"The human body needs minerals, notably salt; but pepper, the most substantially traded of all spices, is a dietary irrelevance. One might live a perfectly healthy life without ever ingesting, inhaling or otherwise being exposed to any one of the desiccated bits of vegatation that have traditionally been considered spices. Nor are they addictive in any physiological sense. The withdrawal symptoms might be evinced at times of scarcity were purely social and economic."
Blueberry Sorbet
With less than two months until peak blueberry picking season, I managed to turn about half of my frozen cache into a tasty dessert. This would be a delightful alternative to ice cream if the gods of global warming would turn on the sun this weekend. I don't own a blender, so I used a 7-cup Cuisinart food prep for this and I didn't bother straining the seeds from the frozen blueberry pulp.
If you prepared the blueberries before freezing, they should already be picked over, washed, and clean. No idea what vanilla extract does to the taste, but I imagined that it would smooth out the sweetness between the simple syrup and the blueberries.
Ingredients
2 quart-sized bags of frozen blueberries
1 tbsp vanilla extract (optional)
1 c. water + 3/4 c. organic granulated sugar
Directions
1. In a small pot, heat water and sugar together until it boils; then let it simmer for a couple minutes. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
2. With a chopping blade in the food prep, add frozen blueberries and chop until the mixture looks like a thick slushy gone wild. No extra chilling is required before adding this mixture (minus the blade) to the ice cream maker. As it churns, add the vanilla extract.
3. The blueberry sorbet is pretty much done, but you want a smoother consistency to it than what the food prep can do. Add blueberry slushy mixture to the pre-chilled bowl of the ice cream maker. When done, transfer sorbet to quart-sized containers. Store in freezer.
This batch made just under 2 quarts. Enjoy.
If you prepared the blueberries before freezing, they should already be picked over, washed, and clean. No idea what vanilla extract does to the taste, but I imagined that it would smooth out the sweetness between the simple syrup and the blueberries.
Ingredients
2 quart-sized bags of frozen blueberries
1 tbsp vanilla extract (optional)
1 c. water + 3/4 c. organic granulated sugar
Directions
1. In a small pot, heat water and sugar together until it boils; then let it simmer for a couple minutes. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
2. With a chopping blade in the food prep, add frozen blueberries and chop until the mixture looks like a thick slushy gone wild. No extra chilling is required before adding this mixture (minus the blade) to the ice cream maker. As it churns, add the vanilla extract.
3. The blueberry sorbet is pretty much done, but you want a smoother consistency to it than what the food prep can do. Add blueberry slushy mixture to the pre-chilled bowl of the ice cream maker. When done, transfer sorbet to quart-sized containers. Store in freezer.
This batch made just under 2 quarts. Enjoy.
Kitchen Note: The Secret Life of Pizza
Today warmed up pretty nicely and the sun even came out for several hours. This creates the ideal temperature conditions for yeast to multiply in pizza dough. In fact, it barely took an hour for the dough to more than double in size. Heck, that dough was practically slithering out of the greased bowl I put it in to rise.
I discovered today that the secret to making a crispy, thin crust pizza was a two-fold process.
Step one involves rolling out the dough as thin as possible. Pretty straightforward you'd think, but with all my previous batch attempts, the dough still rose quite a bit and was rather chewy. Then let the dough rest under a clean kitchen towel until you're ready to bake it. Then roll it once more before putting the pizza sauce and toppings on it.
Step two involves more of a dry heat, like what you'd get on a non-raining day. The oven should already be cranked to 500 degrees F. Slip the pizza into the oven either onto a pizza stone or the reverse side of a heavy baking sheet. Bake the pizza for 8 minutes. Basically when it looks like the edges of the pizza are burning or the parchment paper smells like it is on fire, the pizza is done.
I discovered today that the secret to making a crispy, thin crust pizza was a two-fold process.
Step one involves rolling out the dough as thin as possible. Pretty straightforward you'd think, but with all my previous batch attempts, the dough still rose quite a bit and was rather chewy. Then let the dough rest under a clean kitchen towel until you're ready to bake it. Then roll it once more before putting the pizza sauce and toppings on it.
Step two involves more of a dry heat, like what you'd get on a non-raining day. The oven should already be cranked to 500 degrees F. Slip the pizza into the oven either onto a pizza stone or the reverse side of a heavy baking sheet. Bake the pizza for 8 minutes. Basically when it looks like the edges of the pizza are burning or the parchment paper smells like it is on fire, the pizza is done.
Lemon Sorbet
These lemons had been sitting around on the kitchen counter for almost a month, so it was time to do something with the fruit. They were the average lemon you'd get at a grocery store, except these were extra sour. I suppose that if they were used when fresh, the lemons wouldn't have been as fibrous to squeeze and might have held more juice. This recipe used five lemons.
In the US, a sherbert contains dairy and a sorbet has no dairy content. Think of this recipe, like a frozen lemonade, though more on the sour side and a palate cleanser, than a sweet dessert. Also, the colder the ingredients, the faster it'll turn into sorbet in the ice cream maker.
Makes 1 pint.
Ingredients
1 c. fresh lemon juice, chilled
1 c. simple syrup, chilled
Directions
1. Squeeze lemons for the juice and remove any seeds or pith bits. Mix the simple syrup and lemon juice together in a bowl before adding to the right-from-the-freezer bowl of the ice cream maker.
2. After 20 minutes, or until the mixture has fluffed up a bit and formed the sorbet. Use a rubber spatula to empty the ice cream maker bowl into a 1-pint container. Store sorbet in the freezer until ready to serve.
In the US, a sherbert contains dairy and a sorbet has no dairy content. Think of this recipe, like a frozen lemonade, though more on the sour side and a palate cleanser, than a sweet dessert. Also, the colder the ingredients, the faster it'll turn into sorbet in the ice cream maker.
Makes 1 pint.
Ingredients
1 c. fresh lemon juice, chilled
1 c. simple syrup, chilled
Directions
1. Squeeze lemons for the juice and remove any seeds or pith bits. Mix the simple syrup and lemon juice together in a bowl before adding to the right-from-the-freezer bowl of the ice cream maker.
2. After 20 minutes, or until the mixture has fluffed up a bit and formed the sorbet. Use a rubber spatula to empty the ice cream maker bowl into a 1-pint container. Store sorbet in the freezer until ready to serve.
Simple Syrup
I suppose that in a pinch, you could also use Trader Joe's simple syrup; but it's so easy to make this I'm not sure why you would buy it pre-made.
Ingredients
2 c. organic granulated sugar
2 c. water
Directions
Combine water and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved completely. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.
This stays "fresh" for weeks in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
2 c. organic granulated sugar
2 c. water
Directions
Combine water and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved completely. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.
This stays "fresh" for weeks in the refrigerator.
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