Category Archives: gelato, sorbetto, and ice cream

Aug 15 1 comments
biscuitsandsuch news, gelato, sorbetto, and ice cream

Habanero Peach Sorbet

I have a lot of other things to discuss with you today so I thought I’d get business out of the way first.  You remember my habanero dilemma, yes?  Not much has changed in that department.  Actually, if anything, I have more habaneros than ever.  They just keep on coming and the more I use the more flowers those damn plants put out.  Dear Nature, this is why people turn against you.  I’ve put up a batch of peach habanero jam, habanero simple syrup, spicy pickled red onions, I’ve froze and roasted them, I’ve given a bunch away, and I made this sorbet.  This sorbet, which is singlehandedly the weirdest thing I’ve ever created.  At first, it’s all sweet and refreshing.  And then, after you swallow it gets SPICY and there is that signature habanero low and slow burn.  Delicious, yet completely disarming.  If you like taste anomalies or have a lot of habaneros to use up, I suggest you try it.

The next order of business is a personal dilemma.  As you may recall, just over three months ago we moved from Takoma Park to Baltimore.  Our apartment in Takoma Park, while small, irregularly temperatured, and leaky, had one thing going for it- the kitchen.  The kitchen was beautiful and drool worthy and had completely amazing light.  I was able to take photos with ample natural light, which gave my subjects dimension and beauty.  As long as I was cooking when the sun was up I needed nothing but an unblocked window to get beautiful photos.  Oh, how I took that for granted.  And our new apartment (despite its incredible yard) has a kitchen whose giant window looks into an alley.  A dark alley with no direct sunlight.

At first I thought it would be alright.  The lights in the kitchen are pretty white, so I figured it would be possible to take decent photos.  And compared to the dozens (upon dozens) of other crappy apartment kitchens we saw, this one looked pretty great with its dishwasher and cabinet space.  I have discovered, however, that I am flailing.  The photos I’ve been taking the past few months, either here or over at iVillage, have been flat, slightly off colored, and unappealing.  They lack that beautiful allure that natural light provides, the light that makes you want to snatch that pie right off of the windowsill.  So I’m here today asking for your advice.  Now, keep in mind, money is a little tight.  I definitely don’t have the means to buy a lot of crazy new equipment.  I recognize that something has got to give, so any suggestions you might have for my particular problems.  Not necessarily a quick fix because I’m dedicated to changing the situation, but a better solution than me carrying pans outside into the back yard to photograph them as I cook.  Because that’s my next step.

Now, in other (happier) news, I have a very exciting something to announce.  Now, if you’re around on twitter or facespace you’ll have seen this or heard wind of it, but on Friday my mother and I were photographed for the May 2011 issue of Southern Living Magazine.  I KNOW, RIGHT?  It’s been pretty crazy exciting on this end.  This all came about almost a year ago when the lovely Marian Cooper Cairns reached out to me to see if I was interested in being involved with Southern Living.  It evolved from there through many stages of me telling myself not to be too optimistic and on Thursday Marian (the food stylist/writer), Alison (the stylist), and Jennifer (the photographer) arrived in Baltimore.  We went out for an awesome dinner on Thursday night at The Brewer’s Art and on Friday the shoot went down.  (Thanks to Megan for taking the photos).

We shot at Cylburn Arboretum, a gorgeous park just north of us.  And despite on and off rain all day we were able to take a few hours worth of photos.  The photo taking itself was pretty crazy, lots of posing and doing the same gestures again and again so that they could get exactly what they had in mind.  It was really interesting to watch them work, and really enlightening to see Marian’s vision come to life.  Mom and I both had fun and if Megan’s photos are any indication of what Jennifer’s will look like, it is going to be amazing.  Now we just have to sit back, relax, and cross our fingers that it gets published!

Habanero Peach Sorbet

4 peaches

2 habaneros

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

Juice of 1 lemon

Slice your peaches into 1/2″ wide slices, skin on.  Cut small slits into each side of your habaneros.  Be very careful with your hands after handling the peppers.  Bring sugar and water to boil.  Add peaches, habanero, and lemon juice.  Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Let cool to room temperature.

When your mixture is cool, fish out your habaneros and process the rest of the mixture in an ice cream maker.

Jul 06 0 comments
gelato, sorbetto, and ice cream

Blueberry Fig Ice Cream

I make no secret about the fact that my birthday is very important.  As the eldest child, the eldest grandchild on both sides, and a completely spoiled brat, I’ve gotten used to celebrating in style.  And by “in style” I mean “pool party and pie.”  Because I’m classy.  And because I love pie.  This year, my 24th year on this beautiful planet, is no exception.  And while there probably won’t be a pool party (unless you count rehearsals for the water ballet I’m in), there will be pie.  Loads of it.

