Pineapple and Mint Granita

It's official.  My husband likes peanut butter.  Loves?  Nah.  But likes.  All you Americans out there are like, "Well, duh!"

It's also official... he had the ability to get sick of rice and beans.  All you Brazilian readers out there are thinking, "WHAT???!!!"

I know.

 

So what does all this mean, then?  Well, he is becoming American.  Which I love, don't get me wrong.  But I feel like I need to help him remember every once and awhile that he is Brazilian.  And what a better way to do that than abacaxi com hortela?

When I saw this week's recipe for the cooking group I am a part of (Sundays with Joy) was an espresso granita, I first had to ask, "What the heck is a granita?"  Once I found that out (basically a homemade snow cone, but much better) I had to ask another question -- "What flavor should I make since we don't drink coffee?"  I racked my brain for flavors I would like to have on a warm summer day.  Several ideas came to me, but only one stuck.

Pineapple juice with mint.

Perfect for a summer day; perfect for reminding my man that he is still Brazilian.

Now there is something else official: granitas are the ideal summer treat.  No dairy, low in sugar, cold and refreshing, and so incredibly tasty.  I may not have figured out what a granita was until my late 20's, but rest assured it will be an active part of my (future) young children's working vocabulary.

Abacaxi com hortela?  Tastes like sunshine.  Frozen sunshine. 

Yum.

Recipe entirely mine, yet inspired by Joy the Baker's Espresso Granita from the book, Joy the Baker Cookbook 

Pineapple with Mint Granita

Ingredients
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 T fresh chopped mint leaves
2 1/2 cups pineapple juice

Directions

1. Bring sugar and water to a boil.  Let boil without stirring for five minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool, adding the mint leaves as soon as heat is removed.
2. Let mint steep in sugar syrup until cooled down.  Remove leaves by pouring through a fine-meshed sieve.
3. Add pineapple juice and stir. Pour into a 13"x9" glass baking dish.  Cover and place in freezer.
4. After one hour, remove from freeze and scrape edges with a fork, bringing the frozen pieces into the middle.  Repeat every 30 minutes until all frozen.  Let freeze 30 more minutes and then fluff with fork and serve.  (Save any left over in a smaller container in freezer.)

COST: $3.35       COST PER SERVING (6): $0.56