Autumn is coming.

As a kid, I remember seeing seasonal school calendars, and noticing that September was always lumped in with the autumn months.  The month of September was typically represented by a back-to-school image, which made sense, but the accompanying theme of falling leaves did not.  The first month of school back in Davis, CA was often plagued by near 100°F days, not giant piles of leaves.  I know that this extended summer is not the norm everywhere, but I was still surprised by the weather change here in Philly this month.  It is noticeably colder at night, and the uncomfortable humidity makes only occasional appearances now.  Don't get me wrong, I like this cooler weather.  It reminds me of what San Francisco is like most of the year, but I was finally starting to enjoy the warmer nights.

To pay homage to this transitional month, I'm using a seasonal fall ingredient to salute the last few weeks of warm weather:

The Grape

When people discuss favorite seasonal ingredients, grapes are almost always overlooked.  Grapes, like apples and oranges, are ALWAYS at the grocery store.  This promotes the false notion that they do not have a domestic or local season, but they do!  Like anything found during their prime harvest time, they will taste better, look nicer, and cost less.  Side note: Bananas also hang around all year in our produce markets, but they are tropical and therefore don't have a season.   What gets shipped to us isn't the most exciting, most delicious, banana specimen out there....but that's another post for another time.

For grapes, we are entering the peak of the season.  Grapes are harvested from July to December, and although we may only think of red and green (typically both Thomson Seedless hybrids), there are many varieties to eat, just think of all the wine varietals.  Other familiar eating varieties include the Concord (the best "baking" grape), the similarly coveted Korean Kyoho, and hundreds of others, including hybrids such as the Thomcord (a seedless cross between the green Thomson and Concord).  Ok, before I go food-nerd crazy on more grape varieties (grape nuts? Sorry...), let's get to the recipe!

Recipe: Fresh Grape Granita

Ingredients:
1 pound seedless Grapes, any variety.
Depending on your grapes:
1-2 tablespoons water
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons sugar
1-2 tablespoons wine (like Muscat) or liqueur (St. Germain)

Tools: Blender, fork, metal pan

Method:
1. Wash grapes, remove from stem.
2. Place grapes in a blender.  Blend for 3-4 minutes until smooth.  If you want less pulp, you could strain it at this point, but I like it a little thicker.

These grapes look like giant cranberries here...

At first you'll think "this is going to have lots of grape skin that I'll need to strain out",
but just keep it going at a medium-low speed, and it will be fine.

3.  Taste the grape mixture.  If you are using typical table grapes, as I have, your grapes are probably super sweet.  Add at least 3 tablespoons of water and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.  If your grapes are a specialty or heirloom variety that is not overly sweet, but full of flavor and color, start with just 1 tablespoon of water and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.  After making any additions, taste and reevaluate.  Keep in mind that when frozen, flavors are slightly muted, so don't dilute the natural flavor too much.
4.  Once you are done tasting, pour juice into a shallow metal dish or pan, and place in the freezer.
5.  Once the grape juice is completely frozen, which takes at least 5 hours (overnight is easiest), scrape it into crystals with a fork.  That's it!
6.  Re-scrape and fluff with a fork before serving in chilled bowls or glasses.  If you are going to wait a few days to serve, be sure to cover it with plastic.

Sliced grapes are surprisingly beautiful! 

The Result: A sweet, icy treat that will please just about everyone.  A perfect ending to a filling and rich meal.  Serve with fresh grapes (a contrasting color or flavor would be a nice touch), or pour sparkling wine or soda to make a refreshing and sophisticated slushy.

So this granita is for you, September, enjoy the treat!  Now if you could tell October and November to play nice, I'd really appreciate it.

