Fresh Citrus Granita with Yogurt

Is your weather warming up yet? We have had a few warm days, and while I dread the looming misery that is summer in Virginia, I am thoroughly enjoying the perfection of spring. Warm enough to play outside, no bugs yet, you can go for a walk without steaming in your own clothes.

The other night we ate dinner al fresco, with this sweet, light treat for dessert. It came from Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, which, as you know, I got in the Best Package Ever. I wasn't sure if the girls would go for it - it's not pudding, not ice cream, not popsicles. Kinda rustic-sophisticated. But they really loved it and, if I remember right, licked their bowls clean.

I thought about saving this for summer, but why hold back? If we're having it, you should have it, too. Though it will be great to whip up on July nights when I just can't bear to turn on the oven.

Fresh Citrus Granita with Yogurt (print recipe)
1 bag or tray of ice cubes
3 or 4 sprigs of fresh mint
1 lemon
1 lime
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar, to taste
1 pink grapefruit
2 to 3 cups plain, vanilla or lemon yogurt
Raspberries and/or extra mint sprigs, to garnish

1. Half-fill the food processor with ice cubes. Add the leaves from 3 or 4 mint sprigs. Finely grate in the zest of the lemon and the lime and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract, then leave to blitz to a sort of snow. While processing, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup granulated or caster sugar and squeeze in the juice of the lemon and lime. Once the mixture is like snow, spread it over a serving platter or 8x8 pan and put it in the freezer for 20 minutes to an hour.

2. Take the platter or pan out of the freezer. Use a fork to fluff up the ice and squeeze over the juice of the pink grapefruit. Serve with yogurt and raspberries. Delicious!Recipe from Jamie's 30-Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver

Mint Lemonade

Whoo-ee, it's gettin' hot! The days of steaming in my own clothes are back, and as I watch my children's cheeks grow pink, then fuschia, then maroon as they play outside, all I can think of is something tall, sweet and VERY COLD to drink. Some baking is still taking place, but these days I have my mind more on the freezer than the oven, and this drink is the perfect answer to my hot, sticky, sweaty family.

I like my lemonade sweet. Luckily, unlike baking, drink recipes have lots and lots of wiggle room. The measurements here are what I like, but obviously adjust the sweet-tart-intensity to suit yourself. It's also nice if you have a mint source. It grows like a freaking weed and yet those of us without gardens still pay $2.99 for a little package at the grocery store. Unjust.

Mint Lemonade
1 cup sugar
20 fresh mint leaves
1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 5 to 6 lemons)
16 ice cubes, plus more for the glasses
1 liter seltzer (I used lime flavor), chilled
Lemon wedges or mint leaves for garnish

1. In a blender or food processor, blend the sugar and mint leaves on high for several seconds. Add the lemon juice and blend again. Add the ice cubes and blend again, until most of the ice is crushed.

2. Pour lemon mixture into a 2-quart pitcher. Add the seltzer and stir. Pour into glasses over ice and garnish with lemon or mint.

Recipe from David Younce

Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

*This post is dedicated to my friend Margaret Anderson. Margaret just gave birth to her first baby, Summer. While she was pregnant she had gestational diabetes (couldn't eat sweets!) and informed me, "I plan to eat my weight in ice cream come August." Eat away, Margaret!

Sigh. I keep thinking I've outdone myself and could not possibly make something better than what I've just made, and then I do, and the cycle starts all over again. Luckily, I can be this vain because I can't really take credit for most of these recipes. I just follow directions and reap the fabulous benefits.

Take, for example, this out-of-this-world ice cream. I distinctly remember one time many years ago, talking with a friend in Colorado. She was an avid gardener and was telling me some of the uses she'd found for her flourishing mint bush. She said she'd even made mint ice cream by soaking mint leaves in the cream. "Geez," I remember thinking. "She is seriously over-the-top." But now it doesn't phase me one bit. Of course that's how you should make mint ice cream. Especially now that I live in the burbs and have several friends with big mint plants.

Which you have to have for this recipe - you need a mint source since it calls for THREE CUPS of packed mint leaves. This is what three cups looks like in my salad spinner. Just not worth it if you have to buy them at the store.

I will let you know, this recipe is a bit involved. Not complicated, but making the base takes about an hour and a half all in, then you have to chill it for awhile, make the ice cream, and freeze it for a few more hours. Just don't be in a rush. I made the base in the morning, when I was going to be in the kitchen for awhile anyway, getting the kids breakfast, emptying the dishwasher, and doing some prep for dinner that night.

This ice cream is WORTH IT!!! It really tastes like FRESH MINT, not mint flavoring. And the leaves make it a gorgeous natural green color no food coloring could ever replicate. So fabulous. I have about ten recipes waiting to be posted but I moved this to the top of the queue - make it and thank me!
3 cups fresh mint leaves, rinsed, drained, packed
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream (divided, 1 cup and 1 cup)
2/3 cup sugar
A pinch of salt
6 egg yolks
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped fine, keep in freezer until used

1. Put the mint leaves in a heavy saucepan with the 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of the cream. Heat until just steaming (do not let boil), remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. Reheat the mixture until steaming, remove from heat and let stand for 15 more minutes.
2. While the mint is infusing in step 1, prepare the remaining cream over an ice bath. Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, set in ice water (with lots of ice) over a larger bowl. Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside. (*I just put the remaining cream in the carton in the freezer for about an hour until it was needed - it was nice and cold when I needed it.)

3. Strain the milk cream mixture into a bowl, pressing against the mint leaves with a rubber spatula in the sieve to get the most liquid out of them. Return the milk cream mixture to the saucepan. Add sugar and salt to the mixture. Heat until just steaming again, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.

4. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium sized bowl. Slowly pour the heated milk cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm mixture, but not cooked by it. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

5. Return the saucepan to the stove, stirring the mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spoon so that you can run your finger across the coating and have the coating not run. This can take about 5 to 10 minutes.

6. Pour the custard through the strainer (from step 2) and stir into the cold cream to stop the cooking.

7. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (at least a couple of hours) or stir the mixture in the bowl placed over the ice bath until thoroughly chilled (20 minutes or so). Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

8. Once the ice cream has been made in the ice cream maker it should be pretty soft. Gently fold in the finely chopped chocolate. Put in an airtight container and place in the freezer for at least an hour, preferably several hours. If it has been frozen for more than a day, you may need to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften it before serving. Makes 1 quartRecipe from Simply Recipes (I know, her pictures are better than mine...but I've got heart)