White Citrus Sangria

I have decided that this is going to be the summer of the sangria. Why, you ask?

I can't think of a single reason why not, so there you have it.

I have been reading and reading plenty of mouth-watering recipes for Sangrias lately. In order to give some structure to this obsession, I have made an important decision in the name of science. I feel I need to try them all out, and then decide which one is best. But then, I will have to make it several times, in order to be sure that it remains consistently the best. Right?

Come along as I check out some Sangria options.

This first one is a white wine, citrus Sangria. It's very light and the addition of fresh squeezed orange juice gives it a great flavor. However, if you are one (like me) who likes to dig in and eat the boozy fruit at the end of the glass, you may be disappointed. The orange slices are to die for, but the lemon slices aren't great snacking material.

Citrus Sangria
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

2 large oranges
1 large lemon
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Cointreau
l bottle Chardonnay

Slice one of the oranges and the lemon into 1/4 inch thick slices. Add them and the sugar to a pitcher. Muddle the fruit and sugar together until the sugar is mostly dissolved, but stop before the fruit is completely mutilated.

Juice the other orange, and stir in the orange juice, Cointreau, and wine.

Chill for at least 2 hours, while you think of a great toast for a perfect summer evening.

This can be poured over ice, if you wish.

broccoli and pepper stir-fry and broccoli, orange and olive salad

This week is "Broccoli Ten Ways in Five Days" where I am trying out all 10 recipe suggestions Real Simple Magazine highlighted for broccoli in their September 2011 issue. Today is day four. You can browse day one, two and three if you'd like.

Today, I have a main-ish dish, and a salad for you. I can't say that today is going to be our best broccoli day this week, sadly. Neither one of these was horrible, but neither one was super duper, either.

The first is Broccoli and Pepper Stir-Fry. It is actually pretty good. It's just not exciting. I do stir-frys a lot, and this one doesn't stand out. If you are not a stir-fryer, this is a good starter lesson. With just a couple of common vegetables and a fail-proof sauce (from a jar), you really can't go wrong. If you are desperate to get rid of some broccoli, this is a quick and serviceable way to do so. Just don't plan to be blown away.

Broccoli and Pepper Stir-Fry

Cook 1 chopped bell pepper, 1 bunch broccoli (cut into florets, 6 cups), 1 bunch scallions (sliced), and 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger in canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, tossing often, until the broccoli is tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup each water and hoisin sauce and cook, tossing, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

 Broccoli, Orange, and Olive Salad

This recipe is probably the one I was least interested in trying. As a matter of fact, if I hadn't had the hair brained idea (and an overabundance of bunches of broccoli), I never would have bothered with it. Somehow, reading the recipe didn't excite me too much. There are more ingredients than some of the others, but somehow they didn't seem like enough. The recipe uses all things that I love (broccoli, olives, oranges), but somehow the combination didn't feel like it was going to be so fabulous. And guess what? It may be that I set myself up to dislike it, but whether it was a self-fulfilling prophecy or not, I didn't love it. The flavors weren't strong enough, so I went back and added a bit more salt and pepper. All that gave me was a case of sneezing. Oy vey. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't... much.

Steam 1 bunch broccoli (cut into florets, 6 cups) until tender, 5 to 7 minutes; rinse with cold water to cool. In a large bowl, toss with 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives (chopped), 2 tablespoons olive oil, and the grated zest and cut-out segments from 1 orange (squeeze in any juice remaining in the membranes); season with salt and pepper.

Beeting around the bush

I like to think that I stay on top of the things that need to be done. I don't let dirty laundry pile up beyond a load or two, I have permission slips filled out and returned the day after they come home (so I don't lose them), and I empty the dishwasher as soon as it finishes. However, I have to admit to myself that I procrastinate on some things, as well. I often renew my library books online again and again so I won't have to make a trip to the library to return them. I'm great about reading and returning emails, but calling to make an appointment? I can find about a million other things to do first.

I am learning that I also procrastinate with certain veggies.

Take beets.

I got them in my box two weeks ago. I used up everything else in that box (even the beet greens!). Then I got the next box, and used up just about everything in that box too. When my crisper drawer was left with a couple of carrots, couple of potatoes, and a bunch of beets nearing their 2 week birthday, I had to act. It was time.

I have only cooked beets a couple of times. While I don't dislike them, I am not really sure that I like them. They are a little bit sweet. A little bit earthy. A little bit ...

