I Needa Granita

Aside from feeding Lucky and squishing my rapidly softening lemons down into their salty juices, I haven't done much cooking today.  I spent most of the day editing recipes and formatting them for submission.  I usually make three or four dishes everyday and photograph them though so I can afford to take a mental health break now and again.

The lighting has been bad the last couple of days...a little too overcast for good picture quality. I was hoping today would be a bit brighter so I could retake the photos of the granita from yesterday but no such luck.  These photos are not quite as bright as I'd like them to be but they are ok for the blog.  I'll have to retake them for the cookbook photo though. 

This granita idea actually started with Stella (The Witchy Kitchen) and her Rosewater.  I had a bottle that I bought quite some time ago and never opened.  Since I was fresh out of Eye of Newt, I figured Rosewater would make a passable substitution!

I use my juicer just about everyday and sometimes the combinations of fruits and or veggies is particularly tasty.  Yesterday, I needed a quick sweet pick-me up so I chucked a couple of ripe kiwi and a big bundle of red globe grapes (seeds, stems and all) into the juicer.  The resulting juice was a little oddly colored but it was so delicious...tart, sweet and tangy all at the same time...lovely!  I got to thinking that this would make a marvelous granita so I added a bit of raw blue agave syurp and just a splash of rosewater.  WOW...what a flavor!  The agave is not so much for sweetness as it is for helping the granita to freeze "fluffy". 

I wish the light was better on the pictures so you could appreciate just how lovely and light this was but ah well...I'll have to make it again anyway so I'll get better photos next time.

Kiwi, Grape and Rosewater Granita

This is just so simple its not really even a recipe.  I do suggest using freshly juiced fruit as opposed to buying bottled juices though.  This tastes like pure, sweet fruit...NOT sugar!

I juiced 5 large kiwi and one huge bundle of red globe grapes (about half a pound of grapes) to make 2 1/2 cups of juice.  Add agave to your own taste.  I only used about 2 tablespoons.  Then I whisked in 3/4 of a teaspoon of rosewater.

Pour the mixture into a large glass casserole dish and place in the freezer.  You will want to take the granita out about every 35-45 minutes and scrape it with a fork to create the fluffy ice crystals that is charateristic of this dessert.  Stirring doesn't do the job!  Repeat as many times as needed until mixture is completely frozen and you have nice fluffy ice crystals.

Spoon into serving glasses and garnish with a slice of kiwi and a half grape.  Serve immediately.   There are four servings on the tray but I had enough granita for four more glasses.  I believe these are two ounce cordial glasses. 

Creamsicles and Conversation

Yesterday was pick up day for the co-op and I came home with a booty fit for a pirate.  Oh wait...is that booty or bounty?  I guess it depends on the pirate eh?  Ok...I need to get Johnny Depp OUT of my head and FOCUS on the fruits and vegetables! 

I've been scouring the local grocery stores for a couple of weeks now looking for some organic Swiss Chard...to no avail.  I hit the jack pot this week with the co-op because she had some of the prettiest red chard I have seen in a long time.  I'm planning to use it rather like a grape leaf to make a quinoa stuffed chard appetizer.  It is steamed in lemon broth just like Greek Dolmas.  I like to serve mine on a platter of greek olives, feta shards and crusty bread with some olive oil for dipping.  Its hard to find better food than that! 

Pretty amazing looking produce huh?

Anyway, I am making that today along with Polenta toasts with Wild Mushroom Medley, Roasted Vegetable Quesadillas and if I have time...baba ganoush.  That will complete the photos for the appetizer chapter of my book. 

This morning I made Papaya Orange Creamsicles and I have to say, they turned out fantastic!  The recipe is SO simple and only requires a few ingredients.  The "cream" in this instance is coconut milk, making these luscious frozen pops completely vegan AND completely insanely delicious!

Papaya Orange Creamsicles

Makes 6 (2 ounce each) frozen creamsicles

• 1 extra large navel orange, zest before peeling and reserve zest - removed only the oil orange part of the skin with a paring knife and leave some of the white
• 1 cup frozen papaya cubes (or fresh...you'll just have to wait longer for the creamsicles to freeze)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened organic full fat coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons reserved orange zest

*Note :  I did not add any type of sweetener to these because the orange and ripe papaya is sweet enough for my taste.  If you want them sweeter, try adding a little raw blue agave or stevia.

1. Run peeled orange through a juicer.  Place orange juice, papaya cubes and coconut milk in the blender.  Blend until smooth.  Pour into a bowl and stir in reserved orange zest.
2. Pour mixture into 6 (2 ounce) moulds of choice.  If you  have used frozen papaya, the mixture will be thick enough to stand the lollipop stick in.  If not, freeze for 20 minutes or until stick will stand straight in mould.  Freeze until completely firm.

If desired you can serve with some strained raspberry puree.  I add 1 pint of fresh raspberries to my blender with 2 tablespoons of raw coconut tree syrup (you could also use raw blue agave).  Blend until pureed; strain out seeds and served with Creamsicles.

This was RIDICULOUSLY GOOD!

(c) copyright Jill Anderson

The Homegrown Gourmet