FRUIT-SALAD(D)           USENET Cookbook           FRUIT-SALAD(D)

TOO MUCH FRUIT SALAD

     FRUIT-SALAD - Generic fresh fruit salad

     Many people think of fruit salad as that disgusting stuff
     that comes in a can made from diced plastic fruit and heavy
     syrup. This is more like what it is supposed to taste like,
     although some people might claim that my addition of syrup
     makes this into fruit cocktail instead of fruit salad.

     Whatever you call it, it's especially good in the summer. I
     make it every couple of months (usually in vast quantities,
     even though there are only two of us, hence the name). It
     rarely lasts very long, regardless of how much I make.

INGREDIENTS (Makes too much)
     1         ripe pineapple
     1         ripe melon
     1         large grapefruit (preferably pink)
     2-3       oranges
     11 oz     maraschino cherries (1 large jar)
     2-3       ripe bananas
     2-3       kiwi fruits
     1 lb      stewed prunes in heavy syrup (1 standard can)
     2-3       ripe peaches, sliced (or use 1 lb of stewed apri-
               cot halves in heavy syrup)
     1 cup     apricot nectar

PROCEDURE
          (1)  Peel and section the grapefruit and oranges.
               Remove the seeds and membranes.  Cut the sections
               into bite-size pieces and dump into a big non-
               metallic bowl.

          (2)  Peel and core the pineapple (making sure to get
               all the eyes), cut the flesh into bite-sized
               pieces and add to the bowl. A typical whole
               pineapple is usually too much, so you might want
               to reserve about 1/3 of the flesh to eat by
               itself.

          (3)  Peel and cut the melon, bananas, peaches, and kiwi
               fruits and add to the bowl.  The kiwis should be
               sliced horizontally (so the seeds make pretty cir-
               cular patterns).

          (4)  Add the stewed prunes, syrup and all. This will
               moisten everything. Add the maraschino cheries and
               the syrup they came in (check for stems). Add the
               nectar, making sure there is enough liquid to
               cover the fruit.

          (5)  This is the hard part. Put it all in the refri-
               gerator, and don't eat any until tommorow. It
               really needs to sit overnight for all the colors
               and flavors to blend together.

NOTES
     Some people might object to the use of maraschino cherries-
     they are processed with sulfur dioxide, which isn't really
     good for you. I like the way they taste, so I allow myself
     this one debauch.

     Unless you can find good-quality fresh fruit, it is better
     to use canned.  This is especially true of pineapple-canned
     pineapple is not as good as good fresh pineapple, but is
     much better than a bad fresh one. For the melon, I've used
     honeydew, canteloupe, and casaba with good results.  Water-
     melon is interesting, but has a very diferent texture from
     the others.  More important than the actual variety is that
     it is ripe. Unfortunately, New York supermarkets only seem
     to sell the kind of melon that goes from rock-hard to rotten
     without passing through ripe. Bananas are best when they are
     just starting to get brown speckles.

     My mother uses orange juice for the liquid, but I prefer
     nectar.  The combination of the prune and cherry syrups give
     it a nice color.  Sometimes I add a bit of lemon juice for
     tartness.  I've experimented with cherry liqueur, but didn't
     really like the results.

     Use whatever fruit you find fresh in the market. The invari-
     ant part is the grapefruit, orange, and maraschino cherries.

RATING
     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 30 minutes preparation, 1/2 day
     waiting.  Precision: approximate measurement mandatory.

CONTRIBUTOR
     Roy Smith
     Public Health Research Institute, New York, NY, USA
     {allegra,cmcl2,philabs}!phri!roy
     Path: decwrl!recipes
     From: asente@cascade (Paul Asente)
     Newsgroups: mod.recipes
     Subject: RECIPE: Fruit soup
     Message-ID: 
     Date: 8 Aug 86 05:14:42 GMT
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