Plum Sorbet

"Mom can you make me sorbet?" yells out my youngest.  Grinning I reply sure what flavor would you like as I looked over the nearly deceased fruit. We have pears, plums, grapes, banana, and apples.  A perplexed look crosses her face and we decide plum.

The last time I made sorbet I hit the hare trigger switch on my blender and everything went flying into the air.  watermelon sorbet on the walls, on the window, all over my gelato maker, my mixer...New rule unplug the blender before the lid comes off!

Quickly, we threw everything in that evil blender.  We had only 20 minutes until we needed to hop into the car and head to dance.

Plum Sorbet 

5 very large plums

1/2 c sugar

couple squirts agave

2T lemon juice

1T vodka

~ Put plums in blender and puree 

~ Add  sugar and agave blend on-off until fully dissolved

~ Mix in lemon juice and vodka

~ Chill or put directly into ice cream maker

 This was deemed a make again.

Lemon Stir Fry Chicken with Bittman

Yesterday in between drop offs and pick ups as well as shopping Targets 75% off garden sale, I whipped together dinner.  My kids are huge fans of sweet and sour chicken and I am still searching for that perfect no fry recipe so in the meantime I thought I would throw a little Mark Bittman in their direction.  First question, Is this sweet and sour chicken???  Yummmmm.  Unfortunately, there were no left overs and I was asked to repeat for lunch today.  Repeat a recipe???  I have hundreds of books and recipes left to explore.  Perhaps in a year or two.

Lemon Chicken Stir Fry

from: The Best Recipes In The World by Mark Bittman

adaptation:

served 5+

quick and delicious

3lbs boneless chicken thighs (organic at Costco or Trader Joe's)

scallions/chives (from my garden)

1/2 inch piece of ginger peeled and chopped

3T soy sauce

1T oyster sauce ( vegetarian)

1t Shaoxing wine

black pepper 1/4 t or what ever you choose to grind

safflower oil

1/4c fresh lemon juice ( love my neighbors meyer lemon tree)

1/2 c chicken stock

2T honey

2t cornstatch

salt or no salt to taste

~marinate chicken in chive, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, wine and pepper one to two hours

~heat wok or stainless steel pan

~add 3T oil and heat

~add chicken until pinkness is gone

~stir in ginger 10 secs

~add soy sauce, oyster sauce, wine, pepper (marinade)

~ also add lemon juice, stock, honey, cornstarch

~mix and combine

~cook until sauce thickens

~plate on top of rice

~garnish with additional chives

I -- Scream!

I looked at the recipe.  I printed the recipe.  I read the recipe.  I was distracted with a million questions while attempting to make the recipe. ACK!  The sugar gets mixed in the the eggs and not cooked with the cream base.  Too late to separate the sugar from the cream, if that was even possible.  Not to worry, this kind of error has happen a million times to me.  Balancing act needed as well as ear plugs!  Add a few splashes of milk, a bit more vanilla in paste form and sugar to the yolks this time and hope it all comes together.  To the despair of the critics the creaminess needs to cure in the fridge over night, but not without a taste test.  The spoon goes into the mouth and comes out clean and the thumb goes up.  Confetti falls from the sky...not really.  Twenty four hours passes and it's time to rev up The Delonghi Gelato Maker (Happy Birthday to ME).  Twenty minutes later and rich creaminess delights the eyes.  Sorry kids bedtime (insert evil laugh here!)  I dish a bowl to the man who cries, "Give me Hagen Daz or give me nothing".  Comments include rich but not as rich as Hagen Daz, creamy, could use more vanilla and more refreshing then Hagen Daz.  What was that again?  Did I hear right?  Refreshing, better and you would rather have mine, score!

Vanilla Bean Gelato My Way

5 eggs yolks at room temp, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar (bit less then 1/4 c to balance)
2 c organic whole milk (1/2 c more to balance)
1 1/2 cup organic heavy cream
1 whole vanilla bean, split and seeded  (1/2 t vanilla bean paste)
pinch of sea salt


In a medium, deep sauce pot combine milk, cream, salt, vanilla seeds/pod (I added the sugar here 1/2 c and vanilla paste) and bring to a scald.  Let steep covered for 20 minutes then bring back to a scald.  Pour your hot cream through a fine strainer to remove the pod and any skin that may have formed as the cream steeped.   In a large metal bowl combine eggs and sugar (only less then 1/4 c in the other went in cream base) thoroughly with a whisk.  Pour cream into eggs very very very slowly to avoid overcooking and "scrambled" egg.  Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water (low heat) and cook 8-10 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides continuously for even cooking.  Strain again* and cool completely in the fridge about overnight.  Churn in your machine according to the instructions until you have the consistency of thick soft serve.  Place in a freezer safe container to set overnight.

*after make this I realized I should just refrigerated the custard in the gelato machines metal bowl.  If you are lucky like me and transitioned from freezer bowl to compression machine, you might want to give this a whirl.

* I always strain after completion of egg custard. Who wants egg lumps in their gelato/ice cream?