Citrus Marmalade for Pat Hammond & Enjilico

[Sherri]

The thread on Rose's Lime Marmalade reminded me that making microwave marmalade is a snap. Here are the promised directions, hope you have great success.

This works equally well for oranges, grapefruit, limes, lemons or a combination. The basic recipe uses no additional seasoning but you can certainly add ginger or whatever your taste buds direct. I make this frequently during the citrus season and never make a large batch. These directions are for approx 12 oz of preserves.

Measure equal amounts of citrus and sugar, EX: 8 oz:8 oz. Wash & cut the citrus into chunks and coarsly chop (1/4"-1/8" pieces), removing stem ends and all seeds. Add equal amount of sugar and stir to blend. Put this in an 8 C Pyrex measuring cup or other glass vessel and microwave on full power for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until thickened. Pour into clean jar, cool and refrigerate.

Enjoy!

[kchurchill5]

Definitely making that, thx

[jankak]

How thick is thick and should it be thick at the end of the 8 minutes in the microwave or do you cook it more till thick? It sounds delicious.

Jim

[toodie jane]

jankak

I use the spoon-drip test. Using a metal spoon, dip it into cooked marmalade, hold spoon horizontally over the mixture. If the drips separate from one to two, dripping slowly, it's done. It will thicken up slightly as it cools in the jar.

Sorry I didn't see this question when you were asking. Did you try some?

[Fleur]

Can any of you great cooks recommend books on Jams and Preserves? I used to use an English one, but can't seem to find it.

[Father Kitchen]

I made my first plum jelly using my mother's old "American Woman's Cookbook," but I got serious about marmalade when I found a used copy of Madelaine Bullwinkel's "Gourmet Preserves chez Madelaine" which is worth looking for from Abebooks.com or Alibris.com or other sites for used book dealers. There are, of course, many other very fine books, and your choice will depend largely on whether you are looking for recipes, for inspiration, or for a grasp of principles that will let you do your own thing. The doyenne of jams and preserves is Christine Ferber, and her book "Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber" is extraordinary, particularly for mixed fruits and things with spices or liquers in them. For straight marmalade, do look at John Thorne's "Mouth Wide Open" pp., 40-57 (worth getting from the library even if you have to do interlibrary loan). Among the newer books, Linda J. Amendth's "175 Best Jams, Jellies, Marmalades & Other Soft Spreads" looks awfully good, though I haven't cooked from it yet. And, of course, companies that manufacture jars and pectin have a lot of very good house recipe books. If I had to do with only one book, I would go for Madelaine Bullwinkel. And, of course, the Internet is loaded with lots of good recipes--for example the one on this thread. Happy book hunting and jam making!

[toodie jane]

Look for these at a used book store. There are often great cookbooks there.

Crescent Dragonwagon did a little spiral book in the 70's:"Putting up Stuff For The Cold Time" which has all kinds of preserves and pickles, too.

Farm Journal cookbooks are the best--very old school.

and of course, in the last 15 years there have been scores of boutique jam cookbooks, some of which are more about style than substance. Not sure they give the best bang for the buck.

[rose water]

sorry if i'm asking an obvious question--
do you peel the fruit or use the whole thing?

[toodie jane]

May I chime in?

Mom made lovely marmalade (orange, from Valencias) and I watched her several times. She was always very careful about cutting the skins and I think it added to the texture.

She would quarter the whole oranges, remove the flesh and coarsely chop it, saving all the juice possible. This went into the pot.

Then she would use a sharp paring knife to cut the skins into very thin (1/16"?)slivers. This went into the pot with equal amounts of sugar.

Her marmalade was wonderful--nothing like storebought at all. She believed it was the use of Valencia oranges (we bought unsprayed oranges only--what they spray on the oranges coats the skins with a thick pasty layer of pesticide even though it is "washed off" in processing) which have a richer, less blandly sweet flavor than Navels. When we could, we'd get blood oranges, which made a gorgeous colored marmalade with excellent flavor.
Good luck on the marmalade. I hope to get some going soon, too. Valencia season will be over soon and Navels will flood the market!

[Fleur]

Sounds delicious. I used to make a Seville Bitter Orange Marmelade with Scotch Whiskey. The recipe used the entire fruit, peel pulp and all. I used to get them at BALDUCCI. I want to try it again when the oranges are in season.

[Pat Hammond]

Thanks to you and your Mom, Toodie. I love the idea of using blood oranges. Kumquats would be fun, and of course Meyer lemons, if I could find them.

[cheryl_h]

Blood orange marmalade looks almost as good as it tastes. I also like ruby grapefruit marmalade which is simply fabulous - a mix of sweet, tart, bitter. When I make marmalade which I do in large batches, we sometimes give some to family. DH refuses to allow any of the grapefruit marmalade to leave the house. It's his family, not mine.

[Pat Hammond]

Thank you, Sherri! Limes are reasonable here, and I just bought 8 nice large ones. I'll try this over the weekend. Anything that doesn't involve turning my stove on at this time of year is a real plus! Can't wait!

[Pat Hammond]

One more thing...have you ever tried this using only ginger?

[Sherri]

No I haven't used just ginger. The amount of pectin in citrus is key. I have no idea about the pectin content of ginger and I imagine some accomodation would have to be made. The beauty of this recipe is the simplicity coupled with extraordinary fresh citrus flavor. Limes are wonderful, ditto for blood oranges and Meyer lemons. I used to grow a pink grapefruit that was also marvelous. Use the freshest product you can find - scratch the skin and smell the oils - and you'll have wonderful marmalade. Enjoy!

[Sherri]

Pat Hammond, my quick response to your "Ginger Marmalade" question has prompted some investigation. Marmelo is the Portuguese word for quince and marmelade means "quince jam" in the same language. Quinces are related to both apples and pears so that explains their high pectin content. I also learned that using citrus is a relative latecomer to the marmalade world.

Ginger, on the other hand, doesn't have enough pectin to gel the sugar-fruit mixture. You might try using an apple-based jam/jelly for the ginger marmalade or simply add ginger to one of the citrus preserves.

Hope this helps.

[Pat Hammond]

As easy as your recipe is, I can certainly try a batch adding ginger. I really thank you!

[Candy]

Pat, if you have not tried it, Ginger Curd is really good stuff.

[Pat Hammond]

I messed it up! I used lovely limes, but I either chopped them too finely, or my microwave runs too hot, or both. After cooling, the lime pieces were really hard, and the syrup was too thick. I tasted it and the flavor was positively divine. So, I strained out the lime bits and have been using the syrup to flavor and sweeten my tea. I'm going to give this another go, and have already decided to try Clementines when they're available.

[Sherri]

Pat Hammond, I am so sorry that my simple idea didn't work for you! Perhaps my microwave is underpowered and the 8 minutes works for me but not you. Honesty compells me to admit that I don't use a timer either. I have never been very picky or careful about the size of the chopped fruit, even resorting to using the food processor when I'm in a hurry. Give this another GO and let us know how it works. Clementines ought to be delicious!

[Pat Hammond]

Don't worry, of course I'll try it again. Depends on how the citrus looks this week at the store. Since I almost always use a timer, and did this time, I probably cooked it too long. As I said, it was far from a total loss; I'm still enjoying the syrup! Thanks so much. Clementines will be in the market before we know it, too.