Good afternoon, dear friends and site guests. Melon season is in full swing. For a few more months, the product reminiscent of the sun will decorate our tables. People happily buy it, seduced by the aroma and the memory of how delicious it is.
The whole family enjoys the miracle of the sun. How to choose, how long to store, how to cut and what can be prepared from melon? All the answers to the questions are in front of you.
How to choose?
Melon is a soft food. In order to select the ripest and most delicious vegetable from the abundance, you can’t knock on the peel. This trick only works. How to determine the ripeness of a melon?
When buying a beautiful fruit, all the way you imagine and dream about how you will now enjoy this delicious product. It's a shame when the fruit turns out to be overripe or still green. The tips below will help you make the right choice:
- This easily wounded vegetable quickly deteriorates if the peel is damaged or hit. Before buying a product, you must make sure that there are no signs of impact, the crust is not cracked during transportation, and there are no external visible defects.
- Touch the product; it should not have any soft spots.
- You should not buy chopped melon. It deteriorates very quickly, and there is no guarantee that clean tools were used when cutting.
- When choosing, give preference to fruits that have a certificate confirming their quality.
- The first thing you should pay attention to is the aroma. Melon is one of those products that leaves a delicious trail around itself. When you bring the product closer to your face, you will definitely smell the aroma of vanilla, pear or pineapple. This is exactly what you need.
- Pay attention to the tail of the product. Through it, at one time, the melon received all its nutrients and substances. If it is thick and already dried out, it means that the vegetable is ripe and all the necessary taste qualities have been formed.
- On the opposite side of the tail there is a spot where it all began, and where the flower was previously attached. To the touch, the peel in this place should be soft and elastic.
There is another proven method: consult with the seller. If you are a regular buyer, and the seller values his reputation, they will certainly choose the best and sweetest berry for you. Verified. They are the best at understanding the product.
How to choose a ripe watermelon - read.
How long can cut melon last in the refrigerator?
Melon is one of those foods that is best consumed immediately. For example, no one will put a half-eaten apple or a bitten pear into the refrigerator. When stored in a cut state, it becomes lethargic, loses its aroma, but acquires a new smell - from the refrigerator.
If it is not possible to eat the entire vegetable at once, store the product in the refrigerator for no more than a day. In this case, the cut should be covered with film. It should be noted that it is better to store whole melon in a cool, ventilated area outside the refrigerator.
Why is it bitter?
There are several reasons why the fruit suddenly developed bitterness. Taste depends on the soil, fertilizers used and even the variety. Yes, yes, there are bitter varieties of melons, they are used in an unripe state in cooking and are considered a real boon for diabetics who depend on insulin injections.
In addition, bitterness is imparted to the fruit by fermentation products. Experts will help determine the cause. And the consumer should not risk their health. The taste of the product is not satisfactory, in this case it is better to refuse melon.
How to cut beautifully
Let's get creative. Melon makes you feel like a designer or sculptor. Before serving the product, you can create a real masterpiece from it. Drawings are applied only on the outer part.
But the durable peel allows the vegetable to be widely used as material for baskets. The technology is very simple. Cut into two halves. Finish the edges.
You can first draw the outline with a pen. Using a special spoon, beautifully turn the melon pulp into balls. And then put raspberries, currants, and grapes in the basket. Insert a few mint leaves and scoops of ice cream. The dish is ready.
A second creative masterpiece can be obtained by cutting the fruit lengthwise. Choose seeds. Make balls from the pulp and fill the skin of half a melon with them. String the sails onto two long wooden sticks. It can be made from large thin and long pieces of melon; pieces of sausage are allowed. Decorate everything beautifully and quickly place it in the very center of the table. It's beautiful.
Melon for breakfast
Those who are meticulously watching their waistline can easily start the day with melon pulp, and a significant amount is allowed - up to 450g. If you follow all the rules and want to start your day with healthy porridge, the following will help you.
Millet porridge with almonds and melon.
