The Thrifty Cookbook: 476 Ways to Eat Well With Leftovers (70 page)

Sorbets and granitas are both sweetened fruit ices that can easily be made at home, but while sorbets are smooth, sweetened with a sugar syrup, granitas are chunkier and ‘icier’, a bit like a carnival slush puppy but without the lurid colour. For both, any of the fruits or combinations suggested for smoothies and milkshakes on the previous page will work supremely well, as will ripe melon, grapefruit, pears or oranges.

I think the crunchiness of granita works best with citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and grapefruits. Pineapple and passion fruit also have the right kind of tartness, as do berries like redcurrants, strawberries and early raspberries. If the fruit you are using is very sweet, add a squeeze of lemon juice. Vary the exact amount of water and sugar to fruit according to your taste – these are only guidelines.

Serves 4

3–4 teacups (around 400g) prepared fruit, or 800ml–1 litre freshly squeezed citrus juice

175g caster sugar, or to taste

about 570ml water

a squeeze of lemon juice (optional
)

If using prepared fruit,
blend it in a liquidiser, add sugar to taste and blend again. Add water (to taste, but the mixture needs to be quite liquid) and blend once more. Strain through a nylon sieve.

If using juice,
simply mix it with the sugar and water, adding a squeeze of lemon if the juice is very sweet.

Freeze in the widest plastic box you have for 2 hours. Take it out of the freezer and thoroughly mash up the icy crystals with a fork. Freeze for another hour, break up with a fork again and then serve in glasses.

You can ring the changes with sorbets by replacing the syrup with a tub of crème fraîche or even yogurt. These will give creamier results, somewhere between a classic clear sorbet and an ice cream, and work best with tart berry fruits such as redcurrants or raspberries. If you have a leftover egg white, whisk it up and fold it into your fruity mixture for extra lightness.

Serves 4

125g caster sugar

125ml water

3–4 teacups (about 400g) prepared soft fruit

a squeeze of lemon juice (optional
)

To make a sugar syrup, put the sugar and water in a small pan and stir over a moderate heat until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer gently for a minute, then allow to cool.

Whiz the prepared fruit in a blender, then strain the pulp though a nylon sieve, pushing it through with the back of a wooden spoon. For very sweet fruit, such as pears, you might like to add a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten (but not overwhelm) the flavour.

Mix the fruit pulp with some of the syrup, tasting as you go. The last thing you want is for your sorbet to be really sweet, but bear in mind that freezing intensifies the sharpness of the fruit, so err slightly on the side of sweetness.

If you have an ice-cream maker, it will now come into its own. Alternatively, pour the mixture into the widest plastic box you own. Put it in the freezer and, when it is set quite firm (but not hard), remove it and whisk vigorously. This breaks down the ice crystals and makes for a smoother sorbet. Repeat the freezing and whisking routine a couple of times for the best effect before storing the sorbet in a plastic tub (such as an old ice-cream container) in the freezer. Take it out of the freezer 15 minutes or so before you want to serve it.

These four ideas are almost afterthoughts in any kitchen – the bare minimum, if you like, that you can do to turn something on its way towards the bin into something more than worth eating.

Dried fruit keeps for ages in an airtight container and is great for lunchboxes, picnics and afternoon snacks. Like Bottled Dried Tomatoes (see
page 44
), the flavour becomes deep and luxurious.

Apple, pineapple, mango, apricot and pear all work well. Peel the fruit if necessary, core or stone it, then cut it into slim rings or slices. If you like the crunch and sparkle of sugar, you could scatter a little caster sugar over the slices before baking them. Soft spices like ground cinnamon and mixed spice are all good too.

Spread the sliced fruit out on a baking tray and place in a very low oven – around 100°C or the lowest possible gas mark. Rather than crisp up, the fruit should dry slowly, its sugars concentrating as it shrinks slightly. Depending on the fruit you use and how thickly you cut it, this can take anything from 45 minutes to a couple of hours. Allow to cool before storing.

This is a time-honoured way of dealing with ripening fruit. Make up the pancake batter on
pages 196
–
7
. Heat a good centimetre of vegetable oil in a wide pan and, when it is shimmering but not smoking, dip chunks of peeled apple, pear or even banana into the batter and slip them carefully into the hot fat. Fry until puffed up and golden, then drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle over a little caster sugar to serve.

Caramelised ripe fruit is lovely in pancakes or served with yogurt or ice cream. Caramelising is a brilliant thing to do with bananas in particular but apples, pears, mangoes, pineapple and oranges are all delicious too. Exact quantities don’t really matter. Simply melt equal quantities of butter and caster sugar in a frying pan – gently, so that neither burn – stirring occasionally. Once the sugar has dissolved into a caramel, add chopped fruit and shake it around in the pan until it is well covered in its gooey sauce. Let it cook over a low heat until the fruit is tender – bananas will take almost no time, while apples will need around 7 minutes. How soft you let the fruit become is up to you. Allow to cool just a little before serving, or dollop a good spoonful of ice cream over the fruit as you serve. Watch for children’s mouths: fudgy, molten sugar is incredibly hot.