No summer barbeque or grill out is complete without a cold, refreshing melon salad of sorts, and if your family is anything like mine the age-old argument of whether melon needs salt or not always arises. I was raised in the South where everyone knows adding a little salt to a melon brings out the natural sweetness, similar to the Mexican traditional of adding Tajin, a chile lime seasoning, to melon for the same effect and flavor boost. A surefire way to avoid a long, drawn-out argument over salted melon is today's recipe, Melon with Serrano-Mint Syrup! Everyone gets to enjoy their favorite melons, whether it be cantaloupe, honeydew, or watermelon, but with a little extra kick of a semi-spicy mint syrup. It's cold, refreshing, and pairs with just about any summer foods you may smoke or grill....Let's Get Cooking!
The only real prep work for this quick dessert recipe is some rough chopping on the serrano peppers and fresh mint. Everything will be strained out later so don't finely mince any of the ingredients unless you enjoy using tweezers to hand pick out bits like some over-the-top Michelin Star restaurant. Keep the pepper and mint separate, however, unlike the picture below. I ended up remaking this syrup a couple times until I got it just right and had to make a few tweaks along the way, which are reflected in this write-up and the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Otherwise, add the sugar, lemon juice, and agave to a small saucepan and bring it up to a boil.
Once the sugar dissolves and the liquids start to boil, add the roughly diced serrano peppers and continue to cook the syrup for 3 to 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken. Once your syrup has combined and thickened, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the fresh mint and lemon zest. They are much more fragile and only require the residual heat to pull out those refreshing oils and flavors that make this syrup so delicious.
Allow the syrup to completely cool. While it is cooling, you can roughly dice the melons into bite-sized pieces if you haven't already. Otherwise, grab a beer and relax a few minutes as the hard work is done and this dessert is almost finished! Once the syrup has cooled, pour it through a fine mesh strainer to remove any of the peppers, mint, or zest particles. It doesn't really show in my picture, but it should be mostly clear with a slight green tint, if any.
Pour the Serrano-Mint Syrup over your melon and give it a gentle stir to coat the pieces evenly. It is difficult to tell, but don't worry too much because the entire batch will get stirred several times making sure all the fruit gets a good splash or syrup sooner or later. That being said, cover and refrigerate the melon for at least 2 hours. Be sure to stir everything every 30 minutes or so to prevent the bottom pieces of melon from getting totally soaked while the top pieces remain dry. Besides coating the melon with the syrup, the main point here is to super chill the fruit and let those flavors start to meld together before serving.
That is all this simple summer dessert requires to finish a meal with a slight kick, but leave everyone refreshed! If you are worried about the spice level being too hot, remove the seeds and veins from the serrano peppers before adding them to the syrup to cook. If you like the idea of a hotter melon salad, drizzle your bowl with some Hot Honey for that extra final sweet and spicy kick that not everyone else may be able to handle. You could also substitute the Serrano Peppers and Agave with that same Hot Honey and leave the fresh mint leaves and zest in the syrup for a slightly different final dessert, if you wish. This recipe is just a good starting point to make a melon salad with a semi-spicy refreshing syrup so get in the kitchen and experiment to see what works for you best...Just Keep Cooking!
MELON WITH SERRANO-MINT SYRUP
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