Mojito Granita Food

MOJITO GRANITA

Steps:

• Pour the water into a bowl, add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Leave to cool, then add the lime juice, zest, rum, Angostura bitters and mint. Pour the mixture into a chilled baking dish and place it in the freezer. After 30 minutes, take the dish out and use a fork to pull any crystals away from the sides of the container. Put it back in the freezer and keep checking it every 30 minutes, forking through and breaking up any crystals. Repeat until you have a container of fluffy crystals. This will take 4-5 hours. If not serving the granita straight away, scrape it into a plastic container with a lid and store it in the freezer. Remove 20 minutes before serving and garnish with a wedge of lime on the side. Another serving idea is to hollow out the flesh from some of the lime halves and serve the granita in those.

WATERMELON MOJITO GRANITA

Steps:

• Remove rind from watermelon; dice into large cubes. Add watermelon, water, sugar, and mint leaves to an electric blender. Blend until pureed.
• Pour in rum and give it a couple of stirs to incorporate. Pour mixture into a 9x12-inch pan and place in the freezer for 4 hours. Scrape the mixture with a fork every 1 to 2 hours. It will not freeze completely due to the rum.
• Serve in a shallow bowl or a nice glass.

MOJITO FREEZE

Steps:

• Mix pretzel crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of plastic wrap-lined 9-inch round pan. Freeze until ready to use.
• Beat cream cheese, sugar, lime zest, juice and mint in medium bowl with mixer until blended. Whisk in 1-1/2 cups COOL WHIP; spoon over crust.
• Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Serve topped with remaining COOL WHIP.

MOJITO GRANITA

Steps:

• Add the water and sugar to a small, nonreactive saucepan, then grate the zest from the 2 limes directly into the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved. Reserve 5 of the mint leaves, add the remaining mint to the saucepan, and remove from the heat. Cover and let stand for 8 minutes, then remove the cover and let cool to room temperature.
• Once cool, strain the mixture into the container you plan to freeze the granita in, pressing firmly on the leaves to extract all the flavorful liquid. Discard the mint leaves. Stir in the lime juice and rum, then finely chop the reserved 5 mint leaves and add them as well. Freeze according to the instructions for freezing granita on page 145.
• Perfect Pairing
• If you love the refreshing taste of mint as much as I do, pair this with a scoop of Fresh Mint Ice Cream (page 99).

PINEAPPLE MOJITO GRANITA

Steps:

• In 12-inch skillet, cook pineapple over high heat 2 to 3 minutes or until edges turn golden brown and sugars begin to caramelize.
• Place pineapple in food processor or blender. Add lime juice and honey; process 30 seconds or until smooth. Pour into ungreased 9-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish. Stir in mint leaves. Cover; freeze 30 minutes.
• With fork, scrape mixture to distribute ice crystals evenly. Freeze 30 minutes longer.
• Scrape mixture again. Scoop into dessert dishes or cups. Serve immediately.

MOJITO GRANITA

Steps:

• Add the water and sugar to a small saucepan; grate the zest from the 2 limes directly into the saucepan.
• Bring mixture to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved.
• Reserve 5 of the mint leaves; add the remaining mint to the saucepan, and remove from the heat.
• Cover and let stand for 8 minutes, then remove cover and let cool to room temperature.
• Once cool, strain the mixture into the container you plan to freeze the granita in, pressing firmly on the leaves to extract all the flavorful liquid.
• Discard mint leaves.
• Stir in the lime juice and rum; then finely chopped the reserved 5 mint leaves and add them as well.
• Place granita in the freezer; begin checking it after about 1 hour; once it begins to freeze around the edges, take a fork and stir the mixture, breaking up the frozen parts near the edges into smaller chunks and raking them toward the center.
• Return dish to freezer, then check mixture every 30 minutes afterward, stirring each time and breaking up any large chunks into small pieces with a fork, until you have beautiful, fine crystals.
• Serve in a chilled cocktail glass/martini glass.