Melon sorbet

I got what I thought was a cantaloupe - but I think is actually an Ontario muskmelon - in the CSA box this week. I'm not really a fan of orange melon; it's only recently that I'll even eat honeydew when it comes in a fruit salad. (Now watermelon - that I can get behind.) So rather than just eat it raw, I decided to make melon sorbet. I'll eat anything in ice cream form.

While I had high hopes for a dinner full of vegetables, the heat of the summer just took away my appetite. So I went for a walk and did some errands. When I got back, I was too hot and too tired to cook - but that sorbet waited for me in the freezer. Does it really count as dessert for dinner when it's mostly fruit?

Long story short, the melon sorbet was delicious. Smooth, cold, and sweet, with just enough melon flavor. Absent was that overly-super ripe-almost squash-like taste that comes too often with cantaloupe (muskmelon?). The vodka in the recipe kept the sorbet from becoming rock-hard in the freezer; I could scoop it easily from the container. And with a little bit of vanilla ice cream on the side, it became just a little bit like a melon creamsicle. Since I ate about a third of the recipe for dinner, I think I might be a little tipsy now - I'm a cheap drunk. I forgive myself by remembering that it was also the equivalent of eating a third of a melon...never mind the sugar.

I used Alton Brown's recipe for melon sorbet, and here's one from Anna Olson (thank you, L) for days when you're have a bit more time to invest in making it. Since the melon I used was slightly smaller than the weight called for in Alton's recipe, I used only a cup of sugar, but the same amount of lemon juice and vodka. Yum. Next time I'll try to use a bit less sugar, too - the melon was naturally sweet enough to carry the sorbet on its own.