Serves8
- Active time:30 min
- Start to finish:3 1/2 hr
November 2008
Before the storm of desserts comes the palate-cleansing calm. This playful, snowy mound of savory celery with hints of green apple and tarragon refreshes after the preceding spread. Counterintuitive as it may seem, taking a break before dessert—to eat a pre-dessert—will help you enjoy the sweet abundance that awaits.
Learn the story behind the Over the Top Thanksgiving menu in our series The Recipe.
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1
(1,000-mg) tablet vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
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2
Granny Smith apples, very coarsely chopped
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2/3
cup
water, divided
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1
tablespoon
chopped tarragon
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4
cups
very coarsely chopped celery ribs (from 1 bunch)
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Crush vitamin C tablet in a bowl with back of a spoon, then line a sieve with dampened flour sack cloth and set over bowl.
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Purée apples with 1/3 cup water in a food processor (do not use a blender) until almost smooth, then pour into cloth. Bunch up cloth around mixture and squeeze as much clear juice as possible through cloth (about 1 1/2 cups). Discard solids remaining in cloth. Rinse and wring out cloth, then return to sieve.
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Purée tarragon with remaining 1/3 cup water in processor until water is deep green, then add celery and purée until almost smooth. Pour into lined sieve and squeeze out juices (about 1 1/2 cups) into bowl with apple juice. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
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Freeze mixture in an 8-inch square baking dish, scraping and stirring with a fork every 30 minutes, until frozen, at least 3 hours. (It will be too hard to scrape once fully frozen.)
Cooks’ note: Granita can be made 2 days ahead (cover once frozen). Let stand at room temperature about 10 minutes and re-scrape before serving.
