Tortilla Soup; Candied Grapefruit Peel

My major produce purchases on the weekend were grapefruit and avocado, so that I could accomplish a few new recipes -- the first being yesterday's salad. Tonight I tried another recipe from the Real Simple convenience-food-upgrading article: Tortilla Soup. I mixed 1 can of Campbell's Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup with 2/3 can of water, added 1 cup frozen corn and 1 Tbsp Sambal Oelek, and topped with some ripe avocado wedges. I didn't bother with the tortilla chips. It was quite good, as far as convenience food goes; much more successful than the rice pilaf.


I also got started last night on making candied grapefruit peel when I peeled the fruit for my salad. I did the first five steps of the recipe and then let them sit out overnight before the final sugar-coating, with an upside down baking sheet over top of them to avoid ending up with airborne cat hair-coated candies. Note: Instead of grapefruit you can use three limes or lemons. The recipe is easily doubled or tripled.

Candied Grapefruit Peel

2 grapefruits, washed
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar (plus extra to coat candy)
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice


Directions

1. Peel the skin off the grapefruit, then cut into strips and trim off some of the bitter pith. Don’t remove too much, as you don’t want the candy to be too thin.

2. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add the peels. Boil for 5 minutes and strain. Rinse and refill the pot with fresh water and bring it to a boil again. Add the peels and boil for another five minutes, then strain. Repeat this process two more times for a total of four pots of boiling fresh water. This blanching process removes the grapefruit's bitter flavour.

3. Place blanched peels in the pot. Add the sugar, lemon juice and 1 1/2 cups of water.

4. Simmer on medium-low heat until the peels are translucent (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours).

5. Strain and place peels on a wire rack, with a piece of waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let air-dry for several hours, or overnight.

6. Fill a shallow bowl with sugar. Roll and press each peel in the sugar until evenly coated. The candy will last at room temperature for a couple weeks.