lørdag den 21. marts 2009

too much orange county


after a light breakfast i set about 'taking care' of a pile of oranges we've accumulated. two of our neighbors have orange trees whose branches are hanging low into our yard so naturally my family has been picking at them. why would you buy oranges in orange county? there's un-pesticided citrus growing all over the place! if you have free oranges, this is a pretty cheap dessert.

iced oranges: straight out of mediterranean food of the sun
(serves 8)

2/3 cup granulated sugar
juice of 1 lemon
14 medium oranges
8 fresh bay leaves, to decorate

put the sugar in a heavy-based pan. add half the lemon juice and 1/2 cup water. cook over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes, until the syrup is clear. leave to cool. slice the tops off eight of the oranges to make "hats." scoop out the flesh of the oranges and reserve. put the empty orange shells and hats on a tray and place in the freezer until needed. grate the rind of the remaining oranges and add to the syrup. squeeze the juice from the oranges and the reserved flesh. there should be 3 cups. stir the orange juice and remaining lemon juice, with 6 tbsp water into the syrup. pour the mixture into a shallow container and freeze for 3 hours. turn the mixture into a bowl and whisk to break down the ice crystals. freeze 4 hours more, until firm but not solid. pack the mixture into the orange shells, mounding it up, and set the hats on top. freeze until ready to serve. just before serving, push a skewer into the tops of the hats and push in a bay leaf.

as i was bringing the syrup to a boil, my brother reminded me that we were going to have some authentic chinese food for lunch. i'd almost forgotten about it last night when my mom asked me to stop by the hospital she works at (and also my former place of employment) because they were having a potluck. so i stuck everything in the freezer and we had some really delicious food; noodles with black bean sauce, bok choy and shiitakes, and scallion pancakes. however, it was a bit oily and i hopped on my bike in a rush to get to my mom's workplace. this resulted in a big stomachache. then i had a slice of lemon cake, chocolate cake, and some pasta salad at the potluck. and here i'm trying to shape up a bit before the dane arrives. so much for that. x:

as i walked into our kitchen to get back on those oranges, my stomach was raging. always digest before jumping on your bike, folks! but when the oranges were proper frozen by the evening, i was glad i struggled through my food-induced haze to make them. they soothed my abused belly and refreshed me overall. i'll try to blame my mistake on the interruption of lunch; i forgot to add the zest! the oranges were almost too sweet. next time i may just include the zest or also cut back on the sugar. as you can see, i was too lazy to garnish it with a leaf. but i'm sure it didn't affect the taste any. (;

2 kommentarer:

oneordinaryday sagde ...

What a pretty presentation.
Michelle
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/

Jacqueline Meldrum sagde ...

This looks wonderful. I remember being served orange sorbet like this as a child and it has always stuck in my mind. I will have to try it once the better weather arrives.