STRAWBERRY BLENDER SHERBET

The weather was perfect when I made this Sherbet. Not anymore. It is getting cooler here and this is not the kind of weather where one would want to eat a Sherbet. Well, I can eat a DQ Oreo Blizzard even in peak winter, but,not a Sherbet in Fall! Let's just face it. Oreo Blizzard is just plain awesome! I don't know what goes into it and I really don't want to know about it too...why spoil the fun?! Every time we go through a Drive-through, Ian senses it very quickly and says 'Mam' by the time we stop by the menu board!

Jennifer's recipes are fun and simple to make. The fresh Simple Strawberry Pie I made a few weeks ago was my first attempt with her recipes. It was simple yet totally delicious. I liked the fact that it uses fresh strawberries in a small amount. We rarely buy berries in bulk. It's always a small box,a pint or so. Whenever we buy berries,it is usually used up in cakes or as a filling for cakes. Off late, I've been trying things differently and made an amazing Blueberry Lemonade with fresh blueberries. I must say that was a very smart move from my side! It was just so,so refreshing and tasty!

This one is no different. A very small portion of ingredients are blended together (yes, blended!) to make a very refreshing Sherbet. A Sherbet has a small portion of dairy in it and that makes it different from Sorbet.The first one I ever ate was an Orange Sherbet a few years ago ,and I was bowled over by it. When I came across this recipe in her cookbook,I decided to give it a try just to see if I could make a decent Sherbet at home. I think, I did!

The recipe calls for frozen fruit,which,is the most simplest thing to make. Just clean your fruits,lay them in one layer on a cookie sheet and pop them into the freezer. Once frozen, transfer them into a ziptop bag,seal and freeze for future use. Also,simple syrup is just equal parts of water and sugar boiled together for a minute and cooled.You can save the remains for future cocktails,lemonades,iced teas etc.,

STRAWBERRY BLENDER SHERBET
Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:
2 cups frozen strawberries
1/4 cup simple syrup
1/2 cup milk

Method: Blend all the ingredients together,2-3 minutes until smooth. Transfer into a tight lidded freezer friendly container and freeze until firm,4 to 6 hours,stirring every 1 to 2 hours.

I want to tell you something. This recipe would taste just like it's ingredients. So, if you are not a fan of strawberries alone,do a half and half with another frozen fruit. We love frozen desserts,for that matter any dessert,so it was a hit with Ian. He knows where the frozen desserts are kept from the time he started to walk. Our freezer is in the bottom half of the refrigerator which makes it even easier for him to reach for all the ice creams, sorbets and sherbets!
  

20 - MINUTE HOMEMADE MARINARA SAUCE

I try to cook food from scratch as much as I can. But, having said that, I do take shortcut methods when I am pressed for time or when I cannot keep my hands off of trying a recipe which calls for shortcut ingredients.We have decided to go local as much as we can so we buy a lot of ingredients for our daily cooking from the local Co-op. Off late, I am reading a few cookbooks written by fellow food bloggers. I follow them on their social media too,to get inspired with their meal planning for their families.It's an inspiration of sorts for the lifestyle they follow and not exactly the recipes.

When I read a cook book, I enjoy reading the headnotes more than the recipe itself. A cookbook without headnotes doesn't go well with me.It gives a personal touch to each recipe. Like, how they came up with that idea and how it evolved into a recipe gives you an insight of their day to day life. I am a person who imagines a lot when it comes to food. I can spend hours and hours on it. Infact, I've spent almost 3 weeks trying to develop a recipe based on an appetizer we ate at the wedding in Chicago.I read similar recipes online but, nothing came close to what we ate there.But, since I decided I would not give up on it, I did some calculations in my head and made a batch of that amazing dip and it tasted awesome. Infact,it was so much better than the one we had in Chicago, if I say so myself.It was served at Ian's 2nd Birthday Party as Thai Curry Chicken Wontons. 

We used to buy Marinara sauce all these years but after reading and following Jennifer, I made a mental note to try out her recipe next time I needed some sauce for my pizza and pasta. Ian loves pizza.Be it Pepperoni,Sausage,Cheese...anything as long as it's a pizza.He now knows that it comes in a thin cardboard box too! So, recently we had a package delivery and it came in a sleek carboard box. He was sleeping when Jobin brought it in. We didn't throw the box because we know that he loves to play with it. When Ian woke up, he saw the box and exclaimed,'Pizzi!'. He was very sure there was Pizza in it and when he realised there was none, he started asking me for it!

Yesterday, after putting him to sleep, I set out to caramelizing some yellow onions with thyme,olive oil, butter and white wine. The house smelled incredible and I knew that would wake him up because from the time he was a baby, any food that smelled good woke him up. No, I am not kidding! He would also tell me what exactly he is eating everytime I gave him something to eat! I know I am raising a Little Foodie and I am very happy about it.So, he did wake up and then immediately asked me to give him Pizzi! I wouldn't blame him. It did smell like an Italian resturant with all those onions caramelizing along with fresh thyme!

