From the Demo: Saving the Season, Winter Citrus
Recipe Courtesy of Kevin West at savingtheseason.com
2 lbs blood oranges (about 10 small fruits)
1 lb Meyer lemons (about 3 large fruits)
1/2 lb sour Eureka lemons (about 2 small fruits)
3.5 cups white granulated sugar
3/4 cup sage honey, or any other pale, floral honey
3 cups water
- Remember that marmalade uses the fruit peel, so please use un-sprayed, organic (or backyard) fruit if at all possible. Also note that store-bought citrus is often coated in wax to extend shelf-life, so if that’s what you’re using, first rinse the fruit with boiling water to remove all traces of wax, then scrub well in cold water.
- PEELS: Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from all the citrus in wide strips, taking only the colored exterior zest and leaving behind the albedo, the bitter white pith. Slice the peel into 1/4″ threads (or wider, confetti-like pieces if you prefer a more textured marmalade.) Put the prepared peels in a preserving pan.
- PULP: First remove all the albedo. The technique is to take a peeled fruit and slice a round off both ends, deep enough to reveal the pulp beneath the albedo. Then stand the fruit on one of its flat ends and slice downwards along the fruit’s outside edge to cut away the albedo. Work your way around the perimeter of the entire fruit until you’re left with the beautiful “heart” of the fruit. Cut the heart crosswise into round, 1/2″ slices and finally quarter each slice. Remove whatever seeds you find. Put chunked pulp in the preserving pan with the peel.
- Add water to the preserving pan with peel and pulp, bring to a boil and add sugar and honey. Return to a moderate boil and stir constantly until the mixture had reduced by as much as half to reach the jell point.
- When a jell set has been achieved, turn off heat and allow the hot marmalade to cool for 5 minutes before ladling into prepared jars. If you wish, process sealed jars in a hot-water bath for 10 minutes (for half-pint size) to pasteurize for long storage.
NOTES
***You can use any combination of citrus fruits in this recipe, but be sure to achieve a balance of sweet (navel oranges, tangerines, Meyer lemons, etc) and sour (Seville oranges, Eureka lemons, grapefruits, etc).
***Feel free to add flavorings. For example: add 1 split vanilla bean to the preserving pot midway through the reduction. Or: take a 4″ branch of rosemary, crush it to release its fragrance and swish it through the finished marmalade just before ladling into jars. Or: add 2 tablespoons of alcohol (Grand Marnier, citron-flavored vodka) towards the end of reduction.
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