Fig Sorbet Food

FIG SORBET

Steps:

• Combine the water or wine and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Add the rose geranium or rose water, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Strain if you steeped the rose geranium sprig.
• Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and purée until smooth. You may have to do this in two batches. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.
• Chill a container in the freezer. Blend the mixture with an immersion blender for 30 seconds, then freeze in an ice cream maker following the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to the chilled container and place in the freezer for 2 hours to pack. Allow to soften in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes before serving.

FRESH FIG AND LIME SORBET

Steps:

• Add 2 cups water and the sugar to a saucepan.
• Cook, stirring constantly, until the syrup boils and the sugar has dissolved; refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
• Place the figs in the bowl of a food processor; puree.
• Add the puree to the chilled syrup; stir in the lime juice.
• Taste, and add more juice if desired.
• Freeze sorbet in an ice-cream maker following the manufacturer's directions until the mixture begins to freeze.
• Then scoop mixture into a storage container, seal tightly, and freeze for several hours or overnight.
• **Black Mission figs give the sorbet a ruby color, speckled with black if the figs are unpeeled; Green figs will result in pale pink color speckled with green if left unpeeled.

FRESH FIG GELATO

Steps:

• Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil the syrup until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove the syrup from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.
• Mix the puree with the cool syrup, then stir in the "neutral" stabilizing powder, whisking for 5 minutes. (The stabilizing powder prevents ice crystals from forming and helps ensure a smooth textured gelato.) Chill the gelato base thoroughly then process it in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Spoon the gelato into containers and freeze until ready to serve.

FRESH FIG AND PORT SORBET

Steps:

• Trim the hard parts and stems of the figs and quarter the remainder.
• Add the figs and water to a saucepan, cover and bring to a simmer.
• As the mixture heats up, add the lemon zest.
• Stir 2-3 times over the first 10 minutes.
• After about 10 minutes, the figs will soften and begin to break up.
• When the figs are soft, add the sugar and cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes more until the mixture becomes thick and syrupy.
• Remove from the heat.
• Using either a stick blender in the pot or transferring the mixture to a regular blender, VERY CAREFULLY (Remember, this mixture is hot), puree the mixture.
• Now add the port, 1 1/2 cups of water and the lemon zest to the mixture.
• Taste and if it's too tangy (i.e., you didn't have Meyer lemons and substituted regular lemons), you may need to adjust with a tiny amount of sugar.
• Once the mix is cool, pour into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's directions to get a semi-firm consistency.
• Remove the ice cream and place in a container in the freezer compartment of your refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Remove, scoop, and enjoy!

CACTUS FIG AND LIME SORBET

Steps:

• Remove the outer skin of the cactus figs to expose the light green flesh. Push the flesh through a mesh sieve into a bowl, collecting the juice and trapping the seeds and pulp.
• Combine water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; allow to cool slightly, about 15 minutes.
• Stir cactus juice and lime juice into the sugar water. Mix thoroughly; chill for 1 hour.
• Pour cactus-lime mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions, about 20 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.