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“What are you having?” I asked. I had a hidden and hopeful purpose in that question. I was having the famed burger with the bacon and onion jam. But there was this other thing on the menu at Skillet Bar in Grill on Capitol Hill in Seattle. Skillet began as street food and, with its overwhelming success, has expanded to brick and mortar.

Oh, the other thing. The candied grapefruit.

“I wonder what the Candied Grapefruit is?” Suzen responded. “I’m going to try it.”

Lucky me. The burger was good, the jam a little weird — very thick and with long strings of onion — but still a good burger. However, the hit was this candied grapefruit. It’s brilliant. It’s simple. It’s tasty. And I suspect you could repeat the idea with large oranges, too.

All you need is one of those handy home torches used for crème brûlée. You have, don’t you. Don’t you? For God’s sake, you need one. Especially now.

Candied Grapefruit

Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients:

  • 1 grapefruit
  • 2+ tablespoons of sugar, the bolder the better

Preparation:

Wash the grapefruit and cut it in half. Use a knife to section the grapefruit pieces. Top each grapefruit half with sugar, just as you would a crème brûlée. Depending on your sweet tooth, you may just want a dusting of sugar or you may want to have a heavy hand.

What kind of sugar? Something rich and dark. Demerara would be excellent.

Use your blow torch following the manufacturer’s directions. Please do not ignite the grapefruit, the counter or other parts of your kitchen.

Serve warm and enjoy.

And do experiment with other fruits, such as a large, juicy orange.

Source: Skillet Café and Bar, Seattle, Washington