Grind the almonds. Mix with water and bring to a boil. Add the cereal and cook. A few minutes before the end of cooking, add butter, add melon pieces and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Rice porridge in melon
First, prepare rice porridge with the addition of vanillin. You can use yesterday's product. Cut the fruit into two parts and remove the grains. Place the porridge in the halves, cover with foil and place in a preheated oven for 15 minutes. Take out the ingredients, mix the melon with rice and safely serve.
Melon dishes
The easiest and fastest dish to prepare from our aromatic heroine is compote. Cut the fruit into pieces, place in cold water, add sugar and citric acid to taste. Very tasty - try it.
Smoothie
The simplest smoothie can be made by blending melon pieces in a blender and adding a little water. Garnish with a mint leaf.
The recipe is more complicated and will require more ingredients. Beat half a lemon, a few mint leaves and 300 g of melon in a blender. Add 50 g and a teaspoon of honey. You can sprinkle lemon zest on top.
Watermelon and melon cocktail
This cocktail is very easy to prepare. Mix melon with. Add lime juice and a little honey to taste. A very healthy drink, the only small difficulty is that you need to remove the watermelon seeds.
Dessert
An excellent and easy-to-prepare dish is made from melon, grapes, gelatin and cherry juice. To begin, cut the fruit, remove the seeds and pick out a little of the pulp. Separate the grapes, wash, dry on a towel and place in a melon mold.
Mix cherry juice with gelatin and try to dissolve it, let it brew for up to 40 minutes. Stir well again, add sugar, bring to a boil.
Pour the liquid over the melon and grapes, cool and leave in the refrigerator overnight. Serve on the table in small, beautiful pieces.
You will find cottage cheese dessert in.
Salads
It tastes very well with other products in the salad. Use yogurt, lemon juice and honey as the sauce. You can mix these ingredients.
Salad with banana and grapes
Cut the melon and banana into small pieces. Mix a little honey, kefir and lemon juice. Pour in the ingredients and stir.
Sprinkle with chopped walnuts and grape halves. Remove the grains from the berries first.
Salad with cheese
The yellow beauty goes well with cheese and the recipe above is proof of this. Cut the melon and cucumber into small pieces.
The cubes should be the same size. Cut Feta cheese into cubes. You can take cottage cheese and mash it with a fork. Cut the basil into strips.
Combine everything, add salt and pepper. Stir, pour olive oil. There should be as much melon as cheese and cucumber combined.
Melon with honey
By combining melon, lime juice and honey you can get a wonderful dish. Cut the vegetable into small pieces or cut into circles and place in the refrigerator. Pour boiling water over the lime, dry, separate the zest and squeeze out the juice. Form the dish. First, place the melon, pour honey and juice, sprinkle with zest. Everything is a finished dish in front of you.
Bakery
A simple melon pie can be prepared from 300 g of melon, and a glass of flour, semolina and kefir. You will also need 100 g of butter and half a glass of sugar, salt, baking powder.
- Beat eggs with salt and sugar.
- Add butter and kefir. Stir.
- Add semolina, flour and baking powder. Mix everything well until you get a homogeneous dough.
- Prepare the form. Grease with oil. Lay out the dough. Place the chopped melon on top.
- Bake in a well-heated oven at 190 degrees for 35 minutes. Check doneness with wooden chopsticks. Sprinkle the finished product with powdered sugar.
Charlotte
The recipe for making charlotte with melon is no different from the classic one, but in taste it outshines the popular version with, only less sugar is used.
For 6 eggs you need less than a glass of sugar and two glasses of flour. Grease the pan with oil. Place the fruit cut into pieces. Pour in the dough.
To prepare it, beat salted eggs with sugar. Add flour with pre-quenched baking soda. Bake for half an hour in a preheated oven at 220 degrees.
Canapes
To make the food look beautiful in a canapé, sprinkle it with lemon juice before serving. It will help preserve the color of the products. And now a few recipes.
Olive, cheese and melon
You will get beautiful canapés if you string the ingredients onto a skewer in the following order: an olive, a piece of hard cheese, and the same piece of melon. Repeat again and dip in poppy seeds. A beautiful and tasty canape is ready.
