Best Wine Honeydew And Tarragon Granita Recipes

HONEYDEW GRANITA

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Cool., Pulse honeydew, sugar syrup and wine in batches in a food processor until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Transfer to an 8-in. square dish. Freeze 1 hour. Stir with a fork. Freeze, stirring every 30 minutes, until frozen, 2-3 hours longer. Stir again with a fork just before serving.

MINT JULEP GRANITA

Steps:

• Put 6 or 7 glasses in the refrigerator to chill.
• Cook 3 cups water, the mint and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl, pressing on the mint with the back of a spoon to extract all the juices. Let cool completely, or chill over an ice bath.
• Stir in the bourbon, and pour into a 3-quart (9-by-13-inch) glass or metal baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap, and freeze overnight.
• Scrape the surface of the ice with a fork in long, light strokes to create a snowy texture. Break up any remaining lumps. Freeze the granita again for at least 2 hours before serving. Fifteen minutes before you are ready to serve, put 6 to 7 glasses in the refrigerator to chill. Serve the granita in the glasses, garnished with fresh mint leaves.

HONEYDEW AND MINT GRANITA

Steps:

• Bring the sugar and 3/4 cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the mint, pressing with a wooden spoon to submerge. Let cool completely, then remove the mint with a slotted spoon and discard.
• Combine the mint syrup, honeydew and lime juice in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a 7-by-11-inch or 8-inch square metal baking dish.
• Freeze the honeydew-mint mixture until ice crystals begin to form around the edges, about 45 minutes. Scrape the crystals toward the center of the pan with a fork, breaking apart any large chunks. Continue freezing, scraping every 30 minutes or so, until all of the granita has been scraped into flakes, 3 to 4 hours. Spoon into chilled bowls and top with mint leaves.

RED WINE GRANITA

Steps:

• Combine the frozen berries, sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Puree in a food processor and strain through a fine wire-mesh strainer, pressing the fruit with a wooden spoon to release the juices. Let cool. (Or place over an ice water bath to cool quickly.)
• Combine the syrup with the wine in a bowl. Pour into a 9-inch square metal pan. Freeze, scraping the mixture occasionally with a fork to create ice crystals, until firm, 4 to 6 hours. Spoon the granita into serving glasses and garnish with mint and fresh berries.

HONEY-DEW AND SAKE GRANITA

Steps:

• To make the granita:
• In a small saucepan combine the sugar and 3-1/2 cups water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring. In a blender purée the ginger with the syrup, the wine, and the food coloring, chill the mixture until is cold, and stir it. Transfer the mixture to 2 metal ice-cube trays without the dividers or to a shallow metal pan and freeze it, stirring and crushing the lumps with a fork every 30 minutes, for 2 to 3 hours, or until it is firm but not frozen solid. The granita may be made 2 days in advance and kept covered and frozen. Scrape the granita with a fork to lighten the texture.
• On each of 4 plates arrange 2 of the honeydew slices and top 1 of the slices on each plate with a scoop of the honeydew and sake granita. Top the other slices with a scoop of the pickled ginger and plum-wine granita.

TARRAGON AND WHITE WINE GRANITA

Steps:

• Rinse the tarragon and bruise it with the back of a spoon. Place it in a medium saucepan with the sugar, and 3 cups water. Simmer until sugar dissolves.
• Remove from heat and add the wine and lemon juice. Let stand at room temperature to infuse for one hour, or refrigerate up to overnight.
• Strain into a wide shallow nonreactive dish, leaving in a few sprigs or leaves. Cover with a lid, plastic wrap, or foil.
• Transfer to freezer until frozen around the edges. Remove from freezer, and scrape the ice with a fork, mixing it from the edge into the center. Return to freezer. Repeat scraping and mixing process every 30 minutes or so (at least 3 times) until the entire mixture has turned into small, sequined ice flakes.
• Best eaten immediately. If leaving in freezer overnight or longer, let sit at room temperature until it softens a little, then scrape it again with a fork to lighten the texture.

TARRAGON AND WHITE WINE GRANITA

Steps:

• Rinse the tarragon and bruise it with the back of a spoon. Place it in a medium saucepan with the sugar, and 3 cups water. Simmer until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add the wine and lemon juice. Let stand at room temperature to infuse for one hour, or refrigerate up to overnight. Strain into a wide shallow nonreactive dish, leaving in a few sprigs or leaves. Cover with a lid, plastic wrap, or foil. Transfer to freezer until frozen around the edges. Remove from freezer, and scrape the ice with a fork, mixing it from the edge into the center. Return to freezer. Repeat scraping and mixing process every 30 minutes or so (at least 3 times) until the entire mixture has turned into small, sequined ice flakes. Best eaten immediately. If leaving in freezer overnight or longer, let sit at room temperature until it softens a little, then scrape it again with a fork to lighten the texture.

RED WINE GRANITA

Steps:

• Place a 9" x 13" metal baking pan in the freezer for 2 hours to pre-chill. Dissolve honey in water in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Combine honey mixture and wine in baking pan and return it to the freezer. Freeze, stirring and scraping frozen parts every 30 minutes to create ice crystals. You want a slushy, snow cone texture, not a solid freeze. Spoon into dessert cups.