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Blood oranges ... a wonder to behold and to taste


Gifted Gourmet

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I bought some lovely fruit yesterday and was most impressed by the blood oranges that I found ...gallery_10011_1589_455723.jpg

How can I make the best use of these gems? The colors and the taste are magnificent!

Drinks?

Salads?

Sauces?

one possible recipe from New York Magazine..... Jody Williams’s Insalata D’arancia

Edited by Gifted Gourmet (log)

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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Gifted, those are beautiful.

I love making a blood orange sauce out of them. Juice and zest, simmered together for 30 minutes; I add a bit of cream and (very, very light) chicken stock; very gently reduce to a glaze; and mount with butter. Sometimes, if the sugar content of the fruit was not optimal, I have resorted to sweetening it very carefully. I served it most commonly with firm fish, such as red grouper.

I also enjoy making granites and sorbets with the fruit.

-Paul

 

Remplis ton verre vuide; Vuide ton verre plein. Je ne puis suffrir dans ta main...un verre ni vuide ni plein. ~ Rabelais

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What lovely ideas for those precious blood oranges! Almost makes me feel as if they were grown for these very reasons .. the sorbet is a great idea .. served in the orange scooped out shells ... and that sauce for fish! Incredible!

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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The other night I made a salad with red leaf lettuce, romaine, red onion slivers, diced mango, sweet/spicy pecans, and wedges of blood orange. Finished with a dressing of blood orange/lime vinaigrette.

~ Lori in PA

My blog: http://inmykitcheninmylife.blogspot.com/

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"Cooking is not a chore, it is a joy."

- Julia Child

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A favourite combination for me is blood orange juice with Campari.

Try making a marmalade from them and adding a splash or two of the Campari. ( if you ever get some Sevilles, they are even better)

I did have the recipe, and if you would like it I will hunt it down!!

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it's worth remembering that there are different varieties of blood oranges. the moros that we're getting now have great color, but sometimes are a little low in sugar. later this winter we'll start seeing taroccos, which have lighter color but (i think) much better flavor.

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Second Russ' comment...moro's are beautiful, but I found them lacking in sugar more often than not, unless buying them in their seasonal prime (deep winter, January into February). The color, though, outstanding. Tarocco's are consistently, wonderfully flavored, though I find the color is not as consistently deep.

-Paul

 

Remplis ton verre vuide; Vuide ton verre plein. Je ne puis suffrir dans ta main...un verre ni vuide ni plein. ~ Rabelais

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I really dig the Maltaise sauce. Its a form of hollandaise sauce. Once the sauce is almost ready mount it with some blood ornage juice, then tighten it up a little more over the bain marie. And you know serve it over asparagus. Sometimes the classics are the best. You can use the orange zest to make an orange stock. This is something that ive been playing with. Simmer the zest for about 30 minutes until its not going to number your tounge with bitterness. Then use it to poach fish. Possibly salmon or trout.

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At this time of year I like to make this dessert from Judy Rodgers' Zuni Cafe cookbook (page 457). It's easy to make and spectacularly beautiful.

Stuff some dates with mascarpone and lay them on a bed of peeled and sliced blood oranges. Sprinkle them with toasted, coarsely chopped pistachios (I also like pinenuts or almonds as a substitute), some pomegranate seeds and a little orange flower water. Serve immediately.

Sometimes I don't have the pomegranate, and I'm not that fond of orange flower water. Without these last 2 ingredients the dessert is still great.

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  • 2 weeks later...
it's worth remembering that there are different varieties of blood oranges. the moros that we're getting now have great color, but sometimes are a little low in sugar. later this winter we'll start seeing taroccos, which have lighter color but (i think) much better flavor.

Thanks for the information; I can't wait for your book!

I wish the "regular' supermarket would label varieties of fruits and vegetables. I had some blood oranges I really enjoyed a few weeks ago and now I'm wondering if they were Moros or another variety. They were not super sweet but I really like the flavor and tang.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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I make a quick marmalade which you can do with just one blood orange, or two if they are small.

Scrub the fruit well cut off the stem end just to where you can see the flesh.

Cut the fruit in half lengthwise and lay cut side down on your cutting board.

Slice extremely thin and lay the slices flat in a pie plate, Pyrex or ceramic.

Lightly sprinkle the first layer with sugar (I use a mixture of 2/3 Splenda and 1/3 superfine sugar (by volume) because I am a diabetic.) and add another layer of slices, sprinkle with more sugar or the mixture and continue until you have used all the slices.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the microwave and cook on 40% power for 2 minutes. Allow this to rest for 5-10 minutes or so - the plastic will shrink down onto the fruit and hold in the moisture.

Repeat this process, cooking and resting the fruit three or four more times and after the last session, use a fork and catch and lift the plastic wrap from the surface, use care that you don't get a steam burn.

Stir the cooked fruit and test to see if the peel is tender and translucent. If it is still opaque, cover again with plastic wrap and repeat the cooking process. Some citrus fruit cooks much in much less time than other batches.

You need to use low power because the fruit becomes gummy if cooked at higher power/temp.

