NATURE’S
CANDY:
DEHYDRATED FRUIT

OLDER FRUIT can be dehydrated to concentrate the flavor. No one will care if it looked ugly or wrinkled before it was dried. Dry fruit in a dehydrator or oven at 125° to 135°F, until dense and still slightly chewy. The timing is going to depend on what type of fruit you are drying as well as the condition, water content, and relative humidity. Also, the more surface area that is available for drying, the quicker the fruit will dry. Do not turn up the heat to quicken the drying time as it can cause case hardening on the outside, which will prevent drying on the inside.

 

CITRUS

THE USES FOR CITRUS FRUITS in cooking are as endless as the world is vast. And not just the flesh and juices, the peels and the leaves from their trees are fair game as well. Italians use lemon tree leaves to wrap up cheese and meat and fish for grilling to keep the juices in as well as impart a lemony flavor to the food. In Morocco, preserved lemons are essential for every kitchen. In Southeast Asia, the leaves of local lime trees are used extensively—chopped, stir-fried, and stuffed in sausage. In China, dried orange peels are prized in tea and in savory dishes, such as dried tangerine peels in shredded beef.

USED GRAPEFRUIT GIN & TONIC

MAKES 1 COCKTAIL / TIME: 5 MIN

The sweet tang of grapefruit syrup replaces the tonic for a refreshing and natural twist on the classic G&T. I developed this and all the other cocktail recipes in this book with Michael Reynolds, co-owner of the downtown New York City bar Black Crescent (and formerly of the iconic Booker and Dax cocktail bar). You can find several other unique cocktails that we developed together on the following pages.

2 ounces (¼ cup) gin

¾ ounce (1½ tablespoons) Used Grapefruit Syrup (at right)

½ ounce (1 tablespoon) lime juice

¼ ounce (½ tablespoon) simple syrup (1 part sugar dissolved in 1 part water)

Ice

½ ounce (1 tablespoon) soda water

In a shaker, combine the gin, grapefruit syrup, lime juice, and simple syrup. Fill the shaker with ice and shake vigorously until the contents are completely chilled. Pour the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a coupe glass. Top off with the soda water.

USED GRAPEFRUIT SYRUP

MAKES ABOUT ONE CUP, enough for 15 cocktails / TIME: 20 MIN

Most people eat a grapefruit by cutting out each pink fleshy segment with a knife. Left behind for the garbage are the peels, the membranes, even a fair amount of flesh, and the juice. Save them all for this syrup, which can also be made into a vinaigrette for salads or vegetables.

Flesh scraped from 2 leftover organic large grapefruit halves

2 grapefruit peels (1 inch square each)

½ cup grapefruit juice, squeezed from the halves

1 cup sugar

½ cup water

In a medium saucepan, combine the grapefruit flesh, peels, and juice with the sugar and water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to low. Simmer for 5 minutes until the syrup starts turning slightly brown and is reduced to about 1 cup.

Remove from the heat, let cool, and strain. Compost the solids and store the syrup in the refrigerator for up to 15 days.