18 July 2007

Watermelon Icecream and Melon Surprise

Bee, here's a watermelon postcard coming your way....! :)


We love watermelons. For us, watermelons and summers are synonymous. No fruit quenches thirst like the crunchy watermelon. True to its name, watermelons have very high water content about 92%. They are also an excellent of vitamins A, B and C, magnesium and potassium. Pink watermelons contain beta carotene and lycopene, a cancer-fighting anti oxidant.

Once cut, watermelons must be refridgerated to preserve their freshness. They should be used up as soon as possible as cutting degrades the fruit rapidly. Watermelon puree or juice should also be freshly prepared and consumed as preserving it causes indigestion.


We happened to pick the best watermelon of this summer - deep red, juicy and crunchy. Cutting it up and picking out the seeds is the messiest part – something the better half does when the sun rises from the west. Now to finish off a huge watermelon between the two of us was a huge task in itself! This is how we finished it off!!


The best way to have watermelon – cut into chunks and gobble it up!


The second best way to have watermelon – blend the chunks into juice. You can strain it if you like, I don't. Freeze left over juice.

Melon Surprise

Blend together 2 cups of watermelon chunks and 1 cup of pineapple chunks. Add 2 spoons of amla/gooseberry juice, a dash of lime and a hint of ginger and blitz. Decorate with a pineapple slice.

I also had to come up with something for AFAM, created by Maheswari, and hosted this month at Jugalbandi. So I came up with the idea of watermelon icecream. A "lite" icecream with a beautiful pink colour - we loved it!


You need :
One recipe basic icecream
1 cup watermelon puree
1/2 cup cream
2 tbsp sugar ( I used just 1 tbsp)
1 tsp cornflour
a drop of rose essence (optional). I didn't use it as my watermelon "smelt" good.

Prepare basic icecream as given here.
Cut the basic icecream into chunks. Churn it till it's fluffy adding the cream. Cook the watermelon puree with sugar for 2-3 minutes and add cornflour mixed in a little water to thicken the puree slightly. Cool the puree. Add it to the basic icecream and churn for a minute. Pour into a container and freeze till set.

37 comments:

Roopa said...

Wow Jyotsna, those are such lovely entries. i had first goolged for watermelon ice cream but never was confident to try it. now that you have i will not turn back! thanks for sharing!

sra said...

Both the drink and the ice-cream look lovely. The postcard is nice!

archana said...

Nice entries.Watermelon with pine apple must be tasting grand , liked the ice cream too. It has a lovely colour :)

Lakshmi said...

Hi Jyotsna, First visit to ur blog and I loved that postcard of yours. Delicious entries to AFAM. Visit my blog sometime.

Viji said...

A cool chill entry Jyotsna. Very nice. Viji

SeeC said...

Jyothsna...what a grand treat !
Icecream and juice are very inviting.
Thanks for this lovely post.

Shilpa said...

Hey, nice to be back blogging! :) No watermelon wine? I wonder how it would taste, but it's an idea, no? :)

The ice-cream looks awesome, but you know what? I have a weakness for artificial watermelon flavouring, usually found in American candy, haha! Bears no resemblance to the real thing but I still love it!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Jyo, this looks so refreshing. BTW: With that "View form my home" picture I now know exactly where you live. LOL! My parents live on the other side of the lagoon! I will be visiting in October so mybe we can find an afternoon to get together - I really hope so.

Lotus Reads said...

Hi, Jyotsna!

I LOVE watermelon but will confess I have never had watermelon icecream...yours looks so good! I love watermelon juice, but best of all, I love eating my watermelon in chunks with feta cheese sprinkled over!

J said...

Roopa - I was skeptical too, but it turned out great! Try it.

Sra - Thanks dear.

Archana - I prefer plain watermelon juice to the pineapple one. Yes, the icecream has a lovely colour, I was surpised too!

Taste of Mysore - Welcome to Currybazaar! Hope you try something from here. I visited your blog too :)

Viji - Thanks :)

SeeC - Yeah, I wanted to have all the icecream at one go!!

