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Recipe Tue Jul 17 2007

Lemon Basil Sorbet

Liz's Basil Sorbet.jpg

Fresh basil sorbet was hiding out in my freezer when I arrived. My roomie Liz had crafted it using one of many harvests from our prolific basil plant. It's amazingly fragrant as basil should be, plus almost as simple as making ice. Almost. She didn't measure it out, so here the recipe is, approximated and as remembered after the fact.

Basil Sorbet
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup lemon juice or other citrus (or 1/2 cup concentrated lemon juice + 1/2 cup water)
1/4 cup chopped basil (about 1 cup before chopping)
1/4 cup soy milk (optional to make it a bit more creamy)

Combine water and sugar in a saucepan, bring to a boil, mix well, turn off the heat and then let it sit. The sugar will have dissolved into the water to form simple syrup. Once it has completely cooled, blend everything (except optional soy milk) until smooth, and then chill until very cold, about 6 hours. Put the mixture in an ice cream maker for 30 minutes, per equipment instructions. If using soy, add it slowly while the ice cream maker is first turning.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, freeze the chilled mixture in a covered plastic container (it'll be easier to remove once frozen) for over four hours, breaking and mixing up well about every hour. If using soy milk, stir it in after 30 minutes or so to help avoid curdling with the citrus. It'll be more of an icy than a sorbet, but still quite tasty.

 
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Rosie / July 18, 2007 12:10 AM

After trying a refreshing scoop of this sorbet this afternoon, I'm excited to try it at home. It was the perfect treat on a summer day! I've been meaning to try some herb-fruit combinations like strawberry or peach with basil, lemon with lavender or mixed berries with mint, too. We'll see if my experiments turn out as well as the one featured here.

Illinois Master Gardener / July 18, 2007 6:37 AM

Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Sum, Summertime, SUMMERTIME!

Kudos to Liz for this fresh and ndew idea recipe. It looks and sounds like a perfect summertime refresher. How special to find it "hiding out" in one's refrigerator!

BTW, Rose, I did take a cue from Bleeding Heart and used the fresh lavender growing in my herb garden at my backdoor to make lavender lemonade. Everyone who has had it found it to be delicious. The sorbet you have in mind should be equally so.

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Feature Thu Dec 31 2015

The State of Food Writing

By Brandy Gonsoulin

In 2009, food blogging, social media and Yelp were gaining popularity, and America's revered gastronomic magazine Gourmet shuttered after 68 years in business. Former Cook's Illustrated editor-in-chief Chris Kimball followed with an editorial, stating that "The shuttering of Gourmet reminds...
Read this feature »

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Drive-Thru is the food and drink section of Gapers Block, covering the city's vibrant dining, drinking and cooking scene. More...
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Editor: Robyn Nisi, rn@gapersblock.com
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