Some Like It Hot

I'm not one of those people.  After leaving California's Central Valley (90-105 F summers) for more temperate climates further south in LA area (70-80 F year round), my ability to cope with uncomfortable heat evaporated.  Then, what little heat adaptability I had left completely disappeared when I later moved to the SF Bay area (65 F in July).  The one thing that has remained constant across geography and time, is my ability to consume large amounts of ice cream regardless of air temperature.  It is a talent I inherited from my father and a skill I've continued to hone over the decades through rigorous and focused training.    

So given that today is one of the hottest days so far since moving to Philly I decided I should make some ice cream.  Then I decided, since I'd probably eat all of it, I should make sherbet.  Plus, milk is cheaper, sherbet is faster, and I have bigger plans for the pint of cream sitting in my fridge.  

Technically these are pluots, but let's not get too snobby.

I decided on Plum Buttermilk Sherbet.  After Googling for a bit, I triangulated a loose approach to throwing a batch together, but I wouldn't say it was a recipe per se.  A recipe for a frozen delight can be easier to develop than say, a cake recipe, but you still have to balance several factors.  And, I'm not talking just about taste, though that is clearly important, I'm talking about getting the right texture once it's frozen.  I've seen freshly churned ice cream enter a freezer and I've seen both concrete bricks and slushies exit a few hours later (none of mine...I swear). So here is a quick run down on the usual suspects without getting too technical.

1. Sugar: A higher proportion of sugar lowers the freezing point of the mix.  You put too much sugar in, it will not freeze properly.  Too little and you've got an ice cube, or a popsicle, which fortunately is also delicious.

2. Fat: Fats have high freezing points.  Just think about what happens when you put some oils in the fridge, they harden.  So, too much fat may lead to an ice cream that may be too hard and chalky...and will probably feel fatty on the roof of your mouth.  

3. Alcohol:  Anti-freeze is made of alcohol, so besides flavoring your frozen treat, all that rum/vodka/bourbon also makes it softer.  Too much liquor can make it a slushy, so don't get too boozy if you want something scoopable.

4. Thickeners:  This one is weird, I realize, but hear me out.  Good texture is mainly dominated by small ice crystal size.  A thicker sorbet base will keep some of the ice crystals from getting too big as the mixture hardens in the freezer.  These more viscous bases can incorporate more air (think apple sauce versus apple juice), and more air means a more frothy or "creamier" scoop.  This is especially important for sorbets which--gasp--sometimes contain egg whites or gelatin for increased creaminess and improved texture.  The story gets more complicated with custard-based ice cream because of more milk solids, fat, egg yolk etc.  That's for another time, we don't want anyone falling asleep now.

5. Water:  All of the components listed above, in essence, allow you to tweak the way water freezes.  So if you want the opposite affect of everything above, add more water.  Clearly this dilutes flavor, use sparingly.

With all that in our apron pocket, time to mix!

Put it all in the blender and use a scale
...no washing measuring cups and spatulas!

A little corn syrup is not evil (more viscosity = better texture)

After tasting over and over again while slowly adding
the sugar (the little triangle symbol), this is the "recipe"

A few pinches = Flavor Country

Side note: I once heard a savory chef who was moonlighting as a pastry chef say that "Vanilla is the 'salt' of the pastry world" and he added vanilla to EVERYTHING.  I now know where he got it, and I love & respect David Lebovitz, but I don't think that line is true.  Vanilla is very useful, but salt is the 'salt' of the pastry world, and if used properly, it will enhance most desserts.  

If you don't have this texture in 15-20 minutes of
churning in a home machine...something is wrong.

Done! About 23 minutes for me.

The Results:  Tasty and scoopable.  A little on the sweeter side of perfect, which also put it on the softer side as well, but it paired well with some fresh blueberries.  Texture is light and creamy, and the buttermilk provided nice acidity.

Verdict: I'd make it again, but I'd employ a few tweaks.  You could add another 2-3 tart plums to balance the sugar and add more color.  If you don't like things too sweet, and don't mind the alcohol, you could probably cut 50-75g of sugar and add 1T of vodka.  

Alright, back to training...