Up until this spring, I was pretty disenchanted with the grapefruit (I italicize that word because I always said “grapefruit” in a lower, deeper, darker-than-doom voice). I don’t know why, I just think that I always dreaded eating it, unless I could dump about ½ cup of sugar over it to make it edible. Honestly though, it’s a pretty awkward food to eat. Why do you have to make me work in order to eat my food? Scooping out each segment while the juice squirts into my eyes is not my idea of a good time. And that sour taste? Each bite makes my cheek muscles tense, forcing my lips to purse. It was all too much for me.
But a couple months ago, I started seeing grapefruit popping up a lot on my social media feeds. It was taking over. Slowly though, I started to get curious. If all these recipes are including grapefruit, it couldn’t be as bad as I thought it was, right? RIGHT!!!
One blogger suggested broiling it in the oven with a little bit of brown sugar over top to caramelize. So that’s what I did. As soon as I cut through the grapefruit, the kitchen smelled fresh and citrusy. Even my husband mentioned how good it smelled. I was cautiously optimistic as I pulled the grapefruit out of the oven, it smelled soooooo good! Now this was right up my alley. It was sticky, sweet and slightly caramelized. The tartness was gone, the grapefruit segments tore off easily into my spoon and the juices that dripped to the bottom of the fruit were still floating in the caramelized brown sugar. Heaven!!!
So this margarita recipe is my new way of loving the grapefruit. I broiled it in the oven with brown sugar and a little sprinkle of cinnamon then muddled it with basil and agave syrup before topping with lime juice and of course, tequila.
Warning, these go down very easily and quickly! The brown sugar and cinnamon help to sweeten the grapefruit and give it a deeper taste while the basil and lime juice offer a refreshing flavour and aroma. I, of course, made these twice this week because you know, recipe testing. *Ahem*
For the lover of grapefruit, don’t forget to try out our Fried Halloumi Tacos with Grapefruit Salsa for a salty, sweet refreshing take on the taco. Obviously you can tell that I’m trying to make up for lost time with my new favourite citrus.
- 1 grapefruit
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1 lime
- 1.5 ounces tequila
- 2-3 basil leaves
- 1 ounce agave syrup (more or less to taste)
- sugar, salt and cinnamon for salt rim
- Basil leaves, lime wedges, grapefruit slices for garnish
- Set the oven on broil.
- Slice the grapefruit into 2 halves through the equator. MIx the brown sugar and cinnamon together then divide into 2 equal portions and sprinkle over the grapefruit halves.
- Place under the broil, keeping a watchful eye on it so it doesn't burn. Once the sugar starts to caramelize (approx. 5 mins), remove from the broiler and let it cool.
- Squeeze the lime juice into a glass and muddle with basil and tequila. Squeeze the grapefruit juice out of the roasted grapefruit into the same glass and mix together. Add agave syrup, adjusting for your sweetness preference.
- To make the salt rim, mix 1 part sugar and 1 part salt on a flat plate and sprinkle with sugar (i used 2 tbsp sugar to salt and 1 tsp cinnamon).
- When you're ready to serve, rub lime over the rim of the glass. then dredge in salt/sugar/cinnamon rim garnish. Add ice to the prepared glass then pour margarita over the ice.
- Garnish with lime wedges, basil and grapefruit slices.
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