Grilled Grapefruit: Last summer, at the invitation of the community of Grassy Narrows, I lived at the site of the longest standing indigenous logging blockade in Canada, for two months. It was unforgettable, and I will expand on this more in future posts, but for now, visit www.FreeGrassy.org for more information.
Living out in the woods, breakfast became kind of tedious. I mean, oatmeal is great, but for crying out loud. Every morning? Yikes.
Which is why it was such a delight to wake one morning to find that one of the dear women I was living with, Leah, had decided to mix it up a little. By putting grapefruit on the grill.
Say what? Roasted Grapefruit? Hell yes. It is so good. Because it’s not just hot grapefruit. It’s sweet and caramelized and a little spicy– all dolled up with someplace special to go: your belly. This is really delicious, and can be made either on the campfire, or under the broiler. I like to scoop out the roasted fruit and put it on crepes or over toaster waffles. It’s crazy-easy and such a nice departure from the norm.
The recipes I have posted below is for one grapefruit, and is easily doubled, tripled, etc. The number of grapefruits you’ll need depends on how many you’re serving. I usually count on one half grapefruit per person. If I’m cooking for more than just a handful of people, I usually make an entire extra grapefruit. Just in case.
Ingredients:
1 grapefruit
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cardamom
1 or 2 pinches of cloves
1 1/2 tsp. agave nectar
1 tsp. Turbinado sugar
(These measurements are imprecise; season the fruit to your taste).
Preparation at home:
Preheat oven to 450F.
Slice grapefruit cross-wise. Remove seeds.
Drizzle with agave nectar and vanilla extract.
Sprinkle with ground cloves (or press a few whole cloves in crevices), cardamom, cinnamon and Turbinado sugar.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until bubbling and caramelizing
Note: This is also easy to make on the campfire (if this is your bag) or in the toaster oven (for those readers who are living oven-free). Follow the directions for preparing the grapefruit. Carefully wrap them in tinfoil with the cut-side up. Place on the toaster oven rack (your toaster should also be preheated to 450F) or on the fire grate. Keep an eye on them and remove when the grapefruit starts to caramelize (as described above).
Additional suggestions for grapefruit toppings:
Ground ginger
Almond extract
All-spice
Rum
Brown sugar
Enjoy!
Yay, your first recipe post! I have one question though, do you leave the half of grapefruit inside of its peel when you bake it and peel it when you remove it from the oven, or do you pre-peel it?
I bake it in its peel. You can peel and/or scoop the fruit out when it’s baked.