Broiled Grapefruit

I have been eagerly awaiting the citrus season here in Texas. Our grocery store is filled with huge bins of Texas oranges and grapefruits.

Before Christmas, I bought a bag of Texas oranges & made a batch of marmalade for Small Batch. But it’s the grapefruit I’ve truly been excited to eat.

Grapefruit seems like such a special, winter-time-only treat.  Yes, I know it is easy to get citrus year-round, but somehow my brain is programmed to think of them as a winter specialty.  Perhaps these thoughts date back to childhood memories of my dad patiently  dividing grapefruit sections among my sisters & me after winter dinners?

Most often, I eat my grapefruit relatively plain, just the segments alone, or I do have a certain fondness of grapefruit/avocado/arugula salads.  But the other morning, I decided to branch out and try something new to me: broiling the grapefruit with a little sprinkle of brown sugar over the surface.  Kind of like citrus meets creme brulee...only healthier & more citrus-y!

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about warm grapefruit. Would it be gross (like cooked bananas, blech)? Or would it surprise me and be delicious?

My verdict? Very tasty!  I can see broiled grapefruit becoming my new breakfast of choice throughout citrus season.  Yes, it’s a little weird to eat warm citrus.  But at the same time, it was both comforting & yummy & messy....

Messy? For my first broiled grapefruit experience, I also used a grapefruit spoon for the first time.  What a mess!  I was shooting grapefruit juice everywhere!  For future meals, I cut around the grapefruit and between the sections before I sugared & broiled it.  Much, much easier.

So, if you find yourself with grapefruit on hand, give broiling it a chance.

Broiled Grapefruit
makes 2 servings

1 large pink grapefruit
1 to 2 Tbl of brown sugar

1.  Preheat your oven to broil. {I use our toaster oven}
2. Cut the grapefruit in half. Use a paring knife to cut around the grapefruit & between the segments (if not using a grapefruit spoon to eat post broiling) & place the halves on a rimmed baking vessel.  
3. Evenly sprinkle the sugar over the surface of the fruit. 
4. Place the baking vessel under the broiler. Broil until the sugar melts, bubbles, and recrystalizes and until the surface is golden.  {Mine took about 7 minutes in our toaster oven}.  If the grapefruit does not get golden enough, you can torch the tops additionally with a butane/creme brulee torch.  
5. Cool slightly and serve!  

Note: you can use other sweeteners too, such as honey, maple syrup, agave, granulated sugar, etc.  I just happen to like brown sugar :)