Seasoned to Taste: Frozen Lime Mint Yogurt Sorbet and Daiquiri Salad
“There’s no accounting for taste,” so the saying goes. This time-honored cliché usually refers to matters of esthetic judgment rather than food, but whether you’re talking about the art on the wall or the food on the plate, taste is a highly individual matter. The combinations of flavors and textures that strike one palate as ambrosial may have no appeal to the next. But happy for us, the search for taste treats seems to be a fundamental human quest. The curiosity and creativity of our species yield a seemingly never-ending variety of ways in which ingredients can be combined to suit the tastes of many.
Cooks and chefs have concocted countless combos that have become classics, but lately many fabulous flavors have been emerging not from the kitchen, but from behind the bar. Bar chefs and “mixologists” are using fruits, herbs, elixirs, infusions and purees to create new sensational sippers. Since the goal is good taste, many of these creations depend on complex flavor combinations rather than merely alcohol for their kick. And many of these supremely satisfying flavor profiles served up as cocktails can be imported into food as well as drink, for great impact with little or no alcohol.
As talented as today’s mixologists may be, they’re operating out of a tradition that’s a couple of centuries old. Cocktails, combining distilled spirits, the sweet of sugar and the bite of bitters or sour juices, were noted in the early 1800s. One source touted the effect of the mixtures on the political process, claiming the cocktail to be “an excellent electioneering potion…of great use to a candidate: because a person, having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow anything else.”
Maybe bartenders’ influence on the ballot box fueled the campaign to make alcohol illegal. Regardless, when Prohibition hit in the 1920s, suddenly useless cocktail glasses were repurposed to serve food. Shrimp cocktail, for one, to be followed by fruit cocktail in the 1930s. The rest, as they say, is history.
Building on the bartender’s ability to provide refreshment, these two recipes offer the complex sweet-tart combinations of the best cocktails to create cooling contributions to the summer table. The first adapts my favorite frozen yogurt recipe and my favorite cocktail for a nonalcoholic icy confection that can be served in small portions as a palate cleanser, in bigger bowls as dessert, or for fun as popsicles. Word of warning: This melts quickly, so scoop it up just before serving. Add blueberries or mangos or fresh mint garnish to contrast with the arctic white frostiness and prepare for raves and recipe requests — without a bit of booze! Our friend Joy’s daiquiri salad gives a whole new meaning to “fruit cocktail” and uses sweet simple syrup, tart lemon and just a bit of rum to transport mixed melons and berries back to the islands.
Both these recipes are certified party hits; serve them and the taste tally will add up on the credit side of your balance sheet. How’s that for accounting for taste?
Frozen Ginger Mojito Yogurt Sorbet or Popsicles
¾ cup water
½ cup sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons grated fresh gingerroot
About 20 leaves fresh mint, plus additional small leaves for garnish
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup plain non-fat or low fat yogurt
¼ cup lime juice
Lime zest to taste
Optional additions for serving: fresh blueberries, strawberries, mango pieces (or fresh fruit of your choice)
Bring water, sugar, light corn syrup and grated ginger to boil in medium saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil 2 minutes. Add mint, remove from heat. Let steep 5 minutes or so. Strain into medium bowl and chill until cool. Whisk in yogurt, buttermilk, lime juice and lime zest. Pour into shallow pans and freeze, stirring occasionally. (If you pour a thin layer into two or three round cake pans or pie tins you can get this to freeze in a couple of hours.) Before serving, whirl in blender or food processor until the consistency of soft ice cream. Layer frozen confection on top of blueberries or chunks of mango in cocktail or other glasses (clear plastic cups work great for picnics) and garnish with mint leaf. OR pour mixture into popsicle molds; freeze until set. OR place a few blueberries or mango pieces into the bottom of popsicle molds, fill with mixure, freeze until set. Run under hot water a few seconds, unmold, and serve.
Adapted from Bon Appetit and Morgan at the Blue Orchid
Joy’s Daiquiri Salad
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Cantaloupe, cut up
Honeydew melon, cut up
1 pint blueberries
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup rum
Lemon zest, in fine strips or grated
Make a simple syrup by combining water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring til sugar dissolves. Cool. Meanwhile, cut up cantaloupe and honedew melons and combine in a bowl with blueberries. Add lemon juice, rum and lemon zest to simple syrup, pour over fruit. Chill, then serve. Garnish with fresh mint, if you like.
