Island Rojak: Jicama and Tropical Fruit Salad with Mojito Dressing

As of Sunday, Summer is officially here, although depending on where you live the season might already be an unwelcome guest. Along much of the northeastern US, it still feels like rainy spring. This recipe, a simple salad of tropical fruits and jicama, is perfect for a warm Summer day—whenever such a day might arrive.

Rojak or rujak is a fruit and vegetable salad found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Malay for mixture, rojak is a dish combining various tropical fruits, root vegetables, and outright oddities such as tofu, shrimp paste, fried dough, and rice cakes. A mixture indeed.

Fruit Basket: Star fruit, Papaya, Persimmon, Mango

This, my recipe, prepares a salad of crunchy julienned jicama topped with an assortment of tropical fruits and a "mojito" dressing of muddled mint, lime, and palm sugar.

For this recipe, use your favorite tropical and asian fruits that are in season and fresh. Mango and pineapple are excellent here, as are persimmon and star fruit.

Makes 4 servings.

16 leaves mint
2 teaspoons palm sugar
1/4 cup lime juice
1 medium jicama, peeled and julienned into 1/16" matchsticks
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 mangoes, peeled and cubed
2 star fruit, trimmed and sliced
1 pineapple, peeled and cubed
4 sprigs mint, to garnish

In a mortar, combine the mint leaves and palm sugar. Using a pestle, lightly bruise the mint. Combine with the lime juice. Let the mint soak in the juice for 5 minutes. Strain and discard the mint leaves.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, toss the julienned jicama with enough dressing to coat, about half. Season with sea salt.

Divide the jicama among salad plates. Arrange the fruit on top of the jicama. Spoon a little dressing over the fruit, just enough to lightly dress. Garnish with a mint sprig. Pairs well with a mojito.

Roselle meets Ginger Cocktail

I call this cocktail Roselle meets Ginger, as it is made from hibiscus-infused tequila blanco and ginger-infused simple syrup. I really dig this cocktail. Round and refreshing, with a great flavor profile.

Ginger and limes

Makes 1 drink.

Ingredients:

2 ounces (2 pony shots) hibiscus-infused tequila (recipe)
1/2 ounce (1/2 pony shot) freshly-squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon ginger-lime syrup (recipe)
1 lime twist, to garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker with large ice cubes. Add the tequila, lime juice, and ginger-lime syrup to the shaker. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds. Let rest until the outside of the shaker begins to sweat.

Fill an old fashioned glass with large ice cubes. Strain the cocktail shaker into the glass. Garnish with a lime twist. Enjoy.

Sally's Night Out Cocktail

I call this cocktail Sally's Night Out: A not untraditional margarita, with a hibiscus infusion and a splash of sparkling water. Crisp and refreshing.

Sally's Night Out

Makes 1 drink.

Ingredients:

1.5 ounces (1 jigger shot) hibiscus-infused tequila (recipe)
1 ounce (1 pony shot) Grand Marnier
1/2 ounce (1/2 pony shot) lime juice
1/2 teaspoon agave syrup
splash sparking water
1 lime peel , to garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker with large ice cubes. Add the tequila, Grand Marnier, lime juice, and agave syrup to the shaker. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds. Let rest until the outside of the shaker begins to sweat.

Fill an old fashioned glass with large ice cubes. Strain the shaker into the glass. Drop a lime peel, skin side down, into the glass. Enjoy.

Hibiscus-Infused Tequila

Hibiscus-based teas and aguas frescas are drank throughout the world as a refreshing herbal beverage. Hibiscus has a clean, tart flavor that pairs wonderfully with tequila and a spot of sweetness, producing a delicious warm weather cocktail. This simple recipes produces an infusion of hibiscus into tequila blanco.

Hibiscus-Infused Tequila

For this recipe, I call for dried hibiscus sepals. Sepals, also called calyces, are the tender green leaves under the petals in a flower. Tea and other hibiscus-based drinks are made from the plant's sepals, not its petals. Ideally, seek out either whole dried sepals or a high-quality hibiscus tea. If your sepals are whole, roughly chop them. I wouldn't waste a bottle of good tequila on bagged tea.

Makes 750 milliliters.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup hibiscus sepals
750 milliliters tequila blanco

Place the hibiscus in a pitcher or similar container with a lid. Pour in the tequila. Stir. Cover.

Steeping the hibiscus in tequila

Let steep, stirring once or twice, for 4 hours.

Strain through a cheesecloth-lined mesh strainer back into the original tequila bottle. Will keep indefinitely.

Crostini with Peas, Mint, Walnuts, and Ricotta

These simple to prepare crostini are a great spring or summer antipasto, particularly on a warm day when peas are still available fresh. You can, of course, make this with frozen peas, but the texture will suffer.

I like this dish because it morphs the well known pairing of peas and mint into a new flavor profile, with walnuts (both whole nuts and the oil), sheep's milk ricotta, and crunchy pea greens.

Crostini of Spring Peas, Mint, Walnuts, and Ricotta

Makes 4 crostini, suitable for 4 large antipasti.

Ingredients:

2 pounds green peas, shelled
6 leaves mint, chiffonaded
1/2 cup whole walnuts
1/4 cup walnut oil, plus more to drizzle on the bread
1/4 cup grape seed oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 thick slices rustic country bread
3/4 cup ricotta, preferably di pecora (from sheep's milk)
4 attractive stalks pea greens, to garnish
sea salt, to taste

Setup an ice bath. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of heavily-salted water to boil. Add the shelled green peas and blanche until cooked through but not soft, 90 seconds. Drain and plunge into the ice bath. Once cool, drain again. Set aside to dry.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the blanched peas, mint chiffonade, walnuts, walnut oil, grapeseed oil, and white wine vinegar. Toss until coated. Season to taste with sea salt.

On a grill or in a grill pan, toast the bread until just slightly toasted and starting to brown. Drizzle one side with walnut oil. Season lightly with sea salt.

Spread a generous helping of ricotta across each slice of bread. Spoon the dressed pea and walnut salad atop the ricotta. Sprinkle with a pinch more sea salt. Garnish with a pea green.

Serve. Pairs well with a white wine of the Sauvignon blanc grape from the Sancerre AOC in the Loire Valley, France.