Patrick's Rustic Citrus and Dried Apricot Marmalade

After reading many marmalade recipes that involved multiple steps, hours of work and loads of equipment, I decided to make my own shortcut version, rustic marmalade so to speak. The ingredients were inspired by my great friend Patrick, a real chef, who has given me many cooking lessons. This marmalade is incredibly delicious and doesn't last long here.

Patrick recommends a medley of various citrus fruits, oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruits, whatever is around the house, plus Turkish dried apricots (the soft kind). I only had oranges and lemons the first time I made this so that's what I used.

The pectin for gelling comes from the orange peel and the seeds, but I found it gelled beautifully without the seeds.

Most recipes emphasize that the cooked citrus fruit be cooled to room temperature before adding sugar. I am not sure why this step is important. Does anyone know?

When choosing oranges, use the large navel oranges and choose ones with thick skin and pith.

Patrick's Rustic Citrus and Dried Apricot Marmalade

Ingredients:
4 large oranges, chopped with all the pith, peel and juice, seeds removed
1 whole lemon, chopped with all the pith, peel and juice, seeds removed
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
2-1/2 cups sugar

Instructions:
Put all the chopped fruit, plus water to cover (plus a bit more) into a large pot.
Simmer 2 hours or until the fruit is soft. Watch carefully and stir every so often. Add water if needed.
Cool to room temperature. Add the 2-1/2 cups sugar.
Simmer another 30 minutes, watching carefully to make sure it does not burn.
Cool and store in glass sealer jar in the frig.

It will be thick and chunky and very dark orange.

Goes with:
Homemade Yogurt
Brown Bread
Ice cream
Roast pork

Nancye's Citrusy Granola

This is the freshest, tastiest, easiest and healthiest granola I've ever eaten. We just can't eat the boxed processed cereal in this house anymore --- they taste stale as well as too sweet and salty.

I am always looking for ways to incorporate small nuts, seeds, and dried fruits into our daily diet without adding too much fat and sugar and this is one of the best.

I tried this recipe without any sweeteners and we didn't miss it a bit. The citrus fruits make this recipe unique. We eat it for dessert with yogurt too.

Did you know cinnamon lowers blood glucose and cholesterol, fights cancer, and helps brain health and relieves arthritis. You probably need about 1/2 tsp. a day but this is a start. I put 2 tsp. in this recipe without it being too much.

Nancye's Citrusy Granola

Ingredients:

4 cups oatmeal flakes (or other flakes)

1/2 cup wheat germ (optional)

1 cup chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts)

1/2 cup seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, poppy, sesame)

2 cup finely chopped dried fruit (raisins, dates, apricots, cranberries)

1 tsp. cinnamon
Juice and zest of 1 whole orange

Juice and zest of 1 whole lemon

1/2 cup honey and 1/2 cup brown sugar (optional).

Instructions:

Put the ingredients into a large bowl and stir well.

Spread out on an oiled baking sheet or large metal roasting pan. (I used aluminum foil instead of oil.)

Toast at 300 degrees F. for 30 minutes.
Store in a glass sealer jar. Best within 2 weeks.

Variations: Add shredded coconut; Use maple syrup for part of the sweetener; Add a 1/4 tsp. cardamon or nutmeg.

Goes well with: Yogurt, Milk, Ice cream, Banana

Rhubarb Orange Ginger Sauce

Rhubarb Orange Ginger Sauce

The best fruits for baking and cooking are sour fruits or fruits with tart or sour skin, such as rhubarb, plums, grapes, cranberries and sour cherries. Rhubarb makes the best pie and plauts (streusel cake).

Rhubarb is one of my favourite "fruits" and I really look forward to pulling the first stalks every spring. Rhubarb and sorrel are the first harvest from my garden in early spring. If you have a small garden, I recommend planting a rhubarb and a sorrel plant. They are perrenials and come up every year. More on sorrel in future posts.

To pull rhubarb, just pull gently on the stocks. I am told some types of rhubarb require cutting, but mine can just be pulled. I cut the leaves off while still in the garden. Always leave at least 4 stocks as the leaves are needed by the plant to grow more stocks. Red stalks looking are nice but green or red ones both taste good.

You can freeze rhubarb but I haven't tried it yet. Does anyone have tips?

My students from Asia, Latin America, and Europe are not familiar with rhubarb but love this all purpose rhubarb sauce.

