Baked Grapefruit

Being that it's winter, I felt the urge to buy a ridiculous amount of citrus. (It's funny how this happens to me every year.) This year, I decided that I wasn't going to go all out, preserve everything and then be stuck with way too many jars filled with things I wasn't going to use. I decided that I should eat more of the citrus fresh then preserved.

Oranges and their relatives are no problem eaten fresh. But grapefruit? I've never been a fan. They are to bitter and sprinkling sugar on them didn't make a difference to me. But Susy from Chiot's Run posted at the Ethel Gloves Your Day blog about baked grapefruit. So I gave it a try.

Let me tell you, it converted me to a grapefruit lover. It's so easy as well. Cut grapefruits in half, then try to trim off the bottoms so they sit level in a glass dish (make sure you don't trim to the flesh. The pith will hold in all the delicious juice). Cut around each section. To do this, identify the membrane that defines the edges of each segment. Cut with a sharp knife along those membranes, and around the edge by the outside wall of the fruit. This step is slightly time consuming, but it makes it 100x easier to eat. Each segment will pop right out.

With the halves in their dish, you can add your toppings/spices. See Susy's post for all kinds of ideas. I've found that I like to coat the tops in real maple syrup and a dusting of cinnamon. (Having level halves keeps the syrup from running off.) Then you just bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

Trust me, you'll feel elegant eating baked grapefruit halves with a fork. That is until you eat all the segments and realize there is a lot of juice still floating around in those halves. Don't worry, no one is watching. Just pick one up, fold slightly to make a nice funnel shape and slurp that juice right out.

How do you like to eat grapefruit?