Cranberry Sorbet: the kind you find in a specialty store

We've made Cranberry Sauce for the holidays forever but this Thanksgiving in Barcelona I wanted to try making a Sorbet instead. I found David Lebovitz recipe, which was like my sauce, but with less Sugar. It's difficult to find Cranberries in Barcelona, but our favorite specialty fruit and veg store -- Giro, in the Mercat de Sant Antoni -- does carry them for their North American customers this time of year. Unfortunately, they're 5,80€ for a 130 g package, and I got two, but wish I'd gotten three -- ouch! (In US stores, they're $2.50 for a 12 ounce / 340 g bag). Below, I show Lebovitz' recipe and my version scaled down to 75% for the Cranberries I got.

(For what it's worth, Harold McGee's "The Curious Cook" shows these proportions for a Cranberry "soft ice": 3/4 C Cranberry,  13 Tbs Sugar, 3/4 C Water).

125 g    94 g    Water

100 g    75 g    Sugar

340 g   255 g    Cranberries, fresh

125 ml   94 ml   Orange Juice, fresh squeezed if possible

 15 ml   11 ml   Orange Liquor

 60 g    45 g    Water

Heat the first addition of Water and dissolve the Sugar, then add the Cranberries.

Boil slowly, covered, for about 10 minutes until all the Cranberries soften.

Let cool to room temperature.

Whiz with a stick blender, and add the Orange Juice, Orange Liquor, and second addition of Water.

I got about 400 ml of dense liquid from my 75% scaled recipe.

Chill overnight, and also chill your ice cream maker's canister.

Churn 20-30 minutes, then freeze tightly covered overnight or at least several hours to firm up.

This came out a bit too firm, it could use a bit more Sugar or Liquor to soften it for serving. It's a good taste, but not mind-blowing -- perhaps add a bit of acid.

Food Processor Focaccia: variations

Bakeries and some sandwich shops here sell Focaccia-based "sandwiches", but not just the bread, so I've gotta make it myself. I no longer I have a big KitchenAid stand mixer, so I wanted to try making the dough in my Bosch Multitalent 8 food processor. After one false start, this came out quite well: crunchy with a reasonably soft crumb, rich with oil, and versatile for making (say) tostadas con anchoas the next day. 

Much easier on the second attempt

In the US, I made Focaccia bread in US "half sheet" pans, but our oven in Barcelona is much smaller. Even the built-in tray is smaller, so I scaled my recipe by 77% to fit the reduced size:

Half-Sheet: 33x18 inch = 45x33 cm = 1485 cm^2 area
Oven tray: 38x30 cm = 1140 cm^2 area -- 77% of a half sheet pan

690 g   Flour [100%], regular (9% protein)

514 g   Water [74.5% hydration]

  9 g   Yeast [1.3%]

 12 g   Salt  [1.7%]

104 g   Olive Oil, extra virgin (115 ml) [15%]

 12 g   Rosemary, fresh, chopped fine, for topping

  7 g   Salt, coarse, for topping

Add the Water and Flour to the processor and whiz on slowest speed to combine.

Let rest 30 minutes to autolize (allow enzymes to convert starch to sugar, develop gluten, and slacken dough).

Add Yeast and whiz at lowest speed for 1 minute.

Add Salt and whiz at lowest speed for 2 minutes; the motor started smelling hot, and after a minute it shutdown due to thermal overload. Worse, the dough had escaped down the drive tube into the drive shaft. I scooped out all the dough into a bowl, covered, and let rise 45 minutes until about doubled. 

Cover oven tray with foil and pour in all the oil.

Spread the dough as much as you can, but it will spring back.

Refrigerate 10 minutes and spread again, ensuring you get oil under all the dough.

Repeat twice.

Top with chopped Rosemary and coarse Salt, dimple, and let rise an hour.

Bake 45 minutes at 180C.

Before and after:

Despite the trauma with the dough and the food processor, it turned out OK: a little more chewy than I'd like, perhaps a bit under risen and bubbly. 

Next time:

I'd like to make this again, avoiding problems and with some improvements. 

The Manual for the MC812M844 on Page 9 shows a maximum of 750 g Flour and 2 minutes low speed for the dough hook; I was under both of those. 

Try adding the Flour first, then while spinning (on slowest setting) drizzle in the Water, and stop when combined. I probably do not need the 1 and 2 minute whiz after adding Yeast and Salt, especially since it's a high-hydration dough; perhaps just spin to combine. Add Yeast and spin briefly, then Salt and spin again -- don't add at same time or the Salt will kill the Yeast (this discussion of the autolyse technique includes the Yeast in that step, delaying only the addition of Salt).

