When Life Gives You Citrus Other Than Lemons....
So, my parents bought a case of band fruit. They did this for several reasons. They like citrus. They're nice people. They remember when I was in high school band and had to flog crates of Indian River oranges and grapefruits in order to make the annual band pilgrimage to Disney or wherever. And, uh, they like citrus.
Of course, what they bought is far too much for them to eat, so when I visit at this time of year, I get asked, "Do you want some fruit?" And now that they've discovered my sorbet making habit, it's "Do you want some fruit for sorbet?"
There's really no way to dodge that one. All you can do is dress it up, and hope you eat enough oranges and grapefruits to make a dent in the pile before the grow-your-own-penicillin experiments really get rolling.
Of course, straight citrus sorbet tends to have some issues. One is that there's not really a lot of body to it, as citrus is mostly water and doesn't have a lot of pulp to firm up the matrix. What you do get is connective tissue that's narsty tasting, and hard to break down, and prone to getting wrapped around the sorbet-making paddles. So, if you want sorbet with some body, you need to mix something else in.
This, incidentally, is where it gets silly. Because I went to the supermarket, and I went to what can basically be called the Weird Fruit Section down at the end of the produce corner, and I got Fruits That Del Monte Don't Mess With. Starfruit. Kiwis. That sort of thing, all with the intent of committing sorbet upon them.
First up was orange-starfruit. Well, really, orange/tangerine/starfruit. I'd had starfruit for the first time in Brazil, when the nice ladies in charge of a con green room were gracious enough to ply me with everything Brazilian in order that I might get a taste, figurative and literal, of the country. I rather liked them, and in sorbet-making context I liked the fact that they were suitably pulpy to potentially thicken the citrusy madness I was otherwise brewing.
So, three oranges. Two tangerines. One starfruit. Some Grand Marnier. Slightly less sugar in the simple syrup than usual, as A)there was a possibility this one was going to my folks, and Dad's not supposed to have too much sugar, and B)we didn't have that much sugar.
Like most citrus sorbets, this one came out a little slushy. The good news was that the starfruit and tangerine flavors meshed well and stomped all over the rather bland oranges (side note: the bigger the orange, the duller the flavor generally is. These oranges could be used for flotation cushions.) to make something genuinely interesting. The color was nice, too - a rich, deep orange tinted by the yellowish-green of the starfruit, rather than the unsettling swampwater green of the Orange Brutus from a few weeks back.
And next up: strawberry-grapefruit, and blueberry-kiwi. Because I can.
Of course, what they bought is far too much for them to eat, so when I visit at this time of year, I get asked, "Do you want some fruit?" And now that they've discovered my sorbet making habit, it's "Do you want some fruit for sorbet?"
There's really no way to dodge that one. All you can do is dress it up, and hope you eat enough oranges and grapefruits to make a dent in the pile before the grow-your-own-penicillin experiments really get rolling.
Of course, straight citrus sorbet tends to have some issues. One is that there's not really a lot of body to it, as citrus is mostly water and doesn't have a lot of pulp to firm up the matrix. What you do get is connective tissue that's narsty tasting, and hard to break down, and prone to getting wrapped around the sorbet-making paddles. So, if you want sorbet with some body, you need to mix something else in.
This, incidentally, is where it gets silly. Because I went to the supermarket, and I went to what can basically be called the Weird Fruit Section down at the end of the produce corner, and I got Fruits That Del Monte Don't Mess With. Starfruit. Kiwis. That sort of thing, all with the intent of committing sorbet upon them.
First up was orange-starfruit. Well, really, orange/tangerine/starfruit. I'd had starfruit for the first time in Brazil, when the nice ladies in charge of a con green room were gracious enough to ply me with everything Brazilian in order that I might get a taste, figurative and literal, of the country. I rather liked them, and in sorbet-making context I liked the fact that they were suitably pulpy to potentially thicken the citrusy madness I was otherwise brewing.
So, three oranges. Two tangerines. One starfruit. Some Grand Marnier. Slightly less sugar in the simple syrup than usual, as A)there was a possibility this one was going to my folks, and Dad's not supposed to have too much sugar, and B)we didn't have that much sugar.
Like most citrus sorbets, this one came out a little slushy. The good news was that the starfruit and tangerine flavors meshed well and stomped all over the rather bland oranges (side note: the bigger the orange, the duller the flavor generally is. These oranges could be used for flotation cushions.) to make something genuinely interesting. The color was nice, too - a rich, deep orange tinted by the yellowish-green of the starfruit, rather than the unsettling swampwater green of the Orange Brutus from a few weeks back.
And next up: strawberry-grapefruit, and blueberry-kiwi. Because I can.
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