Cointreau Citrus Salad

This is more of a tip than a recipe – a simple, make-ahead fruit salad that is perfect for brunch.

Instructions #

Cut an assortment of citrus fruits (oranges and grapefruits are fine, but if you can find some blood oranges or ruby grapefruits that’s even better; a sweet Meyer lemon also makes a nice addition) into supremes (method below). If this is a bridge too far for you, there’s always jarred citrus salad from the grocery store. It’s a pale shadow of the fresh glory of oranges at the peak of their season, but we’re gilding the lily a bit here, so it will still be good.

Place the drained supremes into a bowl. Depending on the sweetness of the fruit, you can sprinkle on a bit of sugar. Sprinkle generously with Cointreau or Grand Marnier (if you’ve got an elderflower liqueur such as St-Germaine, a few drops make a nice addition here), cover, and refrigerate overnight.

For a pop of color that’s perfect at a holiday brunch, stir in a handful of fresh pomegranate seeds before serving.

Cutting Citrus Fruit into Supremes #

This is generally the best way to prepare citrus segments as an ingredient, since you can be sure that no tough, bitter membranes remain. It’s not particularly difficult, but I won’t lie: it’s tedious. It gets faster with practice, however, and some music helps pass the time. Don’t let your mind wander, though – that’s how you cut yourself.

You’ll need a good sharp paring knife. Start by removing the peel, with the goal of cutting away every trace of the white pith beneath the peel. This will involve cutting away some of the flesh of the fruit, but it’s better to lose some of that than to taste the bitter pith.

Cut the top and bottom off, and with the fruit sitting on the board, cut away the peel from the sides in sections using a curved stroke. Use a sawing motion to remove any bits of white pith that you missed.

Once the peel is off (and working over a bowl to capture all the delicious juice), hold the fruit in your left hand (if you’re right-handed) and use the paring knife to cut out the wedges of flesh between the membranes that separate the segments. Drop them into a separate bowl. Once you’ve removed all the wedges (these are the supremes, incidentally) squeeze the remaining juice from the wreckage of the fruit and discard the remains. If your fruit has seeds, you’ll find that it’s easy to remove them from the wedges with the tip of your knife.