Lynne Ireland lives to eat and welcomes comments and questions from others who do (or don’t). Contact her at savor@journalstar.com.
Cooks and chefs have concocted countless combos that have become classics, but lately many fabulous flavors have been emerging not from the kitchen, but from behind the bar. Bar chefs and “mixologists” are using fruits, herbs, elixirs, infusions and purees to create new sensational sippers. Since the goal is good taste, many of these creations depend on complex flavor combinations rather than merely alcohol for their kick. And many of these supremely satisfying flavor profiles served up as cocktails can be imported into food as well as drink, for great impact with little or no alcohol.
As talented as today’s mixologists may be, they’re operating out of a tradition that’s a couple of centuries old. Cocktails, combining distilled spirits, the sweet of sugar and the bite of bitters or sour juices, were noted in the early 1800s. One source touted the effect of the mixtures on the political process, claiming the cocktail to be “an excellent electioneering potion…of great use to a candidate: because a person, having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow anything else.”
Maybe bartenders’ influence on the ballot box fueled the campaign to make alcohol illegal. Regardless, when Prohibition hit in the 1920s, suddenly useless cocktail glasses were repurposed to serve food. Shrimp cocktail, for one, to be followed by fruit cocktail in the 1930s. The rest, as they say, is history.
Building on the bartender’s ability to provide refreshment, these two recipes offer the complex sweet-tart combinations of the best cocktails to create cooling contributions to the summer table. The first adapts my favorite frozen yogurt recipe and my favorite cocktail for a nonalcoholic icy confection that can be served in small portions as a palate cleanser, in bigger bowls as dessert, or for fun as popsicles. Word of warning: This melts quickly, so scoop it up just before serving. Add blueberries or mangos or fresh mint garnish to contrast with the arctic white frostiness and prepare for raves and recipe requests — without a bit of booze! Our friend Joy’s daiquiri salad gives a whole new meaning to “fruit cocktail” and uses sweet simple syrup, tart lemon and just a bit of rum to transport mixed melons and berries back to the islands.
Both these recipes are certified party hits; serve them and the taste tally will add up on the credit side of your balance sheet. How’s that for accounting for taste?
Frozen Ginger Mojito Yogurt Sorbet or Popsicles
¾ cup water
½ cup sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons grated fresh gingerroot
About 20 leaves fresh mint, plus additional small leaves for garnish
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup plain non-fat or low fat yogurt
¼ cup lime juice
Lime zest to taste
Optional additions for serving: fresh blueberries, strawberries, mango pieces (or fresh fruit of your choice)
Bring water, sugar, light corn syrup and grated ginger to boil in medium saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil 2 minutes. Add mint, remove from heat. Let steep 5 minutes or so. Strain into medium bowl and chill until cool. Whisk in yogurt, buttermilk, lime juice and lime zest. Pour into shallow pans and freeze, stirring occasionally. (If you pour a thin layer into two or three round cake pans or pie tins you can get this to freeze in a couple of hours.) Before serving, whirl in blender or food processor until the consistency of soft ice cream. Layer frozen confection on top of blueberries or chunks of mango in cocktail or other glasses (clear plastic cups work great for picnics) and garnish with mint leaf. OR pour mixture into popsicle molds; freeze until set. OR place a few blueberries or mango pieces into the bottom of popsicle molds, fill with mixure, freeze until set. Run under hot water a few seconds, unmold, and serve.
Adapted from Bon Appetit and Morgan at the Blue Orchid
Joy’s Daiquiri Salad
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Cantaloupe, cut up
Honeydew melon, cut up
1 pint blueberries
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup rum
Lemon zest, in fine strips or grated
Make a simple syrup by combining water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring til sugar dissolves. Cool. Meanwhile, cut up cantaloupe and honedew melons and combine in a bowl with blueberries. Add lemon juice, rum and lemon zest to simple syrup, pour over fruit. Chill, then serve. Garnish with fresh mint, if you like.
Lynne Ireland lives to eat and welcomes comments and questions from others who do (or don’t). Contact her at savor@journalstar.com.
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