strawberry-rhubarb sorbet

This is truly a made-for-each-other pairing-- the fact that strawberries and rhubarb are ripe at exactly the same time is a minor taste miracle, and even better, a sign that summer is just around the corner.  It's almost July as I post this, but I came up with this a month ago and it was one of the major impetuses for starting a blog.  The other was a cookie recipe that may be posted soon...  So consider this an idea for May 2010 (and beyond!).

Strawberry-Rhubarb Sorbet

makes ~1 quart

Ingredients:

3/4 pound rhubarb, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 pint (1 cup) strawberries, de-stemmed

3/4 c water
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp lemon or lime juice

Equipment:

Blender, immersion-blender, or potato masher

Ice cream freezer

Medium-sized saucepan

Rubber spatula

Time:

15-20 minutes cooking,  4 more hours till soft-serve, 7 more hours till done.  (total for the math impaired: 11ish hours. Patience is a virtue)

Protocol:

1.  Add rhubarb, sugar and water to saucepan. 

2.  Bring to simmer and keep there for 8-10 minutes, or until rhubarb is soft but has not yet disintegrated. 

3.  Add strawberries and simmer for 5 minutes, or until strawberries are soft and rhubarb is just beginning to fall apart. 

4. Add lemon juice.  (why do this, you say: rhubarb is very tart, can't you just add less sugar? --there needs to be a large amount of sugar syrup to  hold the bubbles in) 

5. Taste. Add more sugar if wanted, it will taste more tart after freezing.  

6. Mash or blend-- I prefer an immersion blender for this task.  If you're using a normal blender, remember that hot liquids expand and do not fill more than half full at once. 

7. Chill in fridge or ice bath until very cold-- at least 3 hours. 

8. Put in ice cream maker and freeze for about half an hour, or until soft-serve consistency,with volume increased and color lightened. If you taste it, it should be filled with small bubbles, which are the key to a creamy texture. 

9. Put into container and freeze in freezer overnight.