Chill out with a granita

• Cool things to do with Italian ices

By Jarett C. Bies
Sioux Falls (S.D.) Argus Leader

Pineapple and strawberry granitas can be garnished with fresh fruit for a dessert touch. Granitas can also be appetizers. Gannett News Service

Granitas that can be anything from desserts to palate cleansers and appetizers.

The snow-cone (shave-ice) texture of the granita makes it both county fair food and a gourmet delicacy, says Jeni Thomas, who owns and operates Chef Jeni, a personal chef service in Sioux Falls, S.D.

"It's an easy thing to make, and you can make it in so many ways," Thomas says. "They're hot right now, and you can make them without any special equipment."

Granita is made with a simple syrup — usually sugar and water — and a pureed fruit or vegetable. Liqueur or coffee also can be used, as well as herbs or chocolate.

The mixture is poured into a shallow pan and placed in the freezer. After a couple of hours, the ice forming in the corners of the pan is scraped to the center. This process is repeated every half-hour until the entire pan is filled with ice flakes.

Foodnetwork.com features more than 20 recipes for granitas, listing each as an easy dish to prepare.

After that, it's just a matter of enjoying them. Culinary arts instructor Randy Doescher says granitas, which when served as desserts are known as frappes, are easy ways to use everything in the kitchen.

"We try to utilize everything ... and the juice from canned fruits is a great base to make frappes or granitas," Doescher says. "We take the juice and put in it the freezer, then mix air into it by stirring it every so often."

Doescher says that by adding sugar or water, you can adjust the sweetness and consistency of the mixture. When the ice is crystallized, drizzling a liqueur, such as brandy or cognac or grenadine, will finish the dish.

"If the juice is strong, add some sugar, and if it gets too sweet, cut it with some more water," Doescher suggests.

Fresh mint leaves, berries and sprigs of herbs can be used for garnish, and Doescher advises freezing the serving glasses before filling them.

"Each person's version of a granita will be different, as they may use more juice or more sugar," he says. "It's easy, and you can put your own label on it. No one else will serve it exactly the same way."

Sorbets can be made in a similar fashion, but they often will be whipped smooth by an ice cream maker. Thomas recently found a good machine at a rummage sale and has been making homemade ice cream ever since.

"The machine I have churns and refrigerates, so it's a good one, and I found it cheap, so I'm lucky," she says. "The recipes for ice cream don't call for a lot of cooking, either, so you can do it all the time."

One of the recipes Thomas uses calls only for heavy cream, sugar and half-and-half. The machine does the rest, she says. "There's no hand-cranking and no rock salt, and the ice cream comes out perfectly," she says. "I've had a Ben & Jerry's ice cream recipe book for years, and the chocolate recipe is just great."

Machines like the one Thomas uses also will make sorbets, which don't feature the crystals of a granita but instead are smooth and compact. "The Internet has tons of recipes, and there are good books like the one I have," she says. "There are even recipes for beer sorbets and other liquor-based ice treats."

Simply granita

Here's the granita master method.

• Pour the granita mixture into a wide and shallow container.
• Cover with a lid, foil or plastic wrap. Freeze for an hour or two, until solid around the edges.
• Remove from freezer, scrape ice with fork, mixing it from the edge into the center.
• Repeat scraping and mixing process every half-hour or so (at least three times) until the entire mixture is sequin-size ice flakes.
• It's best to eat at once. If frozen overnight or longer, remove to counter, let sit 10 minutes, then scrape again and serve.

Cool things to do with Italian ices

Here are a variety of granita blends from Nadia Roden's book "Granita Magic" (Artisan, hardcover, $15).

Orange Granita

• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
• Zest of 2 oranges
• Juice of 6 large oranges
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3 to 4 teaspoons orange blossom water (optional)

Put the water, sugar and orange zest in a saucepan and gently simmer until the sugar dissolves. Remove the saucepan from the heat to cool. Mix in the orange and lemon juices and the orange blossom water, if using.

Freeze according to basic method. Serves four to six.

Tropical Pineapple Granita

• 1 large pineapple
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon or lime
• 4 to 8 tablespoons sugar, depending on the sweetness of the pineapple
• 1 (13-ounce) can coconut milk or 1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice or water

Cut the crown off, and halve the pineapple lengthwise. Cut away the peel with a large, sharp knife and pare out any remaining eyes. Slice each half into two pieces lengthwise, cut away and discard the hard core, and cube the flesh.

Place the pineapple pieces in a food processor with the lemon juice and zest, sugar and coconut milk, and process to a fine puree.

Strain the puree through a fine sieve, pressing down with a spoon. Discard the solids. Taste and add more sugar if needed.

Freeze according to master method. Serves four to six.

Granitas are not only fruity treats for a hot day, they also can serve as palate cleansers between courses of a fancy dinner. These recipes demonstrate how versatile granita can become:

Balsamic Red Pepper Granita

• 2 pounds roast red bell peppers (5 large; see note)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed (optional)
• Handful of chopped cilantro (optional)

Blend the roasted peppers, their juices and all the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Taste and add more sugar, lemon juice or seasonings if needed.

Freeze according to basic method. Serves four to six.

Note: To roast bell peppers, grill or bake them until blackened. Let them cool in a plastic bag (the steam will loosen the skins). Then peel off the skins, saving the juices, and scrape out the seeds. (Avoid rinsing the peppers, because this washes away much of the flavor.)

Tequila and Lime Granita

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 3/4 cup sugar or more to taste
• Zest of 2 limes
• Juice of 4 limes
• 6 tablespoons tequila

Combine the water, sugar and lime zest in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat when the sugar has dissolved.

Allow the syrup to cool down before mixing in the lime juice and tequila.

Freeze according to basic method. Serves four to six.

Champagne Granita

• 2 cups water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3 cups champagne, chilled

Bring the water, sugar and lemon zest to a boil in a saucepan. Boil for three minutes, then remove the saucepan from the heat. Allow to cool before adding the lemon juice.

Freeze the granita using the basic method.

When the mixture is almost frozen, scrape it with a fork, and stir in the champagne. Re-cover the pan and allow it to freeze again.

Serve it straight from the freezer. Serves four to six.

All recipes and techniques are from "Granita Magic: 55 Ices for Every Reason and Every Season — Always the Perfect Thing to Serve" by Nadia Roden (Artisan Books, $15).