Delicious ways to enjoy your preserves
FRESHLY SQUEEZED orange juice — my eye! One of the most abused terms in the English language — the reality of “freshly squeezed” orange juice stretches from a tetra pack to a litre plastic container of juice that was squeezed days and sometimes weeks earlier.
Freshly squeezed orange juice or Jus d’orange pressé comes from an orange sliced in two across the “equator” and then juiced on a citrus juicer rather than one of those industrial machines that produce juice that tastes of pith and all the nasty chemicals on the skin.
It’s so worth investing in a little electric juicer. They are relatively inexpensive, €30 or so.
If you have one, it should last for maybe 10 years or more in a domestic situation. You will be much more likely to make some freshly squeezed orange juice to start the day, a real investment in your health.
I’m like a broken record but I was brought up with the clear understanding that our food should be our medicine and my mother firmly believed that if she didn’t put the money and effort into the food on the table, she would inevitably give it to the doctor or chemist.
Winter is the citrus fruit season with an abundance of citrus fruit is now in the shops. All the usual plus, satsumas, mandarins, clementines, tangerines, tangellos, ugli fruit, kumquats and now the marmalade oranges have just arrived from Seville and Malaga, so we can have fun experimenting while they are in season for the next few weeks.
If your life is too hectic to make marmalade at present, throw them into the freezer in 4½lb lots and make whole orange marmalade later on.
An electric juicer will make the whole process infinitely easier.
1) Make sure that the citrus peel is really soft before the sugar is added, otherwise the peel will be tough and chewy– doesn’t matter how long you cook it for.
2) Cover the saucepan while the peel is cooking, then remove the lid and cook until the liquid is reduced to between 1/3 and ½ the original volume before adding sugar.
3) Add flavourings, ginger, cardamom, whiskey two or three minutes before the end of cooking.
4) To test for a set, put a small spoonful marmalade onto a chilled plate, pop into the fridge for a couple of minutes. Then push with your finger and if the marmalade wrinkles even a little then it is guaranteed to set.
5) Allow the marmalade to stand in the saucepan for 10 to 12 minutes before potting into warm sterilised jars, this will ensure that the peel settles and doesn’t rise to the top.
6) Cover immediately, store in a cool dark place – admire your handiwork and enjoy!
I’ve been greatly enjoying the newly published “Marmalade – A Bittersweet Cookbook” published by Sarah Randal published by Saltyard Books, great marmalade recipes and beautifully written with tons of suggestions for delicious ways to use your new seasons marmalade.
My favourite film over Christmas was Paddington Bear. Michael Bond who wrote the original books shared his tips for the perfect marmalade sandwich with Marmalade author Sarah Randal — how charming is that?
Here are lots of delicious ways to enjoy your preserves from “Marmalade – A Bittersweet Cookbook”.
I buy small packs of ready-prepared coconut chunks for this recipe and grate them in a food processor or by hand. You can make and bake the roulade a few hours ahead, but once it is filled, it must be eaten with haste.
Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and line a 20 x 30cm Swiss roll tin with non-stick baking paper.
Whisk the egg whites in a large clean bowl until they form stiff peaks, then gradually add the caster sugar, little by little, whisking all the time and adding the cornflour and the two tablespoons of grated coconut with the final addition of sugar.
Gently pile the meringue mix into the tin and spread it out with a palette knife. Bake for five minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3 and continue to cook the meringue for 20–25 minutes, until lightly tinged golden and set.
Dust a sheet of non-stick baking paper with icing sugar. As soon as the meringue is ready, turn it out on to the icing sugar and leave to cool.
For the filling, peel, deseed and slice the papaya, then toss with the lemon juice.
In a bowl, whisk together the yoghurt and icing sugar and chill. Warm the marmalade slightly (this will make it easier to spread), chopping any large pieces of peel.
To finish, carefully peel away the base paper from the meringue and spread with the barely warm grapefruit marmalade. Leave to cool. Next, spread the yoghurt mixture on top of the marmalade, then scatter with the papaya. Roll up the roulade, star ting from one of the shorter sides. Transfer to a serving plate, dust lightly with icing sugar and sprinkle with the extra grated coconut. Serve straight away.
Put the flour, semolina, and lemon and clementine zests into a bowl and mix. Using a table knife, cut the soft butter into the mixed flour until it is in large blended clumps, then mix in the icing sugar using the knife.
Combine the lemon and clementine juices in a cup. Sprinkle the juice over the flour mix and incorporate them into the dough. The dough will be quite sticky. Cover with cling film and allow it to rest for half an hour in a cool place, but don’t refrigerate it. Preheat your oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 5mm and use a 7cm round cutter or a wine glass with a similar diameter to stamp out two rounds. Place one round in the palm of your hand and spoon a teaspoon of marmalade in the middle. Take the other round, place on top, and gently squeeze the sides together to incorporate the filling. Place the filled cookies on a lined baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the dough to make seven assembled cookies.
Bake the cookies in the centre of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the pastry is lightly golden. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes on the baking tray before transferring them to a wire rack to complete cooling. You can dust them with a little icing sugar before eating if you like, and they will keep well in an airtight box for two days.
