Granita And Watermelon Parfait Food

WATERMELON GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Puree until smooth. Pour into a shallow, wide pan and freeze for 1 hour. Rake mixture with fork and freeze for another hour. Rake and freeze for one more hour. Rake and serve in cups.

GRANITA AND WATERMELON PARFAIT

Steps:

• To make the granita, bring water and sugar to a boil, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Mix with the juice and pour into a loaf pan. Place in freezer and stir with a fork every hour or so until mixture resembles frozen slush. To make the panna cotta, scald cream and milk together with sugar. Soften the gelatin in cold water, drain well, and add to hot milk. Strain and cool. To assemble: In a tall parfait glass, layer the watermelon chunks, the cream, more chunks and finally the granita.
• Asti, Michele Chiarlo

ROOT BEER GRANITA-VANILLA PARFAIT

Steps:

• The day before you plan to serve, pour 4 cups of the root beer into ice cube trays to a depth of no more than 1/2-inch. Keep the remaining root beer refrigerated until ready to serve. Freeze overnight, along with tall, thin glasses or parfait glasses for serving. When ready to serve, unmold the cubes into a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process, pulsing, just until crushed. Place a straw in each glass, and layer the parfaits by alternating scoopfuls of the root beer granita and vanilla ice cream, ending with a scoop of ice cream on the top. Serve with a pitcher of the remaining root beer, and pour root beer up to the top of each parfait at the table.

WATERMELON GRANITA

Steps:

• Place watermelon chunks in blender and blend briefly to coarse puree. Measure sieved puree; it should have yielded 3 cups.
• Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 1 minute. Let cool completely and combine with watermelon puree and lemon juice. Pour mixture in 8x12 metal pan and place in refrigerator. When completely chilled, cover pan, move to freezer and freeze 30 minutes. Stir mixture with fork, scraping down sides well to loosen ice crystals that have formed. Freeze another 30 minutes and repeat scraping and stirring. Repeat several times, or for a total of 23 hours, until mixture ice evenly icy and crystalled throughout. Serve within 68 hours.

WATERMELON, LIME AND MINT GRANITA

Steps:

• Working in 2 batches, puree watermelon in a food processor. Strain puree through a sieve and strain out solids, forcing liquid out with a wooden spoon. Discard solids. Combine the watermelon puree, lime juice, mint and sugar in a 9 by 13-inch metal pan. Place mixture in the freezer, scraping thoroughly with a fork every 20 to 30 minutes for about 2 1/2 hours, or until the granita resembles coarse crystals. Scrape 1 last time and spoon into parfait glasses or bowls. Top with a mint sprig.

WATERMELON GRANITA WITH CHAMPAGNE

Steps:

• Place cubed watermelon and sugar in the pitcher of a blender. Blend for 1 minute. Stir in the champagne. Pour the watermelon mixture into a plastic container, cover and place in the freezer. Stir the mixture with a fork every 30 minutes until frozen, about 2 hours.
• Before serving, remove the frozen granita from the freezer and stir well using a fork or place in the food processor and process until it reaches the desired consistency. Serve in tall glasses garnished with sliced watermelon.