Use higher hydration percentage to encourage more bubbles and lighter texture. The ratio here is already high at 74%, how much higher can we push it?

In the USA, I used no/low-knead techniques with very little yeast and multi-day refrigerated ferments. Could I do the same here? Would it help? This no-knead recipe uses a first cold ferment then second room temperature rise in the pan; she uses 89% (!) hydration, and a higher temperature which might improve oven spring.

While pushing the oil under the dough, the foil tore -- irritating. I used foil in my sheet pans because the bread stuck fiercely, but maybe I can get away without it in this oven tray.

Consider using cold water to offset heat from the food processor.

If I have to reduce the volume of Flour, consider getting a new sheet pan to fit our small oven; the ones I have are dinky and really dinky. Size it for the maximum dough I can get in the food processor.

2025-11-13 Same recipe, no overflow

Since my food processor claimed it could handle the amount of flour, I use the same recipe. But this time, I added the Flour to the machine, and -- while running -- drizzled in the water until just combined. It did NOT run into the tube and drive shaft. After the same 30 minute autolysis, I briefly whizzed in the Yeast, then whizzed in the Salt and let it spin for a minute. 

The rest was largely identical to the previous attempt. This time I did NOT line the oven tray with foil, but ensured I pushed the oil under the dough on each chill and stretch step. I let it rise a bit longer in the final stage.

Finally, I started the oven higher, 225C, to get some oven spring for the first 15 minutes, then dropped back down to 180C for the final 30 minutes. 

It came out better than before, with crisp top and bottom, and a softer interior.

However, the inside had a fairly consistent fine crumb, rather than large holes I'd prefer. My hydration here is 74.4%, and I've seen recipes use around 80-85%, so I should try a wetter dough to see if it give me a more hole-y texture.

Irene thinks it has too much oil on the bottom. Many recipes just add Oil to the dough, which obviates the chill and stretch steps, but would require foil or paper in the baking sheet or oven tray.

2025-11-22 Same, with High Hydration

I'm looking for a more open whole texture, a little lighter. My recipe has been 74.5% hydration, but I saw other recipes with 79% and 84%, so I'll try that high end, otherwise all the same:

690 g   Flour [100%]

580 g   Water [84% hydration]

Spin the Flour and pour in the Water, and let it run until a fairly even consistency. This is quite wet so the motor didn't struggle. 

Proceed as before: 30 minute autolysis, spin with Yeast, spin with Salt for 90 seconds or so.

So wet, it pours almost like batter

Rise covered 90 minutes, fill oiled tray, 1 refrigerated rest (didn't need more to relax the dough), final 90-minute rise, bake starting at 225C then 180C.

It did not turn out as bubbly as I had hoped. However, the bottom was not as oily as the previous batches, and it wasn't as crispy. Perhaps I didn't let it rise long enough.  It was easier to pour out of the food processor and relaxed more easily, but I need to try something else.

Perhaps repeat, with middling hydration of 80% and incorporate the oil (possibly reducing the volume) directly in the dough -- but how would that turn out differently than my fine-crumb sandwich bread that also incorporates oil in the dough?

Future...

This bubbly no-knead recipe is 84% hydration and uses a paltry 1 Tbs (15 ml) Oil to 560g Flour, plus 4 Tbs in the pan. She uses a cold secondary ferment in the fridge overnight.

King Arthur's bubbly recipe (also no-knead) is 79% hydration with a low 5% Oil, a third of mine. Serious Eats has a similar 80% hydration no-knead recipe, 13% Oil, with a 3-day refrigerated rise.

The Kitchn gushes about Samin Nosrat's recipe which won their 4 recipe bake-off, and curiously douses the dough with Salt Water; unfortunately, they don't use weights so check the comments for the bakers percentages: 75% hydration (plus later brine!) and 8% Oil. A follow-up article recommends replacing the recipe's Honey with Barley Malt Syrup. Samin's recipe won their focaccia bake-off. I'm generally not fond of adding sweeteners to my bread, but I like Nosrat's book and show, and trust her: 2% isn't that much.

If high-hydration works well, consider adding oil directly to the dough, and spread on a foil- or parchment-lined tray to avoid the oily bottom Irene objects to.

Try using higher-protein strong / bread flour like this 12.9% "fuerza" flour.

Rossejat de Fideus

Rossejat means "roasted" in Catalan, here referring to rice or noodles which have been browned in oil before cooking. We're using short noodles here: "fideus" in Catalan or "fideos" in Spanish. Taste Atlas describes it succinctly: 

Rossejat de fideos is a seafood dish consisting of thin noodles toasted in olive oil, cooked in fish broth with cuttlefish, prawns, or shrimp, and typically served straight from the pan with allioli. It belongs to the same family of seafood-and-pasta preparations as fideuà but has its own character and place at the table.

