Can You Granita This?

Cold Brew Granita

We’re currently having a heatwave… no, not a tropical heatwave (Oh gee, I just dated myself). Tropical heatwaves might be more welcome because in that situation, I am envisioning that there is a beach and tropical cocktails involved. 

That is not the case here... we have this dry desert heat in this place that we call Northern California. AAAARGH! I am treating this as an emergency situation and opting to mostly stay inside – similar to house arrest. In this sweltering heat, I find myself thinking about cool things to keep myself from mental heat exhaustion. Things like shaved ice, winter ski trips, Jokulsarlon Lagoon in Iceland, or even watching Game of Thrones when they go North of the Wall (oh wait, that's Iceland too).

I also found myself looking back to my summer of granita and sorbets, more specifically – making my own granitas. I never made granitas before this year -- maybe because I had some free time last summer or just time to rest my mind, expand my horizons and had a chance apply what I have read.

It all began with a Strawberry Lemonade Granita. I had some left-over Strawberry Lemonade from Sauced BBQ.  After my free refill, I felt full so I opted to bring the rest home (along with half of that yummy baked sweet potato, but I digress). I intended to enjoy it through the rest of the day, but looking at the cold beverage and its gorgeous pinkish color, I remembered reading about how to make granita: put the selected beverage (preferably very sweet) in the freezer and “agitate” occasionally. The lemonade was indeed very sweet and that is why there are some left-overs. Seems easy enough... since I was home for the rest of the afternoon, I decided to give that a try. Also, it was a different way to use leftover juice.

I loved the results. I was hooked.

From that time on, I started playing “Can you granita this?”. Cold Brew Coffee was my next victim (first picture above). I found a recipe for coffee granita from Martha Stewart and started with those proportions. I typically cut the sugar by a third: so instead of 1/2 cup of sugar, I used about 6 Tablespoons for 3 cups or 2 T per cup. I still thought that it was a bit excessive, so I ended up using less (Please sweeten to your liking. I was tasting it, i.e. caffeinating, as I add sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time).

Martha’s recipe also used homemade whipped cream. Although I was initially resisting making my own, an older lady at the store convinced me to do so. She said it was so easy to make it with the mixer (She has a manual handheld one) and once you do it, you’ll never come back to pre-made whipped cream in a can (or tub).

After reading what was in ready-made whipped cream, I was convinced. There is so much extra stuff in there that I'd rather know what is in it - cream, sugar and vanilla extract. I bought heavy whipping cream and the results blew my mind. Another twist was I ran out of vanilla extract. I ended up using almond extract. If you have not tried that – give it a try. It will immediately transport you to Italy.

My next challenge was how to get rid of all the watermelon we bought for the potluck. Can I granita watermelon juice? Well, even better – This watermelon sorbet recipe from Delish.com said I can sorbet it. No Maddifications this time – although I considered adding a mint simple syrup instead of using sugar. But that means I have to figure out to make simple syrup (not that there is anything wrong with that). Adding sugar so much easier. I did garnish it with mint.

Chai Tea! Yes, chai tea was definitely something I’ve always wanted to granita. This is actually perfect because it’s a great way to freeze the extra chai tea that I have when I buy the Tazo Chai concentrates. It was also an awesome way to end an Indian-inspired meal. The chai granita really worked although I am still working on the whipped cream combination, though. Regular whipped cream or even almond whipped cream does not do the trick.

Strawberries were obviously not safe to the “Can you Granita this challenge?” I was going to meet my sister at the farmer’s market and deliberately overbought strawberries for my nieces. However, she texted me and said that something came up – bummer. However, the next day as I was munching on strawberries, visions of strawberry sorbet came to my mind. This strawberry sorbet recipe I used was from King Arthur Flour. This time I did make simple syrup (and was wondering how to make basil simple syrup).

The sorbet turned out to be too sweet even though I cut down on the sugar. Perhaps the strawberries were sweet as it was. The sorbet itself was somewhat more difficult to keep scoop-perfect… But really, who cares – it's strawberry sorbet.

I did end up with an excellent solution to solve the sweetness: Get some sparkling water and some of strawberry’s friends like blueberries and blackberries. Put a scoop in a glass, pour some sparkly and pop some berries. Refreshing!!! (I wish I had some of that sorbet right now.)

It was an great way to spend the summer. I learned new techniques and have something to add to my repertoire.  This was a cool (yes, pun intended) way of making your own frozen desserts without an ice cream maker.

I do need to find better ways of photographing them. I tried different angles and this side view makes the best profile, for now.

That said, no lemonade, cold brew, or chai is safe from the freezer… at least during the summer. Also, Peet’s now knows why I get that extra order of cold brew -- Mwahahahaha!

"Non-Dairy" Avocado Ice Cream (or "How I Spent My Summer Vacation")

Serving 1: With slivered honey almonds

It has been an interesting summer. I took a break from my dance class to rest my knees, get much needed recovery time, and get a chance to clean up around the house. It really felt I had a vacation, even though I was still working. I loved the extra free time that I had to take walks, window shop and even read! I miss that.

An interesting side effect was I also ended up spending extra time in the kitchen. It is one of my creative outlets, although it is mostly due to the necessity of nourishment. Regardless, it gave me a chance to play with ingredients and be inspired. 

