Back in Action

Further ti testerday's blog. When I had the fruit salad in the restaurant it was served with dollops of cream on the platter, and I ate it directly from the plate with a spoon and fork. Here at home I put the platter in the centre of the table (with a tub of cream at the side - jug of cream would have looked better!) and we just scooped up the fruit into bowls using a fish slice and spoon and poured over the cream. Normally I would serve fresh fruit salad all mixed together in a bowl with added fruit juice , but I wanted to copy the restaurnat idea mainly so that I could show you how good it looked - absolutely perfect for dinner and buffet parties don't you think?

All sorts of different fruits could be used, chunks of pineapple, slices of pears, soft fruits in season. I was particularly intrigued by the apple, it appeared to have a small slice cut off the end which looked so attractive when on the plate. So I copied this, then cut the apple in half through its middle, and sliced thinnish wedges from this half which were nearly enough on its own, leaving over a quarter left (which we ate later with more apple and cheese).
The melon the restaurant used was a white one, I bought one of those small round ones (white with green stripes) and it turned out to be pink inside. White would have looked better against the orange slices, so remember that. The overlapping of the fruit was a very original idea and I found it easy to do. I began with the orange, overlapped the middle slice with the largest pieces of melon and then added the rest of the fruit.
Believe it or not, the plateful I was given at the restaurant was almost as large as the one I photographed. I had to force myself to eat most of it (being brought up to clean my plate). The others were stuffing themselves with Baklava (one had to ask for a doggy bag to take home their surplus, the restaurant is very generous with their helpings). The platterful I made here served three! And two helpings each at that. Just shows how a little fruit can go a long long way.
Incidentally, most of the fruit except the bananas, can be prepared in advance. Dunk the apple in lemon juice to prevent it discolouring, although the apple I used (Royal Gala) didn't discolour several minutes after slicing. Choose apples with the darkest red skin for best effect.
This is a lot of information on how to present a fruit salad, but the more onfo I can give, the easier it will be to put together.