Fun with food- Orange Basil Granita

Been awhile since my last blog (feels like I’m in the confessional at a Catholic church) and I’ve had many intense feelings and experiences with food. I like when food appeals to all the senses, even the sense of humor. I enjoy finding the laugh and smile in my food. I feel it eating should be pleasurable as well as fun.

So recently when making a dinner for my mom, I found a great recipe for a really fun and simple dessert. It was for an Orange Granita that you serve in a frozen hollowed out orange. I would love to say this is my recipe, but it is from Wolfgang Puck and it turned out awesome. And it has me thinking about some other fun ways to serve a granita. 

For those of you not familiar with granita, it is a semi-frozen dessert made with sugar (or another sweetener), juice and flavorings. It is made simply by freezing the liquid and scraping it with a fork to fluff it up/break up the ice crystals. It’s like a really gourmet and grown-up version of a Slurpee. You know that fun "brainfreeze that makes your tongue every color imaginable" bit of sugary goodness you had as a child. This is just a bit more "refined", yet still very fun. It is a dessert originally from Sicily. 

So for this dessert, you hollow out an orange that you have cut off about 25% off of the top and freeze it. This makes a wonderful little serving dish. Then you pile in the finished granita so it looks like a whole orange again. And since this recipe calls for basil, you can slip a small basil leaf in to make it look like a leaf. This dish is super easy and fun. 

 Here is the original recipe. Though since my mother doesn’t eat sugar, I used Splenda instead. You also may use other sweeteners such as honey or agave syrup as well if you don’t want to use sugar. It also calls for an orange flavored liquer and I used Cointreau for this recipe. It adds a really nice intense flavor to the granita. 

Orange Basil Granita

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 6 oranges
• 4 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
• Sugar, to taste
• 3 sprigs basil
• 2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur (recommended: Grand Marnier)

Directions

Clean and wash the oranges. Cut off the top 1/4 of the oranges and shave a small slice off the bottom so it stands easily.

Using a grapefruit knife cut out the flesh of the oranges and place in a strainer set over a bowl. Be careful not to cut through the bottom. Stand the oranges on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer and freeze until solid.

Press the flesh of the oranges through the strainer to extract all of the juice. You should end up with about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups of orange juice. Add the extra 4 cups orange juice. Stir in sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is of desired sweetness. Add the basil and orange-flavored liqueur and let sit for 15 minutes.

Strain the mixture into a roasting pan or baking dish. The dish should be large enough so the liquid is not more than 1-inch deep. Freeze the mixture for 1 hour. Remove from the freezer and scrape with 2 forks to break up ice. Return to the freezer and freeze until solid, about 2 to 3 hours, scraping with forks every hour or so.

When the granita is frozen, scoop it into the orange shells and serve immediately.

Some other ideas I had for granita flavors are watermelon-lime that you serve in frozen hollowed-out limes. I think this would be good for parties for a fun passed dish. It would make a nice palate cleanser as well.  Also a nice coffee granita that you serve with a dollop of cinnamon whipped cream for a fun play on iced coffee. But those will be future recipes/future blogs to look forward to.

I too hope you can find the fun and whimsy in your food. Because food I feel should be more than just about feeding your hunger, but about feeding all of your senses.

Till next time live, love and eat some fantastic food.