Though I don't care for sweets, I sometimes enjoy them during a long day of school. Candied grapefruit peel is fun and does not make loud noises when you chew during class.
Candied Grapefruit Peel
Adapted from a recipe by Jacques Pepin, printed in Food & Wine (April 2007)
Ingredients:
Wide strips of zest from a ruby red grapefruit (use your vegetable peeler)
Water
Sugar
How To:
[1] Slice your zest into thin strips. Jacques Pepin says about 1/4 inch. [My photo* shows my strips pre-slice. I am not adept with the vegetable peeler.]
[2] Add the zest strips to a saucepan, cover in 2 cups of water, and bring it all to a boil. Let it boil only for about 10 seconds. Drain the strips and rinse under cold water.
[3] Add the zest to the pan again, this time adding 1/3 cup of sugar and 2/3 cup of water. Bring this to a boil. Let it boil uncovered for about 8 minutes. The mixture will thicken into a syrup, and the zest will become "almost transparent" (so says Jacques, but I think "translucent" is more accurate).
[4] Pour 1/3 cup of sugar onto a plate. Add your now boiled zest strips to the sugar, tossing well to make sure each strip is entirely coated. Be careful not to let the strips sit too long in the sugar because your sugar might get soggy!
[5] Spread the strips on a plate and let dry for at least half an hour. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Note:
Jacques accompanied the recipe with another for a chocolate tartlet (see glimpse in photo). It looks delicious. Unfortunately, I don't have any tartlet molds. Onto the shopping list they go.
* Sorry, these are my amateur photos. I deny any impression of "I know what the hell I'm doing."