Ham with melon
Wrap a piece of pulp in a slice of ham and place it on a piece of bread, connecting with a skewer. What could be more mysterious and simpler?
Ice cream at home
Delicious ice cream can be made from half a glass of sugar by adding 250 g of melon and heavy cream. To do this, beat the cream and sugar separately with the pulp of the fruit.
We combine all this very carefully. Place the container in the freezer. Stir the ingredients approximately every hour. Until we get a frozen mass.
Vodka tincture
Interesting and piquant - that's what you can say about the next drink. Cut the top off the fruit. Remove the seeds and some pulp. Pour half a liter of vodka and leave to steep for 15 hours. Serve the drink and the chopped melon separately.
Melon face mask against wrinkles
Melon can work wonders on a woman’s skin: it will refresh the color, rejuvenate, remove age spots, and get in the way of wrinkles. The easiest way is to simply rub a piece of melon on your face during the melon season.
You can apply melon pulp to the skin and leave for ten minutes. To enhance the effect, mix the gruel with cream and add honey.
For oily skin, you can replace cream with kefir. For dry skin, olive oil is a good addition to melon.
When applying, follow a few rules:
- You should not keep the mask on for more than a quarter of an hour.
- Prepare the product immediately before application.
- To enhance the effect, clean your face with foam or warm it up a little.
- Apply the mask at least once a week.
The above recipes once again confirm that with a small amount of ingredients you can prepare a salad, ice cream, drink and snack. Feed the family with pie and porridge. And also protect yourself and aging skin. And all this with the help of a fragrant, yellow beauty.
Dear friends, today we learned what can be made from melon, and in the next article you will find delicious recipes for winter preparations from our sunny berries.
Traditionally, melon is eaten fresh, but there are many recipes for sweet desserts and snacks made from it. From this article you will learn what can be prepared from melon and what products it goes best with.
Melon and chicken salad
You can make this appetizer for the holiday table, serve it during a bachelorette party or friendly gatherings. The original will not leave even the most severe critic indifferent. The recipe for this salad will not cause you any difficulties:
- Take one smoked chicken breast, remove the skin and remove the fillet from the bone. Cut the meat into small slices.
- Cut one small melon (about 400 grams) into several pieces, remove the seeds with the fibrous part and the peel. Also cut the prepared pulp into slices.
- A small bunch of fresh mint and tear it with your hands.
- Place the prepared products in a salad bowl, season them with salt and pepper, add a little oil and stir.
- Pour the grated cheese in small portions into a heated frying pan, fry and place on a napkin to get rid of excess fat.
- Place the finished salad on plates, garnish with cheese chips, watercress, melon slices and cranberries.
You can also make this dish more satisfying if you season it with homemade mayonnaise or
Melon Pie
This delicious dessert is prepared very quickly and does not require any special skills from the cook. That is why this recipe is indispensable when meeting unexpected guests. Making melon pie is very simple:
- In a large bowl, mix 300 grams of cottage cheese with one yolk and half a glass of sugar.
- Remove the seeds from 500 grams of ripe melon and cut off the peel. Cut the pulp into cubes and add to the cottage cheese.
- To prepare the dough, grind three yolks with half a glass of sugar. Beat the egg whites chilled in the refrigerator until foamy, gradually adding the second half glass of sugar. Combine the prepared products with two glasses of sifted flour and mix thoroughly.
- Grease a baking dish, pour half of the dough into it, then add the filling and finish assembling the pie with the second part of the dough.
Bake the dessert in a preheated oven for half an hour and do not forget to check its readiness using a wooden stick or match. Serve the pie after decorating it with powdered sugar or nuts.
Candied melon
To make this sweet treat, you will need two or three small melons with a smooth rind. The recipe is as follows:
- Rinse the melons thoroughly and cut off the top layer from the rind (no more than two millimeters). For this purpose, you can use a vegetable cutter.
- After this, cut the melons into several pieces and remove the pulp with a spoon until it becomes a hard layer (we won’t need it this time).
