Weekend Chill {Watermelon}

The week finishes. The weekend arrives. Sometimes as early as Thursday. When we are lucky. Sometimes not.

This week finished with an abundance of watermelon in the kitchen.

One glance at the stacks of deep red triangles on the plate and I heard the sound of ice clinking in glass.

Watermelon-basil mojitos were made.

There was still more melon. What better to do while sipping our drinks than make watermelon sorbet? The blender was already out, just a bit more blitzing, mix with strawberry yogurt and the same simple syrup that was used in the bevvies, and homemade sorbet was in the works. No ice cream maker, no problem. Freeze in a shallow metal pan for five hours, then blend again with a bit of milk, and creamy sorbet was gracing my spoon by midnight.



I hope to post more weekend chill ideas using a single seasonal fruit for both cocktail and frozen treat. One moment of post-work blitzing, two very lovely ways to keep cool over the weekend.

Continue to Recipe...

Recipe: Watermelon-Basil Mojito

Adapted from Small Bites

Serves 4

2 1/2 cups watermelon

1/4 cup simple syrup (half water-half sugar, boiled, dissolved, cooled)

1 large handful basil leaves

rum

ice

tonic/soda water

1) Puree watermelon in a blender. Strain through a mesh sieve (or even a fine colander).

2) Add simple syrup and basil to puree.

3) Ice in a glass, a shot or two of rum, fill with watermelon mix, top with tonic/soda water.

4) Unless you want basil in your teeth, go dig up a straw.

Recipe: Watermelon-Strawberry Sorbet

Serves 6

Adapted from Eating Well

4 cups cubed watermelon

1/3 cup simple syrup (half water-half sugar, boiled, dissolved, cooled)

9 oz. (250g) strawberry yogurt

1/4 cup milk 

1) Puree watermelon in a blender. Strain through a mesh sieve (or even a fine colander).

2) Whisk in yogurt and simple syrup.

3) Pour into shallow metal pan and freeze six hours or more.

4) Scrape out into a blender, add a bit of milk and more simple syrup if you desire more sweetness, and puree until smooth.

Enjoy.
Jo