Campari and Orange Sorbert

  I found this great easy to make sorbet/granita,  on the food republic's web site and I thought I would  share it with a few of my friends.
 My  mother is lactose  intolerant, so I have spent many Summers making us frozen treats, by using the blender to blend up  fresh fruits and then freeze them for a cold summer treat.  At the time  my boys were  younger and at home. They loved eating up Grandma's sorbet/granita.  In those days I didn't use a recipe I  would find some over ripe bananas, strawberries, apples,  peaches or what ever was on the marked down shelf in the produce department and I would blend  and freeze then with a little honey or sugar added to my crazy concoctions.

 Over the  years I have  made sorbet's and gelato's with  Saki, fruit dessert wines, champagne and  Moscato.
One of my favorite restaurants: The Trellis  in  Williamsburg, Virginia served me a blackberry wine  sorbet'  that could stop your heart. That was  years ago.
Currently, they have a bourbon ice cream on the menu  which is amazingly yummy.
http://www.thetrellis.com/menus/evening-menus

 First, this is a quick and easy recipe, and you don't have to own an ice cream maker to  make this frozen adult treat.
http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/02/22/campari-and-orange-sorbet-recipe

This orange sorbet recipe makes for a great palate cleanser. It's light and cooling, and you’re also getting loads of vitamin C, plus a smattering of potassium and beta-carotene, which will help you fight off the winter chills.

This is best eaten on the day it is made, as homemade sorbets tend to go hard. If this happens, allow the sorbet to defrost, then re-churn.

Reprinted with permission from The Essential Low-Fat Cookbook

Servings:4

Ingredients

6 oranges, juiced and zested

1/2 cup superfine sugar

2 sprigs mint

3 tablespoons Campari

Directions: 

1. Heat the orange juice with the zest, sugar, and mint in a non-reactive saucepan until it comes to a boil and the sugar has dissolved. 
2. Allow to cool to room temperature, add the Campari, remove the mint and discard. 
3. Pour into your ice cream machine, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
4. Keep in the freezer.

Tip: If you don't have an ice-cream machine, you’d be better off turning this recipe into a granita, which is a water ice. Simply pour the cooled mixture into a shallow tray and place in the freezer. After about 1 hour, when the mix is starting to freeze, break it up with a whisk and repeat every 15 minutes until you have a frozen slush.

Level of Difficulty: 

Easy

Prep Time: 

15 minutes

Cooking Time: 

10 minutes

 I recommend  doing this recipe ahead, of time. Yes it may get hard, but that's not  a problem  either just take it out of the freezer about 15 minutes, give it a quick stir and  serve in a martini glass with some mint as garnish.
Edible Opulence...

Cooking Tips and tricks

   Here are a few of my tricks:

•  Prep as much as you can before serving a  big event such as a family dinner.

I like to cut up all the onions, peppers and celery and freeze them if need be.Make meatballs and hambuger meat up  and then freeze it  with in the week of the event.  The idea is not to have to go shopping on the day of your event.
Now if you are a person who buys their meatballs and beef patties then I would  advise you  to buy them in  advance. 

• Do you like to buy the salads from your local food store? no problem, buy them the day before. Why the day before? Freshness. Go into the deli department  and taste each salads you plan to  purchase to ensure your food is not spoiled, or is not old. 
• If you are buying a salad in a tub please check the expiration  date for yourself, don't assume the store  is selling you the freshest item. Besides, sometimes all the expired stuff does not get taken off the self properly.
• Salads such a pasta, or potatoe salads and dips need to be made the night before. I like to allow the spices to come together in my pasta salad and then  right  before serving add whatever spices just before.  I am prone to make  vingrettes  the evening before, somethimes just because I want them cold.

Don't be afraid to ask for help. Grab a good friend and cook together. It is a great way to spend time together.

