Paloma

For ➊ drink
4.5 cl reposado tequila (or any good quality blanco)
juice of half a ruby grapefruit
1.5 cl of agave syrup or sugar syrup*
7.5 cl club soda
a squirt of fresh lime juice (optional)

Pour some kosher salt on a plate. Rub half of rim of a highball glass with grapefruit wedge; dip rim of glass in salt..
Mix the grapefruit juice, tequila and sugar syrup until well mixed.
Pour over a tall glass filled with ice and top up with soda water. You could add a squirt of lime juice. And rim the glass with salt.**

*To reduce your sugar intake, simply leave the sugar out. It's less sweet but delicious.
**Combine grapefruit juice, lime juice, and sugar in glass; stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in mescal, add ice, and top off with club soda. Garnish with grapefruit wedge.
***Replace the fresh grapefruit and soda with sparkling grapefruit lemonade.
***Or have a related Margarita.

Little is known about the historical origin of the Paloma, the most popular tequila-based cocktail in Mexico. Some believe that it is named after La Paloma ('The Dove'), the popular folk song composed in the early 1860s. Diffords guide states it was created by the legendary Don Javier Delgado Corona, owner and bartender of La Capilla, in Tequila, Mexico.
More Paloma recipes @ https://www.liquor.com/slideshows/paloma/#gs.PclY1XI

Fish burgers with fennel & quinoa salad

For ➍
600 g pollack (or white seasonal fish, skinned)
3 scallions
1/2 red chilli
a few sprigs of coriander
1/2 lime or lemon
1 egg
60 g breadcrumbs (or panko)
4 tbs flour
dash bland cooking oil (eg. canola or peanut oil)
salt
quinoa & fennel salad
yogurt vinaigrette

Cut the fish into bite-size pieces. Mash in the food processor.
Separate the egg and add the egg whites, along with a splash of lime or lemon juice. Grind everything fine into a chunky puree.
Spoon the ground fish in a mixing bowl.
Clean the scallions and cut them into thin rounds. Cut the red chilli in tiny pieces, chop the coriander leaves and mix everything with the fish, with a pinch of salt.
Sprinkle ground breadcrumbs (or coarser panko) in a bowl.
Rinse your hands clean and dusted with a little flour.
Knead servings of fish mixture into equal patties (150 g a piece). Roll in the breadcrumbs and press gently.
Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry the fish burgers patiently. Give them time to yarn to the core, without burning the outside.
Pour the quinoa & fennel salad. Spoon some of the yogurt vinaigrette over the fruity green and serve the remaining sauce in a separate container.
Place the freshly fried fish burgers on top and garnish the dish with coriander. Serve immediately.

Fennel & quinoa salad

For ➍
250 quinoa (poss. mixed quinoa)
2 volumes vegetable or chicken stock
½ fennel
½ endive (green=andijvie)
2 pink grapefruit
500 g ice cubes
yogurt vinaigrette

Heat a portion of vegetable or chicken stock (or water) to cook the quinoa.
Put the quinoa in a pot. Add twice the volume of heated stock. Boil the grains 15 m. Pour the quinoa in a strainer. Cool under running cold water.
Fill a bowl with water and ice cubes. Shave very thin slices of fennel with the mandolin. Put them in the ice water for the fennel to stay crispy.
Tear the leaves of the endive and rinse in plenty of water. Tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Or roll a few leaves on a cigar and then cut into fine strips. Add the ice-cooled and drained fennel slices.
Cut top and bottom of a slice of grapefruit. Remove outer skin and cut the grapefruit in wedges.
Spoon the grapefruit slices in the dish with salad.
Squeeze juice out of the rest of the grapefruit and use it for the vinaigrette.
Add the vinaigrette.
Serve with fried fish or grilled chicken or fish burgers.

Yogurt vinaigrette dressing

For ➍
1.5 dl (full) natural yogurt
1 tbs white wine vinegar
1 tbs honey
 saved grapefruit juice
 pepper &  salt

Put yogurt in a jar. Add the saved grapefruit juice from the salad.
Add some honey and wine vinegar, freshly ground pepper and a little salt.
Mix the yogurt vinaigrette.
Add to a fennel & quinoa salad.

Fennel & beet salad

For ➍ 

6 medium-sized beets
2 fennel bulbs
1 large grapefruit
walnut oil
lemon juice
salt & pepper
100-120 log goat cheese
coriander or tarragon (optional)

Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Wash the beets and cut off the root. Place beets root-side-down in a glass baking dish filled with 2 cm water. Cover with foil and roast for 30-40 m or until the beets are tender. Remove beets from the oven and allow them to cool.
Bring a pot of water to boil. Cut the fennel into thin strips and blanch for 2-3 m. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
Once the beets have cooled, discard the skins and cut them into matchstick sized pieces.
Mix 1 part grapefruit juice with two parts walnut oil. Add lemon juice depending on the acidity of the grapefruit. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Toss the beets and fennel together in a large bowl and drizzle with the grapefruit vinaigrette*. Serve on top of slices of goat cheese.

