For our recent summer issue, we added a new section called “Outside the Kitchen,” where we explored what chefs like to cook outside of their designated restaurants. We enjoyed the perfect outdoor picnic with an exceptional menu created and prepared by chefs Kevin Humphreys of Spur Restaurant and Bar and Wes Hamilton of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s Couloir Restaurant.
The menu included Couloir’s seared lava lake lamb with Utah corn succotash and curried goat cheese, thyme-roasted apricot and pistachio tarts, along with Spur’s Cosmic Apple sugar snap peas with carrots and radish dressed with a ginger-sesame vinaigrette and an aji amarillo aioli, a pimento cheese spread, and their peach blackberry sangria. All of these delicious recipes can be found in the magazine accompanied by photos.
Jackson Hole Mountain Resorts’s Wes Hamilton preparing the watermelon for the guests.
There were four other recipes we enjoyed that didn’t make it in the magazine, so we have created a four-part summer picnic recipe series to share on our website. The first one is spiked watermelon with cucumber, radish, and whipped avocado. It’s a great summer recipe to make for your love ones to enjoy while sprawled out on a blanket in the sunshine.
Spiked Watermelon with Cucumber, Radish, and Whipped Avocado
Ingredients
- ½ cup Rangpur gin
- 1 English cucumber, juiced
- ¼ fresh watermelon, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 breakfast radishes, sliced thin
- 4 mint leaves, chiffonade
- 2 basil leaves, chiffonade
- 2 limes, juiced and zested
- Fleur de sel or kosher salt
- Agave syrup
- 1 avocado, skin and seed removed
- ¼ cup radish sprouts, most of stem removed
Instructions
- Mix gin and half the cucumber water, add to watermelon, marinate for 15 minutes (no more) and then drain. Keep chilled. Discard marinade.
- Mix sliced radish, mint, basil and half the lime juice. Season with salt and agave syrup. Let marinate for 15 minutes.
- Puree avocado with remaining lime juice, lime zest and basil leaves. Season with salt.
- On a serving platter, spread avocado puree on the bottom. Arrange the watermelon cubes on top of avocado. Sprinkle radish salad over watermelon and enjoy.