More to come

this is T. Portlock 
Edible Opulence








 

something yummy this way comes

  There is nothing worse then picking up a cookbook, then making the  effort to buy all the ingredients for what looks to be a scrumpous new dish, and having the recipe not turn out.  Guess what, it may not be you. It might just be the recipe or the cookbook your using. Some recipes are just  thrown together. Some have never been made and are just what I call cookbook filler.  Often home cooks like myself forget to give you all the ingredients or tips. So,how can you tell what recipes are fact or fiction, you can't.
Recipes can be found everywhere, from churchs to tuna cans. Finding the yummy is easy with  few tricks from my cooking apron:
Most of those recipes you find on the back of your soup can or on the reynolds wrap flap work.   personally, I think they have great marketing tool.  You just bought a can of soup with a recipe on the back,so you buy another can of soup to make something new.
The something yummy in your tummy comes from buying a can or two of cambell soup,some pillsbury products or using a recipe  made by other home cooks like me.
http://www.campbellskitchen.com/
  and  I have never met a  recipe that did not come out Pillsbury.
http://www.pillsbury.com/Pillsbury/Recipes/Meal-Course
and  some of my personal favorites:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/

http://www.bonappetit.com/

http://www.livebetteramerica.com/food-recipes

http://www.dlife.com/diabetes/diabetic-recipes/reciperesults.html?searchCategoryId=10

 If you're a newer cook, stick to recipes from cookbooks who have test kitchens like
Pillsbury, the food network, and Betty Crocker.
  Recipes should have simple clear instructions.
 There should not be a need for a ton of ingredients.
 The best trick I have is to do some research on the recipe. Example, let us say you want to  make beef lasagna, review  at least 3 other a beef lasagna recipes of the same kind.  a few questions to think about: What ingredients are  the same and which are different?

example, most beef lasagna has common items, beef, noodles, cheese and tomatoe sauce. the difference maybe what vegetables is added or not added. Pick the one one which appeals to you.
 Is there any item that doesn't seem to belong when you compare your recipe?

I  added this because, I once found a lasagna recipe with chopped nuts included. to me the peanuts were odd and it made the recipe one I  choose not to try.
 Or am I taking  too many steps to get  the recipe completed?

What problems or successes did other cooks have when they made this kind recipe?
Other cooks give reviews on their attempts. Take a moment to review a few of those reviews.
they can be very helpful.

A few other things to consider: When buying cookbooks;  do you want the chef's or the celebrities book. For me I'm buying the chef's book hands down. Some times googling the name is nessary if I don't know it.  If the author is a celebrity I want to know cooking is one of their hobbies.
I cannot say you are not going to find recipes that don't work from time to time. Something yummy this comes when you take a few moments to review and use good sources.

 This is Edible Opulence

 

Welcome

 hello,
 Welcome to Edible Opulence.
 Here I will  share  with you my love for  food, stories of cooking adventures, fine dining, recipes, tricks, tips,menu themes and just about any other topic dealing with food.

 Some describe wealth as what tangible assets they have: the cars, the homes, the designer shoes or purses, well there  is nothing wrong with  those things. I think wealth is food. For me  food is how I say I love you.  Food represents  life's  riches, hence " Opulence".
 Ok, let me give you an example, my baby son who  was 4, when this happened, made me the  best peanut butter sandwich I ever had. The apple butter ran out so he got creative and used part apple butter and the other part grape jelly to finish the sandwich.  There were gobs and globs of jelly and peanut butter. The  gooey jelly peanut buttery mixture ran all over the place when I picked up the sandwich monster. The combination for the apple butter, the peanut butter and the grape was interesting. I ate every bite and loved every m
oment of the sandwich. The Opulence, was  the priceless sandwich and memory I have of my then 4 year baby son who proudly watched me eat his  (sort) of  edible  messy sandwich creation.




photo by T. Portlock

 

 This  is a picture of my pineapple rum cake.  this is my twist on my late aunt's specialty. This one I made for my husband's 40th birthday party in 2012. The pineapple upside cake recipe was  handed down by my  late Aunt Julia. I made it with her so many times growing up I can make this recipe in my sleep.  My Aunt was a wonderful caring lady. She taught me many things about cooking.

 With  my aunt in mind, I dedicate this blog to all the great cooks in my family.  And to all my foodies who have blessed me with  their  friendships, recipes, tips and Edible Opulence.