Green Tea Granita Recipes

GREEN TEA AND GINGER GRANITA

Steps:

• Put the ginger in a saucepan with 3 cups of water and bring almost to a boil, add the tea, cover and turn off the heat. Let sit for 10 minutes, then strain and discard the solids. Stir in the honey and lemon juice and taste. You want a fairly sweet mixture, so add more honey if necessary.
• Pour the mixture into a shallow glass or ceramic pan and freeze. Stir to break up the ice every 30 minutes or so, until the mixture is slushy and crunchy with crystals, about 3 hours total. If the mixture becomes too hard, pulse it once or twice in the food processor to break it up, or put it in the fridge and stir occasionally until it reaches the desired texture. Spoon into small bowls and serve.

GREEN TEA AND GINGER GRANITA

Steps:

• Bring a tea kettle, with 3 cups of water, to a boil over medium heat.
• In a heatproof bowl add the sugar, ginger and tea bags. Pour in 3 cups of boiling water. Stir to dissolve the sugar and let the tea bags steep until the liquid is cool. Strain and pour into an 8 by 8-inch metal cake pan and put it into the freezer. Check it after 45 minutes to 1 hour (depending on your freezer). Stir with a fork breaking up any ice crystals that have formed. Put the pan back into the freezer and continue checking and forking every 45 minutes to 1 hour until you have a container of ice shards.
• To make orange cups, slice the oranges in half and carefully remove the flesh with a spoon, making sure to keep the rinds intact. In a small bowl, muddle the orange flesh to get out the juice, then strain and reserve it for the "Rising Sun" cocktail recipe. Slice a bit of the bottom of each orange half so that it can stand upright. Put the orange rinds into the freezer.
• Once the granita is completely frozen, divide it evenly among the 4 orange halves and serve immediately.

GREEN TEA GRANITA

Steps:

• In a saucepan, bring the water and honey to a simmer over medium high heat, stirring until the honey dissolves completely. Let cool.
• Stir in the green tea, and lemon juice, then pour into a very cold 13x9-inch pan and carefully set in the freezer.
• Stir with a fork every 45-60 minutes, breaking up the any ice cyrstals that may have formed, until the mixture is firm.
• Scrape with a fork and serve in glasses, garnished with a slice of lemon.

ROASTED PINEAPPLE WITH GREEN TEA AND MELON GRANITA

Steps:

• Peel and cut 1 pineapple into 2-inch cubes. Using a vegetable juicer, juice the cubed pineapple, (you can also use a food processor to puree the pineapple and press it through a strainer lined with cheesecloth so that you are left with pure juice). Pour the juice into a saucepan with the cardamom. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, set aside, and let the cardamom infuse.
• Peel the remaining pineapple and cut horizontally into 1-inch round slices. Cut out the center core with a small size round cutter. Place slices of pineapple in the pineapple juice, bring to a boil, and then turn off the heat. Let cool and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
• The following day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove pineapple slices from the juice place on a sheet pan. Roast in the oven until tender, about 30 minutes.
• To plate, place warm pineapple in a bowl and top with a scoop of Green Tea Melon Granita.
• Place the melon in a bowl. Add the ground ginger, green tea powder, and honey. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and strain into a shallow 9 by 13-inch metal pan or dish.
• Stir in the lime juice, let cool, and then freeze overnight.
• The following day, remove the granita from the freezer, scrape with a fork to make the granita, and return to freezer until ready to serve.
• Yield: 6 servings