I just don't know what they are. I think that's the problem. I am not really sure they have a flavor. They just don't add much to a meal.

So anyway, being as I haven't cooked them often, I didn't have a great idea of what I wanted to do.

I ended up, as usual, googling a recipe, changing it to fit what I have in the house, and voila!

This orange and beet salad was fantastic! I can't say the beets were super flavorful or that I am dying to eat more tomorrow, but they balanced very nicely with the oranges and onions. I was very happy to eat this salad. Without delay.

I love to have recipes that allow me to do a lot of the work ahead of time, so that at dinner time, I can finish everything more quickly. We have a busy schedule, and this worked perfectly... I could boiled the beets, and let them cool while I went to karate class with my son. Then I peeled and sliced them, and let them marinate while I took the bigger kids to piano lessons and went for a bike ride with the little one. All I had left to do right before dinner was assemble the plates. 

Orange Beet Salad

4 or 5 medium-sized beets

4 cups spinach

2 navel oranges

1/2 red onion

dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white whine vinegar

1/4 tsp. dried mustard

salt and pepper, to taste

Scrub the beets, and pace them in a pot, with enough cold water to cover. Bring them to a boil, and simmer for thirty minutes, until you can pierce them with a fork. Let this cool down. 

Meanwhile, mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.

When the beets have cooled, peel and slice them into 1/4 inch slices. If you have time, marinate them in about half of the dressing for up to a couple of hours.

On four or five plates, lay out a bed of washed spinach leaves. Layer orange slices, beets, and red onion. Drizzle dressing over each plate, and serve.

So what is this stuff?

This is the water that was left from boiling the beets. All that beautiful red color means that it is chock full of vitamins and nutrients. You should save it and use it as a base for soup or a sauce. I wish I could say I did. I watered the garden with it. We'll get our vitamins back eventually, in the next veggie.

So aPEELing (I couldn't help myself)

Last week, I mused, somewhat facetiously, about the fact that there is no part of the vegetable that can't be used... be that leaf, root, stem, etc.

It got me to thinking. (Some people think and then talk about their ideas. Some people talk and then think about what they've said. I'm not saying it's a good thing.)

Why throw away peels?

I searched (and I found that once again millions of internet users had beaten me to the punch), and I read several recipes for candied citrus peels.

Let me back up a little bit. There is a gal at my work who celebrates her birthday this week. I wish I could give her my $1,000 car repair bill, but I can't. I also can't give her anything very extravagant for her birthday, even though she deserves the world. I decided to make her something instead.

Okay, back to peels.

This recipe can be done with any type of citrus peel. I happened to have several citrus fruits that had retired, and were ready to try a second career. I used 5 lemons (that had previously been a pitcher of lemonade), one navel orange (from a banana-orange smoothie), and 2 grapefruits (my breakfast).

The first thing to do is to quarter the fruits, and cut out all of the flesh. Put all of the peels into a pot, and cover with cold water. Bring this to a boil, and boil for one minute. Drain the water, and fill it back up again with cold water, and bring it back to a boil for another minute.

You need to do this a total of four times. Not all recipes asked for this step to be repeated, but the ones that did, said it helped limit some of the bitterness. And since there were several reviews of several recipes that said it turned out too bitter, I felt it was well worth my time.

Let the peels cool enough that you can handle them. The next step is to scrape as much pith as you an out of each peel. This is also to help with bitterness.

But save all that pith... once it dries, you can sew it into sachets, which will keep your linens fresh.

I'm just kidding. I have to draw the line somewhere at what parts of the dang plant we can use. Throw the scraped pith out. It's had a good life, and it is time to let it go.

After scraping out the pith, slice the peels into thin strips.

In a saucepan, bring to a boil two cups of water and two cups of sugar. Once it is boiling and all the sugar has dissolved, you can add the peels back in.

Stir and boil, boil and stir. The recipes said that after 10 minutes, the peels would be almost translucent, and the water almost gone. It took me 25 minutes, but it worked.

Again, wait a bit for this to cool. Spread the peels out on a cooling rack, separated from each other, so the syrup can drain.

Once they have cooled quite a bit, but haven't gotten dry, shake them, a few at a time, in sugar. And enjoy!

Or give them to someone else to enjoy!

There goes two days of my life I'll never get back

--Or-- 

This stuff is worth its weight in gold.

