The most important meal of the day

Amazingly enough, here it is.  My second post in three days.  Thanks again to Phyl for getting me motivated.  Part of my blogging slump has been due to lack of time.  Work has been kicking my butt.  I get up a bit before 5:00 and spend the next 60 to 70 minutes getting myself ready for work, packing my lunch, getting breakfast/snacks together for the girls.  Then I attempt to pry my daughters out of bed (so they can start getting dressed, etc.) before I run out the door with my travel mug of tea in hand.  This morning was no exception.  I got to work just before 6:30 and spent the next half an hour getting things ready for the work day.  At about 7:15, it occurred to me that I was hungry and that I should get my breakfast out of my bag.  There was only one problem--my bagel was still sitting at home in the toaster, waiting to be toasted.  D'oh!

Maybe I should have had a whole serving of this sorbet at 5:30 this morning, instead of the single spoonful that I snuck as I was checking on it to see if it had firmed up overnight.  I made the base last night as I was feeding the girls dinner, and churned it as I was making mine & Jamie's.  Then it went into the freezer for the night.  I was intrigued by this recipe when I first got my July/August issue of Cook's Illustrated.  I've made sorbet recipes before, but this one promised to tackle a number of problems that you can encounter with sorbet--grainy or crumbly texture, being too hard to scoop, and melting too fast.  The ingredient list is pretty straightforward--raspberries (I used frozen ones that I thawed), sugar, corn syrup, salt, water and one slightly unusual ingredient, pectin.  I definitely encourage you to read the article that explains how they came up with the final method (here online, or better yet, in the magazine (check your local library)).  

The verdict?  Very, very tasty.  The tartness of the raspberries is one of my favorite things about them, and there's just enough sugar to sweeten without making the sorbet taste very sweet.  I'm not sure the texture is quite right, but it just occurred to me that I think I goofed.  The recipe calls for 20 ounces of raspberries.  I had two bags of frozen raspberries, and I was thinking that they were 10 ounces each.  However, I'm pretty sure that they were actually 12 ounces, so I had about 20 percent more puree than I should have.  I'm sure that would be enough to throw the texture off a bit.  I definitely want to make this one again, so I'll see if there's a difference once I correct that.  Just from my limited experience with the sorbet so far, it does seem like it doesn't melt as quickly as some I've tried, so the pectin is doing its job.  I have a whole bunch of the pectin left, so I'd like to try it in other sorbet recipes, like this chocolate one.  

If you'd like to try the sorbet for yourself, you can find the recipe here.  Phyl has a perfect-for-summer frozen wine slushy on his blog today, and will have links to other non-dairy frozen treats.  Check them out! =)

Sweet and sour

Welcome to Ice Cream Week 2012!  I did something along those lines in July last year, but this time around, Ice Cream Week is being hosted by my friend Phyl.  I'm indebted to Phyl for providing me with the push I needed to get out of my recent blogging slump.  I could blame it on a number of things--still getting adjusted to my new job location/hours, the parenting fun of ridding my children and my home of lice, the joy that is a Texas summer, being sucked into watching Olympics every chance I get...  But what it really comes down to is what one of my former bosses called "analysis paralysis."  I worry too much about what to write and how to make sure it's "perfect," when sometimes I really just need to sit down and do it.  And while I'm at it, stop being so hard on myself for everything that I don't get done and that isn't perfect. =)

First up in our themes for this week is Summer Fruit.  Since I haven't been able to spend much time in the kitchen recently, I started off by checking my archives for recipes that I made but never posted.  But I rarely make fruit ice cream.  I think the problem is that they never taste that fruity to me--the flavor of the fruit is muted by the dairy ingredients.  And one of the things I love about most fruit is its acidity. So instead of a fruit ice cream, I bring you a sorbet.  (That's actually our theme for Wednesday, so stay tuned for another one then.)  

This recipe comes from my favorite ice cream book, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.  The recipes are arranged by season in the book, depending on when the ingredients are at their peak.  The way my tastes run, I've mostly made recipes from the Autumn and Winter sections, but this one is squarely in the Summer category.  The recipe is for Sour Beer Sorbets, and can be varied depending on the type of stone fruit you want to use or have available.  The sour beers are Belgian lambics, one of the few beers I'll happily drink.  I had a bunch of nectarines on hand, so I picked up a bottle of peach lambic and was all set.  The recipe is pretty simple--simmer pureed fruit with some sugar and corn syrup (which helps the final texture), chill the mixture, strain it if desired, add the beer, and churn.  I'm lazy, so I didn't bother to peel my nectarines before pureeing, so I did strain my mixture.  When I tasted the mixture after simmering but before adding the beer, it seemed a bit flat and overly sweet.  However, the acidity of the lambic beer took care of that.  I also added a pinch of salt to the mixture.  

