Seville oranges, Blood oranges, and Meyer lemons are all in season and there are fun and tasty things you can make with them, including marmalade.
In the English language, marmalade is any fruit preserve with bits and chunks of citrus peel in it. This would include such creations as lime marmalade, lemon marmalade, the traditional orange marmalade (using Seville oranges), sweet orange marmalade, mandarin marmalade, or even grapefruit marmalade. You can mix, match and combined, as well.
The process of making marmalade is relatively simple - boil fruit juice that contains bits and chunks of peel. Nuances lie in the amount of pectin (for the curious, pectin is a polysaccharide - long carbohydrate molecules of repeated monomer units joined together by glycosidic bonds). Pectin is needed in the marmalade (or any jam or jelly) to give the final product a firmer, less liquid (semi-solid) consistency. Commercially, pectin is produced from citrus peels -- so, we are in the right realm for marmalade jelling or setting just by the fact we are using citrus fruits.
First up on my marmalade quest, traditional Seville orange marmalade. In my opinion, this was the simplest form to make. What you will need (not inclusive):
- Two (2) pounds (slightly less than a kilogram) of Seville, or Bitter oranges
- Food processor
- Large four (2) quart (four litre) pot
- Cane sugar
- Fresh water
Wash oranges, then using a sharp knife, remove any blemishes or dark spots that maybe on the peel. Do not remove the peel. Cut the oranges in half; remove any seeds you see. Cut each half in half, again, and remove any seeds (whether on the surface or just visible beneath); repeat the halving of pieces and seed removal until you have seedless, one inch (two centimetre) pieces.
Next, in small batches, put the cut orange pieces into your food processor. (Helpful hint: make sure the cover is secured on your food processor; if not, you will end up with orange juice sprayed around your kitchen -- like I did.) Pour the chopped oranges into your four quart pot; add a cup of sugar and a cup of water; begin to bring to a boil.
This is where it turns into less procedural recipe and more into cooking; without burning yourself, begin to sample the mixture. Too bitter, add more of sugar. Appearing too thick, add more water and turn the heat down slightly.
You will want to boil the delicious orange mixture for at least 30 to 45 minutes; this will give the pectin in the peels time to leach out.
Take out the plate you put into the freezer earlier, and take a teaspoon of your hot mixture and drip it onto the plate; if the mixture "wrinkles" up or appears instantly firm, your marmalade is done. If it still appears slightly runny, boil it down for a bit more.
Once you feel the marmalade is complete, put it into clean jars.
The other varieties of marmalade, I have not quite mastered, yet. The Meyer lemon marmalade had to be reboiled and pectin added; in the end the result is quite edible, but has a slightly gritty texture.
The blood orange marmalade required a little extra pectin, but the mixture frothed toward the end of the boil and resulted in air bubbles being trapped; it is not quite appealing in looks
+ 3 cups bread flour + 4 Tbsp. Honey + 1 Tbsp. Baking Powder + 1 Tsp. Salt + 4 Tbsp. Oliver Oil + One (1) 12 oz Beer (preferably, an ESB or IPA)
There is an unfortunate side effect to being on an autoimmune disorder drug: I am not supposed to consume alcohol. To sate some of those missed tastes, I cook with alcohol. Wine in soups, flaming bourbon'ed potatoes, and, of course, beer bread. The following is recipe for a beer bread, that, when an Extra Special Bitter or India Pale Ale are used, the resulting bread is a delicious, citrus-esque and hoppy sandwich bread that goes excellent with tuna or a likewise strong tasting protein. Aside from the delicious taste, this bread is damn-simple to make.
Set your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C); while the oven is heating, assemble the bread. Start by putting all dry ingredients into your stand mixer's bowl.
Next, add the oil, honey and beer. Throughly mix all the ingredients; place batter/dough into a well greased bread pan and place into oven. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. The top crust will be golden brown when done; double check by stick a toothpick into the loaf - a clean, doughless toothpick means your loaf if fully baked.
