I tried dipping it, which helped some, but then Richard made remark about popsicles and an idea was born. I blended up the left over melon, added sweetened condensed milk until it was satisfactorily sweet, and froze it in some forms we had gotten from the dollar store. Voila! Melon Pops! They were fantastic! I was surprised at the creaminess of the texture actually, and I felt that with that much actual fruit, it was bound to be good for you. In fact, these popsicles are actually pretty filling. We've tried it with fat free sweetened condensed milk and it might be less smooth (some brands can be gritty) but it usually works just as well. We've only tried honeydew a and cantaloupe, but are looking forward to experimenting with others. Here's a basic recipe:
Melon Pops-
1 Melon (of the muskmelon variety--meaning not watermelon) off the rind and cut into chunks or "smiles" as we call them
2-3 T Sweetened condensed milk (amount will vary depending on the sweetness of the fruit, just taste it and adjust to your liking)
Put all ingredients in blender, blend on high, and pulse if necessary till it is smooth. Freeze in popsicle forms, ice cube trays with toothpicks, or paper cups with wooden popsicle sticks for a few hours or until solid.
Enjoy!
Note: Picking out melons can be tricky, but here are a few things I've found to be helpful:
-Smell is a huge indicator of sweetness.
-Color is also helpful; Cantaloupes should be more yellowish than green, honeydews should also have a milky white or yellow color.
-Finally, your should feel the ends, if you push on it you can usually tell if the fruit is going to be too ripe and mushy --pick a firmer fruit but not too firm. Of course, now that you know what to do if you pick amiss, it doesn't really matter does it?
One other note: Melons that are really too green don't work as well, since sometimes people like me can have allergic reactions such as itchy ears --the kids wouldn't eat popsicles made out of those ones either even though they were perfectly sweet.
