Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Life Itself is the Proper Binge, Part Deux

How can you not have as a personal hero a woman who once said, “The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook.” or who, when asked the secret to her long life, deadpanned, "Red meat and gin."?

The two people who had the greatest influence on my love for cooking and baking are my mother and Julia Child. I miss them both.



So, in honor of my love of all things food-related, and as part of my participation in Chef Troll's Drunken Master Culinary Throwdown, I give you:

Moi's Easy Peasy Pineapple Granita:
(Because when you're drunk on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean, who has time for solid food?)

Serves six.

• 2 cups total liquid, comprised of: 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup Fresca, 1/2 cup pulp free lemonade, 1/2 cup pineapple juice, strained from a 20 ounce can of pineapple chunks
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 20-ounce can pineapple chunks
• New Mexico red chile powder

Drain pineapple, reserving a half cup of the liquid. Bring all liquids and the one cup of sugar to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar is completely dissolved, about five minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

In the meantime, in a blender or Cuisinart, puree the pineapple. Add to the sugar/liquid mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight. Run through an ice cream mixer for 25-30 minutes or until thick in texture. Or, simply pour into a freezer-safe container until frozen, 4-6 hours. Scoop into individual serving dishes and sprinkle lightly with red chile powder.

14 comments:

Kymical Reactions said...

the picture of this made me "mmmmmmm" out loud. Would it be a sin to make this minus the red chili powder?

Gnomeself Be True said...

I don't have any "New Mexico" red chili poweder handy. I guess I'll have to settle for the crappy local stuff.

h said...

Sounds really excellent indeed. Had to look up "granita".

I'm assuming in Moi's case this was prepared the previous evening by her cabana boy?

Grrherhahhahahahahaha.

moi said...

kmwthay: Most certainly, feel free to leave off the chile!

Gnome: www.buenofoods.com Or, Moi.

Troll: TWO cabana boys.

Jenny said...

ahahah - of course you have a recipe with Fresca in it. And, it looks G O O D.

I had the honor of meeting Julia Child in the early 90's when she came to speak at an event I had volunteered to help with. She was everything you'd expect, and more.

LaDivaCucina said...

You know, I always forget about the granita as a refreshing dessert! What a simple way to enjoy an icy treat on a hot summer's day...and I loves me some chili with pineapple! I'm going to cut and paste now so I can make this soon!

Heff said...

Wow. That's different.

the Dread Pirate Rackham said...

I was gonna say...Fresca - of coruse there would be fresca!

R.Powers said...

If Chef Troll had to look it up, then I don't feel so bad about not knowing what a granita was.
It sounds great ... the chile powder touch is fascinating.

Great entry!

sparringK9 said...

while in san miguel de allende a daily stop was the vendor with pinapple and chile. its good. yours is even more refreshing. and doable!!! go moi!

Aunty Belle said...

Glace!


Excellent, jes' excellent.

The one and only NYD said...

Hmmm... Pinapple...chili....Rhum???

moi said...

Boxer: WOW, you met Julia Child! I would have tripped all over myself, meeting her.

LaDiva: And you can use whatever fruit you have handy – I'm dying to do a watermelon.

Heff: No doubt. But, yummy!

Pirate: Fresca: it is the one culinary constant in Moi's life :o)

FloridaCracker: I pair chile with a lot of sweet stuff: fruit, chocolate, certain cheeses, etc.

K9: I'm continually fascinated by different cultures' culinary traditions. And will usually give just about anything a go. Except bugs. I have yet to wrap my head around eating those. I would be so voted off the island because of it.

Aunty: Yes, it's Italian in origin!

NYD: Try it. You'll like it.

Doris Rose said...

Testimonial: It is fabulous, especially combined with Moi's amazing Pineapple up-side-down cake.Divine. Fresca, who knew?