301. Lemon granita - Recipe

Lemon granita

My brother lives in California and, oh how I envied him the lemon tree that grows outside his kitchen. When I visited him, he grilled some salmon and then picked his own lemons to season the fish. From the tree to the grill! Wow! My lemons are trucked from California. They make their way from California to Vancouver to produce store to my home.

Then I read Driving over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia. This was a case of judging a book by its cover. I think it was the words Lemons and Andalucia that made me pick it up. I didn't know that the author had been a drummer with the band, Genesis. Driving over Lemons is a beautiful memoir by Chris Stewart. He mentions that, when he and his family came to the village in Andalucia, they drove over lemons. The lemons were so plentiful that the villagers don't bother to pick them all up. This place sounds like lemon heaven!

Lemons are one of my favourite fruits. I love the colour, the smell of the flowers, leaves and fruits. I don't think I've met any food made with lemons that I didn't like. Lemon meringue pie, lemon bars, lemon tarts, limonada, are all my faves. I love the smell of lemons. I buy soaps and lotions that are scented with lemons. Considering my fondness for lemons, I'm a bit puzzled that I never painted any rooms lemon yellow.


Here is a charming conceit, lemon granita served in frozen, hollowed lemons, which I adapted Wolfgang Puck's recipe:

Ingredients:

6 lemons
4 cups of water
Sugar, to taste
3 sprigs of lemon balm or thyme
2 tablespoons of limoncello

Method:

1. Clean and wash the lemons. Cut off the top 1/4 of the lemons and shave a bit of the bottom so they can stand. Try to keep them level. A couple of mine listed a bit.
   
2. Use a sharp, thin knife (I used a boning knife), to cut the flesh of the lemon. Be careful not to cut through the bottom. Scrape the shell clean with a teaspoon. Optional, use scissors to trim the membrane inside.
3. Put the flesh in a bowl and press with a spoon to extract the juice.
   
4. Stand the lemon shells on a cookie sheet. Place in the freezer and freeze until solid.
5. Strain the lemon juice. There should be about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of juice.
   
6. Add the water to the lemon juice. Stir in sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is as sweet as you like.
   
7. Crush the lemon balm leaves with your fingers to release the fragrance. Add the leaves and limoncello to the syrup and let it sit for 15 minutes.
8. Strain the mixture into a shallow dish or dishes. I used a couple of small metal plates so that the juice is a one-inch deep. Freeze the mixture for 1 hour.
   
9. Remove the dishes from the freezer and scrape with 2 forks to break up the ice. Or crush the ice in the blender or food processor.
   
10. The granita should have a crystalline texture.
    
11. Scoop the frozen ice into the frozen lemon shells and serve immediately. Garnish with sprigs of lemon balm.
    

The lemons hold a few tablespoons of the granita and I served them as a palate cleanser so I didn't make it too sweet. This recipe seems quite fiddly but it really isn't. I found the whole process lots of fun.

I'm not done with lemons yet. I'll be posting recipes for Lemon curd, Lemon chicken, Preserved lemons, Pickled lemons, Spanish Lemon Cake shortly.

You might be interested to try my Lemon Barley Water. It is a refreshing drink.


Last month, I hosted Weekend Wokking - Sprouts and chose lemons as the secret ingredient for the next event.

I'm submitting my recipe for Lemon Granita to Weekend Wokking, a world-wide food blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks to celebrate the different ways we can cook one ingredient.

The host this month is Wandering Chopsticks.

If you would like to participate or to see the secret ingredient, check who's hosting next month.