So, I decided to make a Pizza just for him with the sauce I've been itching to make.All things came together very well and I baked a thin crust pizza for him and the dough was made according to Jennifer's recipe too,from Homemade with Love. It was a very good one.Even though I made it *just* for him, it ended up being our dinner :) I wizh we had a slice of that Simple Strawberry Pie that I made a few weeks ago, using Jennifer's recipe for dessert. It was so good! Do try to make some before the sweet Strawberries go out of season. It hardly takes any time to bake!

20-MINUTE MARINARA SAUCE
Makes about 1 quart (900 grams)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 (28 ounce /784 grams) can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes*
Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method: Heat oil in a fairly large pot over medium heat. Add the whole garlic cloves and cook until they are fragrant and golden, 2-3 minutes. In another bowl, break up the tomatoes with your hands and add them to the garlic,along with the tomato juice from the tin.You can puree the tomatoes if you like a smooth sauce or just break it up roughly,if you want a sauce with some texture,like I did.Season with salt and pepper and add the torn basil leaves. Stir it and let it cook on medium-low for 15 minutes.If not using immediately, let the sauce cool completely before storing it in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh for upto 3 days. They will stay good, frozen, for up to 2 months.

*IF you want to use fresh tomatoes, blanch -peel -deseed them before using. The taste will vary a bit because they don't taste exactly the same as the tinned ones. There's no harm in trying,though! A pinch of sugar may be needed to balance the tartness of the fresh tomatoes. This is just my suggestion.

I was really happy with the results. If you find it a bit tart, I would suggest that you add a pinch of sugar to balance it out. This sauce worked very well with Ian. I saw him peel off the cheese layer to lick the sauce.One of the first words he learnt to say clearly was sauce. He loves ketchup and must have thought this Marinara sauce was it's cousin. They are in a way, right?

SIMPLE STRAWBERRY PIE

We have a Farmers Market every Thursday, a block away from our house.They sell a variety of produce, cheese etc and so,it's very convenient for the two of us.They even sell excellent Plantains, just like the ones we get in Kerala,soft and ripe. It's hard to find a good one here,otherwise. During my last visit to the Market, I bought some strawberries as we had company the next day,for dinner.

I had so many plans on my mind regarding them but then some things didn't work out as I had planned, therefore,I ended up making this delicious pie I spied on Jennifer's blog.
This is a very quick one to pull together, especially the pie crust because a lot of recipes call for a longer chilling time for the dough.I was just hoping that the filling would set up firm once the pie cools down after baking . It did and I was a happy baker! See, it's as easy as pie! :)

We make a lot of new friends in real life, which have a connection with this little food blog of mine.I am ever so grateful for that! I had to stress on the real life because today, it's all about virtual connection.
Imagine meeting those people who have been quietly reading this blog all these years and then they move to your city for work, this time all the way from India! And once we connect, we have so many common friends! That really makes this world so small.So I baked this delicious Strawberry Pie for our new friends. Welcome to our part of the world, J & A!

THE BEST STRAWBERRY PIE
Makes one 9 inch pie

Ingredients:
Pie Crust:
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
4-6 tablespoons ice cold water

Pie Filling:
450 g strawberries, hulled and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup all purpose flour

Method:
Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Crust: In a medium bowl,whisk together flour,salt& sugar. Cut the butter into small pieces,add it to the flour and rub it in till they form pea sized crumbs. Add the cold water by the tablespoon and form a soft,non-sticky dough. Divide it into two, clingwrap and chill it while you get the filling ready.

Filling: In a medium bowl, toss all the ingredients together.Set aside.

Assembling & baking : On a lightly floured surface, roll out one portion of the dough to fit the bottom of the 9 inch pie pan and line the tin gently without stretching the dough. Spread the filling over it and level the top. Roll out the other portion of the dough and place it over the filling. Fold the raw edges over and crimp as desired. Make slits in the centre, to let the steam escape while baking and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 F and bake for another 25-27 minutes. Let the pie cool completely before slicing in.

* If you want a shinier crust, brush the top crust before baking with a beaten egg mixed with a splash of water.

We really,really enjoyed digging into this delicious pie. I felt that it would pair well with some ice cream, so I served it alongside a Caramel Cookie Crunch Gelato. Ian loved it and learnt the name 'Pie' over the last weekend! So, I must say, it was a winner all the way!!
I hope you give this pie a try this summer, when the strawberries are at it's juiciest best! Go, share some love. Bake a Strawberry Pie today! I sincerely hope you enjoy it as much as we all did.