Satsuma (Mandarin) Granita
During the thirty years that LeRuth's restaurant in Gretna was a glowing house of flavor, it served a pair of fruit ices that tasted more like the fruits involved than the fruits themselves. One of those was what Chef Warren Leruth called mandarin ice. During the satsuma season (early fall), this is best made with those sweet citrus darlings from Plaquemines Parish. You can make this in a pan, freeze it, and scrape it. Or, if you have an ice cream maker, you can make it as a sorbet in that machine.- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice, strained
- 3 cups freshly-squeezed satsuma or mandarine juice, strained
1. Combine the water and sugar in a clean saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. (The water doesn't have to come all the way to a boil, but it's okay if it does.) Allow this simple syrup to cool.
2. Add the other ingredients and stir completely. Pour into a nine-by-thirteen-inch metal pan, and put into the freezer. After 20-30 minutes, stir the mixture with a fork. Repeat that every 20 minutes or so, increasing the frequency a little when the mixture becomes a slush. When the stirring results in dry crystals, you're finished. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and hold in the freezer until serving time
Serves eight. During the thirty years that LeRuth's restaurant in Gretna was a glowing house of flavor, it served a pair of fruit ices that tasted more like the fruits involved than the fruits themselves. One of those was what Chef Warren Leruth called mandarin ice. During the satsuma season (early fall), this is best made with those sweet citrus darlings from Plaquemines Parish.