Serve up Perfect Watermelon

Serve up Perfect Watermelon

Degree of Difficulty: Newb

DECIPHER RIPENESS
Check the color, says Marcel Vigneron, star of Marcel's Quantum Kitchen on SyFy. "The melon should be dark green with a yellow area where it sat on the ground. If that area is white, then the melon hasn't matured." And give it a rap with your knuckles. If you hear a loud thud and the melon feels heavy, it's ripe.

SLICE WITH PRECISION
Use a large chef's knife to lop off the top and bottom of the watermelon so it sits flat on your cutting board. That's safer than trying to cut it as a wobbly whole. Now slice the melon into wedges. Or you can remove the rind with a smaller knife and then cut the flesh into cubes.

SERVE
Try some unexpected pairings. Vigneron serves cubes of watermelon (drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt) along with cherry tomatoes on a toothpick. "It sounds weird, but the acidity of the tomato and the sweetness of the watermelon go really well together," he says. Or try a side of watermelon with pork belly or duck—the sweetness contrasts nicely with the fattiness of the meats.