- Cut the peels into small pieces and then place them in a saucepan with water and two tablespoons of lemon juice. Blanch them there for a few minutes.
- Place the melon pieces in a colander, rinse under cool water and pat dry.
- Boil sweet syrup from 750 grams of sugar and half a liter of water, and then pour it over the prepared crusts. Cook the candied fruits over low heat for ten minutes and then let them sit for 10 hours.
- Repeat the last procedure two more times, and the last time add two tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Place the finished mixture in a colander and allow excess liquid to drain for an hour.
- Place the crusts in a sieve and place to dry in a preheated oven for one hour.
Sprinkle the candied melon with sugar and leave at room temperature for two or three days. After this, place the sweets in a container and store them with the lid closed.
Melon jam
What can you cook from melon for the winter? Of course, a variety of sweets, preserves and jams. To make simple melon jam, you will need:
- Peel and seed one large melon, and then cut its flesh into small cubes.
- Pour water into a saucepan and boil it. Let the prepared melon cook for five minutes.
- Place the pieces in a colander and drain off excess liquid.
- Boil syrup from water and sugar (for one kilogram of melon - one kilogram of sugar) and add the pieces to it.
- The jam should be cooked three times for ten minutes, taking breaks of 10 hours and adding sweet syrup if necessary.
During the cooking process, do not forget to skim off the foam and stir the contents of the pan.
Lemon and melon jam
Melon recipes for the winter are quite simple and not too different from each other. Therefore, we offer you a recipe for an original dessert that will delight you and your loved ones on cold winter evenings. To make melon jam, you need to do the following:
- Cut the pulp of one melon into small pieces, remembering to carefully remove all the seeds and peel.
- Cover the prepared pulp with sugar and leave it alone overnight (at least 10 hours).
- In the morning, transfer the melon to a saucepan and place it on the fire.
- Rinse one lemon thoroughly and cut into thin slices. The second into the pan in which the melon was boiled.
- When the jam boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about an hour.
- After this, remove the dishes from the stove and let the contents cool.
Place the finished melon jam into sterilized jars and close them with lids.
Juice
What can you make from other than sweet preserves and jams? We suggest you stock up on delicious juice, the recipe for which you can read below:
- Peel three lemons, cut each into four pieces and remove all the seeds.
- Cut the pulp of a ripe two-kilogram melon into small pieces.
- Using a blender, grind the prepared products and pass the resulting puree through a sieve.
- Combine the melon with water (one and a half liters) and 180 grams of sugar.
- Pour the juice into sterilized jars and cover with clean lids.
- Place the container with the juice in a pan of water, and first place a towel on its bottom. Boil the jars for ten minutes, then remove them and close the lids.
Turn the blanks upside down, wrap them in a blanket and leave them to cool as is. After this, the melon juice should be stored in a cool and dark place. It has an original, unusual taste.
Melon and ham appetizer
What can you prepare from melon for the holiday if you want to surprise your guests? For this occasion, we offer you an original appetizer, the recipe for which you can read below:
- Cut one ripe and sweet melon in half, remove the seeds and fibrous part from the center.
- Using a carving spoon, cut out small balls from the pulp.
- Prepare 350 grams of Parma ham - it should be cut into thin strips.
- Wrap the melon balls in ham sheets and secure them with toothpicks.
Place the appetizer on a platter and serve immediately. Please note that this dish should not be kept in the refrigerator for a long time, as it may lose its beautiful appearance.
Salad with cucumber and melon
You and your loved ones will surely enjoy the delicate taste of this dish, and it is very easy to prepare:
- Cut one melon in half and remove the pulp from one part.
- Peel one cucumber and cut it into half rings.
- For dressing, mix 150 grams of natural yogurt, a tablespoon of lemon juice and two tablespoons of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to the sauce to taste.
- Mix melon pulp, chopped cucumber and yogurt dressing.
- Transfer the salad to the empty melon half and garnish with cucumber slices and radish or carrot roses.
With just two ingredients, this creative salad will impress and delight your guests.
