The next number of posts will probably be a lot of fruit and vegetable dishes. The summer time for me is spent on the coast of southern California with a garden full of fruits and vegetables. I absolutely love this time of year and love going to the farmers markets as well because of the endless choices of produce available. I have so many different things I can use I really can't keep up with the cooking. This recipe is a simply dessert using these awesome plums grown on my bosses property. The sweetness is incomparable to anything you can find in a store. Sorbets couldn't be easier to make. Basically you make a simple syrup, mix in any fruit you want and place it in the ice cream machine. Sorbets are dairy free so its a little lighter than ice cream.
Recipe
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of water
3 cups of peeled and deseeded plums (roughly 8- 10 plums)
2 tbsp of chopped sweet basil
5 leaves of basil fried
Place sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and cool completely.
To peel the plums, add water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Make an "X" at the bottom of the plum and place in the water. Let them be in the water for about 10 seconds. Take out of the water using a skimmer and place on a sheet pan to cool. You can place directly in a water bath to stop the cooking but I don't want to water down the flavor of the plum so I don't. Peel the plums and cut the meat around the core. Place the meat in a food processor and puree until smooth, if you want the sorbet a little chunky then don't puree completely smooth.
Combine plums puree with simple syrup mixture and place into a ice cream machine. Use ice cream machine according to there directions. In the last 5 minutes of the ice cream process add the chopped basil. Once done place into a air tight container and freeze.
To serve add a scoop of sorbet and garnish with a fried basil leaf sprinkled with sugar.
