MARMALADE

We have bumper crops this year of oranges, lemons and pomelo’s (akin to HUGE grapefruits). In the past few years we’ve eaten our fill over the few months they hang on the tree, and given the rest away. This final (and our last) season here in California, I decided its time to make use of as much of the bounty as I can, preserve as much as I can, to take back with us to Washington to enjoy the next few citrus-free winters. I looked for various recipes for marmalade, as its always been a favorite of mine, and looks so pretty in jars (LOL) as well as candied citrus rind which is great as treats or to toss into muffin or sweet bread recipes. Especially yummy with one end dipped in dark chocolate!

I started out this week making up a batch of lemon marmalade and we both absolutely love it! A very pretty yellow in the jar, and a yummy chewy, sweet lemon flavor. Like sunshine in a jar! Perfect. The following day I found a recipe by Ina Garten (one of my favorite chefs, I love to watch her show) for orange marmalade where the recipe calls to let sit your mixture overnight (the chopped orange rind, water and sugar) before bringing to a boil and simmering a few hours the next morning. We love the results, no bitterness at all! Very fresh orange flavor, and a deeper orange, almost ‘carmelly’ in color.

Yesterday after reviewing several recipes for grapefruit marmalade I finally decided on one that did not include adding extra store bought pectin (I prefer not to add extra pectin, didn't need it in the previous jams and they set up nicely). I varied the recipe slightly, preferring to ‘juice’ the fruit first, using my citrus juicer, rather than separate and peel each ‘section’ of the grapefruit, keeping the ‘fruit’ and the juices that dripped out (messy and time consuming!). Pomelos have very thick pith, about ½ inch thick, pith being that part that separates the fruit from the rind, and it is very bitter, but the pith of citrus fruits contains most the pectin, so necessary to use to ‘set’ the jam. It also contains some of the most beneficial nutrients, antioxidants that fight cancer. So I wanted to include as much 'pith' in the process as I could, without added bitterness. I carefully cut away the thick pith from the rind, chopped it, and wrapped it all up in a cheesecloth bundle that I then dropped into the simmering juice/fruit/sugar mixture. This would release the pectin into the jam as it boiled.

After simmering the jam for several hours, until it finally started to thicken and ‘set’, I removed and cooled the cheesecloth ‘bundle’, then squeezed as much of the contents into the jam as I could, again because this would aid the ‘setting’ (gelling) of the jam. After ladeling into jars, a quick 10 minute hot water bath to ensure preservation, I had 7 12-oz jars and a little left over to use now. The pomelo marmalade is yummy! It has a ‘sweet yet slightly bitter’ taste, it was impossible to avoid ANY bitterness, but you known, personally I (and Rod as well) really like the flavor, it tastes like I’d expect a grapefruit jam to taste. It isn't so cloyingly sweet, being offset with the slight bitter undertone.

As i contemplate my lemon tree, the branches so heavy with fruit they touch the ground (!) I know I’ll be making many more jars of lemon marmalade and candied lemon peel in the next few weeks. The candied peel, if stored in glass jars, will last years if needed. At that I can’t possibly use all the lemons on that tree (which, btw, we cut in HALF last year and it's STILL incredibly prolific, it would supply a village for weeks!). However I was thrilled to discover I'll be able to barter some of it away! When I stopped in to purchase my free range, organic brown eggs (from the lovely, little old gal who has a small farm not far from us) we agreed to swap lemons for eggs going forward, at least until I run out of lemons. A win/win for us both! She’s also going to toss in a jar or two of her homemade pomegranate jelly. Lucky me! With all the fruit that will STILL leaves me, I plan to experiment with herb-infused marmalades next week as well ... all organic herbs from my own garden...perhaps some Rosemary/Lemon Marmalade or Orange/Thyme or how about Lavender/Orange? ... endless (almost, ha!) possibilities!

"You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need." ~Vernon Howard