Satsuma Marmalade with Vanilla Bean

We had a gray weekend and I was in the mood for what I consider to be a big cooking project so I decided to try my hand at marmalade. My mother has, for years, reminisced about a particular jar of bitter Seville orange marmalade that she got in England some years ago, which inspired me to attempt a bitter (pleasantly so) marmalade. Here's how it went:

• I started with about 4.5 pounds of satsuma tangerines, 1 immense grapefruit and 3 lemons.
• To begin, use a peeler to remove the zest-y layer from all of the citrus. For my tangerines, the skin was very thin and did not lend itself to being peeled. So I just peeled the entire thing and used it all.
• Once peeled, finely slice all of the zest-y bits.
• Next take all the zest and throw it in a non-reactive (stainless is an easy way to go, le creuset if you are fancy:) along with 7 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about a half an hour, or until the zest is tender.

• While that is happening take all the fruit (from which you have stolen the zest) and slice off the remaining peels. Then proceed to "supreme" your citrus - slice out the meat and leave the membrane and pith (set all of this aside and reserve for later use). I did this for the lemons and the grapefruit. For the tangerines, I recommend breaking down some of them and getting about 1.5 - 2 cups worth of fruit (I took a couple of the fatter sections out and then set aside what was left). With all of the remaining tangerine (and you could just do this with all of them from the beginning and forget the meat) I juiced them and once again reserved the membranes for later.
• By this time your zest should be done boiling. Turn off the heat and drain the zest, reserving the cooking liquid.
• Tie all of the reserved pith and membranes in a cheesecloth bundle.
  
• Once again, in a large non-reactive pot combine 4 cups of the zest-cooking liquid, the tangerine juice, 5 cups sugar (add 1/2 -1 cup more if you want a sweeter marmalade), 2 vanilla beans (split and scrape the seeds into the mixture), and the bu
  

• While the marmalade is cooking, place all of your jars (recipe fills about 10 12-ounce jars), rings and lids in a large pot.
  
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• Your marmalade should set up without the addition of any additional pectin (based on the natural pectin in the citrus) if however, you have problems I found that you can add 1/2 a packet of pectin (1.5 ounces) and then simmer for an additional 15 or 20 minutes.
  

Finally, your jam is complete and all you have to do is can it!

• Remove the rings and lids from the pot of boiling water and place on a clean dish towel.
• Take out the cheesecloth bundle and discard.
  
• Remove a jar from the pot and ladle (or use a wide mouth funnel) in some marmalade until the jar is full, leaving 1/4-inch space at the top of each jar. Quickly, using tongs, place a lid tightly on the jar and flip upside down. Repeat until you are out of marmalade.
  
• Leave all of the jars upside down until they have cooled to room temperature.
  

Side notes: To seal the jars you can use the USDA-approved (woot woot) boiling water method. If you use the flip method, make sure the jars are as hot as possible when you are filling them. Finally, and I have to be reminded of this quite often because I thoroughly enjoy popping down the lid tops, when the jars have cooled to room temperature and you flip them over, do not push the lid down, it should go down by itself in 10 minutes or so. If the lid doesn't depress it has not sealed properly and you should store it in the fridge and/or gobble it up immediately. mm

9.21.10

Roasted butternut squash with sage and mascarpone over pasta. This morning, before hustling to work I haphazardly began my cooking by cutting up the butternut squash into chunks (and miraculously emerged with all my digits intact - butternut squash: not easy to cut). Anyways, the recipe: throw the squash onto a sheet pan and toss it with a little olive oil, a sprinkle of brown sugar, and some salt and pepper. Place the squash into an oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool a bit. Cut into smallish cubes (whatever your preference really. Dice one shallot. (In the meantime, put on a pot of boiling water for the pasta). Heat up about two tablespoons of olive oil in a saute pan and add in some whole sages leaves and allow to fry for a minute. Before they burn, add the shallot and saute until translucent.
Add the squash into the saute pan. Place the pasta in the boiling water. While the squash is sauteing, add 1/2 cup mascarpone, 3 tablespoons milk, salt and pepper(to taste) into a bowl and stir to combine. As the squash is cooking add a few spoonfuls (I added about 6) of pasta water from your pasta pot. When the pasta is ready remove from heat and drain. Turn the heat off the squash and add the mascarpone sauce; stir. You are ready to eat! Serve with freshly shaved parmesan.

