Apple Celery Granita Food

GREEN APPLE-MINT GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine the sugar and 2 cups water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes; transfer to a blender and let cool completely.
• Add the mint to the blender and puree until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into an 8-inch-square stainless-steel or glass baking dish. Finely grate the skin of the apple into the pan (you won't need the rest of the apple), then stir in the lime juice.
• Freeze until ice crystals begin forming around the edges, about 45 minutes. Use a fork to scrape the crystals toward the center of the pan, then continue freezing, scraping every 30 minutes, until frozen, about 4 hours.
• Avoid aluminum pans-they can react with the acidic ingredients and produce a metallic taste. Use stainless steel or glass instead.

CELERY APPLE GRANITA

Steps:

• Crush vitamin C tablet in a bowl with back of a spoon, then line a sieve with dampened flour sack cloth and set over bowl.
• Purée apples with 1/3 cup water in a food processor (do not use a blender) until almost smooth, then pour into cloth. Bunch up cloth around mixture and squeeze as much clear juice as possible through cloth (about 11/2 cups). Discard solids remaining in cloth. Rinse and wring out cloth, then return to sieve.
• Purée tarragon with remaining 1/3 cup water in processor until water is deep green, then add celery and purée until almost smooth. Pour into lined sieve and squeeze out juices (about 1 1/2 cups) into bowl with apple juice. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• Freeze mixture in an 8-inch square baking dish, scraping and stirring with a fork every 30 minutes, until frozen, at least 3 hours. (It will be too hard to scrape once fully frozen.)

GREEN APPLE GRANITA

Steps:

• In a large pot over medium heat, combine the water and sugar. Cook and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup looks clear, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool the syrup by pouring it into a bowl and putting it into the refrigerator or over an ice bath.
• Put the lime juice into a large bowl. Add the apples to the lime juice, and toss as you go so they don't turn brown. Put the apples and lime juice, sugar syrup, and apple liqueur in a blender; puree until completely smooth. Pour the apple mixture into a shallow baking pan and freeze for 1 hour. Using a fork or a couple of chopsticks, break up all the ice crystals on the bottom and sides of the pan. This incorporates air so the final product literally melts in your mouth. Freeze for 3 to 4 hours, until the mixture has reached a frozen granular consistency. You can serve it two ways: Either rake the granita with the tines of a fork for a snow-cone-like product or run an ice-cream scooper down the length for a smooth Italian-ice-like result. Spoon it into a wine or martini glass.