Juicy Post: Granita To The Rescue

It’s Too Darn Hot

Cole Porter was right. Why do we always forget about August in March?  In the DMV it is really too hot and  humid to always grill outside.. Even the spatchcocked chicken from July’s Bonus Recipe is better than standing outside waving the smoke around the burning coals. And if you have not treated yourself to granita, another hot-weather Sicilian specialty, now is the time to drag your body over to the sink, create a syrup around your flavoring, allow it to get really cold, partially freeze and then flake the slush, refreeze and flake again a few times. Or  throw it into an ice cream maker, which is what I do – and that seems to be the method used in almost all the restaurants that I went to in Sicily. Granita is lighter then sorbetto, with the latter really a sweetened fruit puree that is aerated and frozen (sometimes with an egg white). And the success of a sorbet depends on the sugar density of the puree, while a granita’s triumph does not. 

Colazione di Campioni

I have always, always hated cereal for breakfast. Pastries, fruits or cookies,  I get that. Even cold cuts and cheese with whole grain bread, but a processed grain cereal – yuk. A  Sicilian bun with granita and whipped cream, which I had read about for years and probably have waited for all my life, is my ideal summer breakfast. I think one of the nicest books you can use for inspiration is the one written by Nadia Roden titled Granita Magic. It doesn’t get a lot of traction, but I think it is a gem in introducing you to savory and sweet granite. Although I don’t have a dairy allergy, this is my go-to dessert for friends who can’t tolerate any milk product.  The standard Sicilian breakfast accessory  for  granita is an Italian take on a French  brioche (watch one of my favorite tee shirt clad cooks on Giallo Zafferano)   I  sometimes skip the brioche part when I make a fruit-based granita. Instead, I make a seasonal fruit salad with a bit of Triple Sec and top it with a scoop. But if I’ve made coffee or pistachio granita, and I really want to feel like a morning champion, I top it off with whipped cream. I feel almost Sicilian.

Four Breakfast Possibilities

I keep a Bialetti  Moka coffee maker and a Frieling French Press just for coffee desserts and variations of ice coffee. .  The  Moka will give you a more intense coffee flavor out of the two.  Use an espresso roast, and I prefer one that is made with all Arabica beans. If you run it through your ice cream maker, the granita will be very fluffy, almost meringue-like in its appearance and more velvety in taste. The real discovery with this coffee version is the glorious substitution of Light Muscovado sugar for white sugar. You can add a couple of tablespoons of pure Pistachio Cream to the Pistachio recipe below to make Bronte (pistachio) flavor more pronounced. My favorite brand is Stramondo. For a garnish, crushed Amaretti crumbs fit almost all  flavors.

One of the reasons I love the Granita Magic book is the wildly imaginative way she combines flavors I would never think of in a granita – sour and sweet cherry or pineapple coconut (delicious with maple syrup on top); or fresh ginger, lime and my windfall of blueberries. The other person in this household, who said he didn’t like granita, has changed his mind and adores her pineapple coconut version, with the addition of the aforementioned maple syrup…and whipped cream. 

Roden’s  directions to hand flake any granita mixture are simple: pour it into a shallow container with a lid or cling wrap. Freeze it until the mixture has frozen around the edge  – about 30 minutes to an hour. Remove it from the freezer and with a fork stir the frozen part toward the center. Repeat this process every 20 to 30 minutes until the whole mass has turned into a tray of tiny ice crystals.