FrogPrincesse

Absolutely. That's the beauty of this, you can search for multiple ingredients (or exclude ingredients), and then you can filter by type of dish or country etc. It's a very powerful search engine!

You can search by ingredient. Here is the result from the search for "stale bread": https://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes?q="stale bread"

I find the frozen gyozas, dumplings etc at TJ’s quite good in general! I wouldn’t buy these “savory herbed (boneless skinless) chicken thighs” again. They are juicy but also weirdly rubbery (the haricots verts, also from TJ’s, are a staple). The pesto chicken breasts are much better.

Last night - local halibut with lime ginger beurre blanc, bok choy, new potatoes. Served with a bottle of Sancerre. A few nights ago, carbonnade de boeuf a la flamande (recipe from Anne Willan, using chuck and Mammoth double nut brown). It is served with "croûtes", aka slices of rustic bread covered with Dijon mustard, placed on top of the stew and broiled for a few minutes. It's a dish that is perfect for the "cold" San Diego weather!

That looks delicious, @blue_dolphin. Can you share some details about how you prepared the katsu?

You are welcome! It's great for a quick lunch with a green salad. In France, rillettes sandwiches (inside a baguette, with sliced cornichons) are pretty common as well!

After the new year, I made goose rillettes with the carcass from the goose I had cooked at Christmas. I cut it in half and put it in the instant pot with some water and pressure cooked it. Then I transferred all the meat to a Dutch oven (discarding the skin), added some goose fat (set aside from cooking the goose) and some of the stock. I cooked it for a bit at low temperature, mixed and shredded it (a potato masher works well for that purpose), and transferred into jars with a layer of goose fat on top. The recipe was loosely based on the "simple rillettes from confit" recipe in Ruhlman & Polcyn's Charcuterie (time to re-activate the thread?). Great stuff on a slice of rustic bread with some cornichons! Next time I will probably add thyme, bay leaf and sneak in a little bit of cognac/armagnac for an extra boost of flavor.

@TicTac Bummer. At least now it's very viscous and, more importantly, it tastes great! It will continue to set in the jar, so maybe in a week or two it will be fully set. And now that you have found a new source of interesting citrus, you know what you have to do next - make more marmalade!

Hi @mlbatt, great to see you here! You will find that eGullet is a friendly and knowledgeable group, and you will fit right in! Welcome!

Looks good. I love tarte au citron. Is it this recipe?

@JohnT That sounds wonderful. I do various types of citrus as well (mostly bitter oranges, kumquat, yuzu). It's fun to mix them and experiment based on what is available. Other than bitter oranges or kumquats which are delightful on their own, I have found that citrus mixes are more interesting than single citrus - one of my favorite combinations is yuzu, Cara Cara orange, and Meyer lemon.

@JohnT Beet or cane, it’s sucrose. The source of sugar doesn’t make a difference with respect to reaching the gelling point. What are your favorite citrus combinations to use?

@TicTac Some batches take a few days to fully set once in the jar. It’s thicker already which is a great sign. Fingers crossed!

Yes, I am the bubble whisperer. I also cook rice by sound, believe it or not. It's correct about the foam. It will foam quite a bit, and then much less as you get closer to the end. Marmalade is a commitment for sure and I am glad you haven't given up. You cannot always predict how long it's going to take, but once you are in, you have to keep going. It's going to be so worth it at the end, trust me!

Nice. For sure you need to cook it more, you are probably half way there. As you get closer, the liquid will darken a bit, the bubbles will sort of thicken / get smaller and make a different sound. That's when you know you are almost there and should reduce the temperature so you can achieve the exact consistency that you prefer (you are just fine-tuning at that point). Most recipes don't describe this stage very well, although it is probably the most critical. Your grandpa probably learned from watching someone else do it, and learn to do this "by feel". Once you know what it is supposed to look like (and do it regularly so you don't forget), it's pretty straightforward. You will eventually be able to tell it's ready just by listening to your pot.

@TicTacAdditional comments - the amounts of water, oranges, sugar seem about right. I use the overnight procedure and leave the seed bag in until the end, but none of that is critical in my view as the oranges have a lot of pectin to begin with. Adding lemon or lime to the mix won't make a difference for reaching the gelling point as oranges are already acidic enough on their own. I am confident you will get there if you boil it at a high enough temperature.

@TicTac I recommend increasing the temperature to a fairly energetic boil. A low simmer won't get you there and 25 minutes is nothing given the quantity of fruit that you are dealing with.

Here (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) are the bags I use. They are $6 for 2 and they last for a very long time as they are made from a nylon mesh. They also work great for cheese, nut milks (orgeat...), if you are into this kind of thing.

And to answer your earlier question, mine takes about 45 minutes to set, but that is with the right pot etc. When I made my first batches, it often took 2-3 hours to get there. So just persevere, you will get there eventually. I never had a citrus marmalade not set properly, as they contains quite a bit of pectin. With other fruit, that is a different story of course.

How much fruit & sugar did you put in there? And did you do this in 2 steps (first, boil the peels in water with the seed bag, rest overnight, and boil with sugar on day 2)? Doing the 2 steps helps extract additional pectin which helps the jam set. How are you testing it? (using a small metal spoon in the freezer works well) How energetically is it boiling? I find that you need a fairly robust boil (avoiding scorching of course) so enough water evaporates. Constantly mixing helps. Do you know the current temperature? What type of pot are you using? Something wide will get you there much faster. Feel free to post a picture or video if you can, seeing the bubbles is another indication for how close you are to the gelling point.

@TicTac I am glad you were able to find Seville oranges! As Katie said, use the juice in the marmalade. They tend to not have a lot, but that depends on the variety and freshness. I also use the juice of a sweet orange (following David Lebovitz's recipe). It's there for flavor, and so is the liquor component (scotch is traditional, rum also works quite well), if you choose to include it. The beauty of making marmalade is that you can make it exactly to your liking! Cheesecloth is absolutely fine, actually that's what I used in my first batches. It can shed at the edges, so you just have to keep an eye on that (make a tight bundle and you will be fine). Also, if it is the fabric type, it is not reusable and you will need another piece for the next batch. Because I make marmalade regularly, I upgraded to a cheese / nut bag - I just wash it at the end and it is good to go for another round of marmalade or jam. As to what goes into the bag, unlike Katie, I include seeds and pith as they are both great sources of pectin. Initially I was worried that including the pith would make the marmalade less clear, but that is not the case at all. A mix of white and dark brown sugar works very well. I have done it in the past either intentionally (for another boost of flavor, caramel notes) or unintentionally because I realized at the last minute that I didn't have enough white sugar on hand. Again, another opportunity to create the flavor profile you like the best.

No such thing as too much lemon in my opinion, but could you link the recipe?

It looks like a typical marmalade, just cooked longer so it caramelizes.

@Fernwood No they aren’t delicate. They easily keep for a few weeks in the fridge, so transporting them shouldn’t be a problem.