Thinking about eating and also about 'must plants' this spring and I reaslised that I just have to mention Meredith's honeysuckle sorbet.
'Die for' is all I can say and if you are in the enviable situation of being able to go out at night and pick a bucket of these fragrant blossoms, do it, and turn them into sorbet. Did a bit of websurfing looking for recipes and came across this on the slowtrav blog:
"There are a few things I’ve eaten in my life that were so good they almost made me swoon and this sorbet is one of them. It’s a cult classic dessert here in North Carolina and every spring, people flock to my favorite local restaurant, Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, to eat this stuff. Bill Smith (the chef at Crooks’ and a 2009 James Beard finalist for best regional chef) created this recipe after doing research into medieval Arabic and Sicilian recipes for flower ices.
Pretty much every Southern kid learns how to pluck a honeysuckle blossom, pull the stamen out, and then eat the tiny drop of honey inside the flower. Well, this sorbet tastes like a combination of that honey droplet and the aroma of honeysuckle when it’s in bloom."Here is Bill Smith's recipe but don't think there won't be a Locke Store incarnation coming soon!
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From Seasoned in the South: Recipes from Crook's Corner and from Home
By Bill Smith
Makes about 2 quarts
4 cups (tightly packed but not smashed) honeysuckle flowers, leaves and stems discarded
5 1/3 cups cool water
1 1/3 cups water
2 cups sugar
Few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice
Makes about 2 quarts
4 cups (tightly packed but not smashed) honeysuckle flowers, leaves and stems discarded
5 1/3 cups cool water
1 1/3 cups water
2 cups sugar
Few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice
Speck of cinnamon
Place the flowers in a nonreactive container (glass or stainless steel) and cover with the cool water. Weight down with a plate. Let them stand on the counter overnight. In a small saucepan make a syrup out of the sugar and water by boiling it until all the sugar is dissolved and it begins to look lustrous and slightly thick, 3-5 minutes. Add a few drops of lemon juice to prevent the sugar from recrystalizing. Cool the syrup completely. Strain the honeysuckle infusion, gently pressing the blossoms so as not to waste any of your previous efforts. Combine the two liquids and add the merest dusting of cinnamon. You don't want to taste it but you can tell if it's not there. I use the tip of a sharp boning knife to measure it. Churn in an ice-cream maker. This does not keep for more than a week.
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Sitting here back in front of my computer at Allsun Farm I breathe in deeply, think honeysuckle and am immediately transported to Virginia. I will never forget driving around in the evening, car windows open, drenched in the perfume emanating from every roadside ditch.
Place the flowers in a nonreactive container (glass or stainless steel) and cover with the cool water. Weight down with a plate. Let them stand on the counter overnight. In a small saucepan make a syrup out of the sugar and water by boiling it until all the sugar is dissolved and it begins to look lustrous and slightly thick, 3-5 minutes. Add a few drops of lemon juice to prevent the sugar from recrystalizing. Cool the syrup completely. Strain the honeysuckle infusion, gently pressing the blossoms so as not to waste any of your previous efforts. Combine the two liquids and add the merest dusting of cinnamon. You don't want to taste it but you can tell if it's not there. I use the tip of a sharp boning knife to measure it. Churn in an ice-cream maker. This does not keep for more than a week.
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Sitting here back in front of my computer at Allsun Farm I breathe in deeply, think honeysuckle and am immediately transported to Virginia. I will never forget driving around in the evening, car windows open, drenched in the perfume emanating from every roadside ditch.
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