I am a rule follower. If there is a form due on a certain day, I turn it in on or before that day. I don't ask if I can have an extension. If there are certain requirements for a project, I don't stop until I have completed all of the requirements. I don't pick and choose. I don't opt to skip part of it. I don't talk on my cell phone while I drive, and I always press the button on the crosswalk.

So imagine my disappointment when I followed all of the directions for a new recipe, and it just didn't work out. Not just any recipe, mind you. One that took two. days. to. cook.

Don't worry... there is a happy ending here. But I am not going to let you hear it just yet. Come, suffer with me!

As I have mentioned, my weekly box of produce comes with a newsletter. In addition to some information about being green and sustaining the earth, there is usually some hints as how to use the less common items in the box (how else would I have known that I have to eat the beet greens and not just throw them out?). Also, every week, there is a recipe or two.

I hadn't used any of the recipes until this week, since they haven't quite worked out with my needs. However, this time the recipe for orange marmalade struck me as sounding kind of fun.

I have been wanting to try canning some of the fruits and veggies. I wonder if it is at all possible that I may actually miss some of the things that are overwhelming me right now, once they are out of season. It could be that I will wish I had them back!

This week, the newsletter contained a recipe for collared greens (Which, ironically are not in the box this week), and a recipe for orange marmalade. I happen to love orange marmalade, so making it seemed like a great way to use up some of the many oranges, try out canning for the first time, and perhaps even have a gift for a friend.

I followed the rules. Both the recipe instructions, and the instructions printed on the box of brand-spanking-new mason jars I bought just for this project.

I chose 5 oranges and 2 lemons. I sliced them in half, cut them into thin strips, and placed them in a pot with water.

 

why oh why won't these pictures line up nicely?

Then I began to cook them...  According to this recipe, you bring it all to a boil, add sugar, and then let it sit overnight. On day two, you bring it back to a boil, simmer for two hours, and then boil again for a half an hour.

I did all that. I boiled, then simmered, then boiled. I stood by the stove for almost three hours, stirring, watching, scraping foam from the top.

Then, it was time to do the canning. First, I boiled the empty jars to sanitize them. Then, I carefully filled each jar up to 1/4 inch from the top. I put the lid on,  just so tight, and stood by the stove some more, so I could boil it again. 

These jars of marmalade came out beautiful! 

And not at all like marmalade! The dang stuff didn't set. It stayed like runny orange and lemon slices floating in sugary water. Which, it just so happens, is exactly what it is! 

I was ready to give up and rename it "Orange ice cream topping" ... or "Orange pancake syrup"... or "Garbage."

However, I decided to consult my friend Google. He told me that the recipe I used was more or less the same as every other marmalade recipe. He also told me that it needed to boil about half an hour... until it reaches 220 degrees. Well, that little piece of info made all the difference. That little piece of information and a couple more hours in the kitchen.

I unsealed my perfectly preserved jars, poured the stuff back in the pot, stood and stirred and scraped and boiled it for much longer than half an hour, until 220 degrees,  and then did the little refrigerator-plate-test that was suggested in one recipe. Voila! Marmalade! Finally!

Okay, ready, set go: Rewash jars. Put jars back in the boiling water to sanitize. Fill jars back up, tighten the lid just so, put them back in the boiling water to preserve. Boil 15 more minutes, check the lids again, and we're done ... just as soon as I wash all these pots, pans, spoons, ladles, thermometer, knives, etc. And wipe sticky orange goo off of every surface in a 20 foot radius.

Good night!

Here is the recipe that actually works:

Orange marmalade 4 large oranges 2 lemons 8 cups sugar Cut the oranges and lemons in half crosswise, then into very thin half-moon slices. Discard any seeds. Place the sliced fruit and their juices into a stainless-steel pot. Add 8 cups water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Cover and allow to stand overnight at room temperature. The next day, bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 2 hours. Turn the heat up to medium and boil gently, stirring often, for another 30 minutes. Skim off any foam that forms on the top. Cook the marmalade until it reaches 220 degrees F. If you want to be doubly sure it's ready, place a small amount on a plate and refrigerate it until it's cool but not cold. If it's firm -- neither runny nor too hard -- it's done. It will be a golden orange color. (If the marmalade is runny, continue cooking it and if it's too hard, add more water.) Pour the marmalade into clean, hot Mason jars. if you plan to store it, be sure to seal it in boiling water.