Shilpa - Ca va? Good to see you back! Watermelon wine?? That's Mishmash's department !! And why have artificial flavour when the real thing is here :)

Detective Meeta :) Lets catch up when you are here. I'd love to meet you too :)

Lotus - Hi!! Welcome here! I love watermelon juice too, but this icecream was great as well! Watermelon with feta cheese, now why didn't I think of it? Great idea Lotus! Do come here again.

FH said...

YUM!! So many cool stuff with one Watermelon.I have bought a huge fruit too,made a cooler.Post next week.Everything looks great J.great job:)

Mishmash ! said...

I liked the first pic and melon surprise too..but the pic of the melon surprise kept me wondering why one glass has more juice than the other !!!! :D I want to taste melon ice cream too :)

Shn

J said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bong Mom said...

I loved that postcard. The ice cream and drink is great too

Nanditha Prabhu said...

i would surely love to have your tasty ice cream!

thanks a lot for your valuable comments at my blog....
how come you saw my web page?

Suma Gandlur said...

What a clever idea.

Susan said...

The very idea of watermelon ice cream! The flavor would be a blissful shock to my system. Hagen Dazs and their attempts at "exotic" flavors have nothing on you, Jyothsna! Your blender drink looks great, too.

J said...

Sandeepa - I'll send you a post card too :))

Nanditha - Sure you can have some :)
I took a look at your profile and found the web page.

Suma - Thanks!

Susan - I was not too sure about the icecream, gave it a try and it was well worth the effort! As for Hagen Daz and Baskin Robins, their exotic flavours make me want to try them at home!

Anonymous said...

very nice...great colours...the postcard looks great...thx

Padma said...

hey Jyothsna...thanks for visiting my blog, the ice cream looks lovely, will surely try and let u know..

marriedtoadesi.com said...

J,

Super Recipes. The ice cream looks awesome, and the drinks so refreshing.

I think they would be so great for a party.

Kanchana
ps. I have added you to my links!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful watermelon pictures Jyothsna, and that ice cream looks so fresh and light... would love a bite of that on a hot summer eve! :)

Sharmi said...

hey Jyo, lovely icecream. my version was different. will try urs too.

J said...

Dilipbhai - Thankyou!

Padma - Welcome to Currybazar! Hope you try the icecream.

Kanchana - Yes, Hope yur next potluck has these! And don't forget to invite me :))

Linda - These are great for summers, esp here!

Sharmi - Your kulfi kicked off this idea :)

Prema Sundar said...

Water melon ice cream and melon surprise are very good entries. Adding pineapple and amla juices should surely enhance the taste of the watermelon.

bee said...

these have to be two of the coolest entries for AFAM. thanks, jyothsna.

J said...

Prema and Bee - We are still licking our fingers off the icecream :)) It's too good!

Sig said...

Wow Jyo... what a watermelon feast... :) I don't like storebought watermelon icecream, I tried it last week, but your icecream looks delicious... and the melon surprize, what a great drink with amla juice and all... awesome! You really got nice mileage out of that watermelon. :)

Richa said...

hey, the melon surprise with that pineapple combo sounds awesome :) even better is the addition of amla juice, YUMMY!

J said...

Sig - How many watermelon slices can two people have in a day...! Had to think of something :)

Richa - I personally prefer pure watermelon juice :)

USHA said...

Wow Jyothsna...

Watermelon drink and icecream looks refreshing..i love to have this on these hot days....yummy...icecream really tempts alot...

J said...

Thanks Usha!

J said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J said...

Thankyou Asha! I'll watch out or your post!

Haha Shn, I noticed that too :) One glass had melon surprise and the other melon juice - I had almost finished it when I thought it would make a good picture :)) You must try the watermelon icecream, really nice, we couldn't believe it would turn out so good!

Chef Jeena said...

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Feel free to visit my blog too :)


Click here for jeenas food recipe blog :-)

J said...

Thanks Jeena!

mexicanmasala said...

I recently used Cooking Light's Watermelon Lemonade with Basil recipe and it was great. I'm loving having all this watermelon and actual uses for it!