If you are short of time or have a sudden urge to make a batch of marmalade in one day, you can leave out the overnight soaking; it will just take longer to soften the peel before you add the sugar. As with all fruit, the weight of Seville oranges varies according to size, but, as a guide, 1kg is equal to 8–12 oranges. In addition to the three key ingredients — oranges, lemon and sugar — you will need some gauze or muslin.
Put the radio on. Halve the oranges and, using the tip of a knife, flick out any obvious pips on to a double-layered square of gauze (or muslin), about 30x30cm. Squeeze the juice from the oranges into a very large bowl (or a large lidded plastic box), add any extra pips from the squeezer to the gauze and add any fleshy bits of orange to the bowl.
Now, cut each orange half into quarters and, using a knife, scrape out the membranes inside – put these and any more pips you find on to the gauze square. The next job is to shred the pithy peel as uniformly as possible into thin, medium or chunky shreds, as you wish; discard the buttons from the ends of the fruit as you go.
Transfer the shredded peel to the bowl too. Gather the gauze square together to form a money-bag shape, twist the top and tie it with string — an extra pair of hands comes in useful here.
When you tie the string, leave one long end — you can use this to tie the gauze pouch on to the pan handle and immerse it in the liquid when you cook the peel.
Put the pouch into the bowl to join the peel and juice. Add 2.25 litres of cold water, making sure everything is as immersed in the water as it can be, then cover with cling film (or a lid) and leave it overnight. I usually put the bowl in the cellar or garage.
The next day, tip everything from the bowl into a preserving pan and tie the gauze pouch to the pan handle so it sits on the base of the pan.
Bring the whole lot to simmering point over a low–medium heat and simmer the peel until it is really soft — you should be able to squish it easily in your fingers; this will take about 1½ hours.
The liquid will reduce as the peel simmers, and you will see a tidemark around the inside of the pan.
Once the peel is soft enough, remove the gauze pouch from the pan, pressing it against the side with the back of a wooden spoon as you do so to extract as much pectin as possible from the pith and pips — put the pouch into a bowl and leave it for 10 minutes to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, halve and squeeze the lemon and tip the lemon juice into the pan with the sugar; stir over a low heat.
Give the gauze pouch a final squeeze to extract the last of the pectin into the marmalade; wearing clean washing-up gloves makes this easier. You can now discard the pouch, as its work is done.
Pre-heat the oven to 140C /fan 120C /gas 1.
Keep stirring the marmalade from time to time to help dissolve the sugar. This is an important stage, so make sure all the sugar has dissolved before you move on to the next; it can take 15 minutes or so.
I find that any pips I have missed usually pop to the surface at this point; scoop them out with a teaspoon. Put a few saucers in the freezer for the wrinkle test and put your jars and lids in the oven for 15–20 minutes to sterilise them.
Now, bring the marmalade up to a rolling boil and boil it for 20–25 minutes or until it has reached setting point — use the wrinkle test.
When the marmalade is ready, take the pan off the heat. Leave the marmalade to settle for 15 minutes; this will help to distribute the peel evenly and make it less hazardous to pot. Give it a gentle stir in one direction to disperse any air bubbles.
Using a measuring jug and a funnel, transfer your marmalade into hot sterilised jars. Seal and leave the marmalade to cool completely. Give the jars a second wipe over with a hot cloth and dry them before labelling. Store the jars of marmalade in a dry, cool place, where it will keep for at least a year.
Add 75–100g of finely chopped root ginger when you add the sugar. Add 50ml of dark rum once the sugar has dissolved, boil to set, then add another 2 tablespoons of dark rum once the marmalade has reached setting point.
Add 6 star anise and 10 bruised cardamom pods to the gauze pouch with the pith and pips. Add a fresh star anise and a couple of cardamom pods (lightly squash them first) to each jar when potting the marmalade.
This much anticipated annual fundraiser has been held at Ballymaloe House for more than 50 years. A delicious dinner and a fantastic night’s entertainment.
This year’s event is a pre Valentines Casino Dinner and Dance. €100 a head for a heroic cause. Contact Fiona O’Flynn on 086-8824515.
I found beautiful Carrageen Moss of exceptional quality in The Village Greengrocer in Castlemartyr. Sean and Dorothy also have an extraordinary selection of fruit and vegetables and great local potatoes – Golden Wonders and Kerr’s Pink. Telephone: 021-4667655.
Cockles and Mussles alive alive oh! I adore cockles and mussels. It’s easy enough to find fresh oysters and mussels which are incredibly good value and full of zinc, omega 3 and vitamin B12.
Cockles are much tougher to source but Ballycotton Seafood now have them on a regular basis in the English Market, Midleton and Glanmire – keep an eye out for razor clams too, another of my favourite treats, great with aioli or cut into slivers and tossed with pasta. See www.ballycottonseafood.ie
I just received Madeline McKeever’s catalogue for 2015. Jam packed full of delicious tempting things like Tigerella tomatoes and Painted Lady runner beans and new additions to the wonderful selection such as Black Betty tomatoes, Florence Fennel Romanesco, celeriac Giant Prague heritages grains and many more.
For organic open-pollinated seeds grown in West Cork see www.brownenvelopeseeds.com
