Campari and Passion Fruit Sorbet #GalentinesDay

This refreshing sorbet of fresh passion fruit and Campari is perfect as an aperitif, between courses or at the end of a meal. The tart passion fruit and bitter Campari will wake up your taste buds! 

First, a confession. When I was invited to take part in this Galentine’s Day celebration, I thought it was a typo. I don’t watch Parks and Recreation, although I do love Amy Poehler. But, once explained, I was completely on board, because women celebrating women, breakfast-style, sounds like the very best way to spend a morning. So, I say unto you, and with all the sincerity and fervor of the recently converted: Happy Galentine’s Day!

For anyone else who is as ignorant as I was, I found this very short YouTube clip that lets Leslie Knope explain it better than I ever could.

Along with sharing a frou-frou dish or beverage, event organizer, Courtney from Neighborfood and her very capable co-host, Nancy from gotta get baked, said that we should share a story about a girlfriend or even a public figure, who inspires us.  The Campari and passion fruit sorbet was an easy decision – I love that stuff - but choosing just one woman was the hardest part! I am blessed with so many fabulous women in my life! I dedicate this recipe to my friend, Naszreen, who has fulfilled her dream of many years by opening a tea shop. She is an amazing woman, mother, sister, friend, and now I can say, successful entrepreneur.

Ingredients
1 cup or 240ml water
1 cup or 200g  sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 passionfruit (Mine weighed 690g whole and yielded 1 1/2 cups or 350g pulp.)
1/2 cup or 120ml Campari
Several sprigs fresh mint, plus some tops of sprigs to serve

Method
Place the water, sugar and salt in a pan and warm it just enough for the sugar and salt to dissolve and then remove from the heat.  Allow to cool for a while.

Stack and roll the mint leaves up and slice them finely. Don't forget to save a few tips for garnish.

Halve the passion fruit and scoop out the flesh, seeds and juice using a spoon.

Strain out the passion fruit seeds, pressing them into a sieve to remove more juice. Reserve about one-third of the seeds to add back into the sorbet.

Mix the passion fruit with the Campari, sugar syrup, mint leaves and all but a few of the sieved passion fruit seeds, in a plastic tub or earthenware dish and place in the freezer to chill.

If you have an ice cream maker, you can put the mixture into it after about half an hour of chilling and follow the manufacturer’s instruction till it is soft set.

Top with a few of the small mint springs and the few remaining passion fruit seeds, then put it in the freezer in a sealed container till ready to serve.

Otherwise, leave it in the freezer-proof vessel and stir it around at least every half hour until it’s set. This could take more than two hours. When it's just about set, top with a few of the small mint springs and the few remaining passion fruit seeds and pop it back into the freezer until you are ready to serve.

Ready to serve!

Scoop into a pretty bowl and top with a small sprig of mint to serve.

Enjoy!

I genuinely hope you are celebrating today with your gal friends or are planning a celebration. We are here to help with a bunch of great recipes for your Galentine’s party!

• Anise-Scented Ice Cream with Candied Fennel Seeds from girlichef
• Boston Cream Trifles from gotta get baked
• Brownie Batter Chocolate Tarts from Melanie Makes
• Campari and Passion Fruit Sorbet from Food Lust People Love
• Cheesecake Milkshakes from Chocolate Moosey
• Chocolate Cheesecake from NeighborFood
• Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cream Puffs from The Redhead Baker
• Chocolate Honey Bombs from The Live-In Kitchen
• Coeur a la Creme with Dark Chocolate Ganache and Strawberries from Heather’s Dish
• Ganache Topped Truffle Brownies from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Grilled Cheese & Chocolate Sandwich with Ganache Dipping Sauce from Climbing Grier Mountain
• Meyer Lemon Cranberry Scones from Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
• Mini Heart-Shaped Chocolate Cakes with Raspberry Whipped Cream from A Cookie Named Desire
• Nutella Fudge with Raspberries from The Food Charlatan
• Orange Yogurt Waffles from Savvy Eats
• Red Wine Ice Cream Floats from Mind Over Batter
• Strawberry Covered Dark Chocolate Truffles from Girl Versus Dough
• Wicked Waikiki Sour from Pineapple and Coconut

White Bolognese Sauce

Sausage and ground beef, dried mushrooms and Portabellas, white wine, onion and carrots and fennel, with a hint of spice from some chili flakes, and finally, cream. None of these ingredients are remarkable but together as "white Bolognese sauce", and I’m not kidding, they are magic. Stand guard over the pot or it will be gone before dinner is served, one “just tasting” spoonful at a time.

I love Tamar Adler’s wonderful book, An Everlasting Meal, Cooking with Economy and Grace, as much for the conversational, evocative writing as for the delicious recipes. Tamar (Dare I call her Tamar? I feel like we are such old friends after spending so much time together.) weaves stories and musings about ingredients and cooking and love and family into a narrative you can get lost in, bookmarking pages of methods to try, and recipes, until when you finally reach the end, you want to start back at the beginning and read the whole thing again, so rich is the prose.

I’d say An Everlasting Meal it is a way of life, not just a recipe book, if I didn’t think that would scare some of you off. But I will say this, it is a writer’s cookbook. And, from me, there is no higher praise.

