I've always wanted an avocado tree. For years I lived in LA where almost every yard has an avocado tree. Ours was no different, except the only thing that hung out on the branches of our avocado tree was a bunch of delinquent squirrels, no avocados. Now I don't know whether there were no avocados because the squirrels got them before I did or the tree was lonely or what. I'm no expert. In fact I know nothing of avocado growing except for a brief flirtation with an avocado pit, toothpicks, and a glass of water back in 2nd grade.
What I do know about avocados is that I love them anywhere, anyway, anyhow. As a Californian, they're one of the things I grew up eating regularly along with artichokes and olives. I never had avocado as a dessert however until a few years ago in San Francisco, when I took a trip to Mitchells' Ice Cream out in the Mission. I was knocked out by a couple of things. First, the crowds of eager ice cream fans lined up to get in. Second, the huge list of flavors including jackfruit, ube, buko (young coconut imported from the Philippines) and of course all the varieties of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, horchata etc. etc. Third, how come my parents had never ever taken me there growing up????? I asked them why.
"Yeah, that place is great," they said. In fact, turns out that they knew the owners.
"But we never went there!!!" I middle age whined.
"No, kiddo, YOU never went there."
I'd found it. My parents secret ice cream spot, Too good for the likes of childish me. And here I had to be shown it by a Finnish friend!! Okay, so I missed a few decades of Mitchells, but I'm still young. There's still time to sample everything. It's where I had avocado ice cream for the first time.
I just couldn't get the taste of a cooling avocado dessert out of my head. Avocados are good. Avocados (at least here) are cheap and plentiful. Plus, I'd been reading about granitas. My friend Heather at Farmgirl Gourmet had made delicious grantias, so had Kathy over at Are You Hungry?. I'd tried my hand at Coconut Kaffir Lime granita a couple of weeks before and enjoyed the simplicity of it. Since avocado ice cream exists, I started to wonder about making an avocado granita. Could that work? Since local avocados were 69 cents apiece at the Fruitbasket I had to try.
Avocado Granita
Here's What You Need:
3 small avocados peeled and mashed
1Tbs of fresh lemon juice
1 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup of sugar
Here's What To Do:
Mix everything together well, then pour it into a low pan.
Pour the mixture through a strainer to filter out any stringy or whole bits. This mixture should be smooth.
Put the pan in the freezer.
Every 30 minutes or so, rake a fork through the mixture breaking up any crystals that form.
Because I used coconut milk, this has a thick almost ice creamy texture.
Keep raking and breaking until it's the texture you want to serve it at.
I left the mixture in overnight and then let it sit out a bit before serving.
The flavor is rich, creamy, and is a great mixture of avocado and coconut. When I put it in front of Alan he was scared of it. He grew up in Connecticut and NYC, not the avocado capitals of the world. He tasted it. He said it should't be good...but it was. A good vegan avocado sherbert which is going on our regular basics list. I'm going to be serving it to friends tonight and I'm already planning the next version involving coconut water to see if I can get a true ice out of this.
Coming up next a non alcoholic cocktail for summer entertaining. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori
What a great use of avocado! Sounds like a great 4th to come - can't believe it is so soon already!
ReplyDeleteIt's no wonder why I follow your blog Kathy... Avocados are the bomb, fantabulous, my favorite! And I loved that coconut Granita too. Geez now I have try my hand avocado Granita, this looks waaaayyy too good to pass up!
ReplyDeleteFlorida and Haas avocados are both available here. Florida version is much bigger than Haas variety and has a milder flavor. I'm gonna try the Florida variety and see how it goes.
Thanks for the mention and the link :)
I do love this..the stuff starts out granita like, but turns creamy when you eat it..or you can serve it creamy to start. I'm doing it next using coconut water for a more sorbet texture. I just love avocado any old way.
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