One of these experiments was making my own frozen desserts. I guess it started when I made Avocado “Ice Cream”. I’ve always wanted to make Avocado Ice Cream like my Dad did every summer. Avocado was one of his favorites (and still is) so he would take one or two avocados, mash them and mix them up with condensed milk and put it in the freezer and enjoy it for a week. Dad would be back at the fridge once or twice a day getting avocado ice cream while I had my normal Magnolia Chocolate Marble (Yeah!) or Mocha. Back then, I did not like avocado and preferred chocolate (well, I still do), so Dad enjoyed it all by himself.

Frozen fruit in the (Ninja) Blender

Now, I love avocado. During the season, I may have an avocado or three every week – on toast, tacos, tamales, omelets, you name it. I am a “Californian” anyway, so I think its a law to have avocado (along with Kale). There was a time when I bought mini avocados. My Hubby was wondering why I bought them – but it was the perfect size for one serving.

Back to ice cream… With my making dairy-free banana “ice cream” last year, I was inspired to make a healthier and perhaps dairy free version of my Dad’s summer favorite. I am trying to minimize my dairy and condensed milk has tons of sugar, so that was my motivation. I had a vision of combining avocado with frozen bananas and getting the perfect scoop.

Freezing the avocado was also in my vision because I usually end up with half of an avocado after lunch. That was the other rationale for freezing. I thought freezing it will preserve the lovely green color.

Here’s what I have so far…

Mad Gourmet’s Healthier Dairy-free Avocado “Ice Cream”

Inspired by my childhood summers with Dad
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 avocado (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 banana (about 1/2 cup)
• (Up to) 1/4 cup of coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp of agave syrup (add more to taste)
• Almond slivers or coconut shavings for toppings.

Directions

1. Peel and cut banana and avocado into one inch slices.
2. Freeze (I usually do this overnight).
3. Put avocado chunks and banana in a blender.
4. Add coconut milk as needed (consistency should be like ice cream not a smoothie)
5. Top with almonds or coconut shavings and enjoy.

Verdict

Serving 2: With Coconut Shavings

I love the combination of avocado and bananas. The bananas provide the creaminess that you usually get with ice cream. The addition of coconut milk adds to the creaminess and makes it closer to the ice cream that Dad loved. It also makes for a delicious but healthy tropical treat.

As blended, it is a yummy dessert, but tricky to make a perfect scoop. It usually has a yogurt-like (or shall I say guacamole?) texture that may be a bit runny for the scooper. I find that putting the mixture in the freezer until it firms up (about 20-30 minutes) does the trick. As I am writing this, I am thinking that a quenelle may be a good alternative presentation.

After that experiment, I became encouraged to make my other frozen treats. (Hmmm... I feel another blog post coming). Think granitas and sorbets... some with summer fruit. I never thought that these would be so easy to make.

So, here’s my summer tribute to Dad. By the way, he loved Durian too… but I don’t think I’ll acquire a taste for that.

Going Bananas? Make Banana "Ice Cream"

We had a delivery from Safeway last week that included eight free bananas - eight bananas! Too much for two people and cat. We thought that this was a great deal since in addition to the fruit, it also included free delivery. We also thought that we can finish all that bananas. After all, my husband had visions of peanut butter filled bananas as a snack.

Well, that did not happen, and we still had six bananas! Now, they're getting brown.

I remembered reading about banana ice cream from frozen bananas; that seems like a great option for the remaining six. So, I put the whole bananas in the freezer: peel and all.

Bananas in a blender - Puree & Stir

Over the week, I finally got around to making Banana Ice Cream based on the recipe from Sparkpeople.com. This recipe is a combination of peanut butter and bananas so it follows my husband's vision.

One problem though: I did not peel the bananas first. DUH!

I searched Google again for possibilities and found a lot of options. What I tried is the technique shown in Happy Herbivore.com. I got my trusty knife and surprisingly, the bananas did peel easily. The fruits were extraordinarily cold though, so it helped to put on a latex glove.

I followed the recipe - but there was another problem: I do not have a food processor. I had to use my blender, which did not quite like pureeing frozen bananas without anything liquid. It needed a little bit of liquid, so I had to add a bit of almond milk (about 1/4 c). I figured the nuttiness of the almond milk would compliment the peanut butter. After adding the almond milk, the pureeing came easier. Still, a lot of stirring was involved.

Verdict

The result was actually pretty good. Pureed frozen bananas turned out to be surprisingly creamy. I wanted to try the recipe as-is first and see if we need to increase the peanut butter. My husband said we should.

I served this batch with some light whipped cream and peanut butter granola for crunch. The granola also tied to the hint of the peanut butter flavor of the ice cream. I think next time, we'll try 1 Tbsp instead. 

Serving it in a ramekin also added a touch of elegance to it. I could have gone overboard and added chocolate syrup, but I opted for simplicity for this one and focusing on the natural flavors of fruit and nut, with a hint of cream. It was yummy, almost like ice cream.

Perhaps next time, I will use the recipe at Herbivore.com that uses vanilla and cinnamon or maybe some combination of it. Vanilla and Peanut Butter does sound great together.

Just goes to show: When life gives you bananas, make banana faux-ice cream. Until next batch.