Month: March 2015


Mar
2015

Peachy Keen for Peach Sorbet with Lavender & Rosemary

categories: 1970's food, Cocktail, Desserts, Lavender, Peaches, Rosemary, Sorbet, Sparkling

Summer, and peach season, is pretty much drawing to a close here.   So, if like me, you love the stone fruit, how can you prolong the taste of summer through autumn, winter and spring?  By making this gorgeous sorbet which combines lovely sweet peaches with (ahem)…homegrown lavender and rosemary.  Yes, I have garden produce!!!

This is so simple, just these three ingredients, some sugar and water.

Peach Sorbet Ingredients2
Peach Sorbet Ingredients2

And you get one of the loveliest ice creams ever.   This is really refreshing without being too sweet –  the lavender and rosemary are not overpowering but add a little depth to the fruit and sugar.

AUTUMN – The Sorbet Ma’am, Just The Sorbet

Autumn in Melbourne is lovely.  You get cold crisp mornings, warm days and cool evenings.  To prolong the taste of summer as it starts to get darker and cooler, this peach sorbet is perfect just on it’s own in a cone. All alone.  Like a rolling stone.

Yes.  I think it’s enough now too.  Because I heard you moan and groan.

Really stopping…NOW.

Because just look at this peachy goodness!

Peach Sorbet
Peach Sorbet

WINTER – Baked Peaches With Amaretti and Amaretto and Peach Sorbet

Mmmm…hot baked peach, cold peach sorbet , herby, nutty, sweet and boozy….that’s about all my favourite adjectives right there.  And I totally forgot to take a picture of it before eating half of it.  So I had to borrow a peach off my friend’s plate to take this picture.  Thanks for the peach Monica!!!

Peaches Baked with Amaretti and Amaretto2
Peaches Baked with Amaretti and Amaretto2

You may be wondering where you are supposed to find peaches in winter?  Well my mum used to make this for us waaaaay back and we only ever used to have it with tinned peaches.  And believe me, this is one of the few things where you will ever hear me say that this works as well (maybe even a little better) with tinned as fresh.

SPRING Into A Peach Sorbet Bellini

Spring in Melbourne means the Spring Racing Carnival which means lots of champagne.  You can really welcome the warmer days by adding a dollop of the peach sorbet into the bottom of your champagne glass for a fabulous take on a Bellini.

So good even Lulu wants one!

Lavender and Rosemary Bellini2jpg

Lavender and Rosemary Bellini
Lavender and Rosemary Bellini

Hope your week is peachy keen, jelly bean.

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Peach Sorbet with Lavender and Rosemary (3 ways)

Print Recipe

This deliciious and easy to make peach sorbet will bring back the flavour of summer all through the year

Ingredients

Scale
  • For The Sorbet
  • 200g sugar
  • 2 tbsp edible dried lavender
  • 2 springs of rosemary, about as long as your thumb
  • 1 kg of peaches
  • 200g water

To Serve

  • Ice cream cones

For The Baked Peaches with Amaretto and Amaretti

  • 4 large peaches, or you can used tinned, in which case you will need 10 halves
  • 20 crumbled amaretti biscuits
  • 4 tbsp Amaretto Liqueur
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • Butter for greasing the pan
  • 4 scoops of sorbet

For The Bellini

  • Sparkling Wine
  • Rosemary sprigs and lavender sprigs and peach wedges to garnish (optional)

Instructions

For the Sorbet

  1. Place the sugar, water, lavender and rosemary into a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Then simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. With a paring knife, make a small cross into the bottom of each peach. Place in a bowl and pour boiling water over the peaches. Let them sit for a few minutes then tip into a bowl of iced water. The skin should now be quite easy to peel off. Cut the peaches into wedges and place them in the sugar syrup.
  3. Once this mixture is cool, remove the peaches and place them in your blender, strain the syrup to remove the lavender buds and rosemary and add the liquid to the blender. Blend until the mixture is smooth.
  4. Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a container and chill in freezer for 2 to 3 hours, or until firm.
  5. Serve with ice cream cones or as described below.

