Remember that beautiful orange tree I showed you the other day? As beautiful as those fruits may look, they are some lip puckerin' sour oranges, my friends. I've come to the conclusion that this can only be a Seville or "bitter" orange tree. What good are sour oranges when you're trying to feed your family?
According to Wiki, I can use it to to make a Belgain beer "The Belgain Witbier (white beer) is a beer made from wheat which is spiced with the peel of the bitter orange." (making a note for future beer making adventures). But even then, this only uses the peel... Oh! Perhaps I should corner the market in dietary supplements!
"The extract of bitter orange (and bitter orange peel) has been used in dietary supplements as an aidfat loss and as an appetite suppressant, although in traditional Chinese medicine it is always prescribed in concert with other support herbs, not in isolation. Bitter orange contains synephrine, a substance similar to ephedrine, which acts on the α1 adrenergic receptor to constrict blood vessels and increase blood pressure and heart rate."
Nah...
That only leaves me with one choice. The choice which majority of the world choose... Marmalade! Sold! I'd been wanting to try canning, and what better way to get a grasp on the concept than try putting up a food item I have plenty of!
I found a few recipes online (I'm waiting for the Ball Book to be returned to the library), but chose to go with the one from www.pickyourown.org because they provide great step-by-step pictures, the recipe uses pectin instead of making my own from the seeds and pith of the oranges, and it's the quickest to cook down.
- 8 whole oranges, thinly sliced (4 cups cut) My oranges must be small, because it took 12 to get 4 cups
- 3 whole lemons, thinly sliced (1 ½ cups cut)
- Orange juice or Water - 4 cups of either. Orange juice adds extra flavor.
- Sugar - about 7 cups of dry, granulated (table) sugar
- Pectin - 1 box
The marmalade looks pretty, doesn't it? Well unfortunately, my first try turned out horrible! It didn't set so it was super runny, and it tasted extremely bitter! So, I trashed that batch and made again. I'm not sure if I missed a step the first time, if I picked under ripe oranges, or if a week of rain did the oranges some good, but my second batch came out great. I chose to leave the rind out to avoid risking total bitterness again, so it's more like orange preserves...
Now what to do with the 3/4 of oranges that remain...
Makes sense, when life gives you oranges, make marmalade! I wonder if you could make an orange sorbet with these? There's a basic recipe here using blood oranges:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.finecooking.com/recipes/blood-orange-mango-sorbet.aspx
You'd have to adjust the sugar obviously to counteract the tartness, or maybe blend in another fruit with your oranges, but might be fun to try.
Maybe invite the neighbors to pick for their own marmalade adventures...
ReplyDeleteI wonder, do they smell orangey or bitter? I use orange oil to scent homemade, nontoxic cleaning products. I bet you could use a bit of the peel the same way, just drop it down in the bottle. As for the rest... well, they made good photos.
Curbstone~That should've been my title! "When life gives you oranges..." but I could only think of the "Aren't you glad I didn't say..." knock knock joke my 8yo seems to find hilarious (and me, not so much).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recipe. I know there are a few ways to incorporate the oranges into food, so I think I'll venture there next.
Meredith~I think my neighbors have the same trees! LOL Must've been "in fashion" when these homes were built or something.
I think they smell like Fruit Loops right off the tree, and like normal oranges when cut up--so pretty sweet.
I'll probably give what's left in a few weeks to our local food bank, and wish them luck.
Thanks for stopping by!
Wait! It can take weeks for that stuff to set. My apple pie jam just set recently and I made it a long time ago. Always give it a chance. If nothing else, you have good syrup for pancakes.
ReplyDeleteThe more of the white pith you use in your marmalade the thicker it will get because that's where the natural pectin is. I don't go through the whole canning process, I just cook it up, put it in jars, and after it has set up, stick it in the freezer. You can enjoy it throughout the year until the next harvest!
ReplyDeleteI can't help but think that oranges and alcohol are a match made in heaven. There absolutely has to be something you can do (scurries off to consult the Alcoholic's Alamanac)!
ReplyDeleteYum! So lucky to have your own orange tree (even if they are sour)!
ReplyDeleteYou should join the Tigress' Can Jam. Every month we have a different fruit or veggie that we have to can. Last month was citrus. Lots of marmalades were made!
I hope you will check it out! Her blog is at http://tigressinajam.blogspot.com/
Ribbit~ I read it can take some time for the marmalade/jam to set. I threw the first batch out simply because it tasted aweful. lol
ReplyDeleteGrower Jim~ The pith is also what gives the jam a bitter taste, is it not? The original recipe instructions said to peel the oranges which resulted in a lot of pith that I couldn't get off. I think that contributed to the failure of the 1st batch. The second time around, I cut the rind/pith off.
Idiot Gardener~ You know, the funny thing is, I don't even really *like* oranges or orange flavored things. So, I was surprised I liked the jam.
Catalina~ Thanks for the link! I love new blogs, and this one will be especially helpful with my canning adventures.
Thanks for visiting, all!
It's hard to believe those oranges are bitter; they look luscious. I enjoyed reading your post. I just found you through blotanical. Welcome!
ReplyDeleteYou might consider letting Forage Oakland know about your bounty. You may be able to get in on some exchanges as well.
ReplyDeleteWow! Thank you so much for sharing the link for "Forage Oakland," Kathryn Grace. I'm so completely new to canning that my methods need more work, and my recipes a little bit of personality before I'd have the confidence to share with non-family members. But, I'm saving this blog for when those things do happen. Thanks again! ;-)
ReplyDelete