No scone would be complete without this condiment. I have seen a few posts about grape jam making from the Emmagem reader, Ann. Grape jam sounds lovely and I can’t say that I have tried it myself. Perhaps Ann would share with us soon?  As you know, self-made grape jam is a fruit preserve. Preserve is another one of those satisfying things to make in the kitchen. With just your favorite seasonal fruits or vegetables, you can create varieties of jams, relishes, chutneys and pickles. So, orange marmalade recipe is on my agenda for my readers this week.

 

Why orange? Simply because most people I talk to like eating orange marmalade but never attempted to make it.  So, here is a cheeky little recipe that will get you out of trouble when trying to make your own marmalade.  

 

Although this is a very typical type of jam served a lot in England, I suggest you to let your imagination take over and think of all the things in cooking dishes where you can use this. Don’t limit it just for the toast with a strong black coffee on lazy Sunday mornings!  You can try cooking some duck breast and glazing the duck it the marmalade or just adding to a sauce which will give it more depth and character. Or, brush it over some chicken on the Barbie…?  Yes people, think out of the box.  A recipe is merely a guideline to other creations and that what makes a difference of a good cook!

 

Recipe Name:  Valencia Orange marmalade

Difficulty: Beginner
Servings 3 jars 250ml

 6 oranges or 700gm Valencia Oranges

1 Lemon

1.1 lt Water

900gm Sugar

 Method:

First, place water in pan and cut then squeeze oranges and lemon.

Reserve all piths and seeds, cut the oranges and lemon halves in 4. Skin off flesh and reserve.

Place all the seeds, flesh and pips in a cloth of j-cloth as I have used in this recipe. This adds the natural pectin* to the marmalade, it’s in the white part of the pith.

  

 

 

Next, tie up bag and place it in the pan with the water and juice.

Now slice all the oranges and lemon into thin strips or julianne* as it is known in the industry.

Place together with the juice mixture, bring that to the boil and simmer for 2 hours. Then squeeze the bag to extract all of the sticky, jelly-like substance that contains the pectin out and discard bag. Next add in sugar, continue to simmer. 

Tip: when squeezing the bag caution it will be very hot so one way to do it is with 2 small plates, press them together with the bag in the middle.

 

   

 

 

  

Place a plate into the fridge to get cold. We will use this chilled plate to test and see if the marmalade is ready.

As soon as the mixture reaches a really fast boil, start timing. Then after 18 minutes spoon a little of the marmalade on to one of the cold plate from the fridge. If its feels a little jelly-ish, this means it’s done; if not keep boiling further.

Place in the sterilized jars and place back in some boiling water for 5 minutes to finish off sterilizing process. Done.

 

Sterilizing the jars (below)

 

 

 

*Pectin (from Greek πηκτικός – pektikos, “congealed, curdled”[1]) is a structural heteropolysaccharide contained in the primary cell walls of terrestrial plants. It was first isolated and described in 1825 by Henri Braconnot[2]. It is produced commercially as a white to light brown powder, mainly extracted from citrus fruits, and is used in food as a gelling agent particularly in jams and jellies

 

 

*Julienne is a method of food preparation in which the food item is cut into long thin strips. Common items to be julienned are carrots for carrots Julienne or celery .

With a sharp knife the raw vegetable is sliced to length and trimmed on four sides to create a thick rectangular stick 6-7cm long, then cut lengthwise into thin (1-2mm) slices

 

 

 

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