Fresh Ginger Granita Recipes

CITRUS-GINGER GRANITA

Steps:

• Stir water, sugar, ginger, lemon zest, and lime zest together in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture is bubbling, 5 to 10 minutes; cool slightly.
• Stir the ginger mixture an orange juice together in a pitcher; pour into a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Place dish in the freezer; scrape and stir orange juice mixture with a fork once every hour until granita is evenly frozen and crystallized, about 6 hours.

GINGER-LIME GRANITA

Steps:

• Special equipment: a meat tenderizer
• Combine 5 cups water and the turbinado sugar and ginger in a medium pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then turn off the heat and stir in the lime juice. Let cool to room temperature.
• Pour the mixture into a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan and place in the freezer. Freeze until completely frozen, about 4 hours or up to overnight.
• Take the pan out of the freezer when it becomes a giant ice cube. Smash the frozen block with a meat tenderizer and scoop crushed granita into chilled martini glasses. Garnish with lime zest and serve immediately. Freeze any remaining granita until ready to 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.

FRESH GINGER GRANITA

Steps:

• In a blender or food processor, purée the ginger with 1 cup of water. Combine the ginger purée, sugar and the remaining water in a saucepan. Bring to a bare simmer over high heat, not allowing the mixture to boil.
• Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer and add the lemon juice. Pour into a prechilled, non-reactive baking pan. Place in the freezer.
• Stir the granita every 15-20 minutes until it is evenly frozen with large crystals, about 2 hours.
• Or, let it freeze without stirring until solid, about 4 hours. When solid, use a metal spoon to scrape it into a light, granular texture or place broken pieces into a food processor and chop to desired texture.

CLEMENTINE-GINGER GRANITA

Steps:

• Slice top 1/2 inch off 12 clementines; reserve. Cut around flesh and scoop out into a sieve set over a bowl; reserve skins, being careful not to tear them. Press flesh to extract juice. Squeeze in juice from tops. (You'll have about 1 cup.) Halve and juice remaining clementines (to yield 2 cups).
• Bring 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, and ginger to a boil in a pan, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; let stand 30 minutes. Discard ginger. Stir in clementine and lemon juices; transfer to a nonreactive 8-inch square baking dish. Freeze until solid, about 3 hours.
• Meanwhile, brush clementine skins with water. Roll in remaining 1/4 cup sugar to coat. Freeze until solid, about 2 hours.
• Scrape granita with a fork to fluff. Spoon granita into clementine "cups." Freeze 10 minutes before serving.

BLUEBERRY GINGER GRANITA

Steps:

• Finely grind ginger with sugar in a food processor. Add blueberries and purée until smooth. Force purée through a fine sieve into an 8- to 9-inch baking pan, pressing hard on solids (discard solids). Stir in water and lime juice.
• Freeze, stirring and crushing lumps with a fork every hour, until evenly frozen, about 4 hours total. Scrape with a fork to lighten texture, crushing any lumps.
• Serve immediately or freeze, covered, up to 3 days (rescrape to lighten texture again if necessary).

FRESH STRAWBERRY GRANITA

Steps:

• Rinse strawberries with cold water; let drain. Transfer berries to a blender and add sugar, water, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and salt.
• Pulse several times to get the mixture moving, then blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour into a large baking dish. Puree should only be about 3/8 inch deep in the dish.
• Place dish uncovered in the freezer until mixture barely begins to freeze around the edges, about 45 minutes. Mixture will still be slushy in the center.
• Lightly stir the crystals from the edge of the granita mixture into the center, using a fork, and mix thoroughly. Close freezer and chill until granita is nearly frozen, 30 to 40 more minutes. Mix lightly with a fork as before, scraping the crystals loose. Repeat freezing and stirring with the fork 3 to 4 times until the granita is light, crystals are separate, and granita looks dry and fluffy.
• Portion granita into small serving bowls to serve.

GRANNY SMITH, GINGER, AND BASIL GRANITA

Steps:

• Slice apples and process enough slices in juicer, skimming and discarding any foam, to measure 3 1/2 cups juice, then transfer juice to a large bowl and stir in vitamin C and lemon juice. Process ginger in juicer, then stir 1 tablespoon ginger juice into apple juice.
• Pulse together sugar and basil in a blender until sugar is bright green and basil is finely ground, then stir into apple juice until sugar is dissolved. Let stand 5 minutes, then pour through a fine-mesh sieve into an 8- to 9-inch metal baking pan.
• Freeze, stirring and crushing lumps with a fork every hour, until evenly frozen, 3 to 4 hours. Scrape with a fork to lighten texture, crushing any lumps.

PLUM-GINGER GRANITA

Steps:

• Pulse ginger in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer ginger to a large saucepan. Add plums, sugar, salt, and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved and plums have broken down, about 15 minutes.
• Pour plum mixture through a fine sieve into a 9-by-13-inch shallow nonreactive dish; discard solids. Stir in vanilla. Chill in freezer until edges are frozen, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove from freezer; scrape with fork tines, pulling from edges into center. Return to freezer. Repeat process every 30 minutes until mixture is the texture of shaved ice, about 4 1/2hours. Spoon into serving bowls, and garnish with plums.

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.