The verdict?  This is very tasty sorbet.  The texture is smooth and not overly icy or hard to scoop.  There's a hint of alcohol taste, but it's certainly not overpowering.  I'd definitely like to try other flavors, particularly the Plum & Black Currant variation.  

I've got my work cut out for me, since I don't have any other ice creams ready to go for this week's festivities. =)  But I'm looking forward to the challenge.  Be sure to check out Phyl's blog; he'll have posts every day this week (I'll probably only manage 3 or 4 at most) and will share links to other friends who are participating.  His recipe for today is Citrus Beet Ice Cream.  You should check it out for the color, if nothing else. =)

We all scream for...sorbet?

Hopefully you aren't tired of ice cream posts yet. =)  This one is actually courtesy of Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon.  She's our hostess for Tuesdays with Dorie this week, and she picked Creamy Dark Chocolate Sorbet for us to make.  It could be debated whether this recipe is actually for sorbet, since it contains milk, and sorbet generally doesn't.  In fact, Dorie adapted this recipe from one by Pierre Hermé, which was made with just water, no milk.  The substitution of milk for part of the liquid is what makes this sorbet creamy.  The sorbet is pretty easy to make--you combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan, bring the mixture to a boil, and boil it for 5 minutes.  Then you thoroughly chill the mixture and churn it in an ice cream maker.  The result is a bit more "soft-serve" than usually, so it really benefits from several hours in the freezer (I left mine overnight) so it can firm up.  The only changes I made were to add a bit of salt, and to increase the recipe by a third.  I used a mix of chocolates, ending up with an average cacao percentage of about 62%, I think.

The verdict?  It's hard to believe that such a simple recipe can make something so delicious!  Chocolate ice cream is wonderful, but almost too rich sometimes.  This sorbet is extremely chocolatey, but refreshing at the same time.  I'm sure we'll be making it again very soon, since it's rapidly disappearing.  

Here's my ingredient list, since I scaled the recipe up by a third (easier to do after converting to metric) to make about a quart:

300 grams lowfat (1%) milk

300 grams water

200 grams granulated sugar

265 grams bittersweet chocolate

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the original recipe, head over to Steph's blog.  And to see what everyone else thought of the sorbet, check out this week's Links.  

Change is good

Like most people, I'm usually somewhat resistant to change.  Don't fix what ain't broke, right?  So I was a bit apprehensive when I got my December/January issue of Fine Cooking, and read that they were planning some changes for the magazine and website.  I got busy with the holidays and forgot about it.  Then I opened my mailbox a week or two ago and pulled out the February/March issue.  It definitely looked a bit different, but good.  I've had time to read through the entire issue now, and I think I like it.  There are a number of things I want to try, including making croissants (one of the things I'd like to accomplish in 2009).  

I don't read magazines straight through.  I thumb through the whole thing when I get it, just to get an idea of what's in there.  But then I jump around, depending on what's most appealing and how much time I have at the moment.  So it took me a few days to get around to reading the article on oranges.  I like oranges, but don't really go out of my way to cook or bake with them.  For instance, much as I love chocolate, I'm not that big a fan of chocolate and orange together.  And for savory recipes, I love lemon, but never really thought about using oranges.  Then I saw the recipe for Blood Orange and Mango Sorbet.  Now that sounded really good.  

The recipe calls for juicing blood oranges and cutting up fresh mangos.  I took a couple shortcuts. =)  I needed 2 1/2 cups of the orange juice.  Fortunately, Anna over at Cookie Madness had a post about blood orange juice a few days ago.  I was able to find cartons of it at Central Market.  And for the mango, I actually used frozen mango chunks (12 ounces).  I pureed the mango pieces with the orange juice in my blender.  Then I heated a cup of the puree with a cup of sugar just until the sugar was dissolved, and mixed it back into the rest of the orange/mango mixture.  I added the tablespoon of lemon juice called for in the recipe, but didn't have any orange zest since I just bought juice.  And the great thing about using the frozen mango is that the mixture was quite cold, so I didn't have to wait for it to chill before churning it.  (Keeping a canister in the freezer all the time is great for spur of the moment frozen concoctions.)  

The verdict?  This one was a hit with everyone!  Brianna and Gillian loved it, and Jamie really liked it too.  I kept sampling it all afternoon. =)  The flavor is a great combination of sweet and tart--very refreshing.  And the color is lovely.  I'll definitely be making this sorbet again.

I'm also submitting this to Ivonne over at Cream Puffs in Venice for her Magazine Mondays event.  If you want to try this sorbet, you can access the original recipe here. (Right now, at least, it's available whether you subscribe to Fine Cooking's website or not.)