*If using dark-colored beets, slice them into rounds and serve them under a pile of the fennel and light-colored beets. If tossed together, the dark beets will color the whole salad an unappealing shade of pink.
**Eventually, add some coriander or tarragon.

Beets and goat cheese are natural allies.

Red grapefruit, avocado & fennel salad

For ➍
3 large ruby red grapefruits (or 5 oranges)
4 tbs macadamia oil (or a cold-pressed nut oil or olive oil)
1 tbs lime juice
2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted & sliced
1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, sliced thinly
1 very small handful mint leaves, julienned (or coriander or basil)
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 ts cracked coriander seeds (optional)
fennel fronds for garnish

To section the grapefruits or oranges, cut the peel from the top and bottom and stand each upright on a cutting board. Cut down from top to bottom along the peel to remove it and expose the flesh. Cut along each side of the membranes to separate the segments, and place the segments in a large bowl, along with any juice that you can squeeze out of what remains (sometimes it helps to carefully cut the grapefruit directly over a bowl). Set aside a few tbs of the juice to mix with the oil.
In a small bowl, whisk the oil with the lime juice, a few tablespoons of the grapefruit juice, and a generous pinch of sea salt. Place the sliced avocado in a bowl and pour some of the dressing over it, tossing very gently to coat.
Add the fennel, the remaining dressing, and the mint to the grapefruit and toss well. Gently combine the avocado with the grapefruit and fennel and divide among serving plates.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with cracked coriander, if using, and garnish with fennel fronds.

Pomegranate & grapefruit salad

For ➍
1 pomegranate
2 grapefruits
lettuce
dressing:
4 tbs olive oil
2 tbs vinegar
1 tbs honey
½ tbs lemon juice
½ ts onion, grated
salt, sugar
⅛ ts mustard power

Tear the lettuce into leaves. Dress 4 plates.
Clean the grapefruits. Divide into parts. Make a crown on each plate.
Fill the crown with pomegranate seeds.
Mix remaining ingredients into a dressing. Drip over the salad.

It might have been the original apple Eve was tempted to sink her teeth into (understandably). From its native Persia, the pomegranate spread to China, was brought by the Phoenicians to Carthage, where the Romans picked it up. The Moors brought the fruit to Spain round 800 A.D. and named Granada, one of their major cities after it
The acid fruit was not only appreciated for its red seeds, the skin was also used to colour leather.
The French army named a hand-tossed explosive a grenade after the seed-scattering properties of the pomegranate fruit.
Be careful when peeling and handling the fruit: the red juice stains are very difficult to remove.
More pomegranate salads: pomegranate,endives & feta, pomegranate, tomatoes & garlic, warm lamb salad with pomegranate & mint, pomegranate & cucumber salad, pomegranate & quinoa salad, Friuli winter salad.

Endives & pink grapefruit salad

For ➍
4 endives
1 pink grapefruit
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs red wine vinegar
½ ts sugar
1 shallot, chopped
1 cup walnuts (60 g), coarsely chopped

Cut the bottom of the endives and remove the hard core. Cut the leaves lengthwise into strips.
Peel and remove white membranes from the grapefruit. Cut into segments above a a bowl, to catch the juice.
Mix the juice, oil and vinegar into a dressing. Season to taste with sugar and salt and pepper.
Mix the endives with the grapefruit and shallots. Pour over the dressing. Sprinkle with walnuts.
Serve as a salad or with cold roasted chicken meat.

The grapefruit originally comes from a 18the century mix of sweet orange and pomelo on Barbados or Jamaica. It was brought to Florida in 1823, where a red pigmented variety was discovered in 1907. A new variety, the ruby grapefruit, was bred in Texas in 1929, where, for a long time, the cultivation of so-called white grapefruits was suspended. Today, it is cultivated mainly in the US, from Florida, Texas and Arizona to California, and around the Mediterranean.

Pink grapefruit dressing

For ➍
1 pink grapefruit juice
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs red wine vinegar
½ ts sugar

While cutting the grapefruit, catch the juice.

Mix the juice, oil and vinegar into a dressing. Season to taste with sugar and salt and pepper.

Serve with endives & pink grapefruit salad or a cold fish salad.

Grapefruit with green tea sauce

For ➍
2 pink grapefruits
2 white grapefruits
2 ts sugar
1 tbs green tea*
6 cl boiling water
1½ tbs sugar
1 ts cold water

Peel the grapefruits and cut out the sections. Put in a bowl. Add 2 ts of sugar.
Fill 4 ramekins with a mix of pink and white grapefruit sections, leaving some room to the top. Cover with plastic wrap and some weight to remove juices. Let rest for 60 m at room temperature.Make the sauce by pouring hot water over the tea leaves and let it stand for 5 m. Remove the leaves. Stir 1,5 ts of sugar in. Move to heat. Add 1 ts of water and bring to the boil. Let the sauce thicken a bit.
Pour off any liquid out of the ramekins. Invert onto a dessert plate and surround with tea sauce.
Serve with a few plain langues de chat biscuits or any dry thin-leaved cookies, s.a. cigar cookies.

*U some flowery tea, like hibiscus instead.

While not Japanese in origin, it would finish a Japanese-like dinner in style. (Such as the zen risotto.)