We will be glad if you like the recipes collected in this article. Now that you know, you should not have any difficulty in this matter. Surprise your loved ones with delicious dishes and try new recipes more often.
Prosciutto e melone is a popular Italian appetizer, one of the types of antipasti, the preparation of which is simple, like everything ingenious. A dish of prosciutto ham and melon can be seen both on the menu of an expensive restaurant and in an ordinary trattoria. But in each establishment it has its own special taste. After all, everything depends on the nuances: the type of melon, spices and even serving. Here is one of the variations.
Ingredients
- 1 small melon (preferably the “cantaloupe” variety);
- 150 g prosciutto;
- 2 tablespoons extra vergine olive oil;
- 100 g arugula;
- salt, ground black pepper and other spices to taste.
Preparation
Cut the melon into pieces large enough to wrap around the ham slices. Place the rolls on the arugula leaves, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with spices. Let it sit for a while and serve.
The appetizer will look even more impressive if you form the melon pulp into balls using a noisette (an ice cream scoop and a measuring spoon will also work).
Vegan Feast Catering/Flickr.comDo you want to pamper your loved ones with something unusual on a picnic? How about melon in honey mint sauce?
Ingredients
- 1 small cantaloupe;
- 100 g butter;
- ½ cup honey;
- mint sprigs.
Preparation
Dissolve butter and honey in a saucepan. Chop the mint and add to the creamy honey mixture to release its aroma. Brush the melon pieces with this and grill them for 3-5 minutes. During the roasting process, you can continue to pour the honey-mint sauce over the melon.
studioM/Depositphotos.com Typically the main ingredient in this Spanish cold soup is tomatoes. But imagine how surprised your friends will be when they see an unusual yellow-orange gazpacho on the table.
Ingredients
- 1 small melon (1–1.5 kg);
- 1 small fresh cucumber;
- 1 small red onion;
- 2 teaspoons salt;
- ½ cup olive oil;
- ⅓ glass of water;
- freshly ground black pepper to taste;
- a few sprigs of mint.
Preparation
Peel the cucumber and onion and chop finely. Do the same with the melon pulp (don't forget to remove the seeds). For this recipe, it is better to use mid-season varieties like “kolkhoznitsa”.
Using a blender or food processor, puree it all, adding water and salt. When the mixture is smooth, add olive oil and freshly ground pepper. Mix everything thoroughly again.
Serve gazpacho chilled, garnished with mint sprigs.
Bonappetit.com This is a light summer salad that will surprise guests not only with taste, but also with beauty.
Ingredients
- 700 g white cantaloupe;
- 1 fennel bulb and some stems;
- 1 teaspoon orange zest;
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice;
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice;
- 2 tablespoons olive oil;
- pitted olives;
- salt and pepper to taste.
Preparation
You already know how to use it to create culinary masterpieces. You can also use it to cut white melon and fennel into thin layers, which will look very impressive in a salad.
In addition to white (or, as it is also called, winter) melon, you can use green hybrid and other varieties with dense pulp.
Mix orange and lemon juice with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Pour the resulting dressing over the melon and fennel slices. Add coarsely chopped olives. Sprinkle the orange zest and chopped fennel stalks over the salad.
tracy benjamin/Flickr.com This original summer snack can change the idea of melon. In combination with spicy ginger and refreshing mint, its taste takes on completely different shades.
Ingredients
- 1 small melon (about 1 kg);
- 1 lime;
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger;
- 1 tablespoon honey;
- 1 teaspoon sugar;
- mint sprigs.
Preparation
The cantaloupe variety is best suited for this dish, but if such melon is not available, then you can use other varieties, only without adding sugar.
Peel the melon pulp from seeds and place in a deep plate. It will be beautiful if you make the balls into a noisette. Top with lime zest and juice. Chop the mint and sprinkle it over the melon. Add ginger, sugar and honey. Stir.
Keep in the refrigerator for 20–30 minutes, the melon should absorb the taste and aroma of other ingredients. Ready! Can be served.
Food.com We told you how many delicious dishes can be prepared from. Here's another one.
