Melon basket

Natalie Snow, culinary instructor at Orson Gygi in South Salt Lake
Published: Monday, Aug. 27, 2007 8:59 a.m. MDT

Sides > Fruit > Melon basket

Ingredients

1 large watermelon
Washable marker
Zig-zag cutting tool (optional)
Pieces of fruit to fill the basket


Directions

To make a melon basket, Snow recommends selecting a watermelon or large canteloupe. With the melon lying on its side, cut a thin slice of rind off the ugly side — if there is one — to stabilize it so it doesn't roll around. Using a washable marker, lightly draw horizontal guidelines all the way around the melon. The line should be a little more than halfway up from the bottom. Draw two vertical lines 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart across the top of the melon; this will become the handle of the basket. Starting at the horizontal guidelines, use a zig-zag tool to cut the melon. Then cut along the vertical lines.

Carefully remove the cut-out sections (they may need to be cut into smaller pieces in order to remove them more easily). Cut out some of the remaining fruit using a melon baller, but be careful not to take out too much of the rind, as doing so will weaken the basket.

Snow recommends using a crinkle cutter to chop the melon from the sections you removed "to give it a little extra something."

Arrange other fruit — grapes, cut canteloupe, pineapple, watermelon, kiwi and strawberries — in the basket. It's important to note that the basket is a decorative piece, not intended to be carried by its handle.