My friend Starry brought back a watermelon on her travels through S. Carolina. And since I have an abundance of fresh herbs and strawberries through our organic CSA(Community Supported Agriculture), I thought I would try something different.

Earlier at dinner we had a strawberry watermelon thyme compote for dessert. Dinner was simple:

-Green bean, red leaf lettuce salad w/ non pareil capers and marinated artichoke hearts dressed w/ balsamic vinegar and flax seed oil vinaigrette.
- Bulgur wheat cooked in chicken stock w/ sage and chicken andouille.

The compote starts w/ making a simple syrup mixture(1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar), 1 tbsp of lemon juice, and 2 tbsp of fresh thyme. You boil this mixture till the sugar has dissolved. Once the mixture is at room temperature, you add 1 tbsp of vanilla extract. Pour the mixture over 2 cups of strawberries(quartered) and 3 cups of watermelon(1/2 inch cubes). Let sit for at least 1/2 an hour before serving. I really enjoyed the flavour of the thyme w/ the fruit.

So... I still had quite a lot of watermelon left and I decided... why not a sorbet?

First I made simple syrup by boiling equal parts white sugar and water(1 cup and 1 cup). I added approx. a tbsp of lemon juice and 3 sprigs of rosemary. Before I added the rosemary, I rubbed the sprigs between my hands so as to release some of the nice oils. I let it simmer for a while... maybe 5 mins?

I pureed the watermelon and syrup mixture in a blender. I didn't measure the watermelon, but my end result was approximately 4 cups of watermelon puree.

I poured the mixture into a shallow plastic container, placed it in the freezer and every hour I whisked the mixture so that the ice crystals would be more evenly dispersed.

The result... I suppose I may have been too enthusiastic w/ the rosemary, however to my tastes it's really great. However, I am a lover of rosemary. It's extremely refreshing and the rosemary adds a complex flavour that watermelon(though very lovely) usually lacks.

Sorry, no pictures of the sorbet just yet. I tried taking a few, but the lights just kept melting the sorbet.