granitas

granitas.

doesn't the word just evoke something foriegn and romantic, possibly ex-pat?  ok, maybe I've been watching too much travel channel lately but you have to admit, it's a pretty cool word.  three minutes of your time for limitless satisfaction? can't beat that!

Three ingredients, a freezer and a fork, and you too can enjoy a tall glass of granitas on a hot summer evening.  Even the grapefruit isn't written in stone, this works will just about any non-sweet liquid, even coffee!

Grapefruit Granitas, serves 4-6
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
approx 3 cups grapefruit juice. If you get sugar free grapefruit juice, you will need to add more sugar.

in a shallow glass pyrex dish, blend sugar and boiling water.  stir so the sugar dissolves and the water cools a little. when the water has cooled a bit, pour in the juice to no more than 1 inch deep. Stir the juice a bit and taste it, adding more sugar to taste. It should be tart, but not super tart. After making sure the glass is no longer warm from the hot water, put it in the freezer. wait a few hours and scrape up the top layers of ice crystals with a fork. every hour or so, scrape it some more. when it is scraped and crystalized to your liking, spoon into tall glasses and serve immediately.

notes:
- don't use a "sweet" juice, such as fruit punch or grape juice. This should be a tart-ish palette cleanser, and you can always add more sugar as needed.
- want to make it an adult beverage? stir in a shot or two of flavored rum with the juice before freezing.
- fresh mint leaves make a lovely garnish.  but seriously, unless you're making Mojitos, who has fresh mint leaves sitting around?

Granitas are a great close to an summer party. take 3 minutes to make them in the morning, and you can poke at them every few hours as you get more ice out of the freezer anyways.