A Slice Of Watermelon Ham

Americans are slowly but surely embracing the vegan lifestyle. Barbecues now include Beyond and Impossible Burgers. Not Chick-N Broth is being used in soups and gravies. Cabbage and cauliflower steaks are now desired main dishes, Now there's watermelon ham. Yes, you can take the classic fruit and turn it into a tasty meat substitute.

It was the subject of an article in yesterday's New York Times Food section . Once again the host of PBS's Project Smoke,  Steven Raichlen wrote about this interesting phenomena and how it's taking over the culinary world.It's not just watermelon ham that's taking the world by storm, but also radish prosciutto and burdock root jerky sticks. as with meats, these dishes are also cured and smoked, served as charcuterie. The clever Will Horowitz, chef and co-owner of the famed Ducks Eatery in Manhattan has created these new spins with all the ancient techniques. They're salted, cured, dried , fermented and smoked.He claims that its just finding the right cocktail of these will do the trick of preserving fruits and vegetables. Seaweed is also getting the treatment as it's turned into kelp jerky, thanks to Chef Horowitz's other company, Cured. This was developed for Akua City Greens , a company that also offers kelp pasta.

As for that watermelon "ham" , Chef Raichlen does offer a recipe for it along for recipes for crispy smoked shiitake and smoked carrots with roasted yeast, the last coming from Larder, a popular foodie hangout in Cleveland. Vegans and vegetarians will want to try all of these. Keep in mind to create a ham look alike , there is a lot of work, namely in paring off the rind. You have to be meticulous about it.It's then putting the peeled fruit into a bucket or container as you prepare the brine. This is a mix of different spices from peppercorns to juniper berries along with wood ash, salt and oregano.There's also creating "Juices" with olive oil, garlic and rosemary. Then there's smoking it for two hours and finally roasting. The easier recipes are definitely the mushrooms and carrots. The mushroom recipe comes from Chef Rich Landau a co -owner with his wife Kate of the famed vegan eatery, The Fancy Radish. It's just frying and then smoking them for a smoky bacon crunch and flavor.  The carrots are also an easy fix. They're smoked first before being rubbed with a dry yeast rub that also has cocoa powder and ground pepper along with cumin and caraway seeds .Crushed juniper berries give them zing. The carrots are then glazed with a mix of maple syrup and olive oil.

Vegan meats are making big waves this season. Try the watermelon ham for something different or the shiitake mushrooms and carrots for a different spin on a main meal. Will they replace meat? From their popularity and flavor, yes.