Spending hours at a stretch in front of the computer was getting to me. I wanted to move my fingers in a different way and see if I still possessed any culinary skills of my own.

Saveur, Bon Appetit, Cook’s Illustrated, Food & Wine… they’re food lovers’ porn. I have stacks of old food magazines and clipped recipes stuck in journals; every so often, I get the urge to try one out.

So last week, I sent Francisco off to the grocery with a list: Two artichokes. Creme fraiche. The rest of the ingredients we had.

I displaced him from the kitchen for an hour and puzzled over the directions for Artichoke Fritters with Green Goddess Dip: How was I supposed to trim the artichokes down to usable bits that would become crispy fritters?

As I peeled away the tough outer leaves, I wondered when I’d reach the point of no return–that moment when I’d stripped away too much, leaving nothing to work with. I wondered about a food that produces so many useless parts. I thought about my first memory of artichokes: Mrs. Lemon, my third grade teacher, took a curious pleasure in strange things, like spanking students with a wooden paddle on their birthdays and introducing them to foods they’d be unlikely to know, growing up in a rural community in South Carolina. Artichokes are the only ones I remember.

I thought about Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who wrote an ode to artichokes, comparing the “soft-hearted…warrior suit” with cabbages, which “spent their time/trying on skirts.” I thought about Maria in the poem, who “picks up/an artichoke/fearlessly,” knowing exactly what to do with it. I wanted to be her, as I kept stripping leaves and then made tentative slices with the long knife blade. Though I lacked her confidence, I kept going.

As I fished for the golden fritters floating and crackling in the oil, I still wasn’t sure I’d been successful.

But then we dipped the crispy little fans into the sauce, and I knew, next time, I’d approach an artichoke with her confidence.
*
If you attempt the recipe (linked above), I’ll confirm the following:
-It’s just as delicious without the anchovies and chives, both of which I forgot to put on the shopping list.
-Reducing all ingredients by 1/3 produces the perfect yield for two people.
-This recipe seems exceedingly effortful for an appetizer. It is. But if you’re in a writing funk, it’s just what you’ll need.

There are some foods we become so accustomed to using in one way that we have a hard time thinking of other ways to use them.

One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is experiment with these ingredients, pushing them to their limits to see how they can be used.

People love seeing these foods presented in ways they’ve never seen them before, with combinations that have never touched their palates.

Today, I’m starting an occasional series called “One Ingredient, Four Recipes.” I’ll be taking a single item and sharing four recipes I’ve invented or modified to use that ingredient in surprising and delicious dishes.

The first ingredient is grapefruit.

This week, Julie and I are in Puerto Rico, where our friends’ yard is full of fruit trees: plantains, mangos, papaya, and more. It’s grapefruit season, and the round sun-colored fruits are falling from the trees, leaving a blanket of yellow on the grass each morning.

Julie goes out and collects the grapefruit and makes fresh-squeezed juice. But since there are so many and we don’t want them to go to waste, I started to think of other ways to use them. Here are 5 recipes:

Grapefruit Martini

(serves 2-4, depending upon the size of your martini glasses)

-4 shots of vodka (Absolut has Ruby Red Grapefruit Vodka, but that’s not necessary)
-2 shots of Cointreau
-juice of 1 or 2 grapefruits (will depend entirely on how much juice each grapefruit has; if the grapefruit seems rather dry, use the juice of two).
-ice

Put all ingredients in a shaker. Shake well. If you don’t want any pulp in your martini, put a fine mesh strainer over the martini glass and pour the mix through it. You can garnish with a half slice of grapefruit or a cherry. I also really like to garnish martinis with wild hibiscus flowers, which impart a nice garnet color to the drink and surprise people because they’re so unusual. You can order tWild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup on Amazon.

Grapefruit Garlic Chili Marinade

Citrus juices form the base of many marinades, and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice makes a great marinade for fish, chicken, and pork. This recipe for a spicy, tart marinade gives you enough to coat two pieces of fish, chicken, or pork; double the recipe for four.

-juice from 4 grapefruit
-3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
-1.5 heaping teaspoons of chili powder. Alternately, if you have fresh jalapenos, I’d recommend roasting them on the stove top, deseeding them, chopping them finely and then adding to the marinade.
-If you happen to have any fresh herbs like cilantro or flat leaf parsley on hand, chop a generous handful and add it to the mix.
-2 teaspoons of honey (honey helps balance out the tartness of the grapefruit)

Once you’ve made your marinade, put it into a flat plastic or glass container and lay your fish, chicken, or pork on the bottom. Cover with marinade and let it sit for 3-24 hours. Then, remove the meat from the marinade and grill it to taste, either on a BBQ grill or on your stove top in a grill pan.

Grapefruit Ginger Vinaigrette

Like marinades, citrus fruit juices make good bases for salad dressings. One of my favorites at any time of year is a grapefruit ginger vinaigrette. Serves four.

-1 cup of olive oil
-1/2 cup of white balsamic vinegar
-Juice of 2-3 grapefruit (again, depending on how juicy your grapefruit are)
1/2 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger
-White pepper to taste

Mix well and toss salad with light coating of the dressing.

Baked Grapefruit

I was determined to come up with a way to use grapefruit for dessert!

Did you know you can actually bake grapefruit?! Yes, you can! It’s the simplest dessert but because few people have ever thought about baking grapefruit, they’re totally impressed!

-Cut a grapefruit in half.
-Sprinkle each half with brown sugar or drizzle lightly with honey.
-Sprinkle some cinnamon or cardamom over the top. You could also place a cinnamon stick in the center of each grapefruit half while it bakes, and the essence will seep into the citrus. For an easy but impressive touch, trade the cinnamon for a piece of star anise, placed right on the top of the grapefruit, in the center.
-Bake the grapefruit for about 10-15 minutes on 375F, or just until golden, then serve on a plate or in a bowl.

Do you think you might try these recipes? You don’t have to be in Puerto Rico to find grapefruit this time of year; citrus is one of the few fruits available in winter that is consistently good. Can you think of other ways to use grapefruit? Share your ideas below!

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