Strawberry Lemon Thyme Sorbet with Balsamic Maceration

Strawberry_lemon_thyme_sorbet

So I've just handed in the last revision of my novel, and I'm spent! Seven pages of notes, all internalized, analyzed, and folded gently into my 320-page manuscript. Now where is my drink?

Writing a novel is very different than a blog. A novel is a set of scenes, strung taut upon a string. A blog post (in my eyes), is the jewel itself: purposeful and well-cut.

Strawberry Lemon Thyme Sorbet is a tight dish that's inventive without skewing wayward. The lemon thyme is very subtle, and brings a brightness and herbaceousness to the sorbet, like you got a bite of the stem and, hey, it's actually tasty. Macerating is a great way no-cook way to bring your fruit out of its cellular shell -- a foodie equivalent of giving someone a stiff drink that gets her loose, but not toasted.

Recipe: Mix 1/2 cup cut fresh strawberries with dash of balsamic and a squirt of honey. Keep in refrigerator for at least an hour to macerate and let the juices out. Vitamix 2 cups frozen strawberries and 3/4 cup frozen bananas (for smoothness). When the sorbet is mixed, add 2 tablespoons lemon thyme leaves and mix until integrated, but before  the green turns the red gray. Add macerated strawberries and cacao nibs. Serves 2-3.

Note: Ice cream sundae artistry can be achieved with the follow guidelines (an adaptation of a flower-arranging maxim). Simply assemble a chiller (ice cream, sorbet, shave ice), spiller (fruit sauce, hot fudge, caramel), thriller (nuts, halvah, cereal bits, granola, toffee), and an optional killer (whipped cream). Chiller, spiller, thriller, killer. Sounds like a fun group, right?