The last week or so has been very frustrating...Last Wednesday-Sunday I worked 3 8hr shifts and 2 10hr shifts, and let's just say, it was exhausting. I thought I would have 3 days off to enjoy myself, but instead, I ended up finding out on the morning of the 3rd day that I was, in fact not going to have that day off. Back to work I went for another 3day stretch of 8 hr shifts (except yesterday's was over 9 hrs b/c I went in early to make soup...). Thank goodness it's over at 11PM tonight, and, if I'm really lucky, I will have FOUR days to myself. Time to relax, ride my horse, sleep, run as many miles as possible before I have to taper off for my 1/2 marathon on the 7th, and COOK! (I had bought groceries in anticipation of cooking a lot on my last few days off...and somehow I didn't quite manage to cook all of it, and then had to work so much more, some of the food went bad and had to be tossed. Very, very, sad.
Ok, rant over, back to the issue at hand. Refreshing-ness. It has been incredibly hot and humid out lately (which certainly is NOT conducive to time spent in the kitchen...too bad that's what my job is, and I've been practically LIVING in a blazing-hot kitchen!) So today, even though I still have to go to work, I just couldn't wait for my days off to do some cooking of my own. I had the kitchen-itch. And since it's so hot, I didn't want to make, and therefore have to eat, something hot. I had a vague memory of learning about an easy sorbet recipe that I wanted to try. After some pondering I was pretty sure I had gotten in from an Oliver's Twist episode. (oh, hello google-search. find me Jamie Oliver's sorbet recipe please) Basil-Lime Sorbet
No, of course I'm not blogging about me following someone else's recipe. I just needed some...guidelines...and besides, I don't have any limes. So much for lime-zest.
Cucumber Avocado Basil Sorbet with hint of Lime
(doesn't that long-winded name have a nice ring to it?)
I don't know why Jamie Oliver thinks a wine glass is a unit of measurement, but hey, I have wineglasses.
One wineglass of sugar and one wineglass of water go into the pot.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 5 minutes, with some crushed up basil stems.
Chop and puree 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 avocado, and a bunch of basil leaves. Add a dash of lime juice just for the heck of it.
When the water/sugar is done simmering, fish out the stems, and let it cool for a little while. Then, stir in the puree. Let it sit for a while, stirring every now and then.
Strain out the cucumber seeds, bits of stems, chunks of leaves. Use a pestle to mash as much as possible thru the strainer. You don't want seeds and stem chunks, but you do want as much flavor as possible!
(this is all that was left when I was done mashing stuff thru the strainer)
Pour into a plastic container, and put it in the freezer. Try to remember to stir every 30 min or so until set. Hmm...I'm supposed to remember to STIR every 30 min...that could be hard... one of those 30 min breaks between stirs will most certainly be spent running. It might turn into 40-45 minutes...
Oh, how I hate waiting to know if I have achieved culinary success or not...I won't find out until right before I leave for work!
Alas, I am headed to work and the sorbet has only just started to form something thicker than liquid. Interested to see what I find when I get home around 11 tonight...will it be sorbet, or italian ice after not being stirred for over 8 hrs...?
11:15 PM: Finally! I am home from work, showered, and ready to find out what happened to the green "science experiment" I left in my freezer...and we have...Success! It's cold, it's the right consistency for sorbet, and it's yummy. A lil too sweet for my tastes...but that's just because I'm wierd and don't like sugar. Definitely using way less sugar next time... If you have a sweet tooth, use a 1:1 ratio of water:sugar. If not...like me...use less sugar!
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