Avocado grapefruit salad

If S is out in the evening sometimes I watch queer eye and shell walnuts at the same time. One time the food dude made an avocado and grapefruit salad, and I guess I took a mental note - I like both, don’t think I’d had that combination before, but it sounded good. Some time later, s insisted on grapefruit purchase but then remembered he doesn’t like them much, and it sat in the fruit bowl for a while until some ripe avocados arrived too, and I remembered about the avocado and grapefruit salad…

1 pink grapefruit
1 ripe avocado
Lettuce 
Chopped almonds
Honey
White wine vinegar
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Segment the grapefruit and remove all the pith and membranes. Do it over a bowl and keep the juice. Peel and chop the avocado. Put the lettuce (anything mild is good - little gem, spinach etc) in a bowl, add the grapefruit, avocado and chopped nuts. Add the vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper to the grapefruit juice and  whisk together to make a dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss.

It was a great combination, why have I never eaten this before?!

Ruby grapefruit and star anise marmalade

I bought four ruby grapefruit weeks ago, with marmalade in mind. Then I got home and looked in my preserve cupboard and realized how crazy full it was. So I spent those weeks wracked with indecision about whether to make it or just eat them. In the end I made it. My basic marmalade method is this one, and the increase in citric acid was according to the grapefruit marmalade recipe in the AFRC Home Preservation book. The star anise just seemed like it might marry really well with grapefruit (perhaps because of this recipe), as well as being the single prettiest spice to add to a jar. I sometimes find its liquoricey-ness overpowering so I wasn't sure...

(makes about 7 medium sized jars)

4 ruby grapefruit ()
1 1/2 tsp citric acid
1.3 litres water
2 kg sugar
2-3 whole star anise (or pieces adding up to that)

Wash the grapefruit thoroughly. Chop into quarters. Cut out the pulp. Squeeze the juice into the pan. Put the remaining pulp and seeds into a muslin square in a colander over a bowl. Repeat for all the quarters of all the grapefruit. Then thinly slice the rind pieces (do not remove pith) and add them to the pan. Tie up the muslin with all the pulp and seeds in it into a tight bundle, then add it to the pan. Add the water and citric acid. Bring to the boil and simmer, covered, for 2 hours or until the rind pieces are soft.

Remove the muslin bag and squeeze it between two plates to get as much liquid back into the pan as you can, then discard the contents. Add the sugar and star anise and stir while dissolving / coming to the boil. Boil hard (taking care to check it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan) until setting point is reached.

Let stand for ~30 min before putting in sterilised jars.


...so I actually split the batch (just before adding the sugar), making one half simply grapefruit and adding star anise to the other half. I loved how it turned out with the star anise - the anise flavour comes through just enough, and its thick, heady sweetness plays off the tangy grapefruit beautifully. Only sad thing was that the ruby red of the grapefruit didn't really come through in the marmalade colour - it is a similar colour to orange marmalade, slightly lighter.

Roasted brussels sprouts with grapefruit

Thought of roasting brussels sprouts, and of trying something different.  Had pretty much all the ingredients for this, and was intrigued.

600g brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
250g shallots, peeled  (used a white onion instead, chopped into large chunks)
75ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper
100g sugar
100ml water
2 cinnamon sticks
5 star anise
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 large pomelo (300g after peeling and segmenting) (used a pink grapefruit instead)
10g coriander leaves

Heat the oven to 200C / 400F.  Toss the sprouts and onion with 3 tbsp of the oil, a half-tsp salt and some black pepper. Spread out on a baking tray and roast for 20 minutes, until the sprouts are al dente and golden-brown. Leave to cool.

Meanwhile, heat the sugar, water, cinnamon and star anise in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook for a minute, remove from the heat and add a tablespoon of lemon juice. Set aside to cool.

Peel the grapefruit and divide into segments, releasing the flesh from the membrane. Break into bite-size pieces and put in a shallow bowl – don't get any of the bitter white membrane into this. Once the syrup has cooled a little, pour it over the grapefruit and leave to marinate for at least an hour, stirring occasionally.

Before assembling the salad, strain the grapefruit and keep the juices. Just before serving, put the sprouts, shallots, grapefruit and coriander in a large bowl. Add the remaining oil, lemon juice and a tablespoon of the grapefruit marinade juices. Gently mix, check the seasoning and serve.


Interesting and very more-ish. Full of ingredients I like and seem to go well together, so hard to go wrong...