Sabra Sorbet (Frozen Prickly Pear) PLUS How to Safely Cut Them Open

Photo by Sarah Melamed

Drive down any highway in Israel this summer and you will see spiny golden balls generously sprinkled along the tops of the cactus patches. This cactus fruit or prickly pear is called tsabar צבר in Hebrew and is the name sake of the native born Israeli - called a Sabra - prickly on the outside and sweet on the inside.

I don't have patience for Sabras. All the Israeli friends I've made in the last couple years were friendly on the outside, and any prickly people I've met still scare me. But this year I decided to get over my fear and buy my my own tsabar. Of course, I wasn't venturing into a cactus patch, I was just crossing the street to buy some de-clawed sabras. But even with the big thorns cut off, they can bite. 

Since the sabras were packaged, I was forced to buy a whole kilo. If I had only bought one or two, I probably would have been turned off by the seeds and quit, but being stuck with a whole bowl-full, I had to find something to do with them. It turns out they make a wonderful sorbet!

My First Lychee Encounter with VIDEO

Lychee "nuts", or Litchi chinensis, are technically in season, though they're still not cheap. My kids go crazy for them and I think they are really beautiful inside and out. (I'd love to do an art project with the skin/shell.) They have prickly, leathery magenta skin. It doesn't have sharp spines, so you can easily handle them. If you leave them in the fridge the skins will dry out and become more difficult to cut open, but the taste of the fruit remains sweet. The texture is in between a grape and a plum, the pulp is white and translucent. I would describe the taste as sweet and perfumy. If you cut straight through to the the seed, like you might open an avocado, the flesh easily separates from both the skin and the seed.

What's In Season - Spring - Artichokes

There is a beauty to produce that is not available year round. This morning my husband actually seemed excited that we had artichokes. "We haven't had those since you were pregnant!" Yup, that's how seasonal food works!

I went to the shuk this Tuesday and got four artichokes, two packages of strawberries, chard, giant pink lady apples, and a bunch of flowers (among other less exciting things).

Right now I have the artichokes roasting in the oven. I've never made them in the oven before, but I used Chef John's technique for Simply Roasted Artichokes.

Link Party! Celebrate What's in Season LINK-UP BELOW

Here are some pictures I took in the shuk (local market, Petach Tikva, Israel) yesterday.  Click to enlarge.

What's in season where you live?
Comment or attach a link below to your autumn food-related favorite things.
Or play Name That Fruit by commenting below. 

See additional details and what was in season this summer in the August 2011 What's in Season? Link-Up.

Fig Marmalade Pie with Low-fat Crust and Lavender Sugar

With six cups of fresh figs in my fridge not getting any fresher, I needed to do something with them, fast.  I used the technique from Mini Cherry Pies, to make this simple fig deliciousness.

What's in Season? August/Summer 2011

I'm excited to host my first Link-up, and everyone is invited!  You can link any post relevant to what you are enjoying now.

• What's growing, what's being sold, or what you like just because it's August.
• Stories, love notes, pictures, and thoughts on August food and August cooking where ever you live.

AND if you don't have a post to link, you can still comment or e-mail me submissions!  Just include whatever biographical information you want to share, including a link to your blog, business, or online profile.  You don't have to be a blogger to join this party.  Send me pictures of what's growing in your backyard or what's on sale in your local market.

What I Bought Last Week

You're all invited to a Linky Party celebrating what's in season. To start things off, I wanted to share what I bought at my local mega-mart  in Central Israel last week.

Mango, mini pears, & avocado.  Green lemon from our tree.

Gazpacho - Two Recipes for Summer

Gazpacho is great for the summer and requires no cooking.  Below are two different recipes. The first is a recipe my parents have been raving about, originally from SimplyRecipes.com.  The second is for an authentic Spanish Gazpacho from The Splendid Table guest David Rosengarten.  It makes a creamy, silky soup with just a few more steps, but less ingredients, than the first recipe.