Ingredients
- 1 small eggplant (300–350 g);
- 900 g melon;
- ¼ cup olive oil;
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce;
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar;
- 2 teaspoons salt;
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika;
- 1½ teaspoons cumin;
- toothpicks or skewers.
Preparation
Cut the eggplant into thin strips. Marinate them for 10 minutes in a mixture of olive oil, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, cane sugar, salt, cumin and smoked paprika.
Smoked paprika is dried and smoked red pepper, ground into powder. Its difference from the usual one is that, in addition to spiciness, it has a bright aroma of smoked meats. If you don't have this seasoning at home, you can use regular ground red pepper.
When the eggplants are marinated, fry them on the grill - just a couple of minutes on each side.
Cantaloupe variety works well for these rolls. Cut the fruit into three-centimeter cubes. Wrap each of them with a strip of eggplant and secure the roll with a skewer or toothpick.
mingerspice/Flickr.com In the usual sense, charlotte is a pie with apples. But its taste can be diversified if you use melon with dense pulp.
Ingredients
- 4 small pieces of melon;
- 1⅓ cups flour;
- ½ cup sugar;
- 2 tablespoons cane sugar;
- 1 glass of kefir;
- 2 eggs;
- 1 teaspoon baking powder;
- 1.5 g vanillin;
- cinnamon on the tip of a knife.
Preparation
Using a mixer or whisk, beat the eggs with sugar, then carefully pour in the kefir and mix thoroughly again. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and vanilla) and pour the dough into a silicone mold.
If the apples are placed downwards, then it is better to place the melon on top of the dough. To do this, cut it into thin slices. Sprinkle cane sugar and cinnamon on top of the cake. Bake for half an hour at 200°C.
Bonappetit.com Granita is a dessert of Sicilian origin, similar to sorbet, only more doughy. Melon granita seasoned with black pepper is an unexpected combination even for a sophisticated gourmet.
Ingredients
- 1 small cantaloupe (about 1 kg);
- ½ cup sugar;
- ¼ glass of white Muscat wine;
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Preparation
The melon pulp along with wine and pepper must be brought to a puree consistency. The easiest way to do this is with a blender. If you don't have Muscat wine, you can use any other sweet white wine.
Place the resulting mixture in a shallow pan and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Then remove, stir and return to the freezer. Repeat the procedure every half hour for 2-4 hours until all the liquid is gone and the ice becomes crumbly.
Place the finished granita in low glass glasses or bowls. Serve with a light sprinkle of black pepper.
belchonock/Depositphotos.com If you love Mojito cocktails and melon, then why not combine the two flavors? Makes an original party appetizer.
Ingredients
- 1 small melon of the “kolkhoznitsa” variety;
- 4 limes;
- 200 ml white rum;
- 150 ml water;
- 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar;
- mint sprigs.
Preparation
Chop the mint and squeeze the juice from the limes. Combine these ingredients, as well as powdered sugar and rum, in a blender and blend at high speed. Dilute this mixture with cold water and mix thoroughly.
Cut the melon into small slices, pour the resulting cocktail over them and place in the refrigerator for half an hour. After this, place each slice on a skewer and place in the freezer for another 30 minutes. Serve immediately before it melts.
5PH/Depositphotos.com Melon itself quenches thirst quite well, but this lemonade does an even better job of quenching thirst. Prepare it to cool down on a hot summer day.
Ingredients
- 1 ripe melon (1.5–2 kg);
- 3 glasses of water (can be lightly carbonated);
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice;
- 2 teaspoons sugar;
Preparation
Any type of melon is suitable for this recipe, as long as it is juicy and sweet. Whisk the melon pulp, lime juice (lemon juice will also work, just in a little more quantity) and sugar in a blender. Dilute the resulting puree with water and mix thoroughly again.
Cool, pour into glasses, add ice and enjoy! And to make the taste of lemonade or any melon cocktail even more intense, use melon ice rather than regular ice. It's very easy to make. You need to grind the melon pulp into puree and freeze in ice trays (at least two hours).
