Saturday, January 15, 2011

Granita al Limone (Italian lemon Ice)


Lylli's class did a banquet of foods around the world. So, we found this and made it! It's from Italy! Lots of fun and real easy! She did all of it. Although, she didn't want lemon, so we made apricot. I'll put my recipe at the end.

Ingredients:•Water -- 3 cups
•Sugar -- 1 1/2 cups
•Fresh lemon juice -- 1 cup

Directions:

1.Bring 1 cup of the water and the sugar to a boil in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue boiling for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let to cool.
2.Stir in the remaining water and lemon juice. Pour the mixture into a glass baking dish and set in the freezer for one or two hours until it starts to get slushy.
3.Stir well with a fork, breaking up any large chunks of ice or ice crystals. Repeat this process every 20 minutes or so until the granita is frozen solid.
4.Place scoops in small glasses or dessert bowls and serve.

Variations:

Let your imagination run free. There are so many options. Here are a couple of the more common variations:

•Granita alla Arancia (Orange Granita): 1/4 cup water; 1/2 cup sugar; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 3 cups of orange juice. Boil the water and sugar only long enough to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the orange lemon juice. Freeze as for lemon granita. Add a couple tablespoons of orange-flavored liqueur for a luxurious twist.
•Granita di Fragole (Strawberry Granita): 1 cup of water; 3/4 cup sugar; 1 pound strawberries, hulled and pureed; 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Boil the water and sugar as for the lemon granita. Stir in the strawberry puree and lemon juice. Freeze as for lemon granita.

Here's my apricot recipe. It's smooth like a sorbet but needs served immediately after you take it out of the freezer. If you want it more icy, I think you'd just have to add more water.

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3 cups apricot nectar
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 - 1 tsp. almond flavoring

Heat water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add apricot nectar, lemon juice, almond flavor, and freeze like above.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Orange Chicken

2 Tbsp oil
1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed

2/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp white vinegar
5 to 8 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/8 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
1/8 tsp cloves, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
2 tsp grated orange peel

4 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

chopped green onions for garnish, if desired

3 cups cooked white rice

Directions:
Cook chicken in oil until outside is brown and inside is no longer pink, about 10-12 minutes.
Meanwhile, stir together warm water, brown sugar, orange juice, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and orange peel until sugar is dissolved.
Add sauce to chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
Mix the cornstarch and cold water, then slowly add to boiling chicken. Boil and stir 1 minute, or until thickened.
Serve over warm rice and garnish with green onions.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Eggnog


  • 6 eggs
  • 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 quart milk
  • 1/3 pint heavy whipping cream
  • 1-2 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1 pinch salt


  1. Beat eggs; mix in condensed milk, vanilla, quart of milk and salt.
  2. Heat mixture slowly on low heat until it reaches 175 degrees F.  Chill thoroughly.
  3. Beat the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Fold in to egg and milk mixture and mix in nutmeg. Chill overnight and serve.