Tasty Tuesday – Melon Sparkler

Hey It’s Jet Here.

Thanks to Sugar and Kol for initiating Tasty Tuesdays, today is our twenty-second participating post!

Besides her endless tech issues and writing her Kitchen Counselor Newsletter, Mom gobbled reviewed the newest Food & Wine issue for interesting recipes to add to her database.  When Mom saw a picture with green and black stuff in a glass, she paused to read on.  The first ingredient made both Mom and I extremely happy because we both LOVE honeydew.  In fact, Jacob W., the son of one of Mom’s bff’s has called Mom  Mrs. Honeydew, ever since he was a little boy.

Coincidentally, Mom had a honeydew ripening on the counter.  She wanted to cut it up yesterday so the rinds would make it into the Monday morning garbage pickup.  JJ sat politely near Mom while I nudged my way to the left of Mom, then to the right of Mom, hoping for more than my usual amount of tidbits.  Atypically, I barked spoke to Mom frequently, reminding her that ‘ol Jetty Boy thought each slice of melon needed a QC (quality control) check!

We all enjoyed tidbits throughout the day; let me tell you humans and K9s alike, nothing tastes better than honeydew tidbits out of the fridge!

Mom could not try the sparkler yesterday because the recipe called for black tapioca, (the little pearls in bubble tea), and that Moscato thingie, both of which she did not have on hand.  Here’s the recipe if you want to try too.

Melon Sparkler with Tapioca Pearls

• 1/2 cup black tapioca pearls (see Note)
• One 3 1/2-pound honeydew melon, halved and seeded
• One 750-milliliter bottle Moscato d’Asti, chilled

In a medium saucepan, cover the tapioca with 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over moderate heat until the tapioca is chewy and plump, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain and cool under running water. Transfer the tapioca to a medium bowl. Rinse out the saucepan.

Using melon ballers of different sizes, scoop out 2 cups of melon balls. Chop the remaining melon and transfer to a blender. Puree until smooth. Strain the puree, without pressing on the solids, to extract clear green juice. Add 2 tablespoons of the juice to the tapioca. Refrigerate the remaining juice.

In the same saucepan, bring 1/2 cup of the Moscato to a boil. Simmer until reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 10 minutes. Pour the syrup over the tapioca and refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes.

Spoon the tapioca and melon balls into Champagne flutes and top with the melon juice and chilled Moscato.

Notes Nicely chewy black tapioca pearls are about the size of small marbles. They’re available at bobateadirect.com and amazon.com. Serve the Sparklers with spoons and boba straws (jumbo, extra-wide straws, also available atamazon.com).

Another great, honeydew day.