Monday, July 27, 2009

Cantaloupe Agua Fresca

Last Wednesday, Keith from Whitton Farms presented me with the world's largest cantaloupe as a part of my CSA. I swear the thing was barely manageable. It was more the size of a medium-sized watermelon than a regular-sized cantaloupe. Anyway, it was delicious, so it was a good thing that I had so much of it. I cut that sucker in half and snacked on it all week. Now it's Monday, and I still had half of the beast left in my fridge. I decided that it was time for it to become one of my all-time-favorite summer drinks: agua fresca. You can make them out of just about anything, but I really love the melon flavors when it is really hot outside.

1/2 a huge cantaloupe
1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar
1 lemon (juiced)
3 cups water

Scoop the flesh out of the cantaloupe and into your food processor. Blend until very smooth. Add the lemon juice and sugar. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth and into a pitcher. Add water, pour over ice, and enjoy.

3 comments:

Bianca said...

Good use of the melon! I'm planning on making some melon-sicles soon, now that I've FINALLY found popsicle molds.

Benito said...

I got one of those monsters once and used it for a cold summer soup--half canteloupe purée, half honeydew purée (touch of orange juice and pinch of salt in each batch, process separately). Chill and pour into separate sides of a bowl for a gorgeous presentation.

whitneyingram said...

Bookmarking this now. My cantaloupes in my garden are almost full grown.