Roasted Red Grapefruit with Honey and Yogurt

Roasted citric fruits is a novel concept for me. I’ve been looking around and there are quite a few recipes in which you can try this. For example, chicken with roasted limes, it’s said that the flavor of the limes rises to whole new levels and I am eager to try some.

I wanted to choose a simple recipe for roasted citrus fruit so I could really get a taste of it, so when I was at the grocery store and eyed these red grapefruits, I knew it was just the thing to try this method with. It is perfect to serve for a fancy brunch, or as a light dessert following a heavy meal. You could serve it with vanilla ice cream, instead of yogurt and try the recipe out with regular oranges or blood oranges.

Oh wait, I didn’t tell you what they taste like! Of course, the added sugar makes these sweet and because we’re putting them under the broiler, the natural sugar in the fruit also caramelizes. You get a tender texture, with sweet-caramelized-citrus flavor. The added yogurt and honey are a must have when you try this. The combination is delicious.

Helga

Roasted Grapefruits with Honey and Yogurt

Recipe from Cookie and Kate

Ingredients:
3 grapefruits (I used Ruby Red)
6 tablespoons raw sugar or brown sugar (you’ll need two tablespoons of sugar per grapefruit)
sprinkle ground ginger
sprinkle ground cinnamon
dash sea salt

For Serving:
Plain yogurt
Honey, for drizzling
Granola (optional)

Procedure:

Preheat broiler. Make the bases of your grapefruit halves flat so they don’t wiggle around: slice off about 1/4-inch of the peel on the base end and the stem end of each grapefruit. Then slice each grapefruit in half, parallel to your initial cuts. Place the grapefruit halves face-down on paper towels for about five minutes to absorb excess moisture.
In a small bowl, mix together the raw sugar or brown sugar (I used a mixture of both) with a sprinkle of ginger and cinnamon and a dash of salt. On a rimmed baking sheet or a 13×9-inch glass baker, place the grapefruit halves face up. Sprinkle each halve liberally with the sugar mixture, using about 1 tablespoon per halve. Broil for 7 to 10 minutes, until the sugar is melted and turning a deep amber. Let the grapefruits cool for at least a few minutes; serve warm or at room temperature with a big dollop of yogurt (swirl in honey if you’d like) and a handful of granola is also a good choice.

08:30 AM
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- broiled, Brunch, grapefruit, honey, roasted, yogurt
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Roasted Tomato Sauce

Oh this gorgeous red. We’ve had this recipe in the back burner for a couple of weeks now. After a few days of being away from the kitchen – and an overflow of Roma tomatoes – I dived into the kitchen for an entire day. After I baked the Zebra Bundt Cake, I was wondering what to do with all those tomatoes, and then it hit me… Roasted Tomato Sauce! I have been playing with the idea of a mash-up between Tortilla Soup and Red Wine… in a sauce.

This recipe came together as I was cooking. With 25 tomatoes, I had to increase what I usually put into the sauce. You’ll think that adding only one red bell pepper to the sauce is too little… It was huge! If you only have medium-sized bell peppers, feel free to increase it to 2 or 3. If you don’t want to add the wine to the recipe, use beef stock instead. Beef stock has the depth of red wine and it’s more flavorful than chicken or vegetable stock. After you add the beef stock, taste and adjust your seasonings.

This sauce is great for pasta, as a Pizza or Bruschetta base. It can stay refrigerated for up to 8 days. If you freeze it should keep longer, just make sure to thaw it in the fridge rather than on the counter!

Kitty

Roasted Tomato Sauce

A Foodies’ Kitchen Original Recipe
Yield: 4 cups
Good for up to 1 week

Ingredients
25 Roma tomatoes, halved
1 medium-sized onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, finely diced
1 big red bell pepper, cut open (or 2 medium-sized ones)
1/4 cup olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons for sautéing
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon of finely chopped oregano
1 tablespoon of finely chopped thyme leaves
1 cup red wine

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350ºF.
Apply non-stick spray to two cookie sheets. Place tomato and bell peppers cut side up.
Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of olive oil, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and oregano.
Roast the tomatoes for 45 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325ºF and roast for another 45 minutes.
Increase the temperature to 400ºF and roast another 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and remove the garlic and onions from the tomatoes and bell peppers, just set them aside on the pans.
Transfer the tomatoes to a blender, and give it a few pulses until the tomatoes puree.
Take your roasted bell peppers and cut them just enough (not finely or you’ll get a paste).
In a very large skillet, add remaining olive oil. When hot, add the onions and bell peppers.
Add the tomato puree to the skillet and stir.
Add red wine, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.
Taste and season if needed.
Remove from heat, and use as needed.

Chocolate Cake with Roasted Strawberry-Balsamic Swiss Buttercream

I spotted a recipe for Roasted strawberry-balsamic Swiss buttercream (that’s a mouthful!) and I knew the time had come. It was time to conquer buttercream. I had tried to make it once before… it was unfortunate. See my Mother’s Day post for the horror. I did succeed after, when I made my World Cup Cupcakes, but I made Italian Meringue buttercream that time, and honestly… I do prefer to try the Swiss technique so I don’t have to deal with temperatures and sugar crystallization. To be honest with you, the whole sugar crystallization thing is still a gamble with me, sometimes I get the syrup right and sometimes the thing crystallizes on me and sends me on a cursing and stomping rage. Then, I try again.

I called Kitty up, I needed backup. (She can make buttercream) We got together for a Foodies’ day of baking. Glad to say, I think I have the Swiss buttercream technique down. The trick is the butter temperature. It has to be at room temperature, but still firm enough that you can slice it and still get neatly shaped squares, do you know what I mean? I am so pleased with the results, I will try to make it again, tweaking a few things here and there. I would like to get more “merenguiness” (I don’t think that word exists, but you get me ) and less butter flavor. I already have my eye on a few recipes that I will try soon.

Now, about this specific recipe with the roasted strawberries.Oh… my…God. You have to try it. Balsamic vinegar and strawberries love each other, and you can really taste the natural strawberry flavor in this. For the batter, we used Hershey’s chocolate cake recipe. You can’t go wrong there.

I’ll walk you through the cake recipe first, and then below you will find the buttercream recipe.

You can also see more pictures of the procedure over at our Flickr stream! http://bit.ly/GTOVom

Chocolate Cake with
Roasted Strawberry-Balsamic
Swiss Buttercream

Makes 2 6″ round cakes and 6 regular sized cupcakes or 1 9″ cake

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Procedure:

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Buttercream Ingredients:

5 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh strawberries (you can use frozen ones)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon suger
1 tablespoon olive oil, for drizzling

Procedure:

First we need to roast the strawberries. To do so preheat your oven to 375º F. Toss strawberries with balsamic vinegar, sugar and oil and arrange on cookie sheet in one layer. Roast for 20-25 min. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Puree it using a food processor or blender.
To make the buttercream: Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips, this is important!). The temperature on an instant-read thermometer should be 150-160º F.
Attach the bowl to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low speed, and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl). This should take about 10 minutes.
With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla and strawberry puree. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 more minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day.