Write in the comments how you prefer to eat melon, and share your signature recipes.
It is often said that semolina porridge is far from the healthiest product for children. I must admit, I don’t know this for sure, and I’m not going to remove it from my baby’s diet. But I added vitamins, microelements and other useful substances by combining semolina with fresh fruits and nuts.
In this form, it becomes much tastier, healthier, more appetizing, not only for the younger members of my family, but also for the older ones. Of course, you can take different nuts and fruits: apples, apricots, strawberries... peanuts, hazelnuts, and sunflower seeds. In a word, if you like the porridge, then the field for creativity and diversity is quite large.
Ingredients:
- Semolina – 0.5 multi-cups;
- Nuts (walnuts) – 0.5 multi-cups;
- Milk – 500 ml;
- Sugar – 1 tablespoon;
- Butter – 50 grams.
- Salt to taste.
Preparation:
In the photo are the products that we will need to prepare semolina porridge with fruits and nuts in a slow cooker: semolina, milk, butter, walnuts, sugar, melon or other seasonal fruits (dried fruits, candied fruits).
Grease the bottom of the pan with butter and pour in the semolina. The amount of porridge can be varied depending on how thick you want the final product to be.
Then pour in the milk and add half a piece of butter.
Cut the melon into small pieces.
Grind the nuts in a coffee grinder into a homogeneous mass, like flour. You cannot achieve this consistency in a blender or meat grinder. By the way, porridge tastes better if you partially or completely remove the nut husks. This is how the bitterness goes away. However, this is only possible with roasted nuts (hazelnuts, peanuts). Almonds need to be soaked for a few minutes to remove the skin. I don’t know how to remove it from walnuts, so I just tug at them a little with my fingers. Yes, I like the bitterness of the peel, and so does my child, but my husband likes it to be peeled (it’s bitter for him). In addition, the original recipe suggested pre-frying (drying) the nut crumbs and only then adding the other ingredients. But I didn’t do that (for a long time for an early breakfast). Therefore, it is a matter of individual taste. You need to choose the option for processing nuts.
Working in a kindergarten with preschool children, I often had to persuade these intractable and capricious kids to eat at least half a serving of dairy dishes, which were a mandatory item on the morning menu. The situation was especially catastrophic with oatmeal. Rarely did any of the children eat it. And it was useless to even try to prove how beneficial this porridge was for their growing organisms. Yes, in fact, not every adult tries to understand the need to introduce such valuable cereals into the diet. But oatmeal contains such valuable substances as fiber and proteins, amino acids and fats, vitamins A, E and B, carbohydrates and proteins, a lot of minerals vital for the human body. So, based on the uniqueness of this product, we at least sometimes serve oatmeal porridge with dried apricots for breakfast.
We usually prepare it from Hercules oatmeal. This type of cereal still cooks faster, and the porridge turns out more tender. Which is especially important for children’s and elderly stomachs. And you can improve the taste of a dish so unloved by many by adding honey or sugar, dried fruits or jam, pieces of fresh fruit or berries. It already depends on preferences and imagination.
Ingredients for 3 servings of medium-thick porridge:
2 glasses of milk and water;
sugar (I use refined sugar) - to taste;
salt - to taste;
butter – 50 g;
oatmeal - one and a half glasses;
dried apricots - to taste.
Preparing this breakfast: oatmeal porridge with dried apricots for breakfast following the photo steps of the recipe will take no more than a third of an hour.
Pour water and milk into a saucepan, bring to a boil and add salt and sugar. Next, drop the oatmeal into the boiling milk mixture, stir and cook for seven minutes.
Stir the porridge periodically, without letting it boil too much. Place a piece of butter directly into the pan, stir and cover with a lid. 
Let the porridge brew for about five minutes. In the meantime, rinse and pour cold - or maybe slightly warm - water over the dried apricots so that they soften a little. 
Then cut it into small strips (or cubes). 
We put the infused aromatic oatmeal on plates, decorate with pieces of dried apricots and start having a tasty, and most importantly, healthy breakfast. 
Bon appetit!
