Saturday, November 12, 2005

Had mint, made a granita

I bought a lot of mint in Montreal last weekend and I had to find a way to use it. Mint tea is a great option but I felt more like making desert today. I made this nice granita using lemon and lime juice, some dried orange zest that was sitting on my spice rack for a long time now, sugar, vodka, pernod, triple sec, and, of course, mint. I first made a strong mint tea by boiling some of the mint in water, to which I added the citrus juices, the orange zest and some sugar. I cooled it down, strained it, and added the liquors and a fine chiffonade of mint leaves. I placed everything in the freezer and voila! My first granita ever!

The taste was fabulous (thanks to the liquors). However, the mint chiffonade, which, while adding colour, did not blend well with the ice crystals producing a weird texture. Next time, I could try to blanch the mint first so that it can get a bit softer and I could chop it more finely... Otherwise, I feel this recipe is good for the best restaurants!

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