sorbet {grapefruit & mango} & candied grapefruit peel

we've had an abundance of produce around here.

two weeks in a row the co-op included mangos and one week we received an big bag of grapefruit.

mangos are yummy but, not something i'd just eat to eat and really, grapefruit is good too but, i knew we wouldn't eat that huge bag in one week so, i made sorbet.

first, forgive the quality of these photos.  my camera is not it's usual self so i'm making due with what i have.  

both were super easy to make (using an ice cream maker) and we gobbled them up.  i've decided i prefer sorbet and fruit sherbets over the creamy stuff.  thank goodness.

mango sorbet

via susi's kochen und backen adventures

(her photo is much nicer)

2 large, ripe mangoes (2 pounds, 1 kg) {i used 4 small}
2/3 cup (130 g) sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) water
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon dark rum, plus more to taste {i used 2 Tbsp coconut rum}
Pinch of salt

Peel the mangoes and cut the flesh away from the pit. Cut the flesh into chunks and put them in a blender with the sugar, water, lime juice, rum, and salt. Squeeze the mango pits hard over the blender to extract as much of the pulp and juice as possible. Puree the mixture until smooth. Taste, then add more lime juice or rum if desired. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions

pink grapefruit sorbet

via once a chef always a chef

(her photo is much nicer too)

3 each Pink Grapefruits
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Water
1-2 Tbsp. Grenadine

Wash the grapefruits and zest 2 of the grapefruits. Combine the water, sugar, and zest in a saucepot and bring to a boil. Just cook until the sugar is dissolved then remove from the heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes so that the zest can infuse the simple syrup with its flavor. Meanwhile zest the third grapefruit and very finely mince the zest. Measure out 1/2 Tbsp. for the recipe and reserve the rest for another use. Juice and strain the grapefruits. This should yield approximately 2 cups of juice. Stir the mince zest into the juice. Strain the simple syrup into a measuring cup. It should be about 12 ounces. Pour half of it into the juice. Taste and adjust to your liking. It should taste overly sweet as the freezing process will deaden the sweetness considerably. I like my sorbets pretty tart so I stop with the 6 ounces. If you want something a little sweeter add a couple more ounces. If the color is not to your liking add the grenadine to bump up the color. You could also try food coloring, but be very careful, you want a nice light pink color, not red. Chill for at least 2 hours then freeze, in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s directions. Once it is done it is ready to eat, but I like to give my sorbets and ice creams a chance to harden in the freezer overnight before I dig into them.

candied grapefruit peel

i also made candied grapefruit peels from the other grapefruits brooklyn and i had for breakfast.  i can't remember where i got the recipe from but i doubt anyone really cares.  they were fun though (fun to make and fun to eat) and the kids really liked them.  two days worth of work and this is all we got out of it:

the first thing you do is get the peel off of the grapefruit getting rid of as much of the white part as possible without leaving the peel too thin.  i used two grapefruits.

then, you cover the peel with boiling water and boil for five minutes, strain, re-fill the pot, bring to a second boil and add the peel again for another 5 minutes.  repeat this four times total to get rid of the "bitterness" from the peel.

the next step is probably where i'll fail you.  it seems you dissolve a cup or two of sugar in a cup of water then boil the peel for an hour and half in this sugar water.   once the peel is translucent, remove it from the sugar water onto a rack (line under the rack with parchment paper to catch the drips).  let sit overnight (for at least 8 hours) then roll the peels in sugar.

nice and healthy *wink*