The Endive Chronicles

This week like so many around the globe, I have been spending my evenings glued to my television watching the Olympic Games. Despite all the scandal, the gymnastics commentators and the fact that I don’t have a sporty bone in my body, I love the Olympics. Most specifically swimming and diving.

Wednesday night we prepared ourselves for an evening of Phelpsian glory, with Phil in charge of the aperitif while I tossed together a few nibbles. Our aperitif was composed of a local Riesling by Holy Cow, cut with local sparkling water by Cascade Ice, it was incredibly refreshing in this 90 degree heat. I made Clotilde’s Dusoulier’s zucchini carpaccio with delicious homegrown zucchini given to us by Phil’s friend Dan (thanks Dan!), pairing it with fruit, cheese and of course my crispy melon cups.  While everything was delicious, the melon cups were the gold medal winner that evening.

These crispy little cups  are a play on the classic prosciutto wrapped melon, a fan favorite in this household. The cups are incredibly simple to make; just place your choice of cured meat in a mini muffin tin, fill with dried beans or pie weights, bake and cool. I tried to dress up the filling a bit with a touch of vinegar, but combined with the coppa even a touch completely overpowered the melon. In the end I chose to keep it very simple and clean with only a bit of pepper and parsley. They look impressive and playful while also being incredibly simple to make.

We really enjoyed these adorable little cups as they added welcome variety to our Olympic spread. Go Phelps!

Crispy Melon Cups

12 slices Coppa, or whatever thinly sliced charcruterie you wish

3/4 cup Tuscan Cantaloupe**, or what ever melon you have available, diced small.

1 TBS Fresh flat leafed Parsley, chopped

1/2 tsp Freshly ground pepper

A sprinkle of Sel de Mer, optional

Preheat your oven to 375F

Line a mini muffin tin with a piece of coppa and fill with either dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until crisp. Cool slightly before removing from the pan and emptying the beans. Place on a cooling rack.

Combine the cantaloupe, parsley and pepper, mixing well. Fill the cups with the cantaloupe mixture and serve immediately.

Notes: I did not add salt to mine as I believe the meat has enough already, but do as you will.

If you’d like a bit of extra moisture add a tsp of dry red wine or olive oil or even honey to the mix.

Also, if you want to use prosciutto or Serrano ham, slice the strip width wise to achieve the proper size. If you have chosen bresola, oil the tin as there isn’t enough fat in the meat to grease the cup and aid in crisping the meat.

*The cups pictures are actually made with sopressata. I couldn’t find any good looking coppa.

** My cantaloupe was marked “Tuscan Style”. That tells me nothing. If anyone knows the actual name of the Tuscan cantaloupe I’d be grateful for the insight.

***Sorry for all of the cheese peppered around in this weeks post. I couldn’t stop self.

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