9.4.10

Another good home-cooked meal from LA-
We found ourselves pleasantly inundated with figs from our friends' trees, thus, an appetizer of figs with goat cheese (1/2 wrapped in prosciutto for the non-veggies).
For drinks I muddled basil, raspberry and white peach with a shot of gin, a few drops of agave nectar and topped it off with prosecco.

Dinner: Pasta sauce a la Mary - fresh garden tomatoes, lemon zest, basil, salt & pepper, and a light drizzle of olive oil. We did a big seafood bake of dungeness crab, lobster, and Alaskan king crab and tossed the seafood in with linguine and the fresh tomato sauce. The dungeness crab was sweet and moist and it always tastes that much better when you have slaved away to procure the perfect little claw morsel. mmm

Summer Fruit Buckle

Summer Fruit Buckle (aka throw in anything you have around) - adapted from an LA Times recipe. Crumb topping - Sift 1/2 cup flour and 1/3 cup sugar. Add the zest of two lemons, a generous dash of salt, and cut in a 1/2 stick of butter. Toss in about 1 cup of oats. Cover and chill.
Cake - Grease a 9x9 pan and preheat oven to 350. Whisk together a generous 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg in a medium bowl. Cream six tbsps butter, 3/4 cup sugar, and the zest of one lemon until light. Add two eggs one at a time.

Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture, one third at a time, alternating with (a hefty) 1/2 cup buttermilk (start and end with dry). Once everything is incorporated fold in the fruit - I used two enormous peaches (sliced), two plums (sliced as well) and 3/4 cup blueberries. Pour the batter into the greased pan.

8.16.10

Homegrown tomatoes with fresh basil and burrata for an afternoon snack.


For dinner I made fish tacos with mahi mahi and a cilantro-lime slaw.
Recipe: I used two mahi mahi filets to serve 3 people. Season the mahi mahi with salt and pepper, chop four cloves garlic and about 1/2 cup of cilantro and rub those onto the fish. I then put the fish into a dish and let it marinate while preparing the rst of the dish. For the slaw: slice a half head of cabbage toss it into a bowl and add in the juice of 1 or 2 limes, 3/4 cup cilantro, a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper, and sriracha to taste. Mix it all together and set aside. Open a can of black beans and warm them on the stove top. I chopped some avocado and cherry tomatoes to use as toppings. To finish the dish heat a pan with a little bit of olive oil, once warm place the mahi mahi in the pan and sear it for about 4 minutes on the first side and then flip it and leave it on the other side for two more minutes. Remove from the heat and break the fish into chunks. Warm some corn tortillas and pile on whatever toppings you please (I served mine with slaw, beans, tomatoes, avocado and a healthy dollop of sour cream. Next time I might swap in some radishes and queso fresco.).

8.10.10

A Quick Ode to Breakfast - Practicing my poached egg. I don't really want to be a purist about anything. That having been said, I consider myself a bit of a poached egg purist, because I am trying to learn how to poach to perfection. I feel like using one of the many "perfect poached egg" products on the market is cheating. Anyone can buy a silicone bowl and drop it, along with a raw egg into near-boiling water and have the egg cook in a perfect shape, but what if that same person found themselves in the mountains, tool-less needing to poach the perfect egg - s.o.l. It doesn't really matter what they look like it is just an enjoyable quest, not to mention, I like poached eggs and am happy to eat all the ugly imperfect ones along the way (I am even fine if that is all I ever make). Here is a photo of my latest attempt (c/o Mark Bittman's advice in this Minimalist article). I served my egg with cranberry currant bread and crenshaw melon.