Prepare for strawberry nirvana, my friends. As promised, I ventured away from ice cream and into sorbet. I searched around for recipes and found two basic methods, one which required making a simple syrup (sugar cooked in water) and one which required no cooking at all. I decided to go for the latter and make things simple. The rum adds a nice subtle touch here–this recipe is not particularly boozy (there are young kids in the house, after all). You can probably make this with slightly thawed frozen berries, but I have not tried it. I hope it works, though, because it would be a real tragedy to only get this sorbet once a year.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 lbs fresh strawberries hulled (around 6 cups)
- 2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tbsp rum
METHOD
1. Place strawberries, 2 tbsp of lime juice, sugar and rum in a food processor. Process for about 5 mins on high, until smooth. Taste, and add more lime juice, if needed.
2. Place in a ice cream maker and churn as per the directions.
NOTE
You can make this right away, or you can put the mixture in the fridge to chill (you might want to do this if your ice cream maker is not super cold (at least -18 degrees Celsius). Or, you can place the ice cream maker back in the freezer and take it out to churn every few minutes. The sorbet will be quite soft (but should not be liquid) when done, and will firm up overnight in the freezer.
This dish came together from a desire to clean out the fridge and a need to make Son #1 a vegan pizza for a birthday party he was attending. I originally intended to just make pizzas for the rest of the family, but as I started grilling I decided to go more stromboli style and I’m glad I did. The drizzle of BBQ sauce brings it all together and takes the dish out of Italian territory and more into some ambiguous fusion zone. The veggies here are just suggestions since there was no coherent plan behind the dish. I think some eggplant and zucchini would fit in well. The roasted tomatoes are essential, though–they add great flavour and make a kind of sauce when you mix everything together.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 recipe pizza dough
- 1 cup white beans (cannelini) tossed with 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 medium red potatoes, grilled (cut in half, toss in olive oil and salt and pepper. Grill over medium heat for about 15 mins, mostly on the skin side, until soft)
- 1 roasted green pepper (roast on high heat until all skin is blistered. Skin and de-seed when cool)
- 12 medium cremini mushroom, grilled (toss in olive oil and salt and pepper, grill cap side down for about 5-7 mins over medium heat (until they release their water)
- 6 cloves roasted garlic (wrap unpeeled garlic in foil, roast over medium heat for about 15 mins)
- 1 large cooked carrot (grilled, steamed, whatever–mine was leftover in the fridge)
- 2 medium roasted tomatoes (place on grill and roast for 15 mins over medium heat–skin will blister and tomato will begin to release water)
- 1 tsp basil
- salt and pepper
METHOD
1. Mix beans with paprika and set aside. Cook whatever veggies you are using on the grill. Dice everything except the mushrooms (leave whole) and mix together in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and adjust basil and paprika to your liking.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with a pizza stone in it.
3. Let mixture cool to room temperature (stick in the fridge to speed it up).
4. Proceed as per the instructions (starting at step 5) for my stromboli recipe. You really can pile the veggies up here, so go for it! Stuff that thing full!
5. When baked, drizzle slices with BBQ sauce and serve.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups soy milk
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1 cup sugar (probably could be reduced to 3/4 cup)
- 2 tbsp arrowroot
- 1 can coconut milk, stored in a cool place
- soy creamer, or soy milk
METHOD
1. Place soy milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Slit vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out the insides into the soy milk. Add the bean as well and simmer for about 20 mins (I don’t think any longer will add any more vanilla flavour).
2. After 20 mins the milk will have reduced by about 1/2 cup. Measure and bring liquid back to 2 cups. Add sugar and bring to steaming over medium heat.
3. While soy milk is heating back up, skim coconut cream from the coconut milk and add enough soy creamer (or milk) to bring the volume to 2 cups. Whisk smooth, then take about 1/2 cup of the mixture and mix with the arrowroot, making sure it is totally dissolved.
4. When the milk is steaming, slowly whisk in arrowroot mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick and glossy. Whisk in coconut mixture. It should still be glossy–if not, cook until it is.
5. Remove from heat and let cool. When cool, remove vanilla bean, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
6. Make ice cream according to the directions that came with your maker.
CHEAPER VERSION
- replace vanilla bean with 2 tsp vanilla extract (the real stuff). Skip steps 1 and 2, and add the vanilla at the end with the coconut cream.
COOKIES n’ CREAM VARIATION
- crumble 12 chocolate sandwich cookies and add to mixture during the final three to four turns of the machine. You can probably get away with reducing the vanilla to 1 tsp, too.
Here is the other dish I made with the clay pot tofu (a lot of tofu, I know). I rooted around online looking at some recipes, and they all were pretty much the same. I adapted the recipe here. The tofu is fried with a cornstarch coating, but you can opt out of this step and just coat the tofu in the sauce. I never use Ener-G egg replacer, but it caught my eye at the bulk food store the other day. I thought it made a nice light and crispy batter.
Vege Island