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Recipe: fall fruit and yogurt salad

Have you ever had a fresh mandarin orange? I’m talking about the satsuma mandarin oranges that are in season (in the northern hemisphere) now. The first one I ever had was in California, back in my college days. I found them at the Pasadena Farmer’s Market as well as my friend’s backyard (she had TWO trees!). They came into season right around the time Jeremy and I started going out (do people still say that?). We’d go to the market on Saturdays and buy a bag of these oranges, tearing into them as we walked around the rest of the stalls.

satsuma mandarin oranges

The skins were loose and peeled off easily and in one piece to reveal a plump ball of juicy, sweet orange segments. Satsuma mandarin oranges are better than candy. Throughout the week when we saw one another, I’d present Jeremy with one of these oranges. When he was home for winter break, I sent him a care package that included a tiny box with the last mandarin orange of the season in it. Jeremy saved it. On Christmas morning he woke up, reached over to the nightstand, opened the box, and relished that orange. Sweet little love letters.

easy peeling

When we moved to the East Coast for graduate school, I never saw satsumas in the stores. Instead, there were clementines – also mandarin oranges. Everyone gushed about clementines and I couldn’t wait to try one. Clementines are nice and cute little oranges, but you’ve got to be smoking crack if you think they are better than satsumas. I’m not sure if it’s because we’re back west or because they’re shipping satsumas farther afield now, but we get them fresh in our stores starting in November. We make a point of sharing the oranges when we’re together – a reminder of the simplicity and sweetness of those early days.

the best orange

I always think I’m going to be sad when summer fruits start disappearing. Everyone is cuckoo about summer fruits. But then autumn fruits begin popping up and I completely forget about those berries and melons and stone fruits. I don’t forget about the tomatoes though, but that’s another issue. I usually enjoy a fruit and yogurt salad in summer, but last month when my in-laws were visiting, I tried one with all of the seasonal fruit I had on hand.

grapefruit, pear, pomegranate, apple, honey yogurt, roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Typically, I will choose a plain yogurt and add honey, but I’ve been enjoying a local Colorado yogurt brand, Noosa Yoghurt. Their honey yogurt is lovely and my current favorite (the other fruity flavors are also wonderful). Prepare the fruit as you like. I prefer leaving skins on the apples and pears, but peel the grapefruit segments as clean as I can get them.

diced and peeled

scooping out the center of a ripe pear

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Recipe: preserved lemons

Good grief it feels so good to get things done again! Baking, candy making, and assorted projects are underway and in full swing. After candying a double batch of orange peels, I had a good bit of orange sugar syrup left. I’ve had several people ask me what to do with the sugar syrup and so I’m gonna tell you (I also edited the post on making orangettes to include these suggestions). If the syrup is thick or starting to solidify, you can stir some water into the leftover sugar syrup over high heat to get it to a uniform distribution. Let it come to a boil then turn off the heat and let it cool. Pour it into a glass jar and store it in the refrigerator. You can use it as an orange (or citrus) flavored simple syrup for fruity cocktails, add it to fresh lemon or lime juice and seltzer water for a fizzy fruity cordial, add it to hot tea, use it to soak tea cakes, eat it with pancakes, waffles, or French toast. You get the idea…

orange sugar syrup

So in my last post, I mentioned that I would tell you how to make preserved lemons. I wouldn’t have made these except for the fact that 1) I really wanted to make that Moroccan butternut squash and chickpea stew and 2) I couldn’t find preserved lemons. After a few weeks, I said to myself, “To hell with it! I’ll make my OWN preserved lemons!” I went to the store in search of organic Meyer lemons and found zippo… for two weeks straight. In early November, after I had dragged Jeremy to Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, we passed the Bi-Rite Market just down the street. I popped in to look for organic Meyer lemons. I found them. I bought them. All of them.

yup, that’s all of them

Why organic? I try to buy organic in general, but I’m insistent when it comes to something like citrus if you plan to eat the peel. And the peel is the the big deal in preserved lemons. You don’t have to use Meyer lemons. Regular lemons work fine too, but Meyers are so fragrant and sweet. They are a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. That’s awesome crossed with awesomer as far as I’m concerned. Oh, and Meyers are super juicy.

lop the end off

quarter them, leaving the base intact

Some folks cut the lemons into quarters, others quarter them but keep the lemon connected at the base, and I’ve also seen whole preserved lemons in stores. Cutting them into quarters makes it much easier to pack them into a jar, but keeping them intact at the base or whole is prettier in my opinion. It’s that geometry issue with elliptical spheroids in a finite volume. Make sure you have a good deal of kosher salt on hand.

kosher salt

pack the lemons with salt

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Recipe: basic cranberry sauce

announcements
I’m a contributor on Punchfork, which is a great food porn site that publishes in real time. I love it!

You can also find some of my Thanksgivingesque recipes along with tons of other great contributions from favorite food bloggers over at Pasplore.

Gojee launched their drinks section about a week ago and I’m a contributor there as well as on their regular food recipes section. It’s a beautiful site to peruse although the navigation might make you a little batshit.
end announcements

Soooo, it’s Thanksgiving this week in the United States. I’m struck more by the fact that it’s now November than the crush of holiday recipes on the blogosphere. I’ll be frank (because I don’t really know how else to be). I don’t dig on Thanksgiving dinner these days. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like Thanksgiving, as in giving thanks. I give thanks daily. All year. I have so much to be thankful for! I think the concept of giving thanks is a very very good one. Be thankful for what you have and while you’re at it, you can also help one(s) who is (are) less fortunate. That part, I love.

The part I’ve come to fall out of love with is the dinner. I’m just not that into it. I don’t like stuffing myself silly (perhaps that comes with getting older? I dunno) and the idea of going to so much trouble for a meal that no longer elicits mouth-watering anticipation but more of a meh from me. We are particularly fond of getting outside when others are traditionally inside (presumably hung over, opening gifts, cooking, and whatnot): Thanksgiving day, Christmas morning, New Year’s morning, and Superbowl Sunday. That leaves little time to prepare a big turkey feast and I’m fine with that. We usually opt for something that is quick and satisfying after a day spent out in the snow. It just feels better.

I find myself shying away from the holidays lately, seeking quality time with Jeremy and Kaweah over shopping and planning a giant celebration with excessive amounts of food. I need to concentrate on life maintenance, health, work, and a recalibration of priorities right now. These things always get screwed up and lost in the frenzy of travel, work, blogging, socializing… As the holiday season shifts into high gear, I am trying to slow the pace down and reassess.

kaweah is slowing down too

opening day at the local hill

but we also like the solitude of the backcountry

skiers only, bitches :)

jeremy breaks trail in fresh powder

Of all the Thanksgiving dishes to adorn a traditional table, there is one that I love – cranberry sauce. It is a bright, tart, vibrant dish that livens up the plate. When I learned to make it from scratch, I was astounded at how easy it was. It made me wonder why anyone would buy canned cranberry sauce if you could 1) make it yourself for not much additional effort and 2) know EXACTLY what you’re putting into it. Call me a control freak. I’m a control freak.

organic cranberries, organic sugar, and organic water (ha ha! i’m kidding about the water)

combine sugar and water

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