Minted Lemongrass Sorbet Recipes

LIME, GINGER, AND LEMONGRASS SORBET

Steps:

• 1. In a blender, combine the lemongrass with 3 cups water and puree until mostly smooth. (Lemongrass is very fibrous, so you will not get to a completely uniform consistency; that's okay.) Transfer the puree to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat, cover, and let the liquid infuse for 15 to 20 minutes. Strain the syrup into a bowl, pressing on the solids; discard the solids in the strainer. You should wind up with about 2 cups of strained "lemongrass tea"; be sure to measure out your final yield.
• 2. In a medium saucepan, combine the "lemongrass tea" with the same amount (by volume) of sugar. So, if you wind up with 2 cups tea, you will add 2 cups (400 grams) sugar. Stir the mixture over medium-high heat until all the sugar has dissolved and the syrup comes to a simmer. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.
• 3. Transfer the cooled syrup to a quart-size container and stir in the ginger juice and lime juice. Cover and refrigerate the sorbet base until completely cold, at least 3 hours.
• 4. Pour the chilled sorbet base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Place the container in which you refrigerated the sorbet base in the freezer so you can use it to store the finished sorbet. Churn the sorbet until it resembles Italian ice. Transfer the sorbet to the chilled storage container and freeze until hardened to your desired consistency. The sorbet will keep, frozen, for up to 7 days.

LEMON-MINT SORBET

Steps:

• Bring the sugar, water, mint, and lemon balm to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Strain into a heatproof container. Stir in the muscat wine. Refrigerate until cold, about 4 hours.
• Stir in the lemon juice; pour the chilled mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's directions until it reaches "soft-serve" consistency. Transfer ice cream to a one- or two-quart plastic container with a lid; cover surface with plastic wrap and seal. For best results, ice cream should ripen in the freezer for at least 2 hours or overnight.

MINTED LEMONGRASS SORBET

Steps:

• Thinly slice as much of lemongrass stalks as possible, discarding dried thin upper portion. In a saucepan simmer water with lemongrass, covered, 5 minutes. Add mint and simmer, uncovered, 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and add sugar, stirring until dissolved.
• In a blender purée mixture and strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids. Chill syrup, covered, until cold and freeze in an ice-cream maker. Sorbet may be made 1 week ahead.

TOMATO-WATER SORBET WITH MINT

Steps:

• Remove stems from tomatoes and place in a food processor with the salt. Run for 30 seconds until well broken up, but not a purée. Add the mint. Run for 10 more seconds.
• Place a cotton cloth (a thin towel, not cheesecloth) in the bottom of a bowl and pour the contents of the food processor into it. Bring the corners together to form a pouch and tie together with string. (The tomato water will already start to drip out.) Lift the towel 3 to 4 inches above this liquid and suspend over the bowl in a cool place. Allow tomato water to drip into this bowl overnight.
• The next day, add the lemongrass and heat the tomato water without boiling, using a ladle to skim off any particles that rise to the surface. When the tomato water is clear, correct seasoning with Fleur de Sel and freshly ground white pepper. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before churning in an ice-cream machine. Set up to finish in the freezer.

MINT SORBET

Steps:

• Stir sugar, water and mint together in a 2 1/2-quart souffle dish. Cook, uncovered, at 100 percent in a high-power oven for 3 minutes. Stir thoroughly, making sure there are no grains on the bottom of the dish. Cover with a lid or microwave plastic wrap. Cook for 6 minutes. Prick plastic, if used, to release steam.
• Remove from oven and uncover. Let cool. Strain through a fine sieve. Refrigerate until cold, several hours or overnight.
• Whisk lemon juice into syrup. Place in an ice-cream machine and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.