In turn, fideuà is basically a paella made with short pasta instead of rice. I've written about it it before, with varying degrees of fidelity: Ravalistan, all’Assassina, and Casual. 

This Rossejat is less complex, coming together quickly, especially with thin noodles. It's surprisingly tasty for such simple ingredients.

Note how the short noodles have stood up vertically

This recipe is based on one from Spain on a Fork which has a helpful video. I prefer the thin "angel hair" noodles to the spaghetti-thick fideus; my package indicates they take only 2-4 minutes to cook, rather than 6-12 for thicker ones. I've added some Choricero pepper to the base to enrich the flavor, and topped with sautéed Squid for our dinner. Use a flavorful fish stock; Irene made a richly flavored one I used here. I prepared this in a thin Paella on a portable gas burner, but you can use any pan you like, even non-stick.

This serves 2.

400 ml      Fish Stock
            Olive Oil, extra virgin
250 g       Squid, cleaned
125 g       Fideus, thin, "angel hair"
  3 cloves  Garlic, minced
  2 g       Pimenton Dulce (1 tsp)
  1         Choricero Chili, dry, seeded, hydrated, chopped fine
  1         Tomato, flesh grated, without skin
  4 g       Parsley, finely chopped (1 Tbs)

            Salt

            Pepper

Heat the Fish Stock in a pot to a bare simmer so it will cook the fideos quickly.

In a Paella or other flat pan, heat some Olive Oil, and then sauté the Squid until browned; remove and slice the tubes into rings.

Add more Olive Oil if needed and sauté the Fideos until toasted, a few minutes; stir frequently as they can burn quickly; reserve.

Add the Garlic (and Olive Oil if needed), and sauté until softened. Add the Pimenton and stir quickly and briefly so it doesn't scorch, then add the chopped Choricero and cook for a minute. Add the grated Tomato pulp and Parsley, and cook a few minutes to concentrate the flavor and thicken.

Add the browned Fideos and the Stock, and stir to distribute everything. Crank up the heat and simmer vigorously for a few minutes until the Fideos are barely cooked; don't let them get mushy.  Ideally, the Fideos will be al dente with just a little of the Stock left in the pan; if not, crank the heat or add more Stock as needed. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Near the end, top with the Squid.  Turn off the heat and cover with a lid for a few minutes to let the Fideos absorb all the Stock.

If you're lucky, you'll notice that most of the strands of Fideos will have stood up vertically. I don't know why this happens but I've seen it in my better attempts, as well as in photos online. 

This should be topped with a zesty Aioli (Rapidísimo, Toum), and served with a strong red wine to stand up to the rich flavors.

2025-12-12 Not as tasty -- stock? choricero?

I made this again, same as before (except I added a bit of Perch I needed to use) and it lacked the rich taste it had before. It was a different batch of Irene's gelled Fish Stock, a I let the Choricero hydrate all day.  Perhaps the fish stock was not as tasty as before, and maybe I took too much flavor from the Choricero.

It looked good, and again the Fideus stood up

Next time, use Choricero pulp (easy to find in jars here), and taste the Stock to see what it's like.

David Lebovitz 3-Day Focaccia

I haven't made bread since moving to Barcelona -- heat, higher energy costs -- but I've got the bug to make a focaccia after having an excellet one from Origo bakery here. David Lebovitz has an excellent blog, and posted on Substack his adaptation of a recipe from Nicola Lamb's SIFT book. I'm waiting for cooler weather to make this, but wanted to save the recipe before I forgot where I put it. Everything below is Lebovitz's writing.

I made this recipe twice. The first time I used the roasted tomatoes that Nicola called for in her original recipe, and the second time, with a higher hydration dough, I simply drizzled olive oil over the top of the focaccia, sprinkled it with flaky sea salt, and pressed some lightly oiled sprigs of fresh rosemary over the top before baking. I used the metrics for this recipe, weighing everything, which makes it easier and more accurate. I also recommend lining the baking sheet across the bottom and up the sides, to ensure the bread won’t stick to it. You may need to use two sheets of parchment to get full coverage. Nicola recommends making bread in a ceramic bowl, which retains warmth better. If you have one, feel free to use it here.