For The Baked Peaches with Amaretto and Amaretti

  1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
  2. Lightly butter a baking tray
  3. If using fresh peaches, cut in half, remove the stones and, using a melon baller or a teaspoon, scoop out a little bit more of the peach flesh and place in a small bowl. If using canned peaches, finely dice 2 peach halves and place in a small bowl.
  4. Place the crushed biscuits, the amaretto and 1 tbsp of sugar in the bowl along with the peach flesh. Stir to combine.
  5. Fill the peach halves with this mixture.
  6. Place the peaches onto a baking tray. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
  7. If using fresh peaches, bake for around 20 minutes until cooked through then place under a hot grill for the last 5 minutes to really caramelise the topping. If using tinned peaches, bake for 5 minutes, really just to warm the peaches through then place under the grill for the last 5 minutes.
  8. Serve immediately, 2 to a plate with a dollop of sorbet.

For The Bellini

  1. Add a dollop of sorbet to your champagne glass.
  2. Top with sparkling wine.
  3. Garnish as desired.
  4. Enjoy!!!

Notes

  • I like to leave my biscuit crumbs fairly rustic so they vary in size from crumbs to larger chunks.

 

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Mar
2015

Jane Grigson’s Watercress and Orange Salad

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Cookbook Guru, Feta, Olives, Orange, Salad, Walnuts, Watercress

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter,
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here

Ok, so not exactly true for Melbourne, although it has been a fairly shitty summer.  But certainly for my friends in the States, it must feel like that.  But hopefully, this Watercress and Orange Salad will bring you some virtual sunshine.

Watercress and Orange Salad 5
Watercress and Orange Salad 5

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right

This is a very cool salad from Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book.. I think it looks like a big, beautiful sunflower. And not only is it pretty; it is super tasty too.  How could it not be – peppery watercress, tangy sweet orange, earthy toasted walnuts and salty olives. And it looks so 70’s.  I think it’s the combination of green and orange….

Here is the original recipe from Jane Grigson:

Orange and Watercress SaladAnd here is the original version:

Jane Grigson's Watercress Salad
Jane Grigson’s Watercress Salad

This is very simple to put together.  Line your plate with watercress and start piling in your ingredients.  The worst bit if you do it in the circle is stripping all those watercress leaves.

Watercress Salad LeavesLike a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel…

Watercress Salad Leaves2Never ending or begining on an ever spinning wheel….

Watercress Salad Leaves3I found the best way to get the orange slices as thin as possible was to cut them with the skin still on, then cut the peel and pith away with a pair of kitchen scissors.

Oranges for the watercress saladThen just add your walnuts and / or olives.

Before serving, a grind of pepper and a splash of vinaigrette made with some sherry vinegar and voila!!!  Or should I say “Velado!” because this really has a Spanish feel to it.

I had this with some grilled salmon the first time I made it and it was delicious!!! The second time I had it with some prawns and it was, again super.  I would love to try it with duck as per Jane’s suggestion.

And I made it a third time but this time tweaked the recipe a bit – I added some feta cheese and a teeny bit of red onion.  This time, I had it with a lovely sourdough baguette for a light lunch and it was perfection!!!  And yes, I made this three times in about ten days.  It’s that good.

Watercress and Orange Salad 6
Watercress and Orange Salad 6

So far, Jane Grigson’s recipes are turning out to be amazing.  I am a little disappointed that it is now March and we have another book to focus on at The Cookbook Guru.  But wow!!!  What a book!!!  I am super excited about stepping across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco for my next venture with The Cookbook Guru!!!

And, if you are struggling through a long cold and lonely winter either physically or mentally, here is a little anecdote that may help.

Back in 1969, there was not much joy camp Beatle – there were personality clashes, legal battles, business disputes….things were going to hell in a handbasket.  But in the midst of all the problems, all the trouble and strife, George Harrison (by far my favourite Beatle) walked into Eric Clapton’s garden with an acoustic guitar and wrote, to my mind anyway, one of the most beautiful, hopeful songs ever written.  In the midst of adversity and all that…

And just to tie it all in together, here is George singing  that song with some Spanish subtitles.

All together now

Sol, sol, sol
Ahí viene

Have a great week.  I hope all your clouds have silver linings.

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