It’s basil season, in our garden anyways. I just love going out into the backyard, picking handfuls of fresh herbs and dashing inside to add them to a recipe. I know we could just pick the herbs and freeze them, but what’s the fun in that?
There’s just something so relaxing and almost therapeutic about being in the kitchen and working with my hands. Maybe it has something to do with me sitting in front of the computer for most of my day. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my day job, not many people can say that they work for themselves, from home and on creative projects… all the time.
Do you get to create things with your hands at work? Or do you sit in front of a computer/laptop like I do?
It’s just nice about creating something tangible with my hands. As long as I’m only making one thing at a time. I’m a horrible multi-tasker in the kitchen. Though, I do seem to have superhero powers on certain days of the year (ahem… Thanksgiving).
I’ve been contemplating getting an ice cream maker for a little while now, but how often would we use it? Of course, we’ve never made ice cream or sorbet before… because we have no ice cream maker. So, to try and overcome this Catch-22, here is a sorbet made without an ice cream maker. The result is a bit softer than a sorbet made with an ice cream maker, but just as delicious nonetheless!
| Peach Basil Sorbet |
- 2 cups peaches cut into small chunks, about 3 peaches
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 4 basil leaves, chop 3 of the leaves, reserve 1
- Place the peaches in the freezer.
- Boil the water and gradually mix the sugar in, slowly stir so that the sugar dissolves. Making simple syrup
- Sprinkle in 3/4 of the chopped basil to the syrup mixture and mix slightly.
- Pour the basil syrup mixture into a small container and refrigerate for about an hour.
- Blend the peaches and basil syrup in a blender until smooth, pour into a container with lid
- Chop up the remaining basil leaf and sprinkle into the blended peach mixture and stir slightly.
- Place the peach mixture into the freezer overnight so that it solidifies.
- Garnish with chunks of fresh peaches if desired. Serve and enjoy!
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Melissa now that I have a patio that I can do potted plants on, I need some advice and guidance on how to grown basil. I love basil and it’s the first thing I want to plant.
Oh yay! We grow our basil in pots in our backyard – no garden this year. Basil is probably one of the easiest herbs to grow. Give it some great fertilized dirt, plenty of water and sunlight and it grows like a weed.
Since it’s the middle of the summer, I would suggest going to Home Depot or Lowes and buying a basil plant, instead of starting from seeds. We start our basil seeds in the spring, usually sometime in April.
Sweet!! How big a pot does it need? How often do you water it? Is there another herb that’s suitable to plant with it or should it get it’s own pot? I think I’m going to do this, this weekend!!! I love love love fresh basil.
I’ve found that planting basil in a pot on its own, or with other basil works the best. I tried planting some in a pot with our eggplant plant, but those basil plants didn’t make it.
Our basil pot is about 12 inches in diameter or so. And just make sure that the oil stays moist, so if it’s really hot outside, you may have to water at least once a day. Basil is pretty forgiving, so even if you forget to water (like I do), and the basil starts looking a little wilted, just water them and the plants recover pretty quickly.
Great! Thanks for the advice. I’m super excited. What else are you growing in pots right now?
I am just loving all your recipes(and pictures!) lately! I love basil and can’t wait to try it with fruit because I’ve never done that before but the stuff in my garden is taking such a long time to grow
This looks so yummy – I’m craving peaches now too!
Aww, thanks Heidi! Peach and basil pair so well together. Hopefully the basil in your garden will grow faster! I’m cheering them on
I sit at a computer all day too *sigh* So getting in the kitchen and creating is an outlet, i NEED it!!!! Much like I need some of this lovely sorbet, yum!
Yes! Being in the kitchen is such a great outlet! Glad to know that I’m not alone
This looks unbelievable. I’ve been obsessed with peach ice cream… maybe this will be the next on my list! I also posted a peach dessert today – I hope you get a chance to stop by! http://jennysteffens.blogspot.com/2011/07/peach-crostata-simple-summer-peach.html
Found this recipe and am giving it a try. The resulting slushie from the blender tasted good, so if it freezes hard enough to scoop, should be quite delicious! We don’t have an ice cream maker either and since ice cream is a weakness of my husband’s, I am in no hurry to get one. But I love sorbet!
I hope you enjoy the recipe Sara! The sorbet does freeze hard, but it also melts quick! So eat fast once it’s in the bowl
Awesome! Definitely let me know how the basil turns out! Chopping up fresh basil is one of my most favorite things to do in the kitchen.
We also have a Chinese eggplant growing in a large pot – I haven’t cooked with any yet, but maybe soon. And we also have a little mint plant. I’ve found mint to be more difficult to grow. The plant seemed to die about two months ago, but then came back to life recently.
I will definitely let you know how it goes.
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