It's Grapefruit season again! At least here in Texas, and there is NOTHING sweeter than Texas Grapefruit. Every year my folks send us a big box of Ruby Reds from Pittman Davis. Pittman Davis has been around since 1926 and is located in Harlingen, Texas. Our box for this year just arrived.
They come in bushels and half bushels, and I love how they have them all wrapped in tissue but one. I always unwrap them then put them in a big bowl on my kitchen table.
The way I grew up eating grapefruit, was to slice it in half, sprinkle the top with sugar, then spend 30 minutes trying to successfully dig out a piece with your special serrated grapefruit spoon. Then after about 45 minutes, you give up and squeeze the juice into your spoon, or just drink it from the grapefruit itself. We got away with that as kids, I don't know if I recommend doing that in front of company! There's a lot of loud slurping going on with that.
Now, if spending that much time digging and slurping is not your thing, than you must try this simply delicious recipe that my mom made recently. It uses only grapefruit and oranges, and it is the freshest, sweetest fruit salad you will every have.
ORANGE, GRAPEFRUIT & CUTIE SALAD
Buy Grapefruit, Oranges, and Cuties (cuties are a hybrid fruit that is a cross between a sweet orange and a Chinese mandarin. They can be found seasonally (November - April) at supermarkets like Whole Foods). Peel all of them, and cut out sections into slices, so there is no membrane on any pieces.
Make a simple syrup by boiling 1 cup water with 1/2 cup sugar. Let cook for 5 minutes, making sure that you don't overcook - it is overcooked if the liquid turns color. Take off heat and cool.
Combine fruit slices with 1/2 cup shredded coconut and if desired, dried cranberries too. Pour simple syrup (not all of it, to taste really) over fruit. You can make this dish up to 2 hours before serving, but before putting out to serve, drain out some of the extra syrup.
YUMMY....
