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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: pumpkin tea cake

In December, I go through the process of reviewing my photographs from the entire year. I do this to gather a compilation for our New Year’s greeting card, but the exercise is a great way to take a jog down (short-term) memory lane. I’ve been cranking out a digital photo card for the past seven years such that I don’t feel I’m ready for the new year until I’ve summarized the one that is coming to a close. Reflection is good and this time spent pondering the last twelve months means I am psyched and ready for 2012. Please visit our Year in Photos for 2011.

happy new year from me to you

Back in October, Celia, who runs Star Acre Farms had come to the Denver Botanic Gardens cooking workshop that I taught with Manisha, Todd, and Diane. She gifted us several gorgeous heirloom squashes from her farm after the class had ended. One of the pumpkins I chose was this beauty:

a winter luxury pumpkin

Thoughts of what to make with this special pumpkin ran in the background of my mind for several weeks. It wasn’t until I was in California, meeting up with Lisa, when she put the idea in my head. We were talking about Tartine and how we love the bakery and how we both have the cookbook. Lisa asked if I had tried their pumpkin tea cake before. No. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she ordered me to make this pumpkin tea cake. There is a reason her blog is called Lisa Is Bossy (I love her!).

flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, pumpkin, vegetable oil, sugar, salt, eggs

mix the dry ingredients

I was mentally ready to use the heirloom pumpkin for this tea cake when I read that pumpkin purée from scratch tends to be watery and not as good as canned pumpkin. Huh… Luckily, I had some canned organic pumpkin purée in the cupboard. I guess it’s good that I buy groceries at random for no reason – at least it was this time.

combine the pumpkin, oil, sugar, salt

beat the eggs in one at a time

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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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