Quick and Classy: Fruit-Filled Melon

After our melon with moscato, it was really only a matter of time before we started dunking more fruit into wine. The arrival of miniature honeydew melons in our CSA box gave us the perfect excuse to try again, this time with late season peaches from Ikeda's and some leftover anise hyssop from the produce box. You could use pretty much any fruit here, or even just a different color melon.

Ingredients
A smallish melon, halved
Peaches, peeled and cut into pieces
Moscato or another sweet dessert wine (or champagne -- just don't let it soak so long that it goes flat)
Anise hyssop, chiffonade (optional)

Fill the melon with peaches, then pour moscato over. Refrigerate during dinner to let the wine soak into the fruit a little, then garnish with anise hyssop and serve.

Nectarines with Anise Hyssop and Moscato Drizzle

If you ever find yourself within reach of some fresh anise hyssop, grab it and make this. Anise hyssop, as we discovered this week after finding it in our CSA box, turns out to be an herb that tastes remarkably like those little sugar-coated fennel seeds often found in Indian restaurants. You might find it at a farmer's market, growing in your garden already (it has pretty purple flowers), or nestled between two other things you've never seen before in your own produce box.

Ingredients
Nectarines (could substitute peaches), pits removed and sliced into wedges
Moscato (a current favorite is Trader Joe's Late Harvest 2009)
Fresh anise hyssop (2-3 leaves per nectarine)

Arrange the nectarines on a plate. Make a chiffonade from the anise hyssop: tightly roll the leaves and then slice the roll into thin ribbons. Sprinkle over the fruit, drizzle lightly with about one spoonful of Moscato per nectarine, garnish with anise hyssop flowers, and serve.

Goes well with a glass of Moscato or a cup of fresh mint and anise hyssop tea (just steep a handful of leaves in hot water for a few minutes before pouring).