Poolish (starter)

110g (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) bread flour

110g (7 tablespoons) water

Pinch of instant dry yeast

Dough, Part 1

550g (4 1/2 cups) bread flour

460g (about 2 cups) water

2g (2/3 teaspoon) instant dry yeast

Dough, Part 2

50g (3 tablespoons) water

13g (2 1/2 teaspoons) fine table salt, or 15g (1 tablespoon) grey sea salt

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional olive oil for handling the dough, preparing the bowl and baking pan, and baking the focaccia

Roasted Tomatoes (optional)

450g (1 pound) cherry tomatoes

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

Flaky sea salt, such as fleur de sel or Maldon

Part 1 (Day 1)

In a large bowl, make the poolish, a pre-ferment, by mixing together the bread flour, water, and pinch of yeast. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let rest in a warm, draft-free place for 12 hours.

Part 2 (Day 2)

Add the flour, water, and yeast to the bowl and stir until it’s well incorporated. The dough will look a bit dry, which is fine. You may need to use your hands to get everything well mixed together. Cover and let rest 30 minutes.

Mix the water and salt until the salt is dissolved. Add the salted water to the dough and mix the dough with your hands, squeezing it to incorporate the salted water. The dough will be somewhat lumpy and clay-like. Cover and let rest another 30 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the dough and incorporate it into the dough by lifting the edges of the dough up and folding it over the olive oil. Repeat, adding the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and lifting and folding the dough over the oil five or six times, until it’s mostly incorporated, although the dough will still be a bit lumpy. Cover and let rise 1 hour.

Again, lift and fold the dough over itself a few times, as in the previous step, until it’s smooth. Cover and let rise 1 hour.

After an hour, check the dough by pulling a wad (about the size of an unshelled walnut) from the top, stretching it. If it tears easily, let the dough rest another 30 minutes. If it’s nice and stretchy and doesn’t break, transfer the dough to a larger bowl, one that’s big enough for the dough to double in, and place it in the refrigerator, covered with an oiled sheet of plastic wrap or an eco-friendly alternative, oiled side down.

Check the dough after about an hour. If it’s really active and puffed up, punch it down. 

Cover and leave in the refrigerator 8 hours or overnight. (I left mine in the refrigerator about 24 hours, to fit my schedule.) Check the dough while it’s in the refrigerator to make sure it’s not coming out of the bowl. Okay to pat it down if it’s getting too high.

If using the roasted tomatoes, you can make them a day ahead or the day of baking. Preheat the oven to 325ºF (160ºC). Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Place them on a small baking sheet and toss them with 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil, and salt and pepper. Bake them until they’re completely wilted and cooked through, but not browned, about 40-50 minutes.

Part 3 (Day 3)

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Line a baking sheet (one that’s approximately 18 by 13 inches/46 by 33cm, but if you have one that’s smaller, okay to use that) across the bottom and up the sides with parchment paper (see headnote) and spread olive oil over the bottom and sides.

With oiled hands, lift the dough from the bowl and place it in the center of the pan.

Spread the dough so it’s covering a little more than three-quarters of the pan, and use your fingers to coax and stretch the dough so it fits and fills the pan. You can gently slide your hands under the dough to help it fit into the pan. Let rise, uncovered, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Use your fingers to dimple the dough and let it rest another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 475ºF (245ºC).

After 30 minutes, use your fingers to dimple the dough again. If using cherry tomatoes, press them very deeply into the dough, all the way to the bottom of the pan. Toss the rosemary sprigs in any oil left over from the cherry tomatoes, then press the rosemary sprigs lightly into the top of the dough and sprinkle with a not-stingy amount of flaky sea salt.

If you’re just using rosemary, toss some rosemary leaves in a little bit of olive oil. Drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil over the dough, filling in some of the dimples. Sprinkle the dough with a not-stingy amount of flaky sea salt and press the rosemary leaves and sprigs into the top of the dough.

Bake the focaccia for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 425ºF (220ºC) and bake until the top of the focaccia is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool.

Fernet Flank Steak

Perhaps it was a long night, but it occurred to me that the dark amaro (bitter) flavor of Fernet might go well with a strongly-flavored beef steak, especially one with a little metallic edge; think of it like a BBQ sauce for adults. This has just a faint Fernet flavor, certainly not overwhelming.

A slight fernet edge, served with grilled polenta and radicchio

We got a cut that looked like a Flank Steak from Carnisseria Cruz Morales in el Mercat de Sant Antoni; it was 640g so we split it into a 310g piece for this, and the 340g piece for our usual rosemary/garlic marinade.

310 g   Flank Steak, or other flavorful cut appropriate to the grill
100 ml  Fernet Branca
        Salt

Poke holes on both sides of the Steak with a fork.

Sprinkle generously with Salt.