Tomorrow, July 7, is my actual birthday (though I’ve been celebrating for a while).  Dan, the best husband in the world, has an elaborate plan involving savory pies followed by sweet pies followed by MAGIC!  Because he’s amazing.  And because he knows I love magic almost as much as I love pie.  But frankly Internet, I feel like I’m cheating.  Due to the nature of being born 3 day’s after America celebrates its big day, I’ve been indulging in delicious food for almost a week.  There was pie and then mountain pie and then grilled pizza and fig ice cream followed by more pie and because I have oldest child syndrome I’ve been pretending it’s all for me.  BACON BLUE CHEESE BURGERS WITH PICKLED ONIONS? YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE!

And I have to say that of all of the foods that were made (and ate) in celebration of America (cough, Elena, cough), this fig ice cream was up there.  It was sweet but also tart, creamy but refreshing.  The perfect accompaniment to the rooftop 4th of July party we attended wherein there was a 360 degree panoramic view of every fireworks show in Baltimore County.  All for me!  Just kidding.  Kind of.  Happy Birthday, America!

Blueberry Fig Ice Cream

6-10 black mission figs

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 orange

1 pint blueberries

1 cup heavy cream

Cut your figs into eighths.  In a nonreactive saucepan, heat figs, water, and sugar over low heat.  Grate in the zest from one orange.  Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has the consistency of jam.

While your figs are cooking down, cut your berries into quarters.  When your figs are done, toss half the berries into the pan.  Stir, cooking only long enough to heat the berries.  Pour the whole mixture over the remaining cut berries.  Add the juice from your orange and the cream.  Stir everything together and chill.

Follow the directions on your ice cream maker.

Oct 09 1 comments
gelato, sorbetto, and ice cream

Cantaloupe Sorbet


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Recently, during a B&B stay, Dan and I were served fresh cantaloupe with lime juice and cranberries.  And it was a taste revelation!  I’ve always been a big melon fan, especially during the summer, but this totally reinvented the taste sensation.  Dan and I immediately tried to figure out how we could translate this flavor combination into another medium.  Soup?  No, cantaloupe soup is best with yogurt, and that wouldn’t jive.  It needed to be something water based- sorbet!  Genius!

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My original recipe included just cantaloupe, simple syrup, lime, and lime zest.  But it felt… lacking.  It needed something, I just couldn’t put my finger on it.  Basil?  I took my thought process to twitter and facebook and our friend Lauren nailed it.  MINT!  Mint had the flavor I was looking for from basil but was more… direct?  It was perfect.  It added a dimension that made the whole sorbet more interesting, and played nicely off the sweetness of the cantaloupe and the tartness of the lime.  It was so delicious, in fact, that I can’t stop eating it.

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Cantaloupe Sorbet

1 small cantaloupe

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

5 limes, juiced

1 tbsp lime zest

1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped

Start by making your simple syrup.  Heat together sugar and water until sugar is dissolved.  Cool.

Peel, pit, and cube the cantaloupe.  Combine in food processor with mint.  Blend until smooth.

Juice limes, and add the juice and zest to the simple syrup.  Combine with cantaloupe mixture.  Churn in ice cream maker, then freeze at least 4 hours.

Jun 16 4 comments
gelato, sorbetto, and ice cream

Honeysuckle Sorbet

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I am a really excellent swimmer.  I’m far more coordinated and comfortable in the water than I am on land, and therefore the majority of my extracurricular activities since childhood have taken place in water.  I was captain of my swim team, a swim instructor and lifeguard, and I’m passionate about diving.  Swimming remains the only form of exercise I enjoy, and when I have the choice between swimming laps and running, I will always choose swimming laps.  I’m the girl who spent her childhood pretending she was a mermaid, a whale, or a dolphin.  All of my thesis work in college centered around how peaceful and free I feel under water.

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For all of my coordination and grace in zero gravity, I am a mess of elbows and knees on land.  Measuring in at almost six feet tall, I’m mostly limbs and I have very little control over what those limbs end up hitting.  More often than not Dan catches an elbow in the face at night, and I’m constantly finding bruises on my body.  Over the years, my family went through a few stages in reaction to my lack of coordination.  First, they pushed me to try organized sports (involving balls flying at my face- can you imagine the flailing?!?).  Later, when they saw that I was a failure at any activity that required much hand-eye or foot-eye coordination, they switched to sympathy.  That sympathy was short lived, and now they’ve settled into the habit of mocking me (the most memorable experience being when I fell down the hardwood stairs (socks) while trying to leave for swim team early one morning and heard only laughter- nobody bothered to ask if I was okay).

