What's it all about?

What's it all about?

I love cooking, and more importantly, eating good food and I set up this blog to share my favourite recipes, links and ideas with my friends and family.

I am a home cook. Not a particularly distinguished or accomplished one, but someone who simply enjoys honest, fresh and delicious food. I don’t enjoy pretentious restaurants and 'over done' dishes- the kind that you are afraid touch to with your fork for fear of ruining them! And for this reason, every recipe you find here will be simple and open to interpretation. I also believe it’s important to put your own stamp on the food you make so please feel free to change things and substitute ingredients as you wish. Enjoy!

10 February 2011

Pink grapefruit sorbet

I received an icecream maker for Christmas this year and was naturally delighted. What a perfect gift! I hear you cry- on one hand, yes. On the other, icecream on demand is not always figure friendly… Anyhoo, Im willing to take that risk! and decided to give it a whirl last week.

I conjured up a fresh, tangy palate-cleansing treat of a sorbet using pink grapefruits- surely the tastiest of all citrus offerings. Lemon and lime are gorgeous but they are used too liberally in bathroom cleaners for my liking and noone wants to be reminded of Jif (or Cif, or whatever it’s now called) while embarking on pudding. Orange is just too main stream, so I took Nigel Slater’s orange sorbet recipe and turned it on its head. This is the result.

By the way, this can also be made without an icecream maker. Once the mixture is ready, pour it into a freezer proof plastic box and place in the freezer. Remove it after two hours and stir well (beat it if you must). Repeat this 2-3 times then allow it to freeze completely before serving.

Ingredients
  • 750ml good quality grapefruit juice
  • The grated zest of two fresh, unwaxed grapefruits
  • The juice of the two above grapefruits
  • 100gms caster sugar

Method
  1. In a small saucepan warm the grapefruit juice (from the carton and from the squeezed grapefruits) gently. Turn the heat off after about 10mins- you want it to be warm not hot.
  2. Add the sugar and stir well until dissolved.
  3. Add the zest and allow the mixture to cool completely.
  4. Strain the juice through a sieve to remove the pith into a jug.
  5. Set up your icecream maker and set the blade running then pour in the mixture.
  6. Churn for 30-40 minutes until it is full of ice crystals then pour into a plastic box and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.