08 May 2007

Special of the day -- Grapefruit



I'm not usually one for fresh fruit in the morning. It's too early, I'm too sleepy, it's too much effort. This morning, though, was different. I woke up with a craving for fruit, something sweet and juicy. But you know I can never leave things alone, and I ended up with a dish that is better than just your average grapefruit.

Grapefruit Breakfast Salad
I grapefruit
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. sugar (I used colored sugar leftover from baking cookies)
1 tsp. honey
1/4 tsp. lemon zest

1. Thoroughly wash grapefruit, then cut off the top and bottom 1/2 inch. Slice off the skin in strips, following the curve of the fruit from top to bottom. You should end up with a whole grapefruit, minus the peel and bitter white pith. Carefully cut out the segments of the fruit, leaving behind the membrane that separates the segments. The remaining membranes will look like pages in a book. Discard any seeds. Some people call this process "booking" a fruit, or making "supremes."
2. Place the supremed fruit in your breakfast bowl, then sprinkle with salt and sugar. Drizzle lightly with honey, then dust with lemon zest.

I've found that the honey and sugar cut the sometimes bitter and tart flavors present in grapefruit. The salt works to bring out the sweetness of the fruit, while the lemon zest ties together the whole dish. You might want to try a tiny pinch of freshly grated ginger root or chiffonade mint leaves to make this dish less sweet and balance out the citrus.

2 comments:

Nicole Cammorata said...

You should try lightly braising the grapefruit, too. The sugar cooks and makes the outside crispy and it is AMAZING. (You may know me as Scarlet).

Amateur chef said...

Thanks, Nicole! I made the dish for breakfast last week, and ended up torching it instead. I love the crispy sugar thing :) I think either way should work really well.