Put in a zip-top bag and add the Fernet.

Marinade overnight.

Pour off the Fernet marinade; optionally reduce and strain for a sauce (it loses its color!)

Grill hot and fast, cook to medium rare.

Slice and serve, with the reduced liquid.

This wasn't overwhelming as I feared, and I wouldn't mind a more assertive flavor. With only 100ml of Fernet, it's not an expensive investment. If I were competing in a BBQ competition, I think I'd use Fernet as a secret ingredient. I'm considering adding Sugar to it next time to give a slight BBQ-sauce-like glaze.

Bay Leaf Ice Cream

I love the smell of fresh Bay, especially when slightly toasted -- it's exotic, herbaceous, slightly fruity -- and I thought it might be appropriate for an unusual ice cream. Fortunately, Irene has a Bay plant the thrives here on our Barcelona terrace, so she gave me a good sized branch. I wanted coax the flavors from the fresh leaves, as well as the aromatics from slightly toasted ones, so I did half-and-half. I doubt this would work with store-bought dry Bay leaves but tell me if you try it.

The procedure was pretty much a basic vanilla ice cream (or our Saffron one), but with the milk/cream first infused with Bay. The taste is appealing, and slightly exotic without being "weird"; it seems like something I'd find in a fancy restaurant. 

The faintest green cast and an inviting aroma

 20 g      Bay Leaves, fresh

300 ml     Milk, whole

400 ml     Cream

170 g      Sugar

    pinch  Salt

  3 whole  Eggs, whipped

Large branch of Irene's Bay plant

Pull the leaves from the Bay branch.

Gently toast 10 g of them in a dry skillet until the slightly brown and begin releasing their aroma.

In a pot, add the Milk and Cream, the raw and toasted Bay leaves.

Cover and let steep on low heat for an hour to infuse.

Strain and capture the Milk/Cream, then add back to the clean pot.

Add the Sugar and Salt to the still-hot mixture, and stir to dissolve.

Whip the eggs.

Ensure the mixture isn't too hot, probably 50c or less, and whisk in the Eggs.

Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it hits 78-80c and the mixture starts to thicken a bit; once it starts, it thickens quickly, so be careful when it's above 70c.

Strain into a large pourable bowl or similar; I use a 1L measuring cup and get about 900 ml.

Cover with plastic film, pressing onto the surface to prevent a skin.

Let cool, then chill overnight in the fridge.

Process with an ice cream churn 20-30 minutes, then scoop into containers, cover directly with film, and freeze overnight.

It helps to let it thaw a little so it's scoopable, maybe 20-30 minutes in the fridge.

Serve.

Delia's Roasted Red Peppers (from AnnieB)

We went on AnnieB's Almadraba tuna harvest tour, which concluded with a trip to the Barbate Market and a cooking session at her home. This simple, vegetable-forward dish is refreshing, served cool on a hot day. The combination of red bell peppers and tomato, cooked down to intensify, is greater than the sum of the parts. 

Smaller "pimientos de California" here, on foil with little nests to hold them

In Spain, red "pimientos dulces" are everywhere, and are like giant version of the red bells in The States; in fact, vendors here refer to those as "pimientos de California". We also have a huge variety of tomatoes, including really tasty "blau" (blue) ones. The olive oil and anchovy provide richness and umami, but you could omit the anchovy for a veggie/vegan version.

The quantities below are good for a side dish for two people.

 1 large   Spanish Red Bell Pepper (or 2 smaller American red bells)

 4 leaves  Basil, torn in half

 2 filet   Anchovy, cut in quarters or so

 1 clove   Garlic, sliced thin

 1 medium  Tomato "blau" or other tasty variety, cut into 4-8 pieces

30 ml      Olive Oil, good quality (2 Tbs)

           Black Pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.

Cut the Pepper in half, top to bottom, through the stem, preserving the bowl shape to it will retain juices;

carefully remove the seeds and white pith.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment, or foil if you don't have the paper, but it may stick a little.

Divide the Basil, Anchovy, and Garlic slices between the Pepper halves.

Top with the cut Tomato pieces to protect the Basil and Garlic from burning.

Douse with the Olive Oil on top, then grind some Black Pepper.

Make sure the Pepper halves are upright to contain juices as they cook; cr

Bake at 180C / 350F for about 45 minutes until they are slightly charred: the tomatoes will release juice then it should concentrate down over time and intensify the flavor.  You can do this on a BBQ as well but it's rather easy to scorch the bottom.

Carefully transfer to a platter to keep all the tasty juice, possibly on a bed of Arugula or other green.

Serve warm, or let cool.