Grilled Fruit

This was something new for me.  I had never grilled fruit before.  I’m not sure I have ever even eaten grilled fruit.   But, there is a first time for everything.  I had been contemplating trying it out for a while.  I finally tried last week and success or failure, I planned to let you know how it turned out!

This was a spur of the moment decision, so I grilled peaches and bananas, both of  which I happened to have. 

Prepare the grill for a medium to high heat.  The fruit will be grilled over direct heat.  I didn’t need a lot of coals.  Around 20 were plenty.  When the fire is nearly ready, slice the peaches in half, removing the pit.  The bananas do not need any preparation.

The peaches went on first, cut side down.  I decided they needed a little more time than the bananas as they are a firmer, fleshier fruit.  About 2 or 3 minutes after the peaches are on, put the bananas on the grill.  I turned the peaches over after they started to soften, around 6 minutes or so.  You can see the charring on the peaches in the photo.  This is due to the natural sugars present.  Sugars char when put to heat.  It’s not burnt and does add flavor.  I drizzled about a tablespoon or so of lime juice and honey over the peaches, allowing the liquids to pool in the space left by the pit.  The bananas can be turned around 5 minutes after putting them on.  Again, make sure they are softening before turning.  Total cooking time for the peaches will be around 12 or 13 minutes, the bananas 10 minutes.  The peaches will be soft all the way through, the bananas will feel “mushy” or like a thick custard.

After removing the peaches from the grill, you can leave them as they are or dice them up.  As you dice them or cut them as you are eating, remove the peel.  It will slide off quite easily.  Serve them still warm with vanilla ice cream, pound cake or as I did, with the bananas.  They were very tasty.

 

 

 

Slice open the banana peel to reveal a soft (but not falling apart), moist banana.  Cut into chunks and serve with ice cream, cake or with the peaches.  Slice it lengthwise and create a warm, grilled banana split.  I sliced mine lengthwise and added pieces of a dark chocolate bar (while the banana was still very warm.  The chocolate melted and became a yummy, gooey mess!), marshmallows (that my daughter roasted on the grill) and some coconut.  A delicious treat!

Pineapple would be another great fruit to grill.  I’m sure there are plenty more that would withstand grilling.  Try some yourself and let me know the results!

Until next time, Grill, Baby, Grill!