Thursday, August 13, 2009

Simple, Fresh Dinner With An Amazing Blueberry Sorbet for Desert

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The basket was ample this week, so I made an easy, farm-fresh dinner to highlight some of the components.

These zuchini and corn tacos were simple and used a lot of the squash and corn we have at hand. I used some chili powder to give it some zest and topped it with feta cheese for a good finish.

Dessert was even better. We've been purchasing blueberries for a month and have collected several large bags of them in the freezer. Wanting to try something new, even though I'm typically not a sorbet fan, I whipped up some Blueberry Basil Sorbet and was very pleased. It's delicious, fresh and has a nice herbal bite to it.

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Blueberry Basil Sorbet (adapted from epicurious)

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 cups fresh-picked blueberries, rinsed and patted dry (or frozen which eliminates the need to refrigerate for 4 hours)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 TBS light corn syrup
1 TBS chopped fresh basil

In medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, water, and salt. Cook, stirring, until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Let cool for 15 minutes.

In a blender, purée the blueberries with the syrup, lemon juice, and basil until very smooth (you may need to divide this into several batches if your blender is not extra-large). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve for a smoother texture. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight. (Unnecessary if using frozen berries.)

Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Add the corn syrup during the last 2 to 3 minutes of churning. Store, tightly covered, in the freezer.

5 comments:

  1. I've been scouring the web to find a blog just like yours - csa cooking in nashville. thanks! which csa are you a member of? i'm part of Avalon Acres, you can see some of our week's produce at lifewiththebrocks.blogspot.com.

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  2. Hi Carrie! We belong to the Barefoot Farmer and this is our 2nd year with them. Glad you came by! :)

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  3. You just made me hungry again and I just had lunch! I had some great fresh mint ice cream at a local place here. If you get mint through your CSA, you should definitely try it!

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  4. Blueberry basil sorbet sounds killer!

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  5. Jenski - I've made some mint chocolate chip ice cream using my mint from out back. It was good, but I had the wrong fat quantities. I think using half whipping cream and half 1/2 & 1/2 is ideal.

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