Honeydew Granite Food

HONEYDEW GRANITA

Steps:

• Place sugar in a small pan with 3 tablespoons water and lime juice.
• Stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, around three minutes.
• Remove from heat.
• Cut honeydew in half, remove seeds, peel and chop into chunks.
• Transfer to a food processor.
• Add sugar mixture and salt.
• Process until slushy.
• Transfer mixture to a 9-inch metal square baking pan and freeze for an hour.
• Stir with a fork to break up chunks around the edges.
• Freeze until completely frozen or about 2 hours longer.
• Continue stirring with fork every 30 minutes to loosen ice crystals.
• Serve in chilled glasses or bowls.

HONEYDEW AND MINT GRANITA

Steps:

• Bring the sugar and 3/4 cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the mint, pressing with a wooden spoon to submerge. Let cool completely, then remove the mint with a slotted spoon and discard.
• Combine the mint syrup, honeydew and lime juice in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a 7-by-11-inch or 8-inch square metal baking dish.
• Freeze the honeydew-mint mixture until ice crystals begin to form around the edges, about 45 minutes. Scrape the crystals toward the center of the pan with a fork, breaking apart any large chunks. Continue freezing, scraping every 30 minutes or so, until all of the granita has been scraped into flakes, 3 to 4 hours. Spoon into chilled bowls and top with mint leaves.

WINE, HONEYDEW, AND TARRAGON GRANITA

Steps:

• 1. Combine the wine and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, then cool.
• 2. Puree the honeydew and tarragon in a blender, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a mixing bowl. Combine the wine, honeydew juice, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt, then transfer to a square baking dish. Put in the freezer until firm, scraping and stirring with a fork every 30 minutes until the mixture is slushy, about 2 hours. Serve garnished with tarragon leaves or sprigs.

HONEYDEW GRANITE

Steps:

• Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside until cool.
• Process the melon, sugar syrup and lemon juice in a blender until smooth. Add the gin and pepper and blend until well mixed.
• Pour the mixture into a large, nonreactive pie plate and place in the freezer. Stir every 30 minutes until frozen. Scrape up the granite, divide among 4 dishes and serve.

HONEY-DEW AND SAKE GRANITA

Steps:

• To make the granita:
• In a small saucepan combine the sugar and 3-1/2 cups water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring. In a blender purée the ginger with the syrup, the wine, and the food coloring, chill the mixture until is cold, and stir it. Transfer the mixture to 2 metal ice-cube trays without the dividers or to a shallow metal pan and freeze it, stirring and crushing the lumps with a fork every 30 minutes, for 2 to 3 hours, or until it is firm but not frozen solid. The granita may be made 2 days in advance and kept covered and frozen. Scrape the granita with a fork to lighten the texture.
• On each of 4 plates arrange 2 of the honeydew slices and top 1 of the slices on each plate with a scoop of the honeydew and sake granita. Top the other slices with a scoop of the pickled ginger and plum-wine granita.