Rhubarb Orange Ginger Sauce

Ingredients:

• 6 c. rhubarb, chopped
• Water
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 whole orange
• Fresh ginger

Instructions:

1. Pull 6 to 8 stocks of rhubarb. Cut off the leaves and discard (do not eat).
2. Wash the stalks in water.
3. Roughly chop the rhubarb into 1/2" pieces to make 5 - 6 cups.
4. Put rhubarb in a pot with 1/2 c. water.
5. Wash a large orange with a thick pith. The majority of the nutrients in an orange are in the pith and peel. The pith contains high levels of flavenoids and anti-cancer agents. When I eat an orange I always remove only the peel, leaving the pith, which I find delicious.
6. Chop the orange into 1/2" pieces, including the peel and pith. Save the juice and add the juice and chopped orange to the pot.
7. Add 1 1/2 c. sugar.
8. Add 1-2 T. fresh grated ginger.
9. Simmer until the sauce is thick and the rhubarb and orange are cooked. Watch the pot so it doesn't burn. Adjust water and sugar as necessary.
10. Store in a glass sealer jar in the frig.

Serving:

We eat rhubarb sauce as follows:

• On Perfect Wholewheat Bread
• With yogurt
• With ice cream
• As a side dish with meats

Homemade Yogurt Indian Style

My students love the homemade yogurt and say it is much better than what I buy in the store. It is so easy that you will wonder why you didn't make it all your life. In India, it is made daily.

After many experiments with incubating the yogurt, including putting it into a cooler wrapped in towels in front of the heat register, I found the oven method is the easiest.

Creamy firm consistency is the hardest thing to achieve. Once my yogurt turned out slimy and stringy. So I googled and found a lot of possible reasons. The most likely is the quality or age of the starter. I also read a lot of moaning from desis (Indians transplanted to US or Canada) about how they miss their Indian yogurt. I agree, the Indian yogurt is the best.

Desis miss their yogurt so much that they entreat relatives to bring frozen yogurt culture from India. The other option mentioned by one desi online is a yogurt starter called Yogourmet. I found it at Stongs, tried it and I agree the result is superior to using store yogurt starter, very firm and very delicious. You want to eat a whole litre, so it's good discipline to eat a little bowl.

In any case, take the starter for the next batch from the fresh yogurt that you just made and freeze it in a small glass jar --- about 1/2 cup (125 ml). When making the next batch, thaw it in advance and get it to room temperature. Once the consistency of the yogurt is not good any more, use a new Yogourmet envelope.

You have to use fresh milk and, if using store yogurt starter, fresh yogurt, straight from the store. Using milk or yogurt from containers that have been opened or taking your starter from the bottom of a container does not make nice firm yogurt.

Whole milk and full fat yogurt results in creamier firmer yogurt but you can use 1 or 2 percent milk. I think whole milk and yogurt are healthier because dairy fat contains CLA which has many health benefits.

All utensils and containers must be very clean and dry but you don't have to sterilize them. I was a little careless one day and the result was blue mold on my yogurt. If anything not clean touches the yogurt or jars, the yogurt will be contaminated and not ferment or thicken properly. Wash the jars and lids in the dishwasher and use a clean tea towel or paper towel to dry your containers and utensils. I use glass jars, a glass measuring cup, and a pottery bowl, and try to stick to wooden and metal utensils. I also use a thermometer, but you can also use traditional methods.

Homemade Yogurt Indian Style

Ingredients:

2 - 3 litres of fresh whole milk
Yogurt starter (fresh store yogurt, Yogourmet envelope, or yogurt from the last batch)

Instructions:

Heat the milk to a boil in a stainless steel pot on the stove or in a large glass or pottery bowl in the microwave (much easier and easier to clean up). If heating on the stove, watch it constantly so as not to burn or scorch. In the microwave, it will take between 20 and 40 minutes to heat the milk, depending on how much milk you are heating. It doesn't actually have to boil, but it should be very foamy and a skin should form. I use a thermometer and get it to about 180 degrees F. (80 degrees C.) but you can just look at it.
Take off the skin and discard.
Cool the milk to between 110 and 120 degrees F. (43 - 48 degrees C. ). Finger test: it should be a little warmer than lukewarm. You should be able to put your finger into it for more than 10 seconds. It takes about 45 minutes to cool but you have to watch it carefully.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees F. (80 degrees F.) and turn off.
Add 2 or 3 heaping Tbsp. (75 - 125 ml.) of fresh unopened store yogurt, or all your thawed starter yogurt from the last batch, to the warm milk. Mix very well with a whisk.
Using a clean glass measuring cup, fill clean dry 1-litre glass sealer jars with the warm milk and put the lids on tightly.
Put the jars into the warmed oven for exactly 3-1/2 hours. Exactly 3 1/2 hours makes perfect creamy yogurt, not too tart. For a more tart yogurt, leave it longer. Do not disturb. No checking or moving it.
Put the jars into the frig overnight to thicken the yogurt.
Don't forget to put the starter for the next batch into the a jar in the freezer. When your yogurt consistency is not firm and creamy any more, use a new starter.