Baked Grapefruit with Pistachios and Mint

Jen and I had this on our honey moon. It's so easy and so good. You can see that I didn't have any pistachios in the picture. I substituted honey roasted peanuts and cashews. This serves 2.

1 grapefruit (pink or white - your choice)
1/2 cup of pistachios, shelled
2 fresh mint sprigs
raw or brown sugar to taste

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Slice the grapfruit, and trim the sections along the dividing membranes. Divide the nuts between the halves, place the grapefruit on a baking dish, and bake for 10 minutes.

Set the grapefruit on a plate, and sprinkle with a little sugar. I like raw sugar because some of it will melt, but there will still be a little crispness to it, if you don't put it on, right out of the oven. Garnish with a mint sprig (but don't forget to eat it!).

Salsa Safranal

This aromatic slant on a classic Taquería Salsa Roja flirts with Thai and Indian notes and blends well with a variety of international cuisines. I love it on Carne Asada, served with guacamole and Salsa Ranchera (thanks to Jeffrey Steingarten from, 'It Must've Been Something I Ate'), Tortilla Pizza and a staple in my house, eggs on rice. It almost tastes like Sriracha on the latter.

This recipe makes enough for a good party, or to spread out over a couple of weeks. It's a great use for those tomatoes that get too ripe for your salad. Of course, depending on the size of the tomatoes and how spicy you like it, all of the other ingredients are subjective.

2 large ripe tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
6 chile de arbol
6 cups of water
1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
6 saffron stigmas

Slice the tomatoes in half, place in a 4Qt Sauce Pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. At the same time, break the stems off of the chiles and toast them in a cast iron skillet. Take care not to blacken them. Discard any seeds that fall out.

Place the chiles, garlic and spices in a food processor. When the tomatoes and water create a pink foam, floating in the water, the tomatoes are ready. Just cover the contents in the food processor with the water (i.e. 1 ladle or so). Discard the skins from the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes to the food processor. Liquify the salsa so that the only solids are the seeds, and transfer into a salsa dish or ramekin.

yum.

Peaches in Brandy with Caramel

It's peach season, and there's one thing I like more than peach pie. After eating every last peach slice, I love mixing the caramel and brandy together, for a digestif (of course the alcohol is actually cooked off at this point).

For the Peaches
5 peaches, sliced
2 oz Grand Marnier
1 cup Brandy, less 2 oz
2 tbsp fresh mint

For the Caramel
equal parts butter, brown sugar and cream or half & half

Stretch the Grand Marnier into 1 liquid cup with the Brandy. Slice the peaches into bite size pieces. Chop the mint, reserving 5 or 6 sprigs for presentation. Layer the peaches in a flat dish and speckle with the chopped mint. Pour the Grand Marnier-Brandy mixture over the fruit, and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Make the caramel by melting the butter and adding the cream and sugar. Cook on high heat, stirring briskly. Once the mixture is even, and a layer of dime sized bubbles covers the entire top, lower the heat, stir and settle into a smooth caramel. Adjust ingredients as needed to obtain a dark, smooth liquid, the consistency of maple syrup. It will thicken as it cools. When finished, pour into a serving vessel, such as a creamer.

Without cleaning the pan, pour the peach mixture into it and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and simmer the peaches until the smell of alcohol diminishes, the liquid begins to thicken, and the peaches soften. Pour the peach mixture into a serving dish, top it with the reserved mint sprigs, and serve it with the caramel, fresh raspberries, and vanilla ice cream.

-- &y