i would like to preface this by saying that structurally, this is not my ideal way to eat grapefruit. in wintertime, i like to peel whole grapefruits like you would an orange, separating them into segments and, if i'm feeling particularly ambitious, peeling the skin off of each individual segment. then i like to refrigerate them for an hour or two so they get nice and cool, and eat them one by one with my fingers, drizzling every few bites with honey, or leaving them as is if they're particularly sweet. 
i find slicing grapefruits in half and eating the segments with a spoon to be a tad laborious and somewhat (grape)fruitless: you usually wind up mashing more than you eat.
but, this broiled grapefruit thing--i can really get behind it. i think it's the sort of thing you either grew up eating and take totally for granted or you wrinkle your nose at the thought of. if you fall in the latter category, now is an excellent time to reconsider. it's stupidly easy and shockingly delicious. you literally take a grapefruit, slice the sucker in half, sprinkle it liberally with sugar and cinnamon, and stick it under the broiler for a few minutes. done and done.
but you wind up with so much more than the sum of its parts: the flesh warms as the top caramelizes, the sugar melting and burning just enough to make your kitchen smell like cotton candy. it'll even harden into a molten sugar shell in some places, reminiscent of creme brulée, except you can eat it for breakfast and not want to die by lunchtime. you can tweak the spices to your taste too: cardamom, ginger, and allspice are all worth experimenting with.
broiled grapefruit
serves 2, if you're the kind of person who can be satisfied with half a grapefruit for breakfast (pah)
slice grapefruit in half and trim the bottoms of each half so that they will sit squarely on a flat surface. using a sharp knife, cut around edges and between grapefruit segments to help release the fruit later. sprinkle surfaces liberally with sugar and spices, if you're using them.
place on some kind of oven-safe surface. broil with oven door slightly ajar until sugar is bubbling and caramelized and grapefruit is starting to brown slightly at edges, between 4 and 7 minutes (don't walk away from the oven, as you can wind up with a torched mess in a matter of seconds). serve immediately.
i find slicing grapefruits in half and eating the segments with a spoon to be a tad laborious and somewhat (grape)fruitless: you usually wind up mashing more than you eat.
but, this broiled grapefruit thing--i can really get behind it. i think it's the sort of thing you either grew up eating and take totally for granted or you wrinkle your nose at the thought of. if you fall in the latter category, now is an excellent time to reconsider. it's stupidly easy and shockingly delicious. you literally take a grapefruit, slice the sucker in half, sprinkle it liberally with sugar and cinnamon, and stick it under the broiler for a few minutes. done and done.
but you wind up with so much more than the sum of its parts: the flesh warms as the top caramelizes, the sugar melting and burning just enough to make your kitchen smell like cotton candy. it'll even harden into a molten sugar shell in some places, reminiscent of creme brulée, except you can eat it for breakfast and not want to die by lunchtime. you can tweak the spices to your taste too: cardamom, ginger, and allspice are all worth experimenting with.
broiled grapefruitserves 2, if you're the kind of person who can be satisfied with half a grapefruit for breakfast (pah)
- 1 grapefruit
- about 1/4 cup brown sugar
- cinnamon (or ginger or cardamom, etc.) to taste
slice grapefruit in half and trim the bottoms of each half so that they will sit squarely on a flat surface. using a sharp knife, cut around edges and between grapefruit segments to help release the fruit later. sprinkle surfaces liberally with sugar and spices, if you're using them.
place on some kind of oven-safe surface. broil with oven door slightly ajar until sugar is bubbling and caramelized and grapefruit is starting to brown slightly at edges, between 4 and 7 minutes (don't walk away from the oven, as you can wind up with a torched mess in a matter of seconds). serve immediately.
gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI just made this. omg so delicious. And, I'll admit - after I finished eating it I went ahead and made a second one.
ReplyDelete