Fairweather Friend The summertime fruit is a versatile addition to nearly any meal

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Nothing says summer in a louder voice than a watermelon. Especially come the Fourth of July. To see the fruit split wide on a picnic table, glistening with freshness, is to want to immerse yourself in it like a glinting tarn. The succulent red is as inviting as lips yet is tempered by the challenge of the seeds. The effect is coy, challenging enough to inflame, but never enough to deter.

As an ingredient in a larger picture, watermelon is scarcely utilized – a granita here, a salad or a sorbet there. This is how it should be. The watermelon is the cucumber’s sweet sister. It has a delicacy that sunshine renders irresistible, but that the kitchen’s heat would quickly melt. It refuses to vie with other flavors for your affection, demanding your rapt attention. It’s the grown-up fruit that requires an appreciation for the myriad subtleties it offers.

In the winter there is a primal joy in sweeping an ax onto a stubborn log. The effect is a hybrid of satisfaction of a job well done, and the anticipation of the pleasures of a warm fire to come. The swinging of a cleaver to thunk through a watermelon’s green tiger stripes is closely related: To see the fruit lazily swing open, to see a crystalline glimmer on the inner flesh, to know that much more joy is imminent.

Unlike other fruits – even its cantaloupe cousin – watermelon doesn’t betray the summer snacker by cloying and covering their arms and face with impenetrably sticky juice. However much you consume, the effect remains refreshing. It is a hazy daydream. Its flavor simply leaves the mouth scintillated, as it imparts a unique, short-lived vibrancy. It is little wonder that it finds so many of its culinary uses in dishes that freshen the palate, and never impose too heavily.

Of course, watermelon is not to everyone’s tastes. Some will always find its delicacy bland and its texture thin. I’ve met very few who downright dislike the green goddess, but I acknowledge some find it too shy or insubstantial. And even I will concur that it is dependent on surroundings to be shown at its best.

Still, I recommend these summer days, you think at least twice before passing by a mound of watermelons. A slice of a simple heaven awaits.

Watermelon Coconut Margarita

Serves 1

2 cups seeded watermelon chunks

2 ounces coconut flavored rum

1/2 cup shredded coconut

Juice from 1 fresh lime

1 cup ice

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into a sugar rimmed glass.

Prosciutto Wrapped Watermelon & Brie Fingers

Makes 24 appetizers

24 pinky finger-sized watermelon rectangles

24 thin slices brie (about the same dimensions as the watermelon fingers)

24 slices prosciutto ham

Place a piece of brie on top of each watermelon finger and wrap each with a sliced of ham. Secure with a toothpick.

Spiced Carrots with Watermelon and Pecans

Serves 6

2 cups large pecan pieces or halves

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3 cups baby carrots

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups small seeded watermelon pieces

Place a large heavy non-stick saut? pan over medium high heat. Place the pecans in an even layer and sprinkle the sugar over them. Stir the pecans while drizzling the soy sauce over them. Heat while stirring constantly until the sugar melts and the nuts glaze. This process takes 5 to 8 minutes. Remove the nuts to waxed paper to cool. Break apart as needed. Meanwhile, simmer the carrots in a saucepan with the brown sugar, orange juice and cinnamon until tender and glazed. Form a ring around the rim of a warm serving platter with the watermelon and pour the carrots in the middle. Top with glazed pecans. Serve immediately.

Watermelon Cranberry Glazed Pork Chops

Serves 8

For glaze:

2 cups watermelon puree

4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup sugar

1 dash cloves

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Simmer above ingredients together in a heavy saucepan, stirring frequently, for 20 minutes or until cranberries are tender and sauce is thick. Makes 4 cups of glaze.

For glazed grilled pork chops:

8 pork chops

2 cups pineapple juice

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon rosemary leaves

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon pepper

1 recipe watermelon cranberry glaze

Place pork in a large zipper lock bag with rest of the ingredients (except the glaze) and seal tightly. Allow to marinate at least 2 hours or up to 12. Grill until cooked and arrange on a warm platter. Pour the glaze over the chops and serve immediately.

To puree watermelon: Cut into chunks and place in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until pureed. You may also mash it with the back of a fork before pureeing in a blender.

Melon Balls in Rum Syrup

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Small ripe watermelon

1 ripe cantaloupe

1 ripe honeydew melon

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/3 cup water

1/2cup light rum

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice

1 teaspoon grated lime peel

Bring the water to a boil. Stir in sugar and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the rum and simmer for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool somewhat before adding the lime juice and the grated lime peel.

Cut melons into balls with a melon baller. Add the blueberries to the mixed melon balls. Pour the syrup over the fruit, mix gently, cover and chill for several hours before serving.

Chef Harry Schwartz, the National Watermelon Promotion Board’s 2003 Watermelon Chef, provided the recipes.