My favorite dessert item when I entertain in the summer is sorbet. It is refreshing, parve, and comes in a variety of fruit flavors and beautiful, natural colors. The flavors of sorbet are so pure and intense that it exposes perfectly summer fruit. In Israel, sorbet is a very popular dessert on the beach, on the Mediterranean; oh I miss it so much…

Here is the recipe for blood orange sorbet, one of my favorites. Although it is not easy to find blood oranges but I did find some last week. You can make an amazing, colorful sorbet without artificial ingredients. Okay, so here we go…

Recipe for a ½ pound of sorbet

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup water

3 cups of fresh squeezed juice from blood oranges

3 tablespoons of vodka

On a stove warm the sugar and the water in a small pot until the sugar melts and forms syrup. Place the syrup in the freezer until it is very cold. Then mix the syrup with the juice and the vodka. Freeze in an ice cream maker. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, like me, place the mix in the freezer and take it our every hour and puree it with a fork until it becomes firm.

Bete’Avon (Hebrew for Bon Appetite)

Dorit and Hava

Summer Tov

Dairy Meals - Not only for Shavuot

Three weeks ago, we observed the holiday of Shavuot, the celebration of the grain harvest season in Israel and festival of the first fruits. During Shavuot, the unofficial beginning of the summer in Israel, it is customary to eat a meal consisting of dairy products at least once for several reasons (http://www.aish.com/shavuotfeatures/shavuotfeaturesdefault/Why_Dairy_on_Shavuot$.asp).

But why should we limit this culinary experience to Shavuot only?

The body and the brain perform better with lighter foods in summer. Dairy food can be light or heavy, very bad or beneficial for you depending on the ingredients used. We have been improving recipes by using low fat and low cholesterol cheeses, and fresh and organic vegetables, which make these light summer dinners healthier. We discovered that this practice also improves the taste of the dishes.

In Israel, light dairy dinners are very common during the hot summer months. Why can’t we do the same in Northern Virginia?

We would like to share with you one of our favorite recipes for a light quiche, you should serve it warm with fresh vegetables or salad on the side.

Broccoli and Cheese Quiche
Ingredients:
28 oz. fresh (organic)/frozen broccoli
If frozen, then thaw and drain before use
1 oz. low fat melted butter
8 oz. low fat cottage cheese
3.5 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
6 oz. low fat sour cream
4 eggs
3 tablespoons self-rising flour
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2) In a separate bowl, mix the melted butter, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, sour cream, beaten eggs, flour and nutmeg
3) Add the cut broccoli and stir
4) Spread 1 tablespoon oil on casserole dish
5) Pour the batter into the casserole dish and bake for 50 minutes

Enjoy your summer.

Until next time,
Hava & Dorit