Cranberry and citrus sorbet and its fruit salad

“I need a fruit salad”, I thought to myself as soon as I got off the plane after an entire day of traveling. We had just come out of a six-day eating binge while visiting C’s family in Montana. Wild game, hearty potatoes from the garden, goat cheese straight from the farm, and too much chocolate from The Parrot left me thirsty for something sour and light. I suppose my body was asking me to be kind to myself for the next few days.

I crawled into bed that night dreaming about the refreshing fruit salad I was going to make myself the following day.

I remembered how much I enjoyed this apple and grapefruit salad exactly two years ago. I remember clearly as I had just given birth to Miren and I had this intense craving for sour apples and citrus.

I needed something stringent.

I made a version of that salad with crispy asian pears, sour lady apples and grapefruit garnishes with micro mint leaves and cranberry sorbet. It works for me. In fact, I am thinking about serving it as a small pre-dessert for our Christmas Eve dinner.

As for our Thanksgiving, it was beautiful. Family gathered around the fire, wide open spaces, and trees covered in snow. Raw beauty I was also craving.

I shall share photos and stories soon.

I cannot wait, in fact.

Cranberry and citrus sorbet

3 cups (12 ounces or 340 g) fresh or frozen cranberries, washed
2 cups (500 ml) water
1 1/4 cup (250 g) superfine or caster sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup (60 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 strips of orange peel (make sure there is no white pit)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook over medium high heat until the cranberries are soft, about 15 minutes. Remove the orange peel. Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree it. Strain the mixture through a sieve and let it cool completely.

Transfer to the refrigerator and chill thoroughly for 2 to 4 hours. Churn in the ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze the sorbet until hard.