Moro Marmalade

Is it spring yet?  All of this snow and cold is making me long for the warmth and green hues of spring and summer. 
If there is one good thing about winter though, its the arrival of Moro oranges.  Also known as blood oranges, these sweet oranges with a ruby interior arrive in the area begining in early January.  They are tart and sweet with a hint of raspberry flavor.
My favorite way to use blood oranges, other than just peeling an eating them, is to turn them into marmalade.  This is my adaptation of the blood orange marmalade recipe found in Ball's Complete Book of Home Preserving.

Makes 8 8-ounce jars

Ingredients:

3lbs blood oranges
2 lemons
4c. water
6c. sugar
1/3c powdered fruit pectin (or one package)

Scrub the oranges and lemons under running water to clean them first.

With a knife, slice off the tops and bottoms of the oranges and lemons.  Score the peels lengthwise into quarters.  Remove the peels.  Place the peels in a large pot and cover with water.  Bring the peels to a boil.  After they have boiled for ten minutes, drain them and refill the pot with water.  Bring the water to a boil, and continue to cook the peels for another ten minutes.  Drain peels and use a spoon or a knife to scrape off the white pith from the peels.  Discard the pith.  Cut the peels into thin strips with a knife.

Working over a bowl to catch the juice and fruit, cut the orange and lemon segments away from the membranes.  Squeeze the remaining juice from the membranes into the bowl with the segments.  Discard the membranes.  Repeat for all of the oranges and lemons.

Add the peels, fruit, juices, and the water to a large stainless steel pan.  Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat until the mixture is just at a simmer.  Simmer for thirty minutes or until the peels are very soft.

While the mixture is simmering, prepare the canning lids and jars.

When the fruit mixture is finished cooking, turn off the heat and add the powdered pectin.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.  Add the sugar all at once and stir well to combine.  Bring the mix back up to a boil and boil hard for exactly one minute.  Remove from heat.

Ladle the marmalade into the prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Cap the jars and process in a boiling water bath for ten minutes.  Remove jars from the canner.  The marmalade will gel as it cools.

Make sure that you use stainless steel cookware, as the acid in the fruit will react with other metals.

Chocolate Crackles

This recipe makes a lot of cookies, about 5 dozen.  Rolling the dough in granulated sugar prior to the powdered sugar helps the cookies retain their snowy white exterior.

Ingredients:

8oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Melt chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring often.  Set aside to cool.  Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, set aside.

Mix butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy.  Mix in eggs and vanilla, then melted chocolate.  Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture slowly, alternating with the milk.  Divide dough into 4 equal portions.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll dough into 1 inch balls.  Roll in granulated sugar, followed by the powdered sugar.  Set 1 inch apart on parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake until surface of the cookies crack, about 12-14 minutes.  Cool cookies on a wire rack.

A Hearty Soup For A Cold Night

Baby it's cold outside!  When the temperature outside drops, there's nothing quite like a warm bowl of soup.  This soup is one of my favorites.

  
Hearty Lentil Soup With Spinach (from Cooks Illustrated)
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/

Ingredients

3	slices bacon (about 3 ounces), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1	large onion , chopped fine (about 1 1/2 cups)
2	medium carrots , peeled and chopped medium (about 1 cup)
3	medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
	1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes , drained
1	bay leaf
1	teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1	cup lentils (7 ounces), rinsed and picked over
1	teaspoon table salt
	ground black pepper
1/2	cup dry white wine
4 1/2	cups low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2	cups water
1 1/2	teaspoons balsamic vinegar
5	ounces baby spinach

Instructions

1. 1. Fry bacon in large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onion and carrots; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes, bay leaf, and thyme; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in lentils, salt, and pepper to taste; cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until vegetables are softened and lentils have darkened, 8 to 10 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to high, add wine, and bring to simmer. Add chicken broth and water; bring to boil, cover partially, and reduce heat to low. Simmer until lentils are tender but still hold their shape, 30 to 35 minutes; discard bay leaf.
2. 2. Puree 3 cups soup in blender until smooth, then return to pot; stir in vinegar and heat soup over medium-low until hot, about 5 minutes. Stir in spinach and continue to heat soup, stirring frequently, until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes; serve.





Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

We ate our way through the cupcake craze.  So what's the next great thing?  Whoopie Pies!  An old school classic has been brought back into the spotlight.  Lets all make some whoopie!


Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
recipe courtesy of Delish.com
http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/pumpkin-whoopie-pies

Ingredients:
15 oz. can pumpkin
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or grease with vegetable shortening. In large bowl, beat together pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract with electric mixer until blended.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cloves. Add to pumpkin mixture and beat until smooth.
3. Drop batter by tablespoons onto prepared pans. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until tops spring back when lightly touched. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, beat together all filling ingredients with electric mixer on high speed until fluffy. Spread 1/2 tsp. filling onto flat side of one cookie and top with another. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling.

Hint:  I use a pastry bag to pipe the batter onto the cookie sheets.  This will give you a more uniform cookie.

Cranberry Orange Pecan Quick Bread

Tis the time of the year where we overload on sugar laden goodies.  Before the rush of the new year, when we try to negate what we ingested by latching onto the latest fitness trends.  I say...enjoy it! Savor it!  The diet starts January 1st!

Cranberry Orange Pecan Bread

Ingredients
3cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 2/3 cups milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped pecans
zest of two oranges
1 cup coarsely chopped cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 4 mini loaf pans, or one 9x5 inch loaf pan.  Set aside.  In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, zest, and baking soda.  Set aside.
In a medium bowl combine the egg, milk and oil.  Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients.  Stir until just moistened.  Fold in the nuts and cranberries.
Spoon batter into prepared pans.  Bake for about an hour for the large loaf or 40 minutes for the smaller loaves, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove the bread from the pan.  Cool completely on a wire rack.

These breads freeze well if tightly wrapped.