I generally do this while I am doing something else in the kitchen, prepping vegetables, or baking, etc., so all of my time is not devoted to this. It really only takes a minute or two, at intervals so the total time expended is not great.

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I make a quick marmalade which you can do with just one blood orange, or two if they are small.... It really only takes a minute or two, at intervals so the total time expended is not great.

This is my very next project! Thanking you as always, andisenji, for yet another treasure from your highly inventive mind!! :wink:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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While speaking to my daughter yesterday, I was reminded of yet another way I love to use blood oranges.

For this I remove the peel completely, also slice the oranges crossway, but not as thin as for the marmalade.

I roll and stretch pizza dough very, thin - if I don't have time to make my own, I get the ready-made dough at Trader Joes.

I cut a mild fresh cheese (my favorite is manouri, which I buy at a local middle eastern market)

into thin slices and arrange over the dough, covering about 80% of the surface.

I then arrange the orange slices on top of the cheese layer and drizzle with a very small amount of honey, perhaps a teaspoonful for an 8-9 inch round.

You can also add a tiny bit of finely minced candied ginger or infuse grated fresh ginger in the honey.

If you can find very sweet grapes, you can combine the grapes and oranges - I cut the grapes in half.

There are other fine cheeses that work with this, but I have found that the manouri melts nicely without becoming gummy or oily.

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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There's an absolutely gorgeous Blood Orange Tart in the Chez Panisse Dessert Book. It's something you have to be in the mood to fiddle with, but so worthwhile. The baked pastry shell is lined with a caramel coating, topped with pastry cream and finished with supremes of blood orange, sprinkled with very lightly toasted pistachios...so pretty! The crunchy caramel is a lovely contrast in this tart.

The tart shell and pastry cream can be prepared in advance which makes putting it together much simpler.

Rover.

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Ooooh! I just saw some very nice blood oranges in a local market the other day. I am totally doing one of these--they sound excellent. The pizza and the fennel salad seem to be calling my name first...

Andie, what's the absolute minimum amount of sugar one can do your quick marmelade with successfully? I adore marmelade, and it would be lovely if I could indulge in it with minimum caloric hit, because then I could indulge in more of it. :laugh:

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It depends on how many and what size oranges and how tart they are - you still need a little sugar for it to jell. For two layers of orange slices on the bottom of a pie plate I probably use a bit more than half a tablespoon of Splenda and a heaping teaspoon of superfine sugar and that is the total amount. The purpose of the short heating periods and keeping it sealed, so the fruit "sweats" is so that the Splenda can absorb the liquid and be incorporated. using only sugar is much faster because it absorbs liquid rapidly.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I've mentioned this at least 2-3 times before and cannot find a link to Claudia Roden's recipe, but here's another version of the same type of blood orange and olive oil cake: voila. The published recipe I've used calls it a Tunisian cake, though it is also attributed to other Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries.

Thanks to Kitchen Chick for the recipe, but with respect, I'd like to reassure you that the fuchsia colors of blood oranges and a dark green olive oil are startlingly beautiful when mixed together. There is another eG member (Sunny....) who says it's her husband's favorite cake, and after I made it, the recipe traveled to Sweden where it served a successful diplomatic function in that important Meeting Between Parents of the First Serious Girlfriend and Boyfriend.

Sunny and I both recommend not dusting the top of the cake with sugar. Instead, buy extra blood oranges, using the juice to make a simple syrup. Poke holes in the top of the cake and pour on a glaze. Save at least 1-3 additional oranges to slice thinly and decorate either the cake or stand. Serve with whipped cream.

The oranges are also perfect as a simple salad with minced cured black olives, mint & olive oil. They're wonderful as is, or if you've got a lot of them, juiced by hand on a cold winter morning and drunk while standing by the window, looking out over fields of the dark, deformed branches of stunted olive trees where the distant barks of German shepherd dogs, being trained for the carabinieri, replace the rooster's crow.

"Viciousness in the kitchen.

The potatoes hiss." --Sylvia Plath

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  • 1 month later...

I picked up a tarocco the other day at the market, so I thought I'd bump this.

I have to say these are a big difference from the Moros. At first I wasn't sure that I had the right thing as thing as it looked the same as a normal orange:

gallery_44574_4258_358733.jpg

Peeling and tasting it revealed its true identity though.

I have to say that besides being sweet these seemed a bit more complex as well, though hard to put my finger on anything. I think I will have to get some more as well as some moros to compare, and some darker ones too. I have found that the darker moros have more of that red/deeper flavor and am curious to see what some of the darker taroccos are like; I did see some that were almost as pigmented as some of the moros I have seen (almost completely red on the outside).

These ones were from Italy and fairly expensive at about 1$ each, anyone else getting Taroccos in, and if so where from and how are the prices?

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I have really enjoyed sorbets made with blood orange juice and a syrup with rose water. The fresh sharpness of the blood orange and the scented flavour of the rose water work better together than they have any right to...

omg, blood oranges and rosewater are two of my favorite things!! please share your sorbet recipe!!

thanks!!

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