This watermelon-jalapeño appetizer was part of our summer-ending brunch more fully depicted here. It gets its own post because it deserves it. When we were last in Boston for my birthday, we had lunch at the revamped restaurant of the Museum of Fine Arts. Amid such elegance and splendor, we ordered an appetizer of Sous Vide Watermelon. I didn’t know what it was, but the ingredients sounded good, if a little unorthodox, together. However, having fallen in love with a watermelon jalapeño margarita at Masa many years ago, I was game for the combo. It was a good call, as it was a delicious roller-coaster of taste and thrills. As we ended the summer, I looked for a refreshing appetizer to make for brunch and recalled this one. Here’s what I did to approximate it.
Since we don’t have a way to vacuum seal cubes of watermelon, they didn’t get such fancy treatment. I cut it up instead and topped it with a cucumber. Watermelon and cucumber are a delightful match – we’ve served both of them floating in water and on the hottest summer days that’s quite a delight.
To this I added a dollop of whipped feta (equal parts of feta and cream cheese mixed in the food processor – the feta first, and the cream cheese at room temperature). The tanginess and creamy aspect is necessary to offset the final ingredient.
A sweet pickled jalapeño slice is the topper, and provides the heat that gloriously contradicts the cool sweetness of the melon and cucumber. That whipped feta brings it all together, and the end result is a culinary version of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Try it and see.
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