Maple Grapefruit Caramelized Onions


Happy Sunday everyone, Jess here.  

How about them grapefruit?  For those of you that received these delicious citrus specimens in your share box this weekend, you’ll certainly agree that they are something special. Farmer Jamie began working with “the small guys down in Florida” last year “based off an old relationship that farmers around these parts had with their southern farmer friends!”  We are certainly enjoying this new partnership, Jamie, and thank you!

Earlier today I began slow cooking some Springdell chicken with a bit of broth, not quite sure what I’d do with it.  

I began by juicing a grapefruit (yielding 1 cup of juice) and added about a scant 1/4 cup of maple syrup.  I brought it to a low simmer in a saucepan for a few minutes.  (My apologies for the shadow in the photo).

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This sauce became the base for the rest of the meal’s flavors.

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About 1/4 of the sauce was mixed with another quick squeeze of grapefruit juice, 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard, a very quick drizzle of olive oil a pinch of salt and pepper and tossed with shredded carrots and cabbage. About an hour of chilling and it was a bright and tangy slaw.

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I mixed about 1/2 cup of the sauce with about 1/2 cup of ketchup, 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. (I also tossed in a few drops hot sauce, enough for a little kick but not enough so as to scare my non-spicy guests away).I let it simmer for about an hour until well thickened before tossing with the shredded chicken.

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While I was simmering the barbecue sauce, I decided to caramelize some onions in Amish Roll Butter. The remainder of the sauce went into the onions about half way through caramelization. The grapefruit and sweet maple brought a lovely flavor the onions.

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Here is maple grapefruit dinner trifecta: Maple Grapefruit Caramelized Onion, Fresh Slaw with Maple Grapefruit Vinaigrette, and Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken with Maple Grapefruit Barbecue Sauce!

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Here’s the plating, with a bed of spinach, followed by the slaw and the chicken. A thinly sliced piece of grapefruit acted as a little garnish.

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This was Alex’s plating. Look at the care he took making those spinach leaves symmetrical!

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Three tablespoons of the maple and citrus mixture were stirred into one cup of whipped cream for tonight’s dessert topper.

This was a yummy dinner all around.  The fresh and vibrant flavor of the grapefruit against the sweetness of the maple syrup made for quite the local taste sensation.  I’ll parse out these recipes on “Veggie-Scope”, but in the meantime I hope you enjoyed this unique dinner idea!


About Jess

Jess Anderson is the creator of CSA|365 and is passionate about the local food movement. A long time member of Springdell and a busy mother of two, Jess loves keeping her family fed by honest local food.