Last weekend my Mom made me Strawberry Jam. I figured the strawberries would be alright, but not too ripe. I mean, they are not even close to being in season. To my surprise the strawberries were plump, beautiful and full of flavor. Got to love modern chemistry. So I picked up some more and decided to make some sorbet.
The sorbet is sweet and delicious. Easily the best thing that I have made in the ice cream machine.
Strawberry Sorbet – (from Paula Deen)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- 4 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
Place a medium sauce pan over medium/high heat and add the sugar and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and allow the mixture to simmer, without stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.
Clean the strawberries and take off their stems.
Place the strawberries and lime juice into a food processor and puree. Press the strawberry puree through a strainer to remove the seeds.
When the sugar syrup has cooled completely add it to the strawberry puree. Add the corn syrup and stir well. Place the strawberry mixture in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let it cool to around 40 degrees.
Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Sorbet is particularly soft after churning but firms up after freezing.
If you do not have an ice cream machine, pour the mixture into a 13×9 dish and place in the freezer. Stir every 30 minutes until it is completely frozen. About 4 hours.
This was one of the best sorbet’s that I have ever had. It had a great texture, well balanced, and extremely tasty.
Last week I made a pot roast and it needed a few sides. So I searched the internet to find a couple of sides to serve along with the roast. One was the Roasted Cauliflower that I posted about last week. Today I am posting about some exquisitely creamy, garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes. So tasty and full of flavor. They honestly take no more time than regular mashed potatoes so if you have a choice, I would always make these.
I shaved some slices of Parmesan onto the potatoes for this shot. It is unnecessary, but added yet another punch of cheese flavor to the dish.
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Tags: creamy potatoes, Garlic, garlic parmesan mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes, parmesan, Potatoes
Sorry I was absent this past weekend. My family came in to town to surprise me on my Birthday. It was a ton of fun. My Mom even restocked my freezer with Strawberry Jam. I know what you are thinking, Strawberries are not in season. Well thanks to the global marketplace, Strawberries are always in season. Granted they are not in season, but they were so perfect looking I had to pick up a couple of pounds. Plus, my Mom was in town and I love her Strawberry Jam. So March strawberries had to do.
Once container of the jam lasts about 3 weeks in the refrigerator, but in reality it is eaten in a couple of days.
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Tags: freezer jam, jam, pectin, strawberry
The other week I was looking through my recipes and I found a recipe for roasted broccoli. Sounded good, but I had cauliflower in the fridge. The recipe was simple and tasty so I substituted the cauliflower for the broccoli and added a bit of paprika to add color and a little smokiness. This created an amazing side dish that I will be making a lot more of.
The cauliflower got a really nice color and the tips of the florets caramelized nicely to give a great flavor.
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Tags: Cauliflower, Recipes, roasted cauliflower
The other day I needed to pick up some supplies for my house guests so I stopped by Marshall’s. While roaming through the aisles I found a white box. A large white box. It had a couple red clearance price tags on it. Each one going lower and lower all the way to $29. So I, being the curious fellow that I am, opened the box. To my disbelief it was a stainless steel Cuisinart Ice Cream and Yogurt maker. Yep, can’t beat that price with a stick. So I boxed it back up and threw it into my cart. I know what you are thinking, don’t judge me for having a cart in Marshall’s. I like to buy a lot of things on discount. Where do you think I get all of my sweet plates and bowls for my photos. Sorry got a little off track. So now I own an ice cream maker and infinitely expanded my repertoire of recipes. Today I am starting off with Orange Sorbet.
This sorbet is super tasty and is made with freshly squeezed orange juice.
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Tags: alton brown, orange sherbet
Posted by Rex
on March 01, 2010 -
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When it is cold out I like a nice hearty meal. This usually takes hour at the stove preparing a feast. I unfortunately did not have hours to cook this weekend. My family is coming to town and I really need to clean the house. Not that it was dirty, but Tucker seems to shed 24/7 so I needed to tidy up a bit. SO without time how was I going to create a hearty home cooked meal without having time to cook. There steps in my good friend, The Slow Cooker. I enjoy using my slow cooker to make hearty meals. You can cook for hours in them and barely break a sweat. They do all of the work while you go on your merry way (well in this case, clean 
so it was not so merry). Either way, I had a great meal and the house is clean and organized.
Slow cookers can be set to low to cook all day or set to high to cook in about 4 hours. Still slow, but it allows you to prep dinner at lunch. That way you don’t have to wake up early.
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Tags: all day roast, beef roast, crock pot roast, pot roast, slow cooker, slow cooker post roast, wine
Italian food is one of my vices. I love the sauce, the pasta and the bread. The main problem is that my favorite recipe chicken Parmesan takes a while to cook, it requires a full chicken breast per person. Doesn’t seem like that big of a problem, but when you start cooking a bunch and half of your guests only eat 1/3 to 1/2 of the chicken because they don’t require a full chicken breast along with salad, pasta and bread then it starts to become a waste. Plus, pounding out 6-8 chicken breasts can be quite burdensome. So I decided to make everything a little bit easier. Bite sized chicken pieces that can be scooped out so that everyone gets only as much as they want. Saves on time, saves on money and makes everyone just a little bit happier.
I topped this concoction with strips of mozzarella cheese that were broiled to melt perfectly over the whole dish.
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Tags: chicken parm, chicken parmesan, easy, one pan meals, quick, recipe
I am a huge fan of garlic bread and I am always looking for a new way to make it. I took this idea from the bread at the local grocery store. They make a tear apart cheese bread that is pretty good. The concept however, is awesome. No need to cut the bread and you can serve it family style. Plus, since the bread is braided, there is garlic butter throughout the whole loaf of bread.
The braids allow for the center of the bread to be light and fluffy. So darn tasty!
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Tags: braided garlic bread, garlic bread, pull apart garlic bread, recipe, Recipes