No-Tomato Bolognese?
I wish this dish had a better name because White Bolognese doesn’t even begin to describe the rich, hearty, mushroomy, succulent deliciousness that is this meaty sauce. I had already packed up some leftover cottage pie for my husband’s lunch the day after I served this. Cottage pie is one of his favorite things so I had saved it for him especially. He said he’d rather take this!

Adapted from An Everlasting Meal, Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler

Ingredients
1 medium onion
1 medium carrot
1 stalk celery
Olive oil
1 lb 5 oz or 600g pork sausage, removed from its casings
1 lb or 450g ground beef
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly broken with a mortar and pestle
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups or 360ml white wine
2 cups or 480ml chicken stock
3 large Portabella mushrooms
3/4 oz or 20g dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated in 2 cups or 480ml hot water
1/3 cup or 80ml heavy cream
Salt to taste

To serve:
1 lb or 450g dried pasta, cooked according to package instructions
Parmesan cheese
Few sprigs parsley

Method
Chop your onion, carrot and celery in small dice. Cut the hard end of the stems off and chop the mushrooms roughly.

Drizzle a little olive oil in a pan that will be large enough to hold all the sausage and meat, with room to stir, and add in just the vegetables.

Sauté until they are soft and the onions are translucent.

Add in the sausage and meat, along with the fennel and crushed red chilies. Break the sausage and meat into smaller pieces and cooked until well browned.

Add the wine and simmer until the pan is almost dry.

Now add the stock and cook until the pan is almost dry again.

Add in the chopped mushrooms, stir well, and let them cook a few minutes to release their liquid.

Chop the rehydrated mushrooms into small pieces and - This step is very important! - strain the liquid through a coffee filter to remove all the dirt and impurities.

Add the rehydrated mushrooms and the filtered mushroom liquid to the pan. Those porcini mushrooms make the most divine liquid. It almost smells smoked.

Simmer until the sauce reaches your desired thickness. Taste it and add more salt, if necessary.

Add in the cream, stir well and remove the pan from the heat.

Sprinkle with parsley. 

Serve over cooked pasta of your choice and top with freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The book being reviewed here, An Everlasting Meal, Cooking with Economy and Grace was bought by yours truly. Links to the book are affiliate links.

Paloma Naranjada Cocktail #BloggerCLUE

This refreshing cocktail is made with sparkling orange soda, tequila and fresh lime juice, served over ice. Add a rim of salt crystals and an extra slice of lime and it’s party time. 

It’s funny what you find out you have in common with folks when you just meet them through the internet – and no, I’m not talking about the dating sites – but through blogging and social networking. If you’ve been reading this space for a while, you know that my friend, Heather, of girlichef is fond of garlic. I mean, really, really fond of garlic. We cohosted the National Garlic Day celebration last year and gave away a few sweet (and smelly) prizes. We have bonded over raising multicultural children as well, discussing the challenges we face trying to make sure that they know where they come from, on both sides of the family. And, we love cocktails! When she posted this Paloma Cocktail,  I was determined to make it because I love grapefruit but I struggled to find grapefruit soda. I finally decided that for Blogger C.L.U.E. this month, I was going to use orange soda and drink these babies as I watched the glamorous folks saunter down the red carpet at the Grammys. So I did. You should make them for Oscar Night! Or because it’s Wednesday.

Ingredients 
2 oz or 60ml tequila
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
6 oz or 180ml real juice orange soda (I used San Pellegrino Aranciata.)

Optional: For the rim and garnish
Coarse salt
Slice of lime or wedge

Method
Wet the rim of the glass with lime juice and press it into some coarse salt spread on a small saucer then fill your glass with ice.

Mix tequila and lime juice together and pour into the glass.

Top off with orange soda.

Garnish with a slice or wedge of lime.

Enjoy!

Check out all the other Blogger C.LU.E. participants this month!

• Bacon & Cheddar Savory Bread Pudding Bites by Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet
• Banana Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins by Aly from Cooking in Stilettos
• Blood Orange Mojito by Anna from Anna Dishes
• Buffalo Roasted Chickpeas by Janet from Cupcakes to Caviar
• Cherry Almond Coconut Bars by Jean from Lemons and Anchovies
• Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Bark by Ramona from Curry and Comfort
• Garlicky Roasted Tomatoes by Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch
• Love Potion #9 w/ Raspberry Chambord Ice Cubes by Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Madam Wong's Pizza Rolls by Kelli from Kelli's Kitchen
• Negroni by Kate from Kate's Kitchen
• Paloma Naranjada Cocktail by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
• Pomegranate-Lime Granita by Debra from Eliot's Eats
• Raspberry Amaretto Bundt Cake by Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Raspberry-Strawberry Puff Pancake by Alice from A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Red-Hot Currant-Glazed Pork Chops by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
• Red Velvet Cupcakes by Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch
• Roasted Asparagus by Kim from Liv Life
• Strawberry Chia Jam w/ Chia Seed Pancakes by Heather from girlichef
• Strawberry Vanilla Scones by Christiane from Taking on Magazines
• Tomato Herb Compound Butter by Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Turkey Joes by Anna from Anna Dishes

If you'd like to stalk - I meant meet -  Heather on the internet too, check out these links:

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