You're my inspiration, part uno

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/09/sour-beer-sorbet-lambic-jenis-splendid-ice-creams-recipe.html

Not a big fan of the sweet-and-sour. Don't like bread and butter pickles. But I do love a good balance between fruitiness and tang; perhaps I simply need to expand my working definition of "sweet-and-sour".

So I'm on a quest to improve my ice cream/sorbet/ice milk/etc. skills, by making many many frozen treats. Imagining who would wanna eat sooo much ice cream and sorbet was challenging, until I realized that I have a captive audience of tasters at my beck and call; I work in skilled nursing, so there's always someone who appreciates homemade, as long as I honor dietary and texture restrictions. Et voila!

After this past week of recipe testing (Molly Moon's Blackberry Sage was the biggest hit), I have started to feel the pressure of waning fresh summer fruit. But returning to my (purported) aversion to sweet-and-sour, I was the most intrigued by Jeni Britton Bauer's sour beer/stone fruit sorbets. Above, a recipe. I made the black plum/cassis lambic version. Crazy depth of flavor, but I found myself adding a squeeze of lemon juice; it was just too sweet. However, and here's my rant of the day, the undertone of vanilla courtesy of the dearth of un-vanilla'd light corn syrup was a bit distracting. I worry that I'll have to find glucose powder and make my own...

I was at Chuck's today to pick up the lambic (Land of 1000 beers! Holla!), and my newest boyfriend Paul mentioned a beet lambic that they have. He's a very helpful young fella; ladies in yer twenties, go git him! So I had to have that lambic, despite my dislike of beets (they taste like dirt). So my next project is to find fruits and herbs that will work w/the beet lambic. Yippee! Until then, however, I shall make Kinako ice cream for my darling Kim D's patio warming party. It's a big deal, because her younger daughter has been allergic to soy and dairy, but now she's okay. Roasted soy powder and dairy, baby! Mazel tov to the Kim-Roupps!

Watermelon Watermelon Watermelon Watermelon 2013

So since I moved into my apartment four-ish years ago, I have realized my passion for watermelon. The flavor! The color! The texture! The seasonality! Therefore, lo these past several years, I have thrown these watermelon-themed dinner parties. This year's was often-delicious and mostly-successful. Below, behold the shining star, with props given to all appropriate parties.

(Ersatz) Watermelon Rind Mostarda with Mascarpone (props to Marcella Hazan via The New York Times for the inspiration, and WhiskingWings at food.com for initial recipe re: how to candy watermelon rind)

4 cups peeled watermelon rind (no pink flesh, thankyouverymuch), cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 - 4 tablespoons dry mustard, or to taste

Place watermelon rind and sugar in deep pot, cover, and let sit 4 hours to overnight (at room temperature) to macerate.

 

When ready to make (mine sat out in 80-degree weather for about 12 hours), stir constantly as the mixture comes to a simmer, to ensure that sugar dissolves completely (likely has dissolved prior to heating, secondary to high water content of watermelon rind).

 

Add lemon juice, sugar, and 1 - 2 tablespoons mustard. Stir thoroughly, cover, and simmer until cubes are translucent (~ 2 1/2 hours).

 

When watermelon rind is translucent, uncover pot and increase heat to bring mixture to a boil. Add another 1 - 2 tablespoons mustard (to taste), and cook for 30 - 45 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking and burning. Cook until mixture reduced to a syrupy consistency; the longer it's cooked, the deeper and more intense the flavor will be.

 

Ladle into jar(s), loosely cover until at room temperature, and then refrigerate. For longer storage, use sterilized jars and process in a water bath for 30 minutes.

 

To serve: Combine equal parts mostarda and mascarpone, serve either with or on bread, toasted or not.