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Throughout the years, I was signed up for group lessons and pushed to join teams.  One summer in middle school, my grandmother, Grammy, gave me tennis lessons as a present.  My grandmother regularly plays tennis, and her hope was that I would gain enough skill to be able to play with her.  It all went okay when someone was gently lobbing balls at me, but as soon as my instructor pulled out the ball machine, my tennis career was over.  The balls just FLEW at my face with a speed that was intimidating and very, very painful.  It was not long before I was lurking in corners trying to be invisible.  All was not lost that summer, however, because it was in those corners that I discovered honeysuckle.

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The woods behind the tennis courts in our neighborhood were edged in honeysuckle.  For those that aren’t familiar, honeysuckle is a bush that grows all over the northern hemisphere and exists in 180 varieties.  In the southeast, white honeysuckle is most common, and that’s what I’ve grown to love.  The some honeysuckle plants produces berries and flowers.  The berries are often poisonous, but the flowers hold a sweet nectar that is delicious.  When I was growing up we would pluck the flowers off the plant, remove the stamen, and suck the nectar out.  The smell of honeysuckle still signals the start of summer for me, and it’s worth the bug bites and the time spent to get those few drops of sweet nectar.

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The  process of making honeysuckle sorbet includes just as many bug bites and plenty of time, but it is a worthwhile process.  The sorbet is sweet and rich with a strong, light honeysuckle flavor.  The recipe is from one of my favorite southern cookbook- Seasoned in the South by Crook’s Corner owner Bill Smith.  The most difficult part of this recipe is collecting four cups of honeysuckle flowers.  The flowers are soaked over night so that their essence (and flavor) can be transferred to the water.  The rest of the recipe is a basic sorbet- simple syrup, a little spice, and an ice cream maker.  I tramped around in the woods for about two hours collecting four cups of honeysuckle, but as soon as I put a spoonful of sorbet in my mouth I stopped complaining.

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Honey Suckle Sorbet
Source: Seasoned in the South by Bill Smith

4 cups honeysuckle flowers

5 1/2 cups cool water

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon

Soak your honeysuckle flowers in the 4 1/2 cups of water over night.

In the morning, make your simple syrup by bringing the sugar and remaining water to a light boil.  Allow to cool completely.

Strain the honeysuckle water so that there are no flowers left.  You probably won’t be able to get all of the pollen out, and that’s okay- pollen (especially local pollen) is good for you anyway.

Combine honeysuckle water, syrup, lemon juice, and cinnamon.  Pour into your ice cream maker and churn until frozen.  Freeze at least a few additional hours.

Serve.

May 29 2 comments
gelato, sorbetto, and ice cream

Cilantro Lime Sorbetto


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So I’ve started this new exercise regime that I’m fondly calling Kicking My Ass, or, alternatively The Death of Me.  It all started when the machine in the gym (in the basement of our apartment building) that you lift weights on (can you tell how serious I am about my weight lifting?) broke.  So because I didn’t want to lose the little muscle I have I started doing three alternating circuits-legs, arms, core.  I do one a day before I run, which generally leaves me in a constant state of pain all over my body.

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Because we were in a constant state of travel last week (Camping to New Jersey to North Carolina) my exercising was sporadic and I also ate a lot of Bojangles.  Which meant that going back to exercising this week doubly kicked my ass, and Dan will probably not ever stop mocking me for how long it took me to walk down a flight of stairs.  Anyway, after dinner we were lying around chatting and, because my life is very hard, I was complaining.  A lot.  About how much it hurt to lie in our pillow top bed on our new 600 thread count sheets.  Because I am the biggest brat in the whole world.

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Dan knew that because I was so whiny I would probably not accept any condolences and just continue to whine, because sometimes it feels good to get it out.  So, thinking I would refuse it, he offered me ice cream.  Ice cream that we did not have.  Ice cream that I immediately wanted.  That left us with four options: a) don’t have any ice cream, b) walk very far (6 blocks) and get an ice cream cone, c) walk to the co-op around the corner and get a tub of ice cream, and d) drive to a delicious gelateria in the next town.  Since the first two were clearly  not acceptable and Dan said no to the last, we walked up to the co-op and bought some blood orange sorbet (mmm).

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But within five minutes of debating our options I had my heart set on this really delicious sorbet from the place in Bethesda, and even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to convince Dan to drive there I thought maybe I could try and recreate it and then enjoy it over the weekend.  Because when I really have my heart set on a dessert, there is very little anyone can do to stop me.  So I got what I needed, and boy am I glad that I did because the cilantro lime sorbet was delicious.  So good, in fact, that it was worth the searing pain of having to climb up and down a stool to get the ice cream maker down.

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Cilantro Lime Sorbetto

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tbsp lime zest

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1 tbsp sugar (to be mashed with cilantro)

Boil water, sugar, and lime zest.  Allow to return to room temperature.

Finely chop your cilantro.  Stir in sugar and mash it together until it is pulpy.

Combine everything in your ice cream machine and let it run until solid.  Freeze overnight, and serve.