Minted Citrus Granita Food

MINTED CITRUS GRANITA

Steps:

• Place 8- or 9-inch square glass baking dish in freezer to chill. Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat 1 cup of the soymilk and the sugar just to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Add tea bags and push into soymilk mixture; let stand 5 minutes. Discard tea bags.
• Stir in remaining 2 cups soymilk, the orange peel and lemon peel until well blended. Pour into chilled dish; freeze 30 minutes. When ice crystals begin to form at edges of dish, stir mixture with fork. Freeze about 3 hours longer, stirring every 30 minutes, until completely frozen.
• To serve, scoop into individual dessert bowls. Garnish with mint leaves.

MINT GRANITA

Steps:

• Bring water, mint, and sugar to a boil in a 1- to 2-quart saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 3 minutes. Add lemon juice and pour through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard on solids and discarding them, then cool.
• Freeze mixture in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart shallow nonreactive metal container, stirring and crushing lumps with a fork every 30 minutes, until evenly frozen, 2 to 3 hours. Scrape with a fork to lighten texture, crushing any lumps. Spoon into glasses or bowls.

JEFES GRAND GRANITA

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring water, sugar, orange zest & mint to the boil. Reduce heat immediately and simmer until sugar dissolves (It's important to make sure the sugar dissolves completely, otherwise it's a disaster).
• Strain to remove the mint, then put the syrup back into the pan.
• Add apples & cook until the apples are soft and pulpy. Take saucepan off heat and allow to cool (you can cheat & put this in the fridge if you like to speed the process up)
• Put orange juice, lemon juice, and orange-flavored liqueur or Grand Marnier (if you're using them) into a blender along with the apple-mint syrup. Blend until smooth.
• Food Processor Method - Pour the granita mixture into a freezer proof dish, cover with plastic wrap and allow to freeze solid - for best results overnight.
• Remove from the freezer about 10 minutes before serving - this allows it to soften slightly - then either process the granita in a food processor or use a fork scrape it into fine crystals.
• Alternative method - Place plastic wrap over pan and place pan in freezer. After 45 min or when ice-crystals have begun to form around edges of pan, use a fork to scrape up frozen chunks and mix into the rest of the frozen mixture. Return to freezer and continue to "rake" granita every 30 to 45 minutes until there isn't any liquid left in the granita.
• To serve spoon granita into dishes or glasses and garnish with mint. Serves 4 - 6.

MINTED LEMON GRANITA

Steps:

• In a saucepan combine the sugar and the lemon juice, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, and let the syrup cool. In a blender or food processor purée the mint with the syrup, transfer the mixture to 2 metal ice-cube trays without dividers or 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. Scrape the granita with a fork to lighten the texture and serve it in chilled goblets.

TROPICAL CITRUS GRANITA

Steps:

• Stir together the orange juice, mango punch and water. Pour into large shallow glass baking dish.
• In small saucepan (or a small microwave bowl) heat water with sugar until dissolved. Whisk together with coconut water and coconut cream. Pour into shallow glass baking dish.
• Place both dishes in the freezer for 2 hours. Remove from freezer, scrape edges and mix with a fork. Return to freezer, scraping every hour until no liquid remains, 6-7 hours total. Layer fruit granita on bottom of glass, followed by coconut mixture, and another layer of fruit granita on top. Garnish with tropical fruit.

MINTED WATERMELON GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine sugar and watermelon juice in a small saucepan; bring to a boil.
• Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves; remove from heat.
• Place watermelon cubes, lime juice and peppermint extract in a blender; cover and process until smooth, stopping once to scrape down sides.
• Add sugar mixture to blender; cover and process until blended.
• Pour mixture into a 9x13-inch pan, cover and freeze at least 8 hours or until firm.
• Remove mixture from freezer and scrape with a fork until fluffy.
• Garnish with mint and serve immediately.

ITALIAN LEMON ICE (GRANITA)

Steps:

• Combine 2 cups of the water with the sugar in a medium nonreactive saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat.
• Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved.
• Add the salt, stir, and remove the pan from the heat.
• Stir in the remaining water and let cool to room temperature.
• Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, place a shallow metal 2 1/2 qt container (such as a large cake pan) in the freezer to chill.
• Add the lemon juice, lemon peel, and extract to the chilled sugar mixture; stir until well blended.
• Pour into the chilled metal pan.
• Place the pan in the freezer for 30-60 minutes, or until ice crystals form around the edges.
• Stir the ice crystals into the center of the pan and return to the freezer.
• Repeat every 30 minutes, or until all the liquid is crystallized but not frozen solid, about 3 hours.
• To serve, scoop the granita into chilled dessert bowls or goblets.
• (If the granita has become too hard, scrape it with a large metal spoon to break up the ice crystals.) Serve at once.
• Advance Preparation: The granita can be stored, covered, for up to four days in the freezer, but it will have become frozen solid.
• To serve, either allow the granita to thaw in the refridgerator until you can scrape the crystals, or break it up into chunks and process with on/off motions in a food processor fitted with the knife blade until fairly smooth.

MINTED CITRUS GRANITA

Steps:

• Place 8- or 9-inch square baking dish in freezer to chill.
• Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat 1 cup of the soymilk and the sugar just to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
• Add tea bags and push into soymilk mixture; let stand 5 minutes. Discard tea bags.
• Stir in remaining 2 cups soymilk, the orange peel and lemon peel until well blended.
• Pour into chilled pan; freeze 30 minutes. When ice crystals begin to form at edges of pan, stir mixture with fork. Freeze about 3 hours longer, stirring every 30 minutes, until completely frozen.
• To serve, scoop into individual dessert bowls. Garnish with mint leaves.