Thyme Sekanjabin Sherbet Recipes

SEKANJABIN

Steps:

• Dissolve sugar in water in a medium pot.
• When it reaches the simmer, add the vinegar and mint. Simmer slowly for 30 minutes.
• Strain into a storage bottle. Can be kept at room temperature indefinitely if sealed.
• To drink, mix 2 tablespoons of syrup with 1 cup of cold or hot water.
• Sugar-free variation: Increase water to 3 cups. Simmer water, mint and vinegar for 30 minutes. When cool, add 80-90 1-gram packets (to taste) of aspartame-based sweetner (Equal or similar brand).

SEKANJABIN (IRANIAN MINT VINEGAR SYRUP)

Steps:

• Stir honey and water together in a pot; bring to a boil and stir constantly until honey dissolves. Add vinegar, reduce heat to low, and simmer until syrup flavors combine, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Submerge mint in hot syrup and cool to room temperature. Remove and discard mint. Chill in the refrigerator.

TANGERINE SHERBET

Steps:

• Freeze the canister of an ice-cream maker overnight.
• Drop the gelatin and about 2 tablespoons of water into a small saucepan and turn your back on it. Strip the zest from two tangerines with a Microplane, a zester or, if you aren't that kind of person, a regular potato peeler. Toss the zest into a bowl (if you used a potato peeler, give it a rough chop first) and squeeze the tangerines, even the naked ones, removing any seeds, to make 1 1/2 cups of juice.
• Remembering the saucepan, put a little heat under it until the gelatin starts to look smooth, not grainy. Then stir in the sugar, salt, juice and zest and turn up the heat, letting it come to something like the temperature of your finger. Stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved, then chill it in the refrigerator. When it is cold, strain out the zest and toss the juice into the tank of your ice-cream maker along with the cream, which should be cold, too. Do whatever you usually do with your ice-cream maker until you have a creamy sherbet. With luck, you will have an extra hour to chill the sherbet before serving it. Tiny spoons will make it last longer, but not much longer. You might think about making twice as much.