Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Sparkling Syrah Concord Grape Sorbet


The day after I found out that I have to permanently cut out gluten from my diet, I went shopping at Trader Joe's and discovered how many of my "normal" favorite items I can no longer eat. It doesn't help that I am also on a temporary dairy-free diet with Ali- aka Mr. Pixie Crust- who also cannot eat soy (temporarily). Hmm...this has been tricky.

It shows how much we're on the same page that the day after our new diet was introduced we both came home with a couple of bottles of wine each. We are wine lovers, but I think even more than that, it was nice to have an indulgence left that we didn't have to worry at all about ingredient checking.

In the spirit of our appreciation for wine, I made a batch of Sparkling Syrah Concord Grape sorbet. If you haven't had a sparkling (dry) red wine, and you enjoy red wine, I highly suggest trying it. It is a really nice alternative to a traditional red wine on these warm summer nights. My absolute favorite sparking red is Mumm Napa's Cuvee M Red, but in this batch of sorbet, I used a nice, really economically priced dry sparkling red wine from Trader Joe's.

Sparkling Syrah Concord Grape Sorbet (adapted from Martha Stewart)
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds concord grapes
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup simple syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup dry sparkling red wine (thoroughly chilled)

Wash grapes thoroughly and combine with 1/4 cup water in medium sauce pan. Place over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until grapes begin to break apart and dark juices are released (about 5-6 minutes). Pour grapes and juices into blender and puree. Pour mixture through fine mesh sieve and place over ice bath or into freezer until very cold.

Add simple syrup, lemon juice, and chilled red wine to grape puree. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

For a stronger wine flavor and pretty presentation, serve in glasses with sparkling wine poured over sorbet.

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