Basil Granita With Peaches Food

BASIL GRANITA WITH PEACHES

Steps:

• Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add basil; cook until basil turns bright green, about 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to ice-water bath until cool, about 1 minute. Drain; pat dry.
• Stir together sugar and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until sugar has dissolved. Add basil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat; let cool completely.
• Puree the basil mixture in a blender, about 1 minute. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in honeydew juice. Refrigerate, covered, 8 to 12 hours.
• Using the back of a spoon, press basil mixture through a fine sieve into a nonreactive bowl. Stir in lemon juice and salt. Transfer to an 8-inch square nonreactive baking dish, and place in freezer. Rake with a fork every 30 minutes until mixture is completely frozen, about 3 hours.
• Arrange peaches on 6 chilled serving plates, dividing evenly; top with granita. Garnish with basil sprigs and flowers.

LEMON-BASIL GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine the sugar with 3 cups water in a medium saucepan. Warm the mixture over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely. Remove from the heat, and cool to room temperature.
• Add the basil to the sugar syrup and muddle the leaves with the base of a wooden spoon. Let steep for 1 hour. Strain the mixture into a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish (discard the basil). Stir in the lemon juice and vodka, if using. Freeze until the mixture begins to set, about 2 hours. Scrape with a fork to form small crystals in the ice every 30 minutes to an hour until the mixture is fully frozen, about 1 hour more.
• Serve the granita in chilled glasses, garnished with the small basil leaves.

PEACH GRANITA

Steps:

• Puree peaches, water, sugar, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a blender; add more sugar to taste. Transfer to an 8-inch-square baking dish. Freeze for 2 1/2 hours, scraping with a fork every hour (mixture should be icy and fluffy). Stir in basil.

BASIL AND LIME GRANITA

Steps:

• In a pan, dissolve the sugar in the water. Bring it to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat, and add the basil leaves. Mix and leave to cool.
• When it is cold, remove the basil leaves and discard them. Add the lime juice, including any fleshy bits, and mix.
• Pour into a large freezer proof container, and put into the freezer.
• Every 15 minutes, for 2 hours, take out of the freezer and mix it up. Then every half an hour until the granita appears grainy and the crystals have been broken down. It should resemble snow or coarse sand.
• Enjoy!

POACHED PEACHES IN SPARKLING WINE WITH BASIL & VANILLA

Steps:

• Put the vanilla pods, seeds and sugar in a saucepan with 200ml water and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Once boiling, drop in the basil and peaches. Poach for 2-3 mins until just tender, then put a lid on the pan and leave the peaches to cool in the syrup.
• Once cool, pour in the sparkling wine and leave for 10 mins. While the poached fruit is soaking up the wine, beat the vanilla, mascarpone and cream together to soft peaks. Serve the peaches in a bowl with plenty of the liquid. Finish with a spoonful of the cream and a few basil leaves.

PEACH GRANITA WITH LEMON BASIL

Steps:

• Do not peel, but stone and quarter the peaches.
• Bring the water, wine and sugar to a boil; add the peaches and reduce heat to low. Simmer peaches until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Add the coarsely chopped basil. Cover and refrigerate over night.
• Strain out fruit and basil. Reserve peaches for another use.
• Add lemon juice to taste.
• Freeze in shallow pan, stirring every half hour until frozen.

TOMATO & BASIL GRANITA

Steps:

• Chop the tomatoes and place in a bowl with all the other ingredients except the basil leaves. If you have time, leave them to macerate at room temperature overnight. Blitz in a blender - in batches, then strain through a fine sieve. Shred the basil leaves and stir through.
• Clear a shelf in the freezer and place a sided metal tray in to chill. Make up your mix and leave to cool, then pour into the tray and cover with cling film. Freeze the liquid until frozen around the edges and slushy in the middle. Use a fork to break up the ice into smaller crystals. Return the tray to the freezer. Repeat the breaking up process every half hour (at least three times) until it's completely frozen and the texture of snow. For a quicker method: freeze the mixture in an ice tray, then blitz the cubes in a food processor just before serving. The texture will be slightly slushier, but just as delicious.