Grapefruit Sorbet - Pink Saturday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a light and lovely dessert that's a perfect way to end a heavy summer meal. I started to make this sorbet when ruby red grapefruit juice became available at our warehouse store. There are purists who will insist the ice should be made with fresh grapefruit juice. They are right, but there are times when life gets in the way and shortcuts become necessary. It's also hard to set those shortcuts aside when they are successful. My recipe relies on commercial grapefruit juice, but uses a scant spoonful of zest to heighten the taste of the finished sorbet. I also use vodka in this recipe because it helps prevent the sorbet from becoming impossibly hard in the freezer. This is a trick that works well with all homemade ice cream. I hope those of you who enjoy tart desserts will give this one a try. The recipe was originally develop Chef Chris Green who works for the Viking test kitchen. It is easy and delicious. Here's the recipe.

Grapefruit Sorbet...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Chris Green

Ingredients:
2 large ruby grapefruits, juiced, or 1-1/2 cups pink grapefruit juice
1 teaspoon grapefruit zest (zest before juicing grapefruit)
1/2 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vodka

Directions:
1) Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan; bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Cool completely.
2) Combine grapefruit juice, zest and sugar/water mixture with vodka in a metal bowl. Chill in refrigerator or by placing the metal bowl over a larger bowl filled with ice water until 40 degrees.
3) Pour chilled mixture into container of an ice cream machine and churn until frozen. Scoop frozen sorbet into a container. Seal and transfer container to freezer for several hours to allow sorbet to firm up. It can be kept frozen for up to 3 days. Yield: 4 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Chocolate Sorbet - Elana's Pantry
Sweet Tea Sorbet - The Runaway Spoon
Mango Sorbet - Family Spice
Cherry Lime Sorbet - Momofuku for 2
Cucumber Sorbet - Healthy Green Kitchen
Bing Cherry Sorbetto - Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy

This post is being linked to:
Pink Saturday, sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

Pink Lemonade Granita - Pink Saturday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Years ago, some folks affectionately named their cars. It was throwback to the days when horses pulled the family wagon. I came from that kind of family and, to this day, cars in our family are given names. I call mine Bessie. I must admit that I've carried the naming of inanimate object even further. My computer also has a name. We call her Carmen. I've just brought Carmen back from a 48 hour stay in the emergency room at the Geek Squad hospital. She's a headstrong flirt and, despite repeated warnings, she invited trouble with a virus that seems to have come from Facebook. She has been very, very sick but the guys brought her back from the brink of self-destruction and she's lived to blog another day. Beware of requests that come from Facebook, especially those that pop-up and ask if you want to share or approve a new follower. The request may or not be legitimate. I'm now a couple of hundred dollars in the hole but a lot wiser than I was on Friday. Carmen has been grounded. This is probably the latest Pink Saturday post since the inception of the meme. I am sorry, but it could not be helped. Today's feature is a simple palate cleanser that I think you'll enjoy. Let's get right to it. Here's the recipe.

Pink Lemonade Granita...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Nicole Plue

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups water
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 3 to 4 lemons)
2 teaspoons grenadine

Directions:
1) Combine water, sugar, lemon juice, and grenadine in a medium bowl. Stir with a large spoon or whisk until sugar has thoroughly dissolved, about 1 minute.
2) Pour mixture into a 9-inch-square shallow baking pan. This pan size works best ­because it provides a large surface area, a key point in speeding up freezing process. To further hasten freezing, use a metal pan (metal conducts cold well).
Put pan in freezer and stir every 30 minutes, being sure to scrape ice crystals off sides and into middle of pan, until mixture is too frozen to stir, about 3 hours, depending on how cold your freezer is (some granitas can freeze in as ­little as 1 hour). Use tines of a large dinner fork to stir, scrape and break up ice crystals.
3) Cover pan with plastic and freeze over­night. When ready to serve granita, place a fork at the top of the dish and pull it toward you in rows, moving from left to right ­and ­rotating the pan as well. Scape up the shaved ice and fill your chilled glasses or bowls. Yield: 4 cups shaved ice.

This post is being linked to:
Pink Saturday, sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.