Fruit Sorbets

Well, I guess it's about time that I atually posted more than just a review. Let me begin by sharing with you a summer favorite of mine that I discovered only this year. My inspiration for this actually came from a popular TV show on a popular network channel, I'm not saying who or what to avoid anyone coming after me ;)

So watching this show had me intrigued about sorbets. I was recently given an ice cream maker as a Christmas present a year ago, and all it was doing was collecting dust in the basement. I needed to put it to use. The recipe and procedures were extremely simple, and the only piece of hardware that was expensive was the ice cream maker... and possibly my food processor, but I don't see why this can't be done in a blender.

So to make the story short, pieces of watermelon were cut and thrown into a food processor along with some lemon juice and vodka. You process it all together and chill before churning in the food processor.

I can't say this enough, and you'll be hearing it from me a lot on this site, just like all my friends do. Cooking is NOT BAKING. No recipe is set in stone! Experiment will ya?

Looking at this recipe, I asked myself... why not other fruits? I discovered a marvelous thing indeed. Pictured above are 2 of the 4 sorbets I have created using this simple recipe. In the bowl are a raspberry and pineapple sorbet, my two favorites, and my friends all agree. What you see in the raspberry are the seeds. I didn't bother to strain them out, but if you wanted to, you can do it with a fine mesh strainer. I don't recommend using cheese or tea cloths. Push the pulp through leaving only the seeds. The pulp adds depth, texture and flavor to the sorbet. Without it, you essentially made juice. The raspberries were hand picked by my lovely female and myself. Can't beat fresh. The pineapple was purchased from a local supermarket and cut down, a little over the required amount for this recipe. Perfect. Also, those are the real colors. None added. Nope.

Here is the original recipe.

1 pound 5oz watermelon
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons vodka
9oz (1 1/4 cup) sugar

Let me explain 2 of the ingredients briefly. The lemon juice does not serve to add flavor, nor will you be able to taste it. The lemon juice is added to provide the acidity to maintain the fruit's color and freshness. It's kind of like how you add lemon juice to a water bath and stick some apple slices in there and they don't brown. The vodka is added not to get you drunk. What does vodka do in the freezer? Right. Sit there. When vodka is added to the equation it doesn't allow the ice crystals to form into big clumps. In doing so, it keeps the ice cream / sorbet nice and smooth and fluffy, allowing for easy spooning... even after a couple of months.. trust me ;)

Please make sure to take the newly blended mixture directly to the fridge and let it chill to a temp of about 40F, or no less than a couple hours. Start your ice cream maker before adding the mixture. If you don't, the mixture will freeze on contact and jam up the machine.

All you really need to do is experiment with different fruits and see what you come up with. Keep the quantity the same, just substitute with a different fruit. So in my case, I used 1 pound 5oz of pineapple or raspberries. Again, my two perfections are the pineapple and raspberry sorbets. I have also tried blueberry and watermelon. The blueberry did not come out the best, as again, I didn't strain anything and the skins are an unpleasant presence in the sorbet.

I also would not recommend taking any of those fruit smoothie drinks and trying to create that into a sorbet. I tried. It didnt work. I wasted 10 mins of my time and a smoothie drink. It left me 10 mins older and thirsty.

This simple recipe does indeed deserve a full beard. I would definitely say Lumberjack, but not ZZ Top.

Create and enjoy!