Blood Orange Marmalade

As I'm currently in California, I'm able to get lots of free fresh fruit. So there have been tons of fresh, lovely blood oranges sitting on my kitchen counter. And I thought, well why not make marmalade!! So I did. I got the recipe from a different food blog. Here it is:

Blood orange marmalade
http://www.pithyandcleaver.com/?p=153

8 Whole blood oranges.
3 Meyer lemons, sliced thinly
4c sugar
Pectin

1. Remove the outer layer of zest from the orange (if you want the marmalade texture, do this with a vegetable peeler; if you’re lazy like me, you can use your microplane), taking care not to get too much of the bitter white layer beneath. Set the zest aside.
2. Peel the oranges and then slice them thinly and chop them roughly. remove any tough pith or seeds that you encounter, but save as much of the juice as you can!
3. Put the oranges and lemons in a deep saucepan; add the pectin and let sit for a moment.
4. Add the zest.
5. Add the sugar and then bring the contents of the pan up to a boil. Boil, boil, boil away (stirring as much as you can reasonably bear) merrily until it’s thick, syrupy, and passes the spoon test. (*I let this simmer, stirring frequently instead of constantly)

To preserve your marmalade:

1. Get a bunch of canning jars.
2. Wash them in hot, soapy water
3. Boil them mercilessly for about 15 minutes, then remove them from the pot.
4. Ladle your marmalade into your clean, sterilized jars. Gently seal the tops and boil them at a rollicking, high temperature (with at least 1 inch of water covering them) for 5 more minutes. Turn off the heat, but leave the jars in there until the water is lukewarm (I tend to leave the jars in the waterbath overnight). This should activate the vacuum seal on the jar, characterized by the sort of dip in the middle. If you don’t have a vacuum seal by the time the water cools, remove the jar and try again with a new lid.

Tips and Tricks
- I didn't use the lemons. It might have given it a different texture or flavor, but I didn't mind.
- Make sure to chop the pieces small. The oranges will fall apart a bit while boiling,
- Try and take off as much off the pith of possible. It leaves behind a weird
chewy texture
- Don't let this boil too long. It's turns into a harder texture, as opposed to a jelly texture. Mine is way to thick, at least this first round!
- Let the marmalade cool before ladling. I didn't and now they have the froth from when it was boiling. So it doesn't have the pretty inside where you can see the zest.

This has a bitter taste with a sweet aftertaste. It's a well-done first try!

A Very Good Place to Start

I've decided that I'm gonna try and be legit about this blogging business. So here's a introduction for those who haven't been following my previous blog.

Hello! I'm Mel, and I'm a college senior, and theatre is my major! Therefore, theatre is my life. But food is my hobby! I must admit that I didn't start getting really into food and cooking until we got Food Network in my house, so around my senior year of high school. Up until that point I could make an awesome Maruchan Ramen bowl and bake a great Betty Crocker cake! Now I've gotten older, lived on my own, and traveled to many a foreign country I've learned to appreciate great food and great cooking. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family that believed in eating around a dinner table with no tv on, and my mom is great cook. Together, we are hungry foodies with unfortunately small stomachs. Seriously. We can't eat that much, try as we might.

I started this blog as a way to keep track of my favorite things that I make. While I've started a recipe collection and I have two cookbooks that I love, I also have things that I make-up. Like multitudes of smoothie recipes, sandwiches, and my fabulous hummus that I have never bothered to measure out. But now's the chance! Here's where I will record recipes, tips and tricks, anecdotes of my travels and hopefully entertaining tidbits.

There'll be lots of smoothie recipes. For sure. I'm a college student who lived in a dorm for 3 years. My faux magic bullet was my best friend. But now I have an apartment with a kitchen that I plan on making full use of!

My Food Manifesto: I believe in fresh, healthy, good quality food, and farmers markets. I believe in lots of butter, cheese, lard, and oil (when necessary.)I believe in local cafes, not Starbucks. I believe in sugar, not high fructose corn syrup or Splenda. I believe in coffee that taste like coffee, not cream. I believe in beer that taste like hops, not water. And I believe in sashimi and tuna rolls, not California rolls and fusion sushi.

So let the fun begin with my first real food report: my attempt at making Blood Orange Marmalade!