Joey Chestnut Is Triumphant; Kobayashi Is Seized And My Sorbet Came Out Perfectly!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Wow! What a contest! The belt stayed with Joey Chestnut for “eating” 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes. (It was more like inhaling.) This was his 4th consecutive win at the renowned Nathan’s hot dog eating contest on Coney Island.

That wasn’t the only news though. Takeru Kobayashi, the 32-year-old Japanese eating machine, had dominated the contest for 6 consecutive years from 2001 to 2006. This year, he failed to reach a contract agreement with the Major Eating League (I’m not making this up) and so was not competing in today’s contest. He did, however, rush the stage and was taken into custody by New York’s finest.

While all those shenanigans were going on, I preferred to concentrate on cooler fare. Here is my Red, White and Blue Cool Dessert Just For You. (Who said I couldn’t be hokey on July 4th?)

Strawberry Sorbet With Vanilla Ice Cream and Blueberry Sauce

Click here for printable recipe.

This recipe will make nine to ten 1/3 cup scoops of sorbet.

For the simple syrup:

1 cup sugar

1 lemon, washed and dried

½ cup water

For the sorbet:

4 cups strawberries, about 22 oz. (makes 2½ cups sieved purée)

2 tbls. lemon juice, strained

2 tbls. Grand Marnier (see note below)

When serving:

1 scoop vanilla ice cream per person

First make the simple syrup. (A day ahead is fine.) Place 1 cup of sugar in a medium saucepan. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin off the lemon into strips and add it to the sugar.

Stir in ½ cup of water. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a simmer and simmer slowly, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Let syrup cool and pour into a glass jar with the lemon rind and refrigerate until ready to use. You'll have more simple syrup than you'll need for the sorbet and blueberry sauce. Keep it in the fridge for simple syrup emergencies.

For the sorbet, measure four generous cups of strawberries. Wash and hull them. Purée in food processor until smooth. Put through a strainer to remove seeds. (There will still be some seeds.) You should have about 2½ cups purée.

Stir in 1/3 cup lemon simple syrup, removing any rind. Add strained fresh lemon juice and Grand Marnier. Refrigerate until ready to freeze in ice cream machine. (The colder the mixture is BEFORE it goes into the ice cream machine the better.)

Freeze in ice cream machine until fairly solid, about 25 minutes.

NOTE: For an alcohol-free sorbet, add the rind of half an orange and 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice in place of the Grand Marnier. The alcohol will keep the sorbet from freezing rock hard. But if you’re making it in advance, just soften the teetotaler’s version in the fridge for 10 minutes before serving.

Blueberry Sauce

1 cup blueberries, washed

2 tbls. lemon simple syrup

optional: 1 to 2 tsps. Grand Marnier

Place blueberries and lemon simple syrup in small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until a nice sauce consistency is reached. Pour into bowl. Stir in Grand Marnier. Chill until ready to use.

Spoon one scoop of strawberry sorbet into a bowl. Add one scoop of vanilla ice cream and top with Blueberry Sauce. Let the fireworks begin!