Ever since that dinner at Il Buco a couple of weeks ago, I've been thinking about the wonderful coconut-lime sorbet I tasted there. So creamy and rich, yet so tart and refreshing. Once I started experimenting in the kitchen, I went off on my own tangent. What I came up with is different, a bit more exotic, but I think just as delicious. It's SO easy—did you get your ice cream maker yet? This recipe does call for a couple of unusual ingredients: deeply flavorful jaggery, which I showcased here, and those beautifully perfumed wild (kaffir) lime leaves, which I also recommended for this curry. If you have trouble finding the lime leaves, you can substitute some lime zest, though the flavor will be quite different. I have seen them on occasion at Whole Foods, definitely at Kalustyan's, and at any Thai market. I've also come across them dried, but have never tried those. (Someone once asked me to do a post about how to stock your pantry, and I will attempt that soon, but what I consider to be basic essentials may seem rather arcane.) Just because this is called sorbet, by the way, doesn't mean it's especially low in fat. Coconut milk is actually rather high in fat—how else could it be so unctuous? But supposedly this vegetable fat is more easily metabolized by the body. It contains lauric acid, which is also found in mother's milk and has been shown to promote brain development and bone health. Coconut milk is considered very healthy in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is used to heal ulcers.
Read More...