Miniture ponies and crisp apple strudels;
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles;
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings;
These are a few of my favorite things.
Ok ok. I got carried away. So another day and another attempt at making Blood Orange Marmalade. This time I used a recipe that I have used before. It is the recipe in "Food for Friends" by Sally Pasley Vargas. I love this book. I love the way this marmalade comes out. I got lots of blood oranges at the Hay Market in Boston. It was our first time there. Don't hate me but I really wasn't impressed with it. It was all the same and it was all cheap and it wasn't at all anything that I couldn't grow or get locally. Ok, well maybe the oranges, artichoke and watermelon that I bought but ...oh shut up...I can't think of a but. I bought them and ate them and now I will feel guilty about it. They aren't local. Ok, I said it.
One of the secrets I found was that boiling the oranges and then letting them sit in the water overnight helps with the process of dealing with all the peels which need to be sliced very thinly. I tried using my Mandoline for the job but it didn't work. I had to do it all by hand. So, I cranked up the music and mindlessly cut oranges for a long time.
I thought the tedious part was over but nooooo. It took over an hour for this to get to the point that I was happy with the consistency.
It was worth it. It came out great.
So, should I tell you one of my other little dirty secrets? Ok ok pipe down. I don't like marmalade. I really don't like sweet anything. Well I do like cheap chocolate covered cherries and I also love lemonheads.
So lets talk tuna instead. You should make the marmalade if you like marmalade because even though I don't like marmalade, I know this is a good one. Oh nevermind. Tuna. We had tuna for dinner the other night and it came out great so I am going to share. We also had roasted shaved (not really shaved but it sounds nice) Brussel Sprouts.
It was a good dinner. The fish was really tasty.
Oh, I also got my Charcutepalooza apron in the mail. I will wear it will pride.
With that I will leave you with this:
When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.
Tuna with Miso-Chile Sauce
Mark Bittman - Cooking Light
Printable Version
Ingredients
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon minced shallots
1/2 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon chile paste with garlic
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 tablespoon red miso (soybean paste)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 (6-ounce) tuna steaks
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots, ginger, chile paste, and garlic; cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add wine and mirin; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 3 tablespoons (about 8 minutes); remove from heat. Stir in miso.
Heat vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle tuna steaks with salt and pepper. Add tuna to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side until fish is medium-rare or desired degree of doneness.
Serve tuna steaks with sauce.
Brussel Sprouts
2 lb brussel sprout
1Tbl Olive oil
Salt
Pepper.
Roughly slice brussel sprouts. Put on pan and toss with a glug of olive oil (ok, around 1 Tbl).o
Season with salt and pepper.
Roast for about 25 minutes or until a little brown and soft.
Blood Orange Marmalade
Adapted from Sally Pasley Varga, Food for Friends
Printable Version
Makes 10 half pint jars.
4lbs Fruit (which consists of 8 to 9 blood oranges and 2 to 3 lemons)
12 Water
8 C Sugar (I ran out so I used 6C white sugar and 2C light brown sugar)
1. Place the fruit in a 6 quart or larger heavy bottomed pot and cover with the water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil, decrease heat to low, and simmer for 25 to 35 minutes, until fruit is tender when pierced with fork. Let stand for several hours (I let it sit overnight) or overnight until completely cool.
2. Remove oranges from water and reserve 3 1/2 C of the liquid in pot.
3. Quarter fruit through stem end and cut crosswise into very thin slices, discarding the seeds (put on some good music because this takes a while)
Return fruit to the pot with reserved liquid and the sugar. Gently heat mixture, stirring occasionally until sugar is melted. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat stirring often, until mixture reaches jellying point.
Process as usual.
