Grapefruit and Kiwi Sorbet

I forgot to change out my box this week. Which normally isn’t a problem, but since we were gone over the weekend and my brother, who stayed at our house and watched the animals didn’t eat his fair share of fruit, we had a bit of an overload. Normally I would just cram them into the juicer, gladly drinking anything that comes out the other side (sorrel juice anyone? Don’t try it, seriously it’s not worth it, but it might make a good cream sauce for fish–I’ll let you know).

This time I thought I’d do something different. Well, kind of, at least with the juice. I think I might still be riding off of the brief sun I soaked up on the beaches of Santa Monica when I thought of this. It seriously doesn’t make any sense now when it’s barely 50 degrees outside. But I’m sure after a dinner of spinach gnocchi in sorrel pesto (I have sorrel growing out of my ears), it will be a delicious treat no matter what the outside temperature.

I don’t drink milk, being lactose intolerant it doesn’t sit well with me, but cook with cream on occasion and consume more than I should in other forms of dairy–most notably cheese and yogurt, oh, and butter (mmm butt-er). So when it comes to ice cream I generally turn to coconut varieties or to sorbets.

I have been known to throw caution to the wind and get a cone of mint chocolate chip while out on the town, but for sitting around the fireplace after dinner I prefer a slightly tart sorbet.

The grapefruits we get tend to be fairly sweet. Their mature sugars make great sorbets while still retaining the gentle tartness that makes them such a great breakfast snack. When combined with the sweet, tart flavor of ripe organic kiwis it makes the perfect blend of exotic sweetness and refreshing tartness of this sorbet.

I’ve made this both in an ice cream maker and previously using a whip, a metal bowl and another bowl full of ice and rock salt. It takes a little more elbow grease and the result is practically the same so I don’t feel too bad taking the short cut. I like my sorbets silky smooth and one of the tricks to keeping them from looking like granitas is to add a little vodka.

The vodka will help to lower the temperature that the sorbet freezes at and keep large crystals from forming,; though it will increase the amount of time it will take the sorbet to set up. After about a half hour in the ice cream maker it’s ready to transfer to a container and into the freezer for another hour to two hours depending on how firm you prefer your sorbet.

2 grapefruits, juiced
2 kiwis, juiced
1 t zest
1 T vodka
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar

In a small pan mix sugar and water. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer until sugar is completely dissolved. I prefer the slightly caramel flavor of natural sugar, though it will slightly darken the color of the sorbet. After sugar is dissolved, cool completely. Add juice, zest and vodka. Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturers instructions. Transfer to container and freeze until desired consistency. That’s it!