As I spend my evening with my wife, Melissa, at the emergency room, a fleeting thought danced across my head: computer coding, being mostly solitary, tending bees and being an assistant-lord to a flock of chickens suits me well. Being an E.R. nurse, doctor, tech, assistant, or otherwise would put me on edge. I am a bit on edge now just sitting here. Too much commotion, too much movement. This is not to say that these are not valuable societal occupations; it is just not a work field that would suit me. Besides, I trend toward sweating the small things, and being generally nervous. These are not qualities that would put a patient in duress at ease.
In an Andy Rooney-like fashion, I digress.
The weather here in Northern Minnesota, and all of Minnesota for that matter, has been warm. Too warm for early January. I worry, of course, about the bees that are tucked away in their hives. Too warm, and the queens will begin to lay eggs (brood). This would lead to more mouths to feed and the chance of food-stores being burned through too quickly; extra winter feeding on our part would be needed else we run the risk of having bees starve and die.
We are hoping to make a nearly-all cane sugar fondant for winter feeding. The recipe is ultra simple: water, granulated cane sugar, and cane syrup. 2:½:2 = Two cups of granulated sugar; ½ cup of water; 2 tablespoons of syrup. This should scale linearly. You will also need waxed paper or butchers' paper for which to put the finished product as well as a candy thermometer to gauge the stage of the product while it boils.
Put all ingredients into a sauce pan or appropriately sized vessel; put the pan over medium heat with a lid. Dissolve all the granulated sugar and bring the mixture to a boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove the lid, and using the thermometer, heat until things are at 240 degrees F (116 degrees C). Pour the liquid onto the waxed paper or butchers' paper and let cool for a few minutes; long enough to start to stiffen. When it is cool enough to be touched, you can work it into the shape you would need.
We like to sometimes fill empty honey super frames with the fondant. It makes for easy handling and easy deployment.
Unfortunately, I will be away for the weekend; no checking the hives this week and no whomping up fondant. Perhaps a midweek whomping and a feeding next weekend.
We did, however, do a small bit of whomping with almond oil, jojoba oil, beeswax, a bit of rosemary oil and water; we made lip balm. It turned out quite well. Very simple. Recipe for another day.
+ 1 Tbsp Yeast + 1 Tsp Salt + 3/8 stick (6 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter + 4 - 1.1/2 oz boxes of Raisins + 2 cups warm (110 F) Water + 1/3 cup honey (warmed) + 2 eggs (large) + 2 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon + 1 Tbsp Ground Nutmeg + 1 cup Rolled Oats + 3 Tbsp Gluten Flour + 4 to 6 cups unbleached flour
In your stand mixer's bowl, put in Yeast, Salt, Butter, Raisins, Water, Honey, Eggs, Cinnamon & Nutmeg, Rolled Oats, and Gluten. Using the dough hook, mix these items until things look blended together (e.g. egg yolks are broken, the rolled oats and gluten are mixed into the water, and such).
With the mixer on a low speed, put three (3) cups of flour into the mixer's bowl. When this amount of flour is mostly mixed in, add another cup or so of flour. Continue mixing. Slowly add 1/3 cup of flour at a time allowing it to be completely mixed in; continue this until your dough is slightly tacky - it will stick slightly to the bowl but will not leave any behind as it gets kneaded by the hook.
Once the dough has reached the tacky stage, continue kneading the dough with the dough hook for another two (2) minutes.
Place dough in a greased bowl; cover and set bowl in a warm place; if your kitchen is cold like ours, try placing the bowl into a warmed oven (but make sure the oven is not on when you walk away!).
Let the dough rise for 60 minutes or until doubled in size. Punch dough down, if you have smaller bread pans, cut into two equally sized pieces; shape each piece into a dough-cylinder and place into a greased bread pan(s). Cover and let rise for 60 minutes or until doubled.
After doubling, place the loaves into a 350 degree (F) oven for 45 to 60 minutes; when the top of the loaf is browned, and when tapped quickly with a finger, the loaf sounds hollow -- remove the baked bread from the oven. Cool & enjoy!
