Archive | eat this

makin’ marmalade

March 21, 2012 at 8:00 pm

There are many things on my bucket list of life: read War and Peace, learn how to manipulate the manual settings on my camera, write a book of some sort, make Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon, and learn how to can food.

But when my friend invited me to make and can my own blood orange and strawberry marmalade last week, I was hesitant. We had returned from France the day before and the day of the jam-making was my husband’s birthday. Yet it was Elliott who said, “Go! I want you to learn, and so do you!”

So my sweet husband watched our baby alone for several hours on his birthday, all hoping for the reward of some really good jam at the end of the day. I was determined not to disappoint him.

And I set off to learn. One of my friends directed as we other three women cut, chopped, boiled, and supremed at her direction. First we peeled the oranges:

Then we all sat down to “supreme” the oranges, which means we removed all the skin from each individual orange section. This was slow, tedious work, but it does make a delicious marmalade with no orange skins to get caught in your teeth.

Meanwhile, we put all the orange skins to boil on the stove. I cut up a big bowl of strawberries to mix in with the oranges.

We boiled all our jars on the stove to sterilize them. The jars had been the most enigmatic part of canning to me, but they turned out to be straightforward. We sterilized the jars and lids by boiling them for 10 minutes. We would boil them again when they were full of marmalade.

After the oranges were surpremed and the skins had boiled, we mixed the orange pulp, strawberries, and finely sliced orange skins all together.

And into the pot they went, along with quite a bit of sugar and the orange-flavored water that had been boiling with the orange skins.

And then we let the mixture bubble, boil, and steam for a loooong time. The candy thermometer had to get up to 225 F and it took about an hour to do so. Meanwhile all the windows in my friend Becca’s apartment steamed up and we basked in our own marmalade-scented sauna.

Finally the temperature reached 225 F and we had our marmalade! We carefully poured it into the sterilized jars, screwed on the lids, and then submerged the jars into a pot of boiling water. With a tea towel on the bottom of the pot in the water, the jars had enough cushion not to break. We let them boil for 10 minutes until the little button in the center of the lids was depressed. Technically, our jars were now sealed, our marmalade was now “canned,” and we could leave the jars out for a few months on our kitchen counters. I don’t think my marmalade is going to last that long, though, considering the serious dent Elliott, Lena, and I have made in it in the past week!

Now here you are. Feast your eyes on the first batch of marmalade made by yours truly!

(And yes, the birthday boy was very pleased.)

P.S. Many thanks to my friend Becca for contributing some of the photography for this post!

3 :: in eat this, Sicily

Boulangerie Tiffanie

March 13, 2012 at 3:08 pm

One of my favorite things to do while in France was visit a lovely little bakery (in French a boulangerie) for bread and baked goods. Daniel recommended it to us as soon as we arrived, and Elliott and I took the early shift the next morning to Boulangerie Tiffanie to get baguettes for lunch and pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants) for breakfast. That bakery was one of the most heavenly places I have ever seen in my life! Elliott could hardly drag me outside after we made our requisite purchases. I soaked in the incredible view surrounding the bakery while savoring the aromas in my mind.

The next day we dragged our whole family back for breakfast at Boulangerie Tiffanie, eager that they all experience the wonders of a French country bakery. They were dressed for skiing and read to take the Grand Massif Express gondola up to the top of the mountain as soon as breakfast was over. So, struggling through the slushy falling snow and under the weight of their skis, my family walked from the bus to the bakery.

And oh! What wonders awaited them within!

Those gigantic white mounds behind the huge cookies in the photo are the biggest meringues I’d ever seen!

We bought a bag full of goodies and sat out on the warm porch to eat our breakfast. Lena got to taste some too!

Elliott got a coffee and shared this blueberry cake with Emily and me.

The following morning everyone else was skiing while I was watching Lena. We decided to head back to Boulangerie Tiffanie, where I stocked up on pain au chocolat and a baguette (which I would eat right before hitting the slopes myself that afternoon). Lena discovered my baguette while we were waiting for the bus, though, and decided to try it herself!

I bought one other thing besides chocolate croissants and baguettes that day, though. I bought a chocolate eclair, the real French thing. It came in a little white bakery box and it was magnificent. While Lena napped I sat in a cozy chair in the chalet, reading my book, sipping my coffee, and eating my chocolate eclair. Perfect.

6 :: in eat this, family, friends, travel

Boulangerie Tiffanie

March 13, 2012 at 2:08 pm

And oh! What wonders awaited them within!

Those gigantic white mounds behind the huge cookies in the photo are the biggest meringues I’d ever seen!

We bought a bag full of goodies and sat out on the warm porch to eat our breakfast. Lena got to taste some too!

Elliott got a coffee and shared this blueberry cake with Emily and me.

4 :: in eat this, family, friends, travel

Sicilian Orange Salad

March 7, 2012 at 4:43 pm

We’re in the heart of the citrus season in Sicily! The drooping branches in the orchards around our town have been relieved of their fruit and now there are boxes, crates, truckloads of oranges everywhere we look. Our neighbors give us enormous cloth bags full of oranges, mandarins, and lemons anytime we ask. I don’t know anyone who actually buys oranges; everyone is just giving them away. The last time I visited my friend Becca I brought a huge reusable bag of oranges and left them in her kitchen. The bag was so heavy with fruit that the strap broke on my way into her house.

With so many oranges… how do you eat them all? I’ve started making Sicilian Orange Salad as an accompaniment with our dinner each night. I know blood oranges are hard to come by in other parts of the world, but this salad would be just as delicious with any type of orange.

Another idea is to make jam from the oranges. On Friday my friend is teaching a group of us how to can Sicilian Blood Orange and Strawberry Marmalade. Can’t wait to try that one on some fresh homemade bread!

Sicilian Orange Salad

Serves 2… generously!

Ingredients

4 blood oranges, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 green onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
a splash of balsamic vinegar
a dash of salt

Combine all ingredients. Let sit for 10-30 min before serving to enhance flavor. Eat the whole salad with the meal if possible; the salt leaches the juice from the oranges and leftovers are not as tasty as the fresh salad!

3 :: in eat this, Italy, Sicily