Who Comes Up With This Stuff? - Ruby Red Grapefruit Curd

So February is Grapefruit month.  Did you know that?  I didn't know that.  I am really beginning to wonder WHO comes up with the food holidays and celebrations.  I mean, seriously.  Do we need a day set aside to celebrate the Cream Cheese Brownie?  (February 10th)  Especially when there is already a Brownie Day on December 8th.  Did a Cream Cheese Brownie special interest group lobby for their own holiday?  What gives?

February is not only the month to celebrate the deliciousness that is Grapefruit, it's National Potato Lover's month, National Cherry month, National Snack Food month (Oye!) and who could possibly forget that most important meal of the day..... National Hot Breakfast Month.  Me?  I'm stickin' with grapefruit for now.

I LOVE grapefruit.  I think it has gotten a bum rap over the years though.  Most people tend to think of it as something closely akin to "old person diet food".  This just is not true.  Granted the grapefruit available during my youth was your standard "white" grapefruit with it's somewhat bitter back bite.  A flavor that seems somewhat out of place considering that the grapefruit is a natural hybrid of the fairly sweet pomelo and a sweet orange.  But if you find white grapefruit to be way to sour and bitter, try salting it.  As strange as it sounds, salt actually sweetens the fruit.

As I got older the "pink" grapefruit hit the stage with it's much sweeter and less bitter interior.  By the time I was a young adult, the Rio Star ruby red grapefruit had made it's way from Texas to the Pacific NW.  This particular variety is the sweetest of the three and has almost no bitterness whatsoever.

Normally I make curd with a plain white grapefruit, but I re-tooled my recipe and toned down the sugar so I could try a red grapefruit, just to see how it came out.  On the whole, I was fairly impressed.  I will always have a soft spot for White Grapefruit curd, but Ruby Red Curd is delicious as well. (though no quite as "ruby red" as I had hoped)

This is the quick way to make curd.  Normally I would cook it in a double boiler (bain marie) until it coats the back of a spoon, then run my curd through a strainer to remove the zest afterwards.  This time I decided to put on my "devil may care" hat and pick up the pace a little by cooking directly over low flame and whisking constantly.  Since I am going to strain it anyway, why not? 

So in honor of Grapefruit Month, I present to you......

Ruby Red Grapefruit Curd

2/3 cup Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice (About 1 -1 1/2 Grapefruits)
Zest of 1 Ruby Red Grapefruit
1/4 cup (50g) Granulated Sugar (I am a bit of a sour puss so you may want to up it to 1/3 or 1/2 cup)
2 large Egg Yolks
2 large Eggs
Pinch of Kosher Salt
2 TB Unsalted Butter

Zest the grapefruit before juicing.

Squeeze all the juice from the grapefruit.

Filter the juice to ensure you have no pulp or seeds.

Combine the juice with the zest in a small saucepan.

Add Sugar and stir until dissolved.

Add the Yolks, the Egg and a pinch of Salt, whisking well to combine.

Place over low heat and whisk constantly until it begins to thicken. (don't let it boil, or it has gotten too hot)

Remove from the heat and add the butter, whisking until melted and smooth.

Strain through a fine mesh strainer, to remove the zest and any possible egg white lumps.

Cover with plastic wrap on the surface to prevent crusting and refrigerate until ready to consume. (I am kind of bummed that it turned out "yellow", I was kind of expecting a sort of "salmon pink" color, then again, the juice really wasn't all THAT red to start with and my yolks were pretty dark)

Now I just have to figure out what to do with my Grapefruit curd. (Besides simply eating it with a spoon)

Mangia!!
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