guest chef

Marissa made dinner last night! It was wonderful, and so was the food! To have someone cook for me is pure heaven, and she is turning into a very good cook, so that makes it extra special. Marissa found a recipe on allrecipes.com for something I probably would never have made, a melon soup. I was a bit skeptical, but I didn’t tell her that, and I’m so glad I held my tongue because it was a delightful surprise.  She also made a delicious Guacamumus (avocado hummus) she found online. I will link you to it here on my site, once she gets it posted on her blog…

The original soup recipe is called for Chinese winter melon (dong gua). She could not find that, so she used honeydew instead, it worked perfectly. Also, she added 1 cup of Panko after discovering that the meat mixture was too watery. Finally, I advised her to bake the meatballs first, to brown and flavor them more, and that also worked just right.  Even if this doesn’t seem like the sort of thing your family would like, give it a try, and thank us later!  Plus this seems like the perfect soup to make vegetarian, just substitute tofu for the pork.

(Delicious dinner, revised recipe, and pictures were all provided by Marissa Hopkins)

Marissa’s Melon Meatball Soup

Meatballs
1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons peeled and minced garlic
2 tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
2 eggs
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs

Soup
6 cups water
2 pounds honeydew melon cut into 1-inch cubes
5 thin slices fresh peeled ginger
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Meatballs: Sprinkle pork with cornstarch, cilantro, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and ginger. Mix eggs and Panko into pork with hands, until completely incorporated.

Form 1-inch meatballs out of the pork mixture. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until browned and cooked through.

Soup: Combine water, melon, ginger, salt, and sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Gently drop meatballs